Cost Effective Way to Purchase Souveniers

Season810

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jun 16, 2017
Hi everyone! We are going on our first ever family Walt Disney World vacation in a little over a month now and I was wondering what souveniers can we purchase at Disney Springs? We will be heading there when we arrive as we don't plan on visiting the parks until the next day. I have watched on the DIS Podcast that there are some great places to shop in Disney Springs and I was wondering is it more cost effective to purchase souveniers in Disney Springs or in the parks? I'm pretty sure we can't get everything in Disney Springs, but we have two girls (ages 5 and 8) who I'm sure would like the ears and other things. I would appreciate any suggestions on the best places to shop in or out of the parks.

On a side note, we are planning on purchasing Disney gift cards to help us better budget this trip, so I don't know where they will be accepted or not. Thanks a bunch for all your help!
 
I have never had any trouble using the Disney Gift Cards anywhere in the World - hotels, meals, gift shops. If you live near a Target store, get one of their "Red Cards." This is their store credit card, and use that to purchase your gift cards. You will get a 5% discount automatically.
 
Thank you so much! I definitely will be going to Target to purchase the gift cards as I already have their Red Card (every little bit counts :)). I feel better purchasing them now knowing that I won't have a problem using them.
 
One thing I forgot to mention, there is a website [I don't know it off the top of my head - but it is official] where you can combine up to 10 gift cards into one so you don't have to carry as many individual cards.

We have done this for our past trips. Buy a few a month, and much of your vacation is already paid.
 


There are several unique places to shop in Disney Springs, but the World of Disney store is a giant collection of most of the souvenir-type stuff found anywhere else on property. Occasionally things are specific to a certain park or may have sold out in some stores, but mostly they all tend to have the same things at the exact same prices whether you are at a park, resort, or DS, but DS tends to have the biggest selection.

A couple suggestions for keeping costs down:
1) Buy some little souvenirs in advance and hide them in the suitcases. Dollar Tree, Target, and eBay have some cute things for a fraction of the cost of similar items in the parks.
2) If the girls will want to dress up or do BBB, buy the dresses in advance and bring them with you.
3) We limit each kid to a single, small souvenir or candy per day (less than $5). If they want something bigger, they have to save up.
4) Grandma usually gives them each money for something big, but they are not allowed to spend it at the beginning of the trip. They can look and shop, but that way they don't blow it on something they regret later when they find something else they would rather have had. The Shop Disney Parks app is great for checking to make sure you will be able to find the same item elsewhere.

Hope this helps!
 
One thing I forgot to mention, there is a website [I don't know it off the top of my head - but it is official] where you can combine up to 10 gift cards into one so you don't have to carry as many individual cards.

We have done this for our past trips. Buy a few a month, and much of your vacation is already paid.

If it's for combining Disney gift cards, it's just simply disneygiftcard.com
 


OP, here's what I would do. Go and shop around for most of your trip. If you can find time towards the END of your trip to get back to Disney Springs, and get the things you couldn't get in the parks. At that time, if you're not going to take them in your luggage home, ship what you buy at DS home! '

A lot of stuff repeats from DS to the parks, but there will be some things only available in the parks and there will be a few things that you may only find at the Springs. Just watch if you're shipping stuff home, the cost adds up. So try and limit how many of those you do (it also takes a couple WEEKS, not days, WEEKS to get things you ship home via UPS from at the Disney cash registers, but they do an awesome job with packing it.
 
Disney Springs pricing is pretty much that of the Parks. The outlet mall in the Orlando shopping mall is where there are more deals...

That said! Buy most of your $1-10 trinkets at home at the Dollar Tree or wherever. As soon as Mickey is on an item in FL, then the price tag goes up like $6 :) Find a way to ship them to your hotel - maybe even score some Amazon deals and get Prime for 2 weeks LOL
 
Thanks a ton for all the suggestions! I'm learning a ton and definately will be using these suggestions!
 
Disney Springs pricing is pretty much that of the Parks. The outlet mall in the Orlando shopping mall is where there are more deals...

That said! Buy most of your $1-10 trinkets at home at the Dollar Tree or wherever. As soon as Mickey is on an item in FL, then the price tag goes up like $6 :) Find a way to ship them to your hotel - maybe even score some Amazon deals and get Prime for 2 weeks LOL
Shipping to a WDW resort has a $5/package fee, so that really won't save money if they're paying the extra.
 
If your girls would go for simple headband ears vs the themed ones, Target has simple Mickey or Minnie headband ears in the party section for $5 or $6. They traveled well in the suitcase too. We happened upon a great plush sale and an email coupon before we went so I packed along a Pluto and a Tigger I bought at home for $8 vs $26 in FL. Also, we made the pressed pennies seem like a very cool souvenir.

If your girls like legos, the lego store has a create your own minifigure station. You make 3 for $10 and this is unique to Disney Springs/Lego Stores.
 
Shipping to a WDW resort has a $5/package fee, so that really won't save money if they're paying the extra.
true! I personally would ship bottled water or filters, or socks and underwear (stuff you really don't need to pack, you can buy new for the trip) or toys and colouring books, etc. but that's knowing I'm incurring a $5 per box fee. Depends on how much I can "save" by not putting it in a suitcase or causing extra fuel mileage on my vehicle!
 
If you will have a car while you are in town, check out the Target in town near Animal Kingdom Lodge. It has a HUGE souvenir section that is much cheaper than on property but better quality than the cheap tourist shops out in town. They also have a full grocery store with regular in-town prices so it's a great place to shop if you need to get food and water.
 
There are several unique places to shop in Disney Springs, but the World of Disney store is a giant collection of most of the souvenir-type stuff found anywhere else on property. Occasionally things are specific to a certain park or may have sold out in some stores, but mostly they all tend to have the same things at the exact same prices whether you are at a park, resort, or DS, but DS tends to have the biggest selection.

A couple suggestions for keeping costs down:
1) Buy some little souvenirs in advance and hide them in the suitcases. Dollar Tree, Target, and eBay have some cute things for a fraction of the cost of similar items in the parks.
2) If the girls will want to dress up or do BBB, buy the dresses in advance and bring them with you.
3) We limit each kid to a single, small souvenir or candy per day (less than $5). If they want something bigger, they have to save up.
4) Grandma usually gives them each money for something big, but they are not allowed to spend it at the beginning of the trip. They can look and shop, but that way they don't blow it on something they regret later when they find something else they would rather have had. The Shop Disney Parks app is great for checking to make sure you will be able to find the same item elsewhere.

Hope this helps!

Will take note of those suggestions
 
We usually go to Disney Springs on arrival day. We learned that items Disney Parks merchandise purchased can be returned to any WDW store. For example, my sister purchased a shirt at World of Disney. She changed her mind about the shirt and because she had not worn it and it was still in the bag with the receipt, she returned it to the hotel gift shop (Caribbean Beach) without any problems. This was about a year ago, hopefully this is still the case.
 

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