Welcome to the first stop aboard Magical Blogorail Blue. Enjoy the ride as we share with you our favorite Disney shopping spots.
When we first began going to The Parks several years ago we definitely had yet to acclimate ourselves to the environment enough to completely enjoy it. We were the ones who would go from line to line, from attraction to attraction, all day long and then leave at the end of the day absolutely wiped out, because that's how we figured it had to be done. We've since become Annual Passholders and with that has come a certain amount of understanding in just how to play our time in The Parks to our advantage. As time has gone one, we've begun to enjoy all of the other things that The Parks have to offer as well, including restaurants and shopping spots.
We honestly enjoy shopping now in The Parks, even though as men, this probably puts us in some kind of minority. We even have our favorite places to shop, which we're going to share with you today! One of the reasons we enjoy shopping in The Parks is because there is always something to see. It's true, you can find the same merchandise in any number of shops around, but we enjoy the way that they gear each shop towards the land that it is in and much of the merchandise the same. And it seems like there is always something we've not noticed before every time we go in a particular shop, such as window-dressings or displays. We talk a lot around here about the "little details", and Park shopping is certainly no different, so come along with us for some of our favorite shopping haunts inside The Resort.
One of our favorite "window-dressings" in The Park
Westward Ho (Frontierland)
The Westward Ho Trading Co. - Pins and Vinyl galore!
One of our favorite places in The Park to hang out is Frontierland, so it's probably only natural that one of our favorite places to shop is there as well. We love the pioneer and western feel of the area, and Westward Ho is perfectly themed to fit in. Set on the end of a western boardwalk (picture a saloon with hitching rails outside, complete with a cigar store Indian), rarely a visit to The Park goes by where we don't stop in at least once. It's specialty? Disney Pins and Vinylmation! When we go shopping for Vinylmation (when we're in the heat of a collection), this is usually our first stop. In our experience, it offers the best selections of Pins in The Park, and there are trading tables outside if that tickles your fancy. Or, if you're like us and deal in plastic, there are also trading boxes inside you can use. We've always found the Cast Members in Westward Ho pleasant and fun to deal with as well. They've always been great to deal and interact with, and definitely go a long way towards making Westward Ho one of our favorite stops.
Pooh's Corner (Critter Country)
"Waiting for you, and me Winnie the Pooh..."
We've almost begun thinking of Pooh Corner as a hidden treasure! Set way back in The Park at the back end of Critter Country, the Corner (as we've taken to calling it) has become one of our weekly stops while we're roaming around late at night. We love the Critter area, and this shop fits in perfectly with all of the other decor and features around. Pooh Corner itself is an awesome shop for souvenirs for the kiddies! There are several rooms stretched out together here (the shop is really quite large) with all kinds of clothing, toys, and everything else your kids would typically be screaming for. Good stuff!
Being who we are, though, our reason for coming back here is totally different. We like the treats! We've talked to many people, many of whom don't even know, that there is in fact a candy shop in Pooh Corner. We kind of think of it as a miniature Main Street Candy Palace (from Main Street, USA). We love going into the shop and watching them hand-make all of our favorite treats. And what's better than watching them make them? Eating them, of course! Many an evening will find us at the counter ordering either a Peanut Butter Sandwich (or Heaven) and a carton of milk for dessert. Or, if you have peanut allergies, there are TONS of other options as well, such as toffees and candy apples. Plus, there is a wide assortment of other candies here such as the Disney brand of Jelly Belly candies (which take up an entire wall along the back) and pretty much any Goofy's Candy Co. candies you can think of (including our beloved Sour Balls). Not sold yet? We honestly don't know what else could say to convince you then. Moving on!
D-Street (Downtown Disney)
The King of Vinylmation stores. See, told you we called it that...
Lastly, we need to visit what we've dubbed the King of Vinylmation stores at The Resort, D Street. Located in the hip and trendy Downtown Disney area, D Street is also a place we typically stop at at least once a trip out. If a new Vinylmation series is coming out, this is your place to get it! They get all of the new releases as soon as they come out, and many an hour we've spent in here just checking things out and wishing we had the money to buy every piece of Vinyl in sight. There is also always a trading box in here (and usually people outside willing to trade as well), so if you are looking for that special piece for your collection, this just might be your place to find it.
As strange as it is to say, since that's mostly what we are there for, D Street isn't only about the Vinylmation. It is in Downtown Disney after all, and there are tons of other cool and kitschy items here. Lots of Star Wars and other sci-fi items are in here, and there are tons of t-shirts, posters, toys and other things here to keep even in the most discerning geek happy. Definitely worth checking out!
It was hard narrowing down our favorite shopping spots to just three, there are so many of them! But in the interest of time we had no choice. But we have a little bonus for you! We've taken the liberty of creating a
Gowalla Trip of our favorite shopping spots, specially for
The Magical Blogorail and its readers. Here you'll find our Top 10 shopping spots (including the three you've just read about) with a little description as to why we enjoy them so much. That way if you're ever at The Resort, you can easily pull up our spots and see just where we like to go yourselves.
We hope you've enjoyed coming around with us to our favorite shopping spots today, and like always, when you're out and about and doing the shopping yourself, keep your eyes open for your own little gems inside The Parks. You never know what you might come across.
Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail is The CanaDisney Blog.
Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:
1st Stop ~ Days in the Park
