WDW Shopping

[dawnrose]

Where are your favorite places to shop? Theme parks...resorts...DTD? What are some of your favorite 'finds'? Care to share some shopping secrets with a WDW virgin/shopping enthusiast? -1st trip coming up in 6 weeks! How much money should I be saving?

 

[WaltD4Me]

I always like to shop at the resorts. Three times now I have found unusual things at the gift shop at GF on the second floor that I hadn't seen anywhere else around the world. I also collect coffee mugs so I like to get them from the different resorts. My favorite is from the Polynesian.

My second favorite shopping is at Disney Studios, I seem to find different things in their shops too for some reason. Last trip I looked high and low for a really nice embroidered sweatshirt that I really liked and finally found it at Disney Studios.

As for how much to bring? Hard to say. If you love dust collectors, better start saving big time, take it from me!

I always like to pick up pens (they have cool ones that are character shaped at the top) I have a ton in my pencil cup at work, I also like picture frames and of course coffee mugs...I'd say my Disney coffee mug collection numbers over 100 by now.

 

[oogieboogie]

The Character Premiere or Character Warehouse Outlets!

Cheap but great Disney stuff!

 

[Leota]

I don't buy a ton of character merchandise anymore - Where I do find myself in Shopper's Heaven is the World Showcase at Epcot. This past trip I found 2 Fantastic purchases - An Apple Green Helly Hansen All Weather coat at the Norway Pavillion & a Limited Edition Guerlain Perfume in the France Pavillion.
The other places I like to shop are Animal Kingdom (exotic World Merchandise, very much my style), Adventureland & the Resorts.

If I'm going to buy something Character related, I love The Art of Disney - If only I had unlimited financial resources! Even tho I can't get DH to understand why that Trevor Carlton is worth every penny, I do find some more affordable prints, postcards & books there.....

I try to keep myself on a fairly tight leash when it comes to shopping & I spent around $500 last trip. Next trip, I won't spend anything on souvies tho....

 

[brer rabbit 28]

I always say that i won't buy loads of disney stuff-but the resolve goes out the window when i get there! My big things are t shirts-the trendy kind that feature the films and rides.Also handbags,last year i bought 3.
My fave shops are the specialist shops at DTD,love the scrapbook shop.Also there's a clothes shop at pleasure island that sell more funky clothes.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

Another vote for World Showcase here! I'm going this year after Thanksgiving and will do most of my holiday shopping there. Planning to locate a UPS store and have it shipped home before we leave. It's not all "Disney" merchandise but alot of it you cannot get in the US! I love the hand carved African animals - my son has a growing collection from each visit to WDW!

Happy shopping!

 

[GinaGrumpyDwarf]

for me it's T-Shirts of course...I'm wondering if there is a maternity section....lol.
I love Magnets with the year on them...i'll put my DD's pic in them.

DTD has great shops, my DH loves the cigar shop..lol

also the marketplace has great shops for 'sports" related things, and he loves golf, so there is ALWAYS tons of stuff.

Our first stop on our first day will be ESPN so i'm sure he'll spend $$ there.

usually we spend anywhere from 3-500$$ per trip. even though this is gonna be a short trip, we always find time to shop and spend $$.
We have extra added expenses this time though....DH is in a wedding...ANYWAYS...try to buy your purchases towards the END of the trip just incase you find something "better" somewhere else. shop around for the UNIQUE unless mainstream is what you like...
Take as much money as possible..lol...you can always take it back home with you..lol i cracked myself up on that one too.....

 

[nluvwithmickey]

That lasts about 10 minutes...

The musts are always one or teo ornaments, pins ( I could go crazy here), I used to buy frames for pictures but I think I have enough of those now. I also like to get a picture album to put all my pictures in when I get back. I don't scrap book so I buy the ones that are black inside and where there is a place to write something down after each picture...I love those!

Will probably buy myself a new coffee mug but I'm particular about those so don't know if I will find one I like. Did I mention a watch? They have beautiful selection.

I usually get to find everything in DTD. Unless it's attraction related, then I buy in the theme parks.

 

[GinaGrumpyDwarf]

omg you are TOTALLY right....i forgot about the ornaments....LOVE THOSE!

I lost my Italian charm bracelet last year (dontask) so i think i'll need to restart one..lol

 

[dawnrose]

this is getting me sooooo excited for our trip! The WS sounds intriguing...to find lots of unique items.....I, too love to buy ornaments...in fact, I have resorted to a second christmas tree to display the 'fairy' theme that was inspired by the Tink tree topper we purchased at Disneyland 2 years ago.....I enjoy some character stuff, esp. the trendy ts and jammies....my dd7 collects beanie Minnies and loves pin trading...DH loves Mickey, but rarely buys anything...I usually purchase some Mickey stuff and surprise him later....He always enjoys it. EEEEK! We better bring a lot of spending money! I also am an avid scrapbooker and can't wait to visit the store in DTD.....

 

[Micca]

I love to shop for Disney merch. One tip: After a while you can start to believe that every store has the same thing. While there is duplication in many stores, you might be surprised that you can find some things in any store that aren't available elsewhere. The gift shops at the monorail resorts are among the best

 

[ilovemcbride]

I love to shop. Anytime. Anywhere. For anything. However, I enjoyed shopping at the MGM shops more than anywhere else.