Welcome to the latest edition of The Magic, The Memories, and Merch!, the longest running monthly look at the Disney Outlet Stores in Orlando, and today we’re going to announce some changes going forward. Why, you ask? Well this is why….

REASON # 1 – If you are on social media, and you follow anything related to the Disney Outlet Stores in Orlando, you’re going to see posts like these below…

 

When you sign into the “Virtual Queue” at the Disney Character Warehouse, you are only told how many parties are ahead of you. There is no timeframe given of when you will be texted to return. Waiting in a situation like that can seem interminable.

While both Disney and Universal have been good at improving operations pretty much across the board at the theme parks and resorts, if anything the Outlets have become worse. I have to be honest, I did not expect this to happen. For the first time in a long time it seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel in terms of our country dealing with the coronavirus, but I don’t feel as confident about things at the Outlets changing any time soon. There are a lot of factors that are contributing to the current situation and none of them will be going away in the near future.

Reason # 2 – Below is a comment posted from a reader after last month’s Outlet Report. Keep in mind, last month I probably spent more money at the Disney Character Warehouse than I have in years.

My first thought when reading that comment?

But my second thought led to some introspection. Have I let the Disney Outlets themselves change me? Is the situation so horrible that I’m subconsciously passing it on to you, Dear Reader? It made me think back to a classic moment on NBC’s The Office when – as a kid –  Michael Scott was the ring bearer for his mom and Jeff’s wedding…

So how can we fix this? Well, I think temporarily we’re are going to try a new direction, one given to us by Disney themselves. So allow me the honor and privilege of announcing a new format next month as we welcome the debut of…

A TASTE OF A TOUCH OF THE DISNEY OUTLET STORES!

What it will be is a look at a few items from the Orlando outlets (our “taste of,”) and of course we will still have @ChristellaMcC reporting in from California (our “touch of”.) Each month I will also give an IN DEPTH look at a Disney or Universal gift shop that I really enjoy, because I love theme park merchandise! I think for next month we will start off looking at the Waturi Marketplace, to celebrate Volcano Bay and the Disney water parks finally reopening.

We’ll see how it goes, but for now let’s head back into Mordor itself and check out some discounted items. First up, an ornament from “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party,” which – as we all know, did not take place last year. The ornament is branded “2020” so maybe we’ll have a collector’s item one day. Probably not though, because when Disney gives a discount of 90% it generally means they can’t give these things away.

What’s the difference between a Minnie Mouse Pumpkin Mug and  a Pumpkin Ghost Mug?  Your guess is as good as mine. These were also branded to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Originally $19.99, now $2.99.

For the most part we have the same type of regular coffee cups, all reduced to $5.99. The Toy Story and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster cups have been around for a while. The Heroes on the High Seas mug is from the Marvel Disney Cruise Line sailings.

The Disney “Poisson” Apple Votive is something I guess people from France put fish in (“just for the halibut.”) Oh wait, that might be a typo.

I think over the last two months every single item from the Ink & Paint line has come to the Outlets. This month we saw the tumbler, originally $14.99, now $4.99.

One thing you definitely can’t fault the Ink & Paint line on is cutting corners. All the plates and dishes had a lot of weight to them.  This package contained four small plates, including Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and the Three Caballeros. Originally $39.99, now $19.99.

I would have been more inclined to just buy a set of four plates with just the Three Caballeros on them, but that may just be me.

Another set of four plates included Prince Charming & Cinderella, Peter Pan, the fairy godmothers from Sleeping Beauty and penguins from Mary Poppins. Same price.

Tring to convince non-theme park fans that the penguins plate is good for “formal meals.”

Ceramic jars made to look like paint is spilling out of them? Why would anyone need this? To put pens in on your desk? Why would you need FOUR OF THEM? Originally $29.99, now $12.99.

Wishables featuring Disney food items. Reduced to $3.99 each.

I have seen these Pixar Remix toys at Target over the last year and I don’t understand the appeal at all. They feature a little green alien from the Toy Story universe dressed up as a character from another Disney property. The one below is Boo from Monsters Inc. Now mash-ups is generally something I love. My house is filled with merchandise featuring mash-ups of StarWars/Muppets, Mickey/Tron, Pirates of the Caribbean/Fab Four, etc. I love the aliens from Toy Story and I love most of the movies they mash up with, but these toys just do nothing for me. Originally $9.99, now $7.99.

This one below takes the cake for “who are these toys for?!!” The character mash-up is with Tinny, from the original Pixar short Tin Toy. Now this would be a great gift for people working at Pixar, but expecting people to buy it for their kids? I just don’t understand this one at all.

As a kid, I would have killed for this Avengers Hawkeye branded bow and arrow toy. Bow & arrows, ninja throwing stars, and slingshots are just inherently cool toys. I just realized I put “ninja throwing stars” as a cool toy for a young kid and I’m thinking that maybe my childhood wasn’t as normal as I might be remembering it.

Occasionally there are strange prices I will just never understand. Hawkey’s bow was reduced to $6.25.

These odd looking Mickey and Minnie dolls are part of a “Denim Plush” line. Originally $29.99 each.

 

We saw this type of Disney Princess plush in previous months. It is based on the Disney Animator’s Collection style even though it looks absolutely nothing like the Japanese manga-like Animator’s Collection.

The disrespect being shown to these “Star War” plush right now. This is after months of being prominently displayed on shelves and at the front of the store.

 

I’ve been buying Star Wars toys for as long as I can remember, but one thing I don’t recall is prices being so far out of whack. The x-wing fighter below doesn’t come with a single one of those action figures and is still $79.99? I would have expected to see that for something like $39.99 at World of Disney. Brand new.

Two amazing things about this. The first is the “reason” we were given by Disney that we can’t have stuff like Hyperspace Hoopla anymore is because they want to treat the Star Wars brand more “serious.” The second is the Certificate of Authenticity. Why is that even needed? Who in the world would you be trying to impress when they walk into your house, see THAT hanging on the wall, and then be like “are we sure that’s a legitimate Vader Speed Shop print and not some knock off version?” AM I TAKING CRAZY PILLS?!!!!!

Dooney & Bourke Disneyland Haunted Mansion 50th Anniversary crossbody bag.

it’s a small world tote.

Didn’t get the price of this bag from the Germany Pavilion, but it looks wild! Fröhliche Weihnachten translates to “Merry Christmas.”

Let’s check out some pins from the “Gingerbread Collection.” Each were reduced to $6.99. I love the classic style of the Contemporary logo.

Just going by how the “bows” work at the Outlets, this things seem like they would be a better idea for actual Christmas tree ornaments than pins.

Disney’s Boardwalk and EPCOT pins.

 

 

Let’s take a quick break and check in with @ChristelaMcC from a Disney Outlet in California that is closer to Disneyland.

Cali didn’t get a true parks shipment this month (that we know of) but a few crazy deals did show up. First up, Emptiest Happiest Place On Earth Mickey ears. Note the “D” inside the “O” on the hat. Originally, $19.99, now $6.99.

I Am Groot hat. Originally $27.99, now $5.99. There was a website this week – whose name we won’t mention out of respect for who they once were – that actually ran a story about a “hidden” Groot in Pandora: The World of Avatar all based off of one person’t tweet. It makes me wonder if I’m just wasting my life taking the time and effort to write the SATURDAY SIX or Ye Olde Outlet Report when I could literally just be take one person’s tweet or  post on reddit, make sure I don’t credit anyone, and then slap my name on the byline before hitting “POST.”

Not a bad looking Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Rebel Pilot Jacket. The original price of $99.99 was next level bonkers, but the reduced price of $34.99 isn’t bad at all. I would definitely buy, at full price no less, those Endor ponchos that SW:GE Cast Members wear when its raining. $20 poncho? No problem. SOLD.

Just like us in Florida, California still has a lot of SW:GE Grand Opening (“Landing 2019”) merchandise available. This women’s shirt was originally $34.99, and now has been marked all the way down to just $1.

A week before, the table below had items marked for a dollar. Now they’ve dropped to 50 cents. These are prices almost unheard of for us in Florida.

runDisney wine glasses, marked down to 50 cents.

I love these old timey Mickey Mouse baseballs. I think Casey’s Corner could have a fun merchandise section just based on Mickey/Donald/Goofy and other Disney characters in throw back uniforms of baseball (and I would also include other sports like football and basketball.) Marked down to 50 cents.

Thanks Christela! Let’s head back to Florida and check out one of the weirdest pin things I’ve ever seen. For whatever reason, this month the Outlets had a metric ton of elaborately boxed pin sets that had one pin you could see from the outside of the package and one mystery pin inside. First up are these boxes which look a lot like McDonald’s Happy Meal boxes to me. There’s a “bow” at the top center on the box and the tag on the left hand side says “A gift for you! Happy Holidays.” The four pins you could see were Tinker Bell, Aladdin, Stitch, and Pascal from Tangled.

Elaborately boxed Winnie the Pooh pin. Reduced to $6.99.

Elaborately boxed Vanellope Von Schweetz pin. Reduced to $6.99.

Almost impossible to tell, but this is a Cinderella pin.

We saw these hats last month and they sold about as well as we expected. This month the price dropped even further. Anyone wearing this is probably rocking a “No Ragrets” tattoo as well.

Little Mermaid and Frozen hats.

Queen of Hearts hat, reduced to $1.99.

There were a bunch of hats that seemed like they would have been sold during the Fourth of July timeframe. At first, I didn’t think much about these, but then something caught my eye…

Okay, now that’s pretty cool.

Most Magical Place on Earth hat. Originally $27.99, now $7.99.

Disney Cruise Line hat. Originally $29.99, now $14.99.

 

Cute Donald Duck iPhone case. Reduced to $3.99, which is about half of what all the other discounted phone cases were reduced to.

Minnie and Mickey iPhone cases.

Walt Disney World and Disneyland castle Otter cases.

Disney Road Sign and Pandora: The World of Avatar iPhone cases. I think would be appropriate for me to have the Disney Signage one. Gonna have to bill Len Testa for this one.

Speaking of Pandora, here is a kid’s shirt featuring a anime-like Na’vi with the phrase “PANDORABLE.” Originally $24.99, now $7.99.

I mentioned in this week’s SATURDAY SIX that Disney is great at giving lip service to “inclusion” and has no problem making money of it when it comes to things like this Pride-themed shirt. Actual inclusion and representation in the parks is much harder to find. Originally $29.99, now $7.99.

I believe this “Together Again!” shirt was released around the time Disney reopened their Florida parks last year. Other shirts in this line included Pull Your Mask Up Over Your Nose, Believe It Or Not That Actually IS The End Of The Queue, No Seriously, Pull Your Mask Up Over Your Nose, and Park Hop Until You Drop…SIKE! Originally $21.99, now $7.99.

Front of a Cruz Ramirez shirt. Reduced to $7.99.

I actually like the back of the Cruz Ramirez shirt more than the front.

This is one of the most expensive items to EVER reach the Disney Outlet Stores. It’s a “Disney Princess” branded dress. Let’s see if you can guess the original price and the sale price before we show you…

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit button up shirt. Originally $59.99, now $14.99.

I could make a case for an adult buying the Oswald shirt. Not a strong case, but I could make one. I can’t think of any plausable reason an adult would buy this Hei Hei shirt. Like the Oswald one it was ORIGINALLY $60!!!!!!!

This is something. A Tomorrowland Purple Wall-themed jacket. Originally $49.99, now $19.99. (Instagram Influencers, is it ultra-meta to wear this when taking a selfie at the purple wall?)

Fantasyland jacket. Not too shabby. Originally $44.99, now $19.99.

Harambe Village jacket. Originally $49.99, now $14.99.

Hercules jacket. Originally $49.99, now $19.99.

This is a kid’s rain jacket featuring Disney snack items. Originally $59.99, now $19.99.

I’m guessing this is a Pixar jacket, but you could convince me on the street is was a Captain Marvel jacket or the flag of a communist Asian country and you are paying tribute to Dear Leader. Originally $49.99, now $19.99.

Love this retro-sytle shirt. Originally $36.99, now $12.99.

Another retro design. I’m not sure about the ’71 logo, because the style of the shirt seems much more in line with the ’80s.

Pretty sharp looking Pinocchio-themed shirt. Originally $54.99, now $14.99.

Woah! A Muppets jean jacket! Originally $79.99, now $24.99.

Two Muppets items at the Outlets in one month? That might be a new record. This shirt was originally $36.99, now $12.99.

THREE MUPPET ITEMS?!!! Actually not a huge fan of this one. Love that the original price of this shirt was $39.99 though. Just insane. Now $14.99.

I don’t even remember the last time a piece of High School Musical merchandise was at the Outlets. This shirt was originally $36.99, now $12.99.

This girls-cut shirt is also related to High School Musical. Originally $36.99, now $12.99.

SEE YOU NEXT MONTH FOR THE DEBUT OF “A TASTE OF THE TOUCH OF THE DISNEY OUTLET STORES!”

BEFORE YOU ASK: There are actually two Disney outlet stores in Orlando. Both are in Orlando Premium Outlets 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). They do not ship. There are items at the Outlets that you can buy both in Disney stores along with the Shop Disney Parks app, but you will be paying full retail for the items. For our CALIFORNIA OUTLET trips, @ChristelaMcC goes to the Las Americas outlet in San Diego. It is located right off the last U.S. exit.

I often get asked “which store is better?” That depends. Vineland is close to Walt Disney World, while the I-Drive location is a hop, skip, and jump away from the Universal Orlando Resort. The Vineland Disney Outlet Store is much, MUCH bigger than the I-Drive location. However, the Vineland outlets in general are much, MUCH busier than I-Drive. Each have their pros and cons, and ultimately they carry much of the same items. For a Disney Outlet Store FAQ, check out this SATURDAY SIX Presents: Everything You Wanted To Know About The Disney Outlet Stores (But Were Afraid To Ask)

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2020: Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept |Oct | Nov | Dec

2021: Jan

Very Special Editions & Milestones: Tribute to O.O.G.; Four Year Anniversary Special; First Pandora Items; Five Year Anniversary Special & Outlet Hall of Fame; Major Changes Come to the Outlets; Camera Hat; the Outlets Reopen after Coronavirus shut down

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. Want to see our favorite WDW resort-specific merchandise? Well, CLICK HERE!

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