Disneyland, Anaheim

When you are in Disneyland and on a travel budget looking for deals, don't buy the t-shirts inside the Disneyland.

As for me, I went to California T-shirts (Yes, that's the name of the little tiny store).

Look for it on South Harbor Road or call them for directions once you are in Anaheim.

The t-shirts are dirt cheap!

The store is in a little tiny hut and it's owned by a Korean. She has arrays of t-shirts from small to extra extra large!

The store's address is 1650 S. Harbor Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92802

What to buy: I bought a lot of t-shirts here as gifts to my siblings' children and friends of my daughter.

What to pay: 4 for $20 for the adult's t-shirts and for the children, I paid $2.99 each.

and in need to make groceries, check out the nearest options:

(Starting point: Main Disneyland entrance/sign, along Harbor Blvd)

Target- 12100 Harbor Boulevard, Garden Grove, CA (reachable by bus, take OCTA route 43 S). Bus trip last about 8 min +-

Vons (traditional supermarket)- 130 W. Lincoln, Anaheim, CA (reachable by bus, take OCTA route 43 N, exit Lincoln Ave, walk 5 +- east to market). Bus trip last about 10 min+-

KMART- 10870 Katella Avenue West, Anaheim, CA (walk about 5 min south from Harbor Blvd to Katella, go to bus stop by 7-11 store, take OCTA route 50 W ). Bus trip last about 8 min +-

***These three locations are especially useful when on extended stay in Disneyland and are in need of groceries and home comforts which are likely overpriced at the Disneyland parks!

What to buy: besides groceries, one can buy a wide assortment of sundries at all locations

What to pay: a little to a lot. Kmart has the best bargains generally. Target is not much more pricey though. Vons is often considered "overpriced" but there are always sale items featured worth buying

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I usually do not shop, but every time we come, you have to buy something for either yourself or for your children. I usually wait to shop before we leave and main street shops offers alll kinds of neat things to buy. We usually buy T-Shirts because I find that type of souviner useful. I will say Disneyland is expensive and they do not hesitate to get every last dime from you. Yet, I find there items to be of good quality. So we bought T-Shirts, hats, pens, and a few items I bought as gifts to friends. All worth it to see the smiles of my boys.

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like the universal city walk, downtown disney has an assortment of shops, restaurants and souvenir items. You can buy a lot of souvenir items at the Downtown Disney without stepping inside the Theme parks. Get away for a few hours and spend some quality time in an immersive Disney environment, all without an admission fee. The Downtown Disney District features open-air cafes, lively entertainment, nightclubs and a movie theater. You'll feel transported to a uniquely Disney world where you can relax and spend some special time with the people you love. And if you live in Southern California, it's all right next door!

opens: 10:00 am to 10:00 pm everyday

What to buy: lots of assorted disney merchandise, dine at the various dining establishments and hang out at rainforest cafe or the ESPN Zone and more.

What to pay: maxx out your credit card

This is a Disneyland outlet store just 3 miles north of the Disneyland Parks, where you can find great deals on lots of authentic Disney merchandise.

Plus! If you go to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce web site you can get a printable 10% off coupon for the Character Warehouse! Here's the URL:

chamber

What to buy: Basic Disney souvenirs such as as t-shirts, sweatshirts and mugs. It is last year's park merchandise. But as far as I'm concerned, a Mickey t-shirt is a Mickey t-shirt. It doesn't matter whether it's last year's or this year's merchandise line. Where it does make a difference is on the Disney movie themed merchandise. Obviously, unless someone is a huge fan of a particular movie, you won't want a souvenir from a movie from 2 years ago.

You can get to the store using public transit, at a cost of about $1.25 each way. Take OCTA Route 43 north from the Disney resort area and get off at the corner of Harbour and Orangethorpe, about a 20 minute bus ride. (If you ask the bus driver when you board the bus, they will tell you when to get off. ) Route 43 runs up and down Harbour about every 15 minutes. Cross the street to catch the south-bound bus back to Disney.

What to pay: Varies, depending on what you purchase. All items are at considerable savings over buying inside the parks, but you can't get everything that you can get at the parks.

As an example, we bought our kids autograph books as soon as we got to the park, and paid $7 for each one. The next day when we went to the Warehouse, we saw the very same autograph books, priced at $2! We could have got all 3 for less than we paid for 1!!

The Disney Parks sell enough souveniers to send even a millionaire broke! I really felt sorry for those people with young children who were not old enough to appreciate the value of money. Mind you for those with older children Disney is a place that kids can really learn about money, choices and budgetting.

What to buy: Definitely get souveniers for everyone but look look look look look before you buy. We were their for 3 days and spent hours checking out what was available over the parks. Often things repeated in many shops but occasionally there were one of a kind things.

We did most of our buying on our last day.

What to pay: Usual theme park prices yet things were as horribly expensive as what I had pictured.

This is Disney's online shopping website, and it also has a selection of clearance merchandise. Prices are drastically reduced on clearance merchandise.

What to buy: When we went to Disneyland, we ordered Disney dollars in advance. As our children did chores around the house, we paid them with Disney dollars each week. They were able to take their Disney money with them when we left on vacation and they chose their own souvenirs while we were at the park. We also bought them Mickey ears, autograph books and keepsake pens at the park. That way, they went home with souvenirs and autographs from their trip.

After we returned home, we ordered items for each child from the shopping website at a considerable savings.

The website often has free shipping offers as well. These vary at different times, at the time of writing this they were offering free shipping on any order over $75.

You can purchase personalized watches from the website, and this is the only place you can get these. Watches are available at Disneyland, but you can not get them personalized unless you order online. They only ship to the US, though! (**sniff**!)

What to pay: 10 to 75% less than full price on the outlet page. Other items are at regular prices which vary depending on what you are buying.

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This is the store for the die-hard Disney fan. First, it was initially built as Walt Disney's private apartment. Second, it's a nice store to walk through for casual Disney fans as well because (1) it's usually not crowded because it is often overlooked, and (2) it's like a museum of Disneyland history. Directly above the entrance to the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, the Disney Gallery is full of prints and posters of past attractions, conceptual designs used for current and former attractions, and 3D models. And there are images from other Disney theme parks as well. Many prints are beautiful and wonderfully colored and are a great glimpse into what Disneyland was like when they first opened it. All can be purchased and even shipped so you won't have to slog them around the park with you.

A must for the die-hard Disney fan and those who will remember long-gone attractions.

What to buy: Prints, models, etc.

What to pay: Varies

If you want to get Disney items, especially apparel, hats, cups, pins, postcards- don't buy them inside the theme parks!!! They will take too much of your precious dollars. Go instead outside on Harbor Blvd. in stores like ABC Mart, near the intersection of Harbor and Katella for bargains. The items are usually of the same quality of the parks' items. Check for a Disney logos if you care.

If you are planning to visit Disneyland, California Adventure and many other theme parks in southern california with your family and friends, but you dont want to spend so much $, here is an deal for you. Get a City Pass of Southern California from the site below, save up to $75 US for each adult and $57 for children. So you can use the $ to buy other stuff instead. You can have unlimited admission to Disneyland and California Adventure for 3 days
Local tips: Check out some pepsi soda can in local supermarket for stall for special coupon on the can at six flag magic mountain.

What to buy: Southern California City Pass

What to pay: $172 for adult
$129 for children