Orlando Area Shopping Advice
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When visiting Orlando for theme parks, everybody wants something to take
back home with them. There are many shopping outlets, Disney stores and
electronics shops where visitors can get great deals on while visiting Orlando. You can find some amazing deals and sales always going on at
many of the outlet stores and shopping malls in the Central Florida
area.
If you’re looking for official Disney Souvenir stores then you won’t
have any problems finding what you’re looking for anywhere on Disney
Property. You’ll find most resorts and hotels have their own gift shops,
but the best place to find all of your Disney gifts and items to buy is
anywhere throughout Downtown Disney. From stores such as Once Upon a Toy
located in the Disney Village at Lake Buena Vista to the world’s largest
Disney Character Shop at the World of Disney store, there is something
for everyone who is a fan of Disney. It’s also a known fact that just
about every ride inside of the Disney Theme Parks have you exit through
a gift shop.
Now for the real good stuff, there are many stores located off of Disney
Property that sell Disney souvenirs, gifts and toys. If you have the
chance to go down International Drive you will find quite a few discount
souvenir shops. While these aren’t as extravagant or as large scaled
as the ones you’ll find at Disney World, you’ll find quite a lot to
purchase at really low prices. A personal favorite you’ll find on
International Drive is “Everything is 1.99 or Less Stores”, where there
are items from Disney mugs, pins, t-shirts and many other items. You can
also find Nickelodeon characters and souvenirs at this and many other
Discount Disney Stores. While many of these stores aren’t official, there’s nothing wrong with
getting memorabilia of your trip for dirt cheap prices. There are also some official
Disney discount stores that sell official Disney merchandise at
significant discounts.
These stores usually sell items that are either outdated or items that were overstocked but
none-the-less you can find some super deals. At the time of this writing there
are two stores in the Orlando / Kissimmee area know as "Disney Character Premiere" and "Disney Character Warehouse
you may want to check out while down here".
You also may want to check out some of the Flea Markets in Orlando and
Kissimmee. There are 3 to choose from such as the 192 Flea market,
MainGate Flea Market and
Visitors Flea Market all located within miles
of each other. You’ll find many booths and great deals here. Both
are located on world famous US 192 (Irlo Bronson Hwy) and are
minutes from all your favorite attractions.
If you’re looking for great places to shop for clothes, jewelry and
other items, Orlando has a wide selection of locations to choose from.
The best place located close to Disney World for all your shopping needs
is the
Orlando Premium Outlets
located in Lake Buena Vista. It’s a great place to shop set in a
charming outdoor atmosphere with great savings on stores
like Polo Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic, Giorgio Armani. This place has
become so successful, they bought out the former dinner Show Dixie
Stampede just to expand all of its stores. You can find some amazing
deals here.
Other great locations are the Brand New
Prime 1 Outlets on International
Drive, with over 125 stores this is a great place to go shopping for
some higher end boutiques and clothing stores such as Hugo Boss, Ann
Taylor and many others. Orlando has no shortage of malls either, You
have the Mall
at Millennia, and the
Florida Mall, which are less then 20 minutes away
from all of the Theme Parks of Orlando.
Winter
Garden Village, one of the newest additions to the shopping arena
here in the Orlando area is only about 10 minutes away from Disney via
the newly built 429 toll road.
If you are looking for places to get great deals on electronics, you
have to be careful about where you go. All along the Disney area such as
Highway 192 and International Drive, you’ll see many stores that
advertise name brand electronics or sales that say 50% off. After doing
some research and trying to see what you can save 50% off of, these are
comparing prices to items you would buy if you lived overseas. Most of
these places have great cameras, dvd players and other items to buy, but
they usually are overpriced compared to what you may find at places like
Best Buy and Wal-Mart. These stores (we use the term loosely) are often
known for selling gray market merchandise which is any product that is
meant to be sold outside the USA. The reason they do this is because
these products are sold at a cheaper price however, the manufactures
will not honor the warranty so you could be buying something that has
little or no protection so as you have heard before, buyer beware! There
are also many, many, many so called "camera stores" in this area but the
same holds true at these stores as well. We recommend
Colonial
Photo and Hobby or
Ritz Camera for your camera needs.
We here at Maple Leaf Tickets are here for you, feel free to stop by our
store and ask about the area. We can save you time and money on not just
tickets but also offer great advice on other area activities like SHOPPING!
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