Welcome back to another My Disney Top 5. This time around, I’d like to sort of combine my two monthly columns into one, as today’s list greatly affects my other column. When I’m not writing about my Top 5 Disney Whatchamacallits I write another column called Disney Stuff. It was the first thing I wrote for MousePlanet and the goal was to get us talking about and let’s be honest, admitting to, all of that great Disney Stuff that we all have and love. Some things are vintage and are legitimate collections and others are just things that, as my friend Barry Allender over at Tomart’s Disneyana Update Magazine always says, we Disney fans accumulate. So, I’ve spent the greater part of the last two years writing about all of this Disney Stuff that I have and hearing about all of the great Disney Stuff that you readers out there collect and accumulate.
That said, when it was time to come up with an article for this month’s Top 5, I turned to my muses: my lovely wife Diane and my 11-year-old daughter Samantha. They both agreed that “We shop a lot when we’re down in Disney, so how about your Top 5 Disney Shopping experiences?” They were right. I mean all of this stuff has to come from someplace doesn’t it? Granted, I can find Disney Stuff anywhere and believe me, I do. I’ll find the one Mickey Mouse item in any antique show or store that we go to. I always make it a point to stop at our local Disney Store when we’re at the mall. I’m also certainly guilty of perusing the Internet looking for a rare or not-so-rare find that I simply must add to the accumulation. We’re also fortunate to have had a World of Disney in Manhattan and we made sure to stop there a couple of times every year it was open to soak up some of the magic atmosphere, take a picture with a character, get some Mickey mints, and who knows what else. I will miss that as they closed down this past January. But I do like getting stuff from the source, Walt Disney World, and they certainly do supply abundance at every turn. With so many choices and a gift shop at the end of just about every attraction, what are my favorite places to track down Disney Stuff in Orlando? I’m glad you asked—because here are my Top 5 Places to Get Cool Disney Stuff in Walt Disney World.
5 – Fulton’s General Store – Port Orleans Riverside
The rarely seen Morty and Ferdie with Goofy at Fulton's. Photo By Chris Barry.
We’ve stayed at Riverside a lot in our travels and overall, it’s one of my favorite places to be down in the World. I guess that’s why it made this list. This shop has the usual smattering of stuff that you can get in the parks, but a little more than some of the other gift shops I’ve been in at other resorts. The cast members there have always gone out of their way to help us, even more so than usual. I love the centerpiece of the store featuring large figures of Donald Duck’s nephews and the rarely seen nephews of Mickey, Morty and Ferdie. I always seem to be able to find something I want at Fulton’s and just thinking about it brings back happy memories of our many visits to our favorite resort.
4 – Uptown Jewelers – Main Street USA
Uptown Jewelers on Main Street USA. Photo By Brian Bennett.
We love to hit Main Street on the way out as the Magic Kingdom is closing. We take our time leaving the park. We hang around whatever land we are ending the day in and slowly make our way through the Emporium as the park empties out. Sometimes we’re one of the last customers to leave and then our bus is practically empty. That’s how we enjoy the Emporium. Uptown Jewelers is another story for me. Everything there seems breakable, so I’m nervous with my two young boys in there. If I’m shopping here it’s usually on my own or somehow my wife and I have slipped away and left the kids with someone. On our last adults only trip we took our time and really looked at everything. I try to get a new watch on each trip, never one that’s too expensive, although I have jealously looked at a few. Uptown Jewelers has a great selection of some of the finer Disney collectibles and it’s on Main Street, one of my favorite places anywhere—so what more do I need?
3 – Germany – Epcot’s World Showcase
The Germany pavilion at Epcot. Photo By Chris Barry.
After nearly 20 years with my wife, a first generation German American having both parents born and raised in Germany, I have yet to visit Deutschland with her. I’ve come close. We’ve toured through Austria with two of our closest friends. There’s a great picture of Diane sitting on a garden bench looking out over the Alps from this wonderful Bavarian style inn near Salzburg feeling totally in her element. You’ve never seen someone so at home and she wasn’t even technically in Germany. She gets the same look when we approach the Germany pavilion in Epcot. Once again, it’s not technically in Germany, but it’s a pretty darn good facsimile. I’m German by marriage (Pretty much the same way my father turned from Irish to Italian when he met my mother. Let’s face it: the food was better.) So the shops in Germany have come to be an important stop when we’re in Orlando. I think it’s the best shopping in all of World Showcase; the Hummels, the Christmas store, the crystal, the chocolates, and the wine. And how about expensive Steiff stuffed animals, Smurfs, cool German toys, beer steins, cuckoo clocks, cold beer, pretzels and bratwurst? We always spend a lot of time in this pavilion and we all leave with something.
2 – Mouse Gear – Epcot’s Future World
MouseGear, a store with character. Photo by Jeff Kober.
Hands down, Mouse Gear is the best Disney Store in the world, and in the entire resort for that matter. Sorry Main Street. Sorry Hollywood Boulevard. Sorry Discovery Island. As far as the theme parks main store goes, Mouse Gear has you all beat. If they don’t have it, you don’t need it.
We always seem to save up our big shopping blast for this place. It just seems to have the biggest and best selection of Walt Disney World stuff on property. I think the store is well laid out and I love the mechanical contraptions that are on the ceilings and walls. After Illuminations, while everyone is running for a spot on the buses, monorails and trams, you’ll find us happily wandering through Mouse Gear looking for and usually finding that last perfect magical purchase to remember our trip by.
1 – The King’s Gallery – Cinderella Castle
My favorite store used to lie within these walls. Photo By Chris Barry.
OK, so this shop is gone. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t my favorite and will always be my favorite shop in all of Walt Disney World. First of all, it was in Cinderella Castle. Considering how difficult (and not truly worth it, in my opinion) reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table are, this was your chance to really feel like you were in the castle. It was designed to look just that way. It was a magical room with stone walls and lots of ornate dark wood. It looked like it really belonged in a castle. The amazing Cinderella Mosaic framed its doors and I remember there not being a sign. There were higher end items for sale there such as crystal, artwork, and of course actual swords. Much of this can be found on Main Street in the expanded Arribas Brothers, but it was a different experience shopping for it in this wonderful room. Now it’s a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which I suppose makes sense considering its proximity to the aforementioned Princess character meal. My daughter’s 11 now and doesn’t want to be made up to look like a princess anymore, so I suppose I’ll have to wait for a granddaughter to see the inside of my favorite shop again. Cover up instead of crystal and sequins instead of swords. Something tells me, it won’t be the same.
Well, there’s just a smattering of the many, many shopping options you can find at Walt Disney World to get your Disney Stuff. I’m sure I’m going to take some flack for leaving Downtown Disney off of my list completely, especially the massive World of Disney, but I have to admit something…I really dislike Downtown Disney. Taking the boat there from Riverside was always nice, but once we were there, it always felt like chaos to me. It always seems way too crowded. There was a McDonald’s there which to me broke the whole, “I’m in a different world” thing that I so crave when I cross underneath the arches into Walt Disney World. I live 40 minutes from Manhattan if I want to go to a Planet Hollywood; I don’t need one when I’m in Disney World. And don’t get me started on Pleasure Island. Good riddance. Nothing popped my “Disney bubble” more than the first time I wandered through that chaotic scene. I know it had its fans, but I couldn’t wait to get out of there. So, sorry Downtown Disney, you’re off my list.
That said; let me hear from you out there. What’s your favorite shopping destination when you’re visiting the World? What have I forgotten? Trust me, it was tough to narrow it down. I like looking for Tinker Bell flitting around her store in the Magic Kingdom just as much as the next fully grown adult, and I’ve never been to what my dear friends Robert and Paula used to refer to as the 5th theme park, the various Disney outlet stores, so I had to leave some things out.
There are plenty of places to accumulate more of that great Disney Stuff when you’re on vacation in Walt Disney World. Send me some of yours and I’ll see you next time with another My Disney Top 5.
