Vacation Kingdom Know How: The Character Warehouse
The Character Warehouse at the Orlando Prime Outlets (photo by @derekburgan)
So you’ve dropped a bunch of cash on tickets, you’ve got your hotel booked and you are all set for your dining- but what about souvenirs? Well, before you go budgeting tons of money on the goodies you plan on buying in the parks, consider where you will be going shopping.
A good rule of thumb when in the parks is if you see something you just love, go ahead and get it. There is some awesome merchandise that you can pick up and be reminded of your trip for years to come. But what if you can’t find the perfect t shirt or don’t want to drop the hefty price on a sweatshirt, there’s somewhere you should check out : The Character Warehouse.
Oh, friends, let me tell you about the magicalness of the Character Warehouse…it’s the Disney Outlet to beat all Disney Outlets!
The Character Warehouse window has a fun display (photo via me!)
The Character Warehouse generally sells what hasn’t moved from the stores in the parks at a great price. There are two of these outlets in the Orlando area and it is definitely worth your time if you are driving at Disney World.
When I recently traveled to Orlando in March, I got some great Disney goodies for an awesome deal. For example, we went to the outlet and I spent $25 or so and stocked up just enough to make it back home in my two already packed bags. I found an oversized tank with the typical “Walt Disney World”/ Mickey on the front for only $9.99 and wear it quite a bit. Another sweet find was the trash can ornaments for $3.99, originally almost $20. I know, only at Disney do we love our trash cans and I was thrilled to bring home the cute little Small World themed trash can ornament to add to my collection. Did I mention Tsum Tsums are 99 cents? YES- you read that right- 99 cents! I’m not sure if it’s all the time, but when I visited they were also buy 2, get 1 free.
Magic bands at the Character Warehouse (photo by @derekburgan)
The Character Warehouse houses items such as Dooney & Bourke bags (surprising, I know!), kids and adult clothing, RunDisney merch sometimes, extra holiday/event merchandise, housewares, lots of Star Wars swag- it’s basically a place that you never know exactly what you are going to get but it’s worth your time.
Recently, my friends at the Happy Living youtube channel posted a vlog covering their trip to the Character Warehouse and sharing the goodies they picked up. If you’re looking to get a feel for the store, the video is a must see.
Derek Burgan, outlet guru and overall hilarious dude, posts a monthly rundown of the outlet and some of the merch that is in stock on the “Magic, Memories and Merch” column on the Touring Plans blog and props to him for some of the photos in this post. If you want more of his humor, Derek also writes a weekly post, The Saturday 6, on the same blog and tackles hard hitting topics, such as the tv shows made in the 90’s at WDW (Parts 1 AND 2!) and a hilarious but on point look at the Turkeys of 2016 in the Orlando theme park realm. Every week holds a great read and Derek Burgan is a gem of the Orlando theme park community- thank you for your service, sir.
The two Character Warehouse locations in Orlando are at the Orlando International Premium Outlets (located off of I-4) and the Vineland Premium Outlets.
If you go check them out, let me know what awesome merch you get & how great of a deal you score!