Palo’s Not So Scary Halloween & Very Alaska Outlet Report

It’s time for the November 2019 installment of the Character Warehouse Outlet Report, with merchandise photos from the Walt Disney World clearance center near Disney Springs. After a tepid showing last month, this one is a doozy, in both very good and so bad, it’s good ways.

Hence the seemingly nonsensical post title, “Palo’s Not So Scary Halloween & Very Alaska Outlet Report.” That’s actually a bit of foreshadowing, and is a truncated version of kitchen sink title I wanted to use. Suffice to say, it was a bonkers visit to the outlet, for reasons we’ll cover.

To start, we should reiterate that due to policy changes, popular items, increased demand, etc., our recent “Disney’s Longest Line in Florida is at Character Warehouse!” post remains true. The title pretty much says it all, but you should absolutely read that before making the pilgrimage out to the Orlando Premium Outlets…

Now let’s get our usual caveats out of the way: this Disney Character Warehouse Outlet Photo Report should be viewed as a “just for fun” post rather than an actual shopping guide for Orlando’s outlets. Some items sell out in hours (or less!), while others languish on shelves at Character Warehouse for months.

Due to recent policy changes, an infiltration of more eBay pirates, the fire marshal raining on the parade of bargain hunters, pesky vloggers & bloggers refusing to honor the locals, and who knows what else, the Disney Character Warehouse Outlet can be very busy and very hit or miss. As in, hour-plus lines to enter shortly after it opens and empty shelves in the evening. It’s probably not worth spending valuable vacation time making the trek out here.

If you do opt to go, there are two Disney Character Warehouse Outlet stores in the Orlando area. One is on Vineland, somewhat near Disney Springs. The other is on I-Drive, closer to Universal. We always do the Vineland location because it’s more convenient and parking is less of a hassle. As always, we recommend reading our How to Shop the Outlet Stores for Discount Walt Disney World Merchandise guide for more background info on these stores.

Okay, now that we’ve probably built up some suspense and intrigue with all of those warnings, let’s dig into Palo’s Not So Scary Halloween & Very Alaska Outlet Report and show you what we found…

We’ll start with the least interesting stuff, at least from this report’s perspective, because these things were all here last month.

There are a ton of these Genie Loungefly backpacks, along with a bunch of other random purses and such.

Some of these are still being sold at Walt Disney World.

The Figment one, for example, is available for full price in the Journey into Imagination gift shop and MouseGear.

More purses.

As sweet as it is in the film, I feel like the whole “Grape Soda” thing has taken on a life of its own and become the de facto logo of hipsters and Disney Dapper Ducks. (Wasn’t sure if “Dappers” is a word used to refer to people, so we’ll go with Dapper Ducks, which also doesn’t make sense. Whatever.)

I think this purse is actually pretty cool, but it also doesn’t seem particularly practical.

As with all of the other purses above, it also doesn’t look like something anyone would carry in “real world” settings.

I guess these are like coin, credit card, or phone cases?

Then there’s the tea cup (coin purse?), which hits the sweet spot of being too small to be useful for carrying large items and too cumbersome for carrying small items.

It has taken me like 7 years just to remember that the name of this character is Angel and not, in fact, “Pink Stitch.”

Credit where credit is due, because her presence as a mainstay of the outlet has certainly helped with that. I foresee Tropical Angel being available whenever you do visit Character Warehouse, as there’s a veritable army of this plush on shelves and bagged up under other displays.

Ah yes, Thanator! The beloved character from *checks notes* Avatar!

I’m sure Avatar fans will get the last laugh here, finding this blog post in 2047 and leaving a comment dunking on me when Avatar 2 is released and Thanator is the hero.

Name these characters, wrong answers only.

(Seriously, don’t give me the real name of that mandrill-lion looking plush. I want to remain blissfully ignorant to its reality. In my fantasy world, there’s now a Lion King direct-to-video sequel revolving around breeding a genetic hybrid of Simba and Rafiki. Or perhaps I’ve unwittingly stumbled upon the plot of Avatar 2?!?)

No snarky commentary here.

That Jessica’s Diner shirt is really clever, and I hope it wasn’t sent to the outlet because of poor sales. It’s not for me, but it’s the inventive kind of merchandise I’d like to see more of.

There’s currently a lot of the food-themed merchandise at the outlets, which is unsurprising because it seems like a very niche thing to begin with.

What’s more odd is that rather than making less of this, Walt Disney World is doubling down, releasing a bunch of new holiday food merchandise right now in the parks. Look forward to seeing that here come January!

These ears are pretty cool and well-designed.

Perfect for anyone staying at Port Orleans French Quarter, or visiting and wanting to get photos with the alligator band or other decorations around the resort.

Now we get to the good stuff: Halloween merchandise!

One of my favorite times to go to the outlet is a couple of days after major seasonal events end.

At those times, the outlet usually gets huge shipments of items that didn’t sell during the seasonal events.

Unlike the normal mixed bag nature of outlet merchandise, a lot of the ‘past season’ stuff is really good–it just didn’t sell out in the parks.

Of course, there are exceptions…

I’m half surprised Walt Disney World didn’t just hold onto this vest, making it a Cast Member costume for treat trails or something. (I actually think this is a fun design, it’s just a bit too weird.)

If you’re salivating over the deeply discounted spirit jerseys, let me stop you right there.

The black one is/was only available in size XS and the Hocus Pocus one was only XXL. Just while I was in this area, ~5 guests asked Cast Members if there were other sizes available. I’d hazard a guess these are totally sold out now.

I was surprised that these aren’t behind the counter, but I guess they’re not as ‘in-demand’ as the other Dooney & Bourke bags?

For what it’s worth (and that probably isn’t much since I know nothing about purses), I think this design is truly spelltacular. If I carried purses, I’d buy this for sure.

This bag, on the other hand, seems overpriced even at $5.

I can’t believe this sold in the parks for $17. The design is neat, but the quality is low–it looks like something a kid would make in art class out of felt.

Some Christmas items are already on the shelves. I love both of these ornaments.

Unfortunately, the ‘it’s a small world’ one is not a glass ball and instead is made of concrete (probably). That’s great if you’re looking for something that is unlikely to break. Not so good if you’re the owner of Yossarian the Cat, a conniving kitty who would purposefully knock this down, breaking 7 glass ornaments below it in the process.

Another ‘it’s a small world’ item.

And another thing that I think is cool, but isn’t for me.

Take a moment to appreciate all of the “greatness” on this shelf. First, the Bone Daddy shirt. A true classic for anyone who is a creepy dude or just a big Nightmare Before Christmas fan.

Next, we’ll direct your attention to the Palo uniform. That’s right, an actual uniform made by a supply company!

We laughed about this for a good 5 minutes, running through the various scenarios in which this could be incredibly useful. It’s probably not actually that funny, be we thought it was downright hilarious that they’d be selling this at Disney Character Warehouse.

Oh, and if you read something in the news about someone breaking into Palo on December 23, 2019 at 4:45 pm and stealing 375 pounds of cheese, it wasn’t us. We don’t know anything about any plans for such a heist, Codename: Colossal Cheese Caper.

Also on the shelf that keeps on giving, this Beast hat.

This feels like the design team knew they wanted horns on a hat, but couldn’t figure out the rest of the look, so they just said, “screw it, let’s spell out what this is supposed to be.”

Finally, good news for anyone who took a summer cruise to Alaska!

Or, I guess, Alaska residents vacationing to Walt Disney World who want Disney-branded items from their home state.

You could also purchase these items for family members you don’t like who keep harping on you to bring them back something from Walt Disney World!

It’s the perfect troll, really.

This just scratches the surface on the Disney Cruise Line Alaska merchandise. This seems to happen every year after the destination cruise season ends. It never ceases to amaze me that they continue to stock this stuff, because it invariably sits on the shelves for months.

Unlike the Halloween stuff, which is already moving fast, this should be around for a while. So, if you did cruise to Alaska this summer, live in Alaska, or have family that you want to troll, you have some time to grab this stuff.

That wraps up this month’s Disney Character Warehouse Outlet Photo Report. We should note that there are actually a lot of really good items that we didn’t have the time of space to cover here. All of the great Junk Food stuff from last month is still here, there are a ton of Alex & Ani charms, more Dooney & Bourke purses behind the counter, laid back summer designs, Pride/Rainbow Collection shirts & ears, and other things I’m probably forgetting.

For this trip to the outlet, we went in the late afternoon shortly after it started raining (thinking that’d clear out the crowds). There was no line to enter the store, but there was a huge line inside to check out. Normally, we visit after 8 pm, which is also what we recommend anyone else does. Parking is easier the later you go, and while you’ll find picked over shelves, the store won’t be as chaotic or have lines at that point. Irrespective of when you go–if at all–temper your expectations. Don’t bank on finding any of the stuff you see pictured here or on social media. Character Warehouse is definitely a ‘feast or famine’ type of deal—the majority of the time we go, we don’t buy a single thing.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of the merchandise in this outlet report? Will you be purchasing your own Palo uniform? What about the Halloween items? Thinking about moving to Alaska just so you can buy all of this Alaska DCL merchandise and rep your new home state? Have you visited the outlet recently? Find anything good, or did you think it was a frustrating waste of time? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!