Non-Disney Places to Find Fun Disney Gear

If you’ve been to the Disney theme parks a few times, chances are you have at least a couple of Disney keepsakes in your home – a fun coffee mug, a silly tee shirt, or a couple of Mickey-topped pens that make you smile when you open your kitchen junk drawer. But if you’ve been to the Disney theme parks more than a few times, chances are that you’ve grown bored with the in-park shopping options. There’s a certain sameness to the offerings. They’re perfectly inoffensive and entirely ubiquitous.

What do you do if you want to share your Disney love in a more unique way, or in a more edgy way, or in a more elegant way, or in a less expensive way? Here are some shopping sites to check out for the Disney fan who wants to push the shopping envelope a notch or four.

Please bear in mind that merchandise stock changes constantly. The images shown below are representative samples of the general types of items each vendor sells; specific items may not be available at all times.

REDBUBBLE Redbubble.com

Redbubble is a marketplace for independent designers and artists. Designs can be found on tee shirts, stickers, tech cases, pillow cases, wall art, and more.

• What’s their style?: Based on the individual artists’ styles. You’ll find near replicas of licensed items, fanciful tweaks on standard designs, mashups of Disney with other pop culture iconography, borderline inappropriate imagery.
• What it’s best for: Cute tees. Most designs can be applied to a different size/color/style shirts, which may make shopping easier for some.
• Sample pricing: Most tee shirts about $25. iPhone 6 snap case about $25.
• Site usage tips: Type “Disney” in the search bar.

TEEPUBLIC TEEPUBLIC.com

From their website, “TEEPUBLIC is a digital storefront and fulfillment house for kick ass independent t-shirt designers. We’re striving to build a website showcasing the work of the world’s best designers.”

• What’s their style?: Based on the individual artists’ styles. LOTS of mashups of Disney and other pop culture. Characters depicted in different animation styles. Logos with different typefaces. Text renditions of favorite Disney attraction sayings.
• What it’s best for: Fun tees. Most designs can be applied to a different size/color/style shirts, which may make shopping easier for some.
• Sample pricing: Basic tee styles $20. Frequent sales for $14 tees.
• Site usage tips: Type “Disney” in the search bar.

 

SNORGTEES Snorgtees.com

Clothing for the science and sci-fi inclined.

• What’s their style?: Heavy on the sci-fi snark.
• What it’s best for: Star Wars parodies. And Harry Potter parodies for you Universal Studios fans.
• Sample pricing: Basic tee styles $20.
• Site usage tips: Searching “Disney” will bring a null result. Type “Star Wars” in the search bar. Or click on “Movies” or “TV” in the menu on the left.

 

FUNKO Funko.com

Stylized vinyl figures of licensed characters.

• What’s their style?: Big head vinyl figures of Disney, Pixar, Lucas Films, and Marvel characters.
• What it’s best for: Collectible figurines. A refuge for Vinylmation collectors who have been alienated due to lack of quality product.
• Sample pricing: $8-15 for most figures. More for limited edition or special event items.
• Site usage tips: Funko.com shows their product line, but they do not sell directly to consumers. Many items can be found on Amazon.com or use their Store Finder to locate retail shops near you.

 

PIQ piqproducts.com

From their website, “PIQ’s clever and colorful brand serves as a one stop shopping destination, seamlessly integrating an assortment of globally curated products that is sure to induce smiles on faces of all ages.” Practical and decorative items with a humorous twist.

• What’s their style?: Their Disney-related stock tends toward custom artist deconstruction of animated characters, often in the form of collectible figures.
• What it’s best for: Weird and subversive art pieces.
• Sample pricing: Custom art pieces from about $30-3000. Most in the $100 range.
• Site usage tips: Searching just “Disney” brings up only a few hits. Searches on “Mickey” or “Vinyl” or “Mouse” get more hits. There are also retail stores with more unique items.

 

VANS vans.com

Apparel and footwear with a fun vibe.

• What’s their style?: Licensed Disney images applied to skateboard chic clothing and shoes.
• What it’s best for: Playful images on fully functional products.
• Sample pricing: Kids sneakers starting at about $35. Adult sneakers starting at about $60.
• Site usage tips: Type “Disney” in the search bar. Also available at retail shops.
• Note: If the stock Disney items don’t float your boat, but you do like the style of the shoe, then go for a custom creation. Choose a red/yellow/black combination to represent your love for Mickey, for example. This is a great option if you’re looking to Disney Bound, but don’t see exactly the right footwear in your local shops. Similar build-your-own-style athletic shoes can also be found on nike.com, converse.com, and others.

 

DEL TORO

Fine Italian footwear.

• What’s their style?: Craftsmanship with a witty twist.
• What it’s best for: A treat when you’ve won the lotto.
• Sample pricing: Women’s shoes start at $350. Men’s shoes start at $360.
• Site usage tips: Although there are items labeled “Disney” and “Mickey,” neither of these search terms bring up results. Just scroll through the mens and women’s sneakers and “slippers.” The online selection is small, so you won’t be searching for long. Also available at some retail stores, including Nordstrom.

 

ADIDAS adidas.com

Performance athletic shoes and fashion.

• What’s their style?: Real athletic gear with a twist. There’s a line of licensed Star Wars designs.
• What it’s best for: Star Wars chic. They also have a custom design tool.
• Sample pricing: Children’s shoes start at $60, Men’s and Women’s shoes start at $100.
• Site usage tips: Type “Star Wars” in the search bar.

 

HOT TOPIC hottopic.com

Fun, licensed fashion items, primarily for teen girls.

• What’s their style?: The quality is not great, but it may not matter. Teen girls looking for a fun way to express themselves for an event or party.
• What it’s best for: Tees, leggings, costume jewelry, tech accessories. They carry Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, and Harry Potter items, as well as many of the Funko figures shown above. There are some men’s and kid’s items, but the bulk of the many, many items is targeted to younger women.
• Sample pricing: Junky jewelry starting at about $8. Tees starting at about $20. Coupon codes are frequently available.
• Site usage tips: Type “Disney” in the search bar. Or type the name of a specific Disney property, “Little Mermaid,” “Lion King,” or “Malificent,” for example. Items also available at retail stores.

 

THINKGEEK thinkgeek.com

Accoutrements for the fanboy or fangirl.

• What’s their style?: Clothing, toys, housewares, and office supplies for the geek who wants to own it.
• What it’s best for: Star Wars and Marvel clothing and kitsch.
• Sample pricing: Shirts start at about $25.
• Site usage tips: Type “Star Wars” or “Marvel” into the search bar. Similar items can also be found on entertainmentearth.com.

 

ZAZZLE zazzle.com

Both customizable licensed items and custom items created by regular folks.

• What’s their style?: Everything from slick Disney iconography to images that look like your mom made them on her home computer.
• What it’s best for: Licensed images applied hard-to-find sizes. Images can be applied to clothing, tech gear, kitchenware, office supplies, postage stamps, and home decor.
• Sample pricing: Tee shirts start at about $20. Mugs start at about $15.
• Site usage tips: Typing “Disney” in the search bar brings up licensed items. Other common Disney fan words like “monorail” or “Dole Whip” will bring up homemade images.

 

CAFE PRESS cafepress.com

A marketplace for user-made custom products and personalized gifts.

• What’s their style?: Most of the items have a fairly low tech look — not as polished or professional as gear from other sources. And sometimes that’s just what you need.
• What it’s best for: If you want to design your own stuff, this is a nice place to start selling it.
• Sample pricing: Magnets start at about $5. Tee shirts start at about $20.
• Site usage tips: Searching “Disney” will bring a null result. Try common Disney fan words like “monorail” or “Mickey” to bring up homemade images. Online coupon codes are frequently available.

 

SHUTTERFLY shutterfly.com

Turn your photos into photo books, home decor, and office supplies.

• What’s their style?: Add licensed Disney images to photo display items.
• What it’s best for: Photo books to document Disney vacations. Adding Disney images to photo frames. Also Christmas stockings, wall decals, and kitchenware.
• Sample pricing: Notebooks start at $10. Photo frame plaques start at about $25.
• Site usage tips: Type “Disney” in the search bar.

 

LE SPORTSAC lesportsac.com

Functional handbags and luggage in fun prints.

• What’s their style?: Lightweight purses, backpacks, and totes in licensed prints.
• What it’s best for: Useful purses and backpacks.
• Sample pricing: Purses start at about $45.
• Site usage tips: Use the “Collections” tab to highlight the Disney related items. Currently there are Minnie Mouse and Cinderella collections offered. The relationship with DIsney is ongoing and the prints offered change regularly.

 

TORRID torrid.com

Casual clothing for women in sizes 12-28.

• What’s their style?: Licensed prints on tees and casual dresses.
• What it’s best for: Fun clothing in sometimes hard to find sizes.
• Sample pricing: Tees start at about $30. Dresses start at about $60. Coupon codes are frequently available.
• Site usage tips: Type “Disney” in the search bar.

 

ETSY etsy.com

From their website, “Etsy is a marketplace where people around the world connect, both online and offline, to make, sell and buy unique goods.” You want it, someone can make it.

• What’s their style?: Crafty.
• What it’s best for: Custom party goods, custom clothing, bath and beauty items, accessories. The list is endless.
• Sample pricing: From $1 for a sticker to $2,000 for a custom gown. And everything in between.
• Site usage tips: Searching just “Disney” brings up many thousands of hits. Narrow you search by character, item category, price range, or seller location.

 

PARTY CITY partycity.com

Party supplies, decorations, and costumes with licensed images.

• What’s their style?: Mostly semi-disposable party and dress-up items.
• What it’s best for: Child and adult costumes. Accessories for Disney Bounding or for augmenting your runDisney costume. Cheap home decor.
• Sample pricing: Child costumes start at about $25. Adult costumes start at about $50.
• Site usage tips: Seaching “Disney” will bring lots of results. Narrowing you search by character or item category may be easier.
• Note: There are many similar costume vendors including buycostumes.com, costumeexpress.com, Chasing Fireflies, and more.

 

If you’re looking for children’s toys or items related to current film releases it’s certainly worth checking sites and stores like Target, Walmart, and Costco. Even thought they’re Disney proper, the Character Outlet shops often have steep discounts on branded items. (If you’re looking for information about the outlets, be sure to check out Touring Plans blogger Derek Bergen’s always amusing The Magic, the Memories, and Merch! series.) Also consider that DisneyStore.com has some items, such as tee shirts and tech gear, that can be customized through their website.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that eBay and Amazon should be consulted if you’re looking for something old or odd. You never know what you’ll turn up.

Where do you buy your Disney gear? In the parks or elsewhere? Do you have any favorite shopping spots? Let us know in the comments below.