Insider Disney World Shopping Secrets

Does anyone else just love shopping when you are on your Disney World vacation? I wanted to share with you some of my best insider Disney World shopping secrets after years of spending way too much at Disney.

Use your Disney Discounts

Fortunately, Disney World has quite a few ways that you can score an extra discount off of your purchase. The first being a Chase Disney Visa Cardholder. Your discount is 10% off select merchandise purchases of $50 or more at select locations in Walt Disney World. If you are a Disney World Annual Passholder you can get 20% off merchandise with no purchase minimums. Disney Vacation Club Members receive a 20% discount at all Disney owned and operated merchandise locations at the Walt Disney World Resort. As with the Annual Passholder, merchandise discounts are only valid on select purchases. Excludes certain purchases, products, and brands.

Also, be sure to check your receipts as sometimes there is an offer for a discount on your next purchase. I find that when they run these they often appear on my quick service receipts. If you do get one of these be sure to read all the restrictions because they often are only good during certain times of the day.

Send you Packages to your Resort

How many times have you thought oh I won't pick this up now since I don't want to carry it around for the rest of the day? Then you forget and leave without it or even worse it's sold out!! Just think of those longtime elusive Rose Gold Minnie Ears! If you are staying at a Disney World resort you don't need to worry about any of this. Disney will take your items back to your hotel room for FREE.

Not staying at a Disney Resort? Theme park merchandise purchased during the day can be delivered to a designated location near the front entrance for convenient pick-up as you exit the park. Again, this is all free of charge.

If you want to use either of these services, simply let the clerk know when you are checking out.

Or Mail your Packages Back Home

You can also have your theme park purchases shipped to your home via UPS or FedEx. There is an additional fee that is associated with this. If you want to get all the specifics again just talk with your clerk when checking out.

Check out the Character Outlet

So what is the all the hype over the Character Outlet about? It's crazy deep discounts on officially Disney World park merchandise. You never know what you are going to find when you step in here it's a little bit of everything. I have found Spirit Jersey's for just $14.99. You can get Disney artwork prints for just $19.99 instead of $39.99. Also, they have loads of pins, toys, and plushes. We even love stopping in here to stock on some Disney Cruiseline shirts and other merchandise.

There are two different locations here in Orlando, the Vineland location is the closest to Disney World. In fact, it's just a couple of miles from Disney Springs. If you don't have a rental car with you I recommend taking an Uber or Lyft. This also helps you avoid the parking charge that is $10 if you want to park in the garage at the Vineland location.

Character Warehouse-Orlando Premium Outlet
4969 International Dr., Orlando, FL 32819
Phone: (407) 354-3255

Character Warehouse-Orlando Premium Outlet
Suite 1252, 8200 Vineland Ave., Orlando, FL 32821
Phone: (407) 477-0222

Save More by Picking up Goodies Before Your Trip

You can save big by buying Disney things not from Disney directly. Places like Target, Walmart, and Claires selling Disney ears and apparel. I also love to watch for sales on shopDisney.com and the Shop Disney Parks App.

No Weapons Sold on Property

So since 2015, Disney no longer allows in the parks or sells toy guns or toy gun replicas. This includes anything that remotely resembles them like a squirt gun. If you are a Star Wars fan you are in luck that light-sabers and swords are still for sale and allowed in the parks.

Get Personal

Don't forget that you have the opportunity to get those coveted monogrammed Mickey ears. Here are the current personalization locations at Disney World:

Magic Kingdom Park: The Chapeau, Curtain Call Collectibles, Fantasy Faire, Big Top Souvenirs
Epcot: Mouse Gear
Disney's Hollywood Studios: Adrian & Edith's Head to Toe
Disney Springs: Disney's Wonderful World of Memories

Currently, there are no options to personalize Mickey Ears online but you can purchase them and bring them, with the online receipt, to the theme parks to have a name embordered. These ears are often used for announcements of weddings and babies they make some extra special photos. Getting personalized Mickey ears are also just an all-around great way to commemorate a milestone Disney trip.

Hang Around and Shop Late

Did you know Disney World keeps their main stores open one hour after park close? If you don't want to waste time shopping during you day full of rides and shows at Disney World you can just wait until the end of the day. Even though you will not be able to ride anything else Disney still lets you shop at the main store locaitons in each park. These are typically the shops that are located by the entrance of each park.

Shop from Home

Disney now has this amazing app called Shop Disney Parks. This is also helpful when you are on the property and looking to hunt down a specific item. If you look up the item on the app it will tell you all the store at Disney World that has that item in stock! Best of all when you order from the app you still have access to discounts like if you're an Annual Passholder! For more on ordering official Disney item from home read How to Order an Item After you Leave Disney World.