Map at the International Drive locationI’ve mentioned in the past that there are two Disney Character Outlets that aren’t too far from Walt Disney World. One is located at 4951 International Drive, the other is at 8200 Vineland Avenue. Type “Disney Character Warehouse” or “Disney Outlet” into your GPS to easily find them. The Character Warehouses carry items that used to be sold in the theme parks at a discounted price. You might find Christmas merchandise in July, and items from a past festival at Epcot. There are always t-shirts, and you don’t know what else you will find. There could be Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line items as well as things from Walt Disney World. We live in a different world these days, so are the Disney Character Warehouses still worth it?
That is not an easy question to answer. I’ve recently visited both locations. It was the first time I’ve been since before the Covid-19 closure. On past visits, I was like a kid in a candy store. On these two visits, not so much.
There are always t-shirtsI’ll start with the reason why people visit these two stores; the prices. Most things were priced much higher than I expected. There were a few deals to be had, but most items I looked at were discounted less than on past visits. For instance, I was looking at Disney Cruise Line t-shirts, which were marked down to $15.99. While that was cheaper than on the ship, I’ve bought DCL shirts at the same store before for $6.99. Most of the t-shirts were $9.99 or (much) higher. While that is less than in the theme parks, there was nothing that jumped out at me as needing to buy because it was such a good deal.
The second problem in both stores was the selection. There wasn’t really all that much that was interesting! For the first time, I could see why some of the items didn’t sell well to begin with. I was hoping to find things like mugs and tumblers. I didn’t see any tumblers in either store, and only a few letter mugs. Most of the items were clothing or bags.
These were the only mugs that they hadI didn’t walk away empty handed. I did buy both Halloween and Christmas ears. They cost less than I would have paid in the parks, but they were more than I’ve seen ears for in past outlet visits.
I’m not saying to skip the two Disney Character Outlets. There are still deals to be found. If you plan to go, the one on Vineland is bigger, and it’s closer to Walt Disney World. It could be worth a trip. And since new merchandise is added all the time, your experience could be different from mine. Just keep your expectations down. The deals that you’ve seen or heard about might not be there. You could find a bargain, or you might look at the prices and say to yourself, “that’s still too much”. Or you might not find anything that you want to buy. It seems hit or miss right now.