The Magic, The Memories, and Merch! August 2015 Photo Report of the Disney Outlet Store

Welcome to the latest edition of The Magic, The Memories, and Merch! the longest running monthly look at the Disney Outlet Stores in Orlando. As you can see, thanks to a landslide vote, the Outlet Report is continuing despite it’s negative impact on my mental health (more on that later). However, no matter how crazy the Vineland Ave outlets make me, nothing can take away from the incredible month we had in the theme park world. The D23 Expo came with the announcements of Star Wars land, Toy Story Land, and more details on the incredible World of Avatar coming to Animal Kingdom. You can read both of my articles about the D23 news including one written BEFORE the convention and one written AFTER. Not to be outdone, Universal announced that it would be building a Fast & Furious attraction while getting rid of Disaster and Beetlejuice. Fast & Furious has actually quietly become one of the biggest franchises in Hollywood history. Furious 7 has made over $1.5Billion dollars this year and to put that in perspective Frozen made “just” $1.27Billion. What a great time to be a theme park fan.

Enough jibber jabber! Who is ready to hit the Outlets? Remember that clicking on any picture will open a full size version of it (don’t say we didn’t warn you).

Our first item is actually one of my favorite things that I have ever bought inside a Disney park and it was at Star Wars Weekends two years ago. This Star Wars Bowling Set was originally $21.95, marked down to $12.99. The bowling balls are the Death Star and a thermal detonator, how great is that?

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Before we officially start, I just wanted to give everyone just a glimpse into what a trip to the Orlando Premium Outlets is like for me. Remember, there are two Outlets, one off I-Drive (near Universal) and one closer to Downtown Disney (off Vineland ave). The I-Drive location is closed for refurbishment until next month, so it has forced me to go to the Vineland mall which for all intents and purposes is the Worst Place On Earth. How bad? Here is the only gas station on the road to the Outlet, notice anything peculiar?

So that’s what I get to see driving into the Outlets. Then the Outlet itself is always packed. ALWAYS. For comparison, the I-Drive Outlet was like Epcot during a Wednesday in the middle of September while Vineland is always like the Magic Kingdom on New Years Eve. I think Phase 1 closures in the parking lot start at 10:30AM (Outlets open at 10AM 7 days a week). People actually rope drop the I-Drive Outlets – like the lunatics you see standing outside an Apple Store at 5AM – and these people include Toy Pirates that immediately run into the store trying to quickly get as many Tsum Tsums and Vinylmations as they can to rip other Disney fans off. Okay, that’s enough venting for now, although I will probably continue with more things that drive me crazy later.

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Always love seeing Muppet items, and these Kermit and Animal headware were new to me.  Really looking forward to the new Muppets Show starting soon. Kermit hat was originally $24.95, marked down to $12.95 while Animal’s was originally $29.95 reduced to $14.99.

Coffe cup featuring a Who’s Who of Mupets including my favorites Rizzo the Rat, Sam the Eagle, and of course my heroes Statler and Waldorf.

Even a Muppets pin, one of the rarest of all birds at the Outlet.

Speaking of pins, here is a Hollywood Tower of Terror one which has elevator doors that open revealing Stitch as a bell hop.

Here is another Tower of Terror pin featuring an elaborate hotel room key.

With Disney’s Art of Animation Resort being one of my favorite on property, I always love seeing merchandise for it arrive at the Outlets. Bought this pin.

Here is a Mickey riding a Vespa pin done in the style from the awesome new Mickey Mouse cartoons. If you haven’t started watching those shorts yet you have to get on it, they are amazing. Good for kids and adults with some theme park references thrown in here and there as well. Highest possible recommendation.

This Goofy pin, at least I think it’s Goofy, is one for the books.

Spent a couple days enjoying this years Flower and Garden Festival earlier this year, so I picked up this pin. There were a couple shirts featuring a retro style Mickey (mowing a lawn) and Minnie (working in a garden) that I hope show up.

Yacht Club and Beach Club keychains. Looking forward to staying at both these resorts in the near future after my experience at the BoardWalk earlier this year. Already a huge fan of Crews Cup, the Cape May Cafe character breakfast and of course the Kitchen Sink at Beaches & Cream (really need to try the No Way Jose now).

One of the things I stumbled upon when researching the Most Unusual Souvenirs in EPCOT’s World Showcase article was the amount of Guinness items for sale at the UK pavilion, including candy. Here is a keyring that surely came from that store. Originally $12.95, marked down to $7.99.

Loved this Yacht Club drinking container. Bought two of em. Originally $14.95, marked down to $7.99

This is a hot take in the theme park blogging community, but I love Be Our Guest Restaurant (dinner only, lunch is ridiculous as it removes 90% of the charm of dining there. Will be doing breakfast there for first time in a couple months). We got one of these goblets for the kiddos in our family during one of our dining experiences. Originally $15.95, marked down to $6.99.

I had not seen these Beauty and the Beast wine glasses before. Most likely they were available in the gift shop next to Gaston’s Tavern in New Fantasyland. Originally $14.95, marked down to $8.99.

HUGE fan of these Castaway Cay insulated drinking containers (is that the right word? I feel like I’ve been hypnotized and can’t say whatever these – and the Yacht Club thing above- are called). Bought a couple of these. Originally $14.95, marked down to $6.99.

Here is a giant mug featuring some really cool retro/Mary Blair-inspired Pirates of the Caribbean artwork by artist Joey Cho. Originally $24.95, reduced to $9.99.

And what do you know, he is a print of the actual artwork. Just BEAUTIFUL. I actually had the price of this and somehow deleted it while trying to look at the picture. I have no idea where the picture went as it’s not in the trash bin either. I know, you’re all shocked, shocked to find out these articles aren’t written by a tech savvy genius.

Is it just me or has there been a lot of Candy Cauldron merchandise at the outlets this year, including this coffee cup? Originally $12.95, reduced to $5.00.

Here’s another coffee cup featuring a dolled up Minnie Mouse.

I may be losing my mind, but I think this Minnie Mouse shirt is supposed to evoke the spirt of Spider-Gwen. I’ll explain more below. I actually like this one a lot but it was only sold in very young girl sizes and I’m not sure what they would see in it. Originally $29.95, reduced to $14.99.

So here is another shirt that is clearly representing what average person thinks of comic books, so maybe there was a whole line of this stuff? This one was priced $27.95 and didn’t have a sale price so it could be one of the very few items in the store that actually isn’t discounted. I’d find it hard to believe, but we also have exhibit B coming up…

Here is another comic book influenced shirt, also with $27.95 price tags with no discounted price. It’s quite a coincidence they would both be at full retail, because they aren’t all that remarkable and are in the middle of a whole bunch of discounted Minnie Mouse items.

I’m not sure if this pokes a hole in my Spider-Minnie theory, but here is the hooded Minnie with the pun filled “I need some space” tee. Originally $29.95, marked down to $14.99.

How can you not love this Splash Mountain shirt? Originally $32.95, marked down to $14.99.

I’m also VERY wary of shirts that have stuff on the backside of them, but I enjoyed this one. No truth to the rumor Disney Store is selling a limited release one featuring “All the animatronics worked!” Although if they did, I clearly would have bought it.

Wow, a Rocketeer shirt! The Rocketeer is one of my all time favorite Disney films (partly because it was based on a comic book I really enjoyed). Shirt was originally $27.95, marked down to $12.99.

Now this Rocketeer item I had to get even though I had no idea what it was. There was no description on it (some have tags which say what the item is) and it was also sealed so I couldn’t see what was in it. It was originally $17.95, reduced to $9.99.

So I brought it home and tweeted some pictures of it empty and I still had no idea what it was. I mean I assumed it held business cards, but why would it come with the second carrying case? None of my other guesses made sense, although I would like to try to put a pack of Trident gum in there. It would be like the fanciest gum holder in town and reminiscent of the episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza was eating his Snickers bar with a fork and knife. I was assured it was for business cards so I tried it out.

What planet or alternate reality is there where people have cases for business cards AND CASES TO PUT THE BUSINESS CARD HOLDER IN? This is INSANE. If someone asks me for my business card I have to go through a whole Russian nesting doll procedure just to get one out. And note that smudge, which I couldn’t get off easily, after touching it just one time.

 

You have to love this children’s safari shirt. Animal Kingdom is already great and the park is only getting better by the day. In two years it is going to battle Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, and Universal Studios Florida among the best overall park in North America. Originally $59.95, reduced to #14.99.

Child size Star Wars sweatshirt. Big fan of this. Originally $56, reduced to $$29.99. I can only imagine the look on my parent’s faces if I asked them to buy me a $50 sweatshirt growing up. I had to breakout spreadsheets of how much time I would spend playing with $5 action figures!

I will say the extra tag attached to the sweatshirt featuring the old school Marvel Comics style artwork (in fact it may actually be Howard Chaykin’s art.)

We have a little boy in our family who is becoming more and more obsessed by Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so I definitely grabbed one of these dolls. Actually surprised to see it because not much Jake stuff makes it this far down the merchandise chain.

Here’s a random dinosaur plush. Maybe from Dinoland USA? Originally $11.95, now $6.99. A look behind-the-scenes at the Outlet report – I despise having people in any of my shots. I do everything I can to avoid it so you can imagine what it is like at the Vineland location for me to include like five people in this shot. I also hate using vertical pictures outside of t-shirts but you’ll see a couple of those in this article because I become so claustrophobic with people constantly bumping into me. It’s like the scene from Scrooged with Bill Murray in the elevator with the Ghost of Christmas Future.

Nice little fashion set for Snow White featuring a ton of accessories. Nothing better than picking up all these pieces around the house, or even better, stepping on them with bare feet. Forget walking on hot coals, anyone who walks around a house which has kids under 6 years old living in it has feet with toys scars on them. Originally $14.95, reduced to $9.99.

Here are some wonderful Adventureland merchandise that was originally at the Marketplace Co-op store in Disney Springs. I didn’t see the discount tags, but the area around here was packed and I didn’t want to snoop around any longer. The Tiki style plate on the right was originally $16.95 and the bowls $12.95. I couldn’t get the price of the colorful plate on the left because to do so I would have been forced to take one and smash it over the head of people standing next to me WHO DON’T RESPECT MY PERSONAL SPACE.

These Adventureland Salt and Pepper shakers were originally $19.95, marked down to $9.99.

Here is another piece from the Marketplace C0-op in the Disney Kitchen collection.  Originally $39.95. Again I apologize for not getting the discounted price but again, by this point I was ready to leave the store and check into an insane asylum.

Disney has been KILLING IT with magnets lately, including this one inspired by Mary Poppins.

I also got one of these magnetic note pads featuring the awesome artwork they introduced earlier this year.

I was corrected in a recent Outlet Report about what this design is for, so now we now this magnet is for It’s A Small World. Originally $7.95, reduced to $5.99.

The turkey leg, the undisputed king of all bad merchandise, is featured on a magnet.

Here is another piece of merchandise featuring the turkey leg, although I can live with this one. Originally $21.95, reduced to $9.99.

What can you even say about shirts like this. You could tell me this was made by someone who was trying to make a pointed commentary AGAINST Disney and Mickey Mouse and I would believe it. Shirt is literally for kids maybe up to 7 years old? Also reduced to $9.99

Now this shirt for 18M is one I picked up. Originally $19.95 marked down to $4.99. Generally not too much baby or toddler stuff at the Outlet.

Tinker Bell bird bath from Flower & Garden. Note they technically have Tinker Bell spelled wrong. This is next level bananas. I’ve now seen Tinker Bell spelled three different ways on Disney property.

Now that I’m fired up might as go to Vinylmation. First up is a Marvel set, the first I have seen at the outlets. This one features Red Hulk and Red She Hulk. I don’t see how anyone looking at the four Vinylmations on the back of this box can deny that the “Mickey Ears” totally destroy the look of these figures.

HAVING SAID THAT, next up was a set based around Mickey’s Christmas Carol, one of my all time favorite Christmas movies (and I absolutely LOVE Christmas movies). So I actually picked up a couple of these…

Here are the two I got. The ditch diggers who were at Scrooge’s grave and one of the two guys collecting for the poor.

I picked up a couple of these BLANK Vinylmations as well as I think they make good activities for young kids.

I’m not exactly sure which set this one was from.

Here is Stitch from the nerd collection.

They still have a whole bunch of limited edition MVMCP MagicBands on sale. I think the original run was for only 5,000?

Here was the first ever piece of Disney Infinity merchandise in the store, although it was not discounted. I don’t play Disney Infinity but I absolutely LOVE the art style on the figures and would definitely collect the ones I like if the price point was down around $7-$8. Not just the Disney characters, but there are some terrific Marvel ones and the upcoming Star Wars figures look fantastic.

How CRAZY is this. Princess inspired wigs for – I hope – little girls.

But THE most amazing item was this Spider-Man print that was REDUCED to $450. REDUCED! Originally over $800 and I believe it was at D-Street in Disney Springs before the Superhero Headquarters store opened. The BONKERS plot for Amazing Spider-Man 3 makes more sense than this price point.

Before we close out maybe we can look at a story focusing on The Parking Situation at the Outlet, because you are probably thinking “Derek, stop complaining, it can’t be that bad.” You’re right, IT’S WORSE.

And thanks to the lovely Daisy Lauren, here is a picture of the currently-being-refurbished Disney Outlet Store off I-Drive. As you can see, a Panera bread is opening next door which means the Outlet is giving up half of it’s retail space. Long story short: I’m screwed, as I’ll probably be forced to go to the larger Vineland Ave location for these updates. Just gonna have to triple my next Xanax order….

There are actually two Disney outlet stores in Orlando. Both are in Orlando Premium Outlet shopping complexes, and they are called Disney’s Character Warehouse, presumably because The Land Of Misfit Toys was already trademarked. There is one Character Warehouse located on International Drive close to Universal Studios (4951 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819), and the other is on Vineland Avenue, right across I-4 near the exits to Disney World (8200 Vineland Ave, Orlando, FL 32821). For this edition of MMM, we went to the location near Universal and the one near Disney. NOTE THAT THE I-4 LOCATION IS CLOSED UNTIL SEPTEMBER FOR A REFURBISHMENT.

I get a lot of questions about this, so we’ll answer them here. You can order any item from the Disney Outlet Stores by calling the WDW Merchandise Guest Services (877-560-6477) There is a catch though, if the item is still available they will charge you full retail price for it, plus shipping. The Outlet Stores themselves do not ship merchandise.

Previous editions of Magic, Memories, and Merch: July 2013, August 2013, September 2013, October 2013, November 2013, December 2013, January 2014, February 2014, March 2014, April 2014, May 2014, June 2014, July 2014, August 2014, and September 2014, October 2014, November 2014, December 2015, January 2015, February 2015, March 2015, April 2015, May 2015. June 2015 and July 2015.

We also did an edition of Magic, Memories, and Junk for a non-Disney owned Outlet Store, and for you merch addicts like myself, you may also enjoy a look at the official Disney merchandise available on the Disney Cruise Line, Castaway Cay, and at the Orlando International Airport.

If you liked what you read here, you may enjoy THE SATURDAY SIX articles every week on the TouringPlans.com blog, the Pardon the Pixie Dust podcast, and you can follow your humble author on Twitter (@derekbugan).