5 WEEKS IN FLORIDA! Autism, gymnastics and a little bit of everything! Day 14 - Premium Outlet's

[Dollymixture]

Hiya. Day 14 and we all were in need of a nice easy day today. It's amazing how much the heat and going from place to place takes it out of you - even when we have been doing shorter days with less crammed in!

We decided to have a look around the Premium Outlet's at Vineland, after a leisurely breakfast. We didn't have time to visit the last time we were in Florida and always wondered what we missed out on, so it seemed a good time to go and check it out.

The traffic was so much better at this time (around 11am) and it was actually a pleasure to drive for once! We have been used to sitting in traffic around Championsgate and the I4 for at least an hour every morning.

We arrived and there was plenty of parking but it was definitely busy.

We headed straight to Adidas hoping to pick up some kidswear for the girl's gym training. Unfortunately the kids section was tiny and we found the prices really expensive, so we left empty handed.

Lila was desperate to pick up some LOL Surprise items while we are in the USA, as there are some newly released ones that we can't get in the UK yet, but despite checking out the stores, they were sold out everywhere. So when she saw the stall at the premium outlets full of LOL doll stuff she nearly passed out with excitement!
We had a look and there were no prices on anything - so i asked how much the small LOL doll is (They are £11 in UK, less than $15) so i nearly passed out when she said they were $50 dollars each! The larger mermaid ones (£30 in UK - less than $40) was $110! I told the lady how shockingly expensive that was and how much they cost back home, and she just said 'AH well it's just premium outlet prices'.
I had to ban Lila from spending her money on them - or she totally would have done!

We had a look in a couple of the sunglasses shops for some Maui Jim's- again though we found them more expensive than we had seen them in the Florida Mall!

The girl's had a look in Claire's and bought a few items - nothing special pricewise, just usual store prices.

Lastly we went to the Disney outlet store - our final hope for some bargains!

I enjoyed browsing round here, although it was pretty chaotic with lots of people, and some of it resembling a jumble sale!

There were definitely bargains to be had if you looked hard. We bought some T-shirts that ranged from $4-$8, one of them was a splash mountain one and another Tower of Terror.

We also pickedup a really cute soft velour Thumper onesie ($8) and a spider man vest and hat ($6) for the grandkids, and a couple of toys as well - a mickey taggie blacket ($7 ) and a Winnie the Pooh shape sorter ($6).

Sonny bought himself a cap for $2. All was greatly reduced and good quality as Disney generally is.

We called it a day after this and headed out- one of the kids spotted a Golden Corral as we were driving and they were all suddenly starving so we stopped for some lunch.Another good meal - very quiet, plenty of choice and very cheap - less than $60 for 6 of us. They did bags of candy floss in this one much to the kids delight, and you're allowed to take one bag each with you when you leave, so they were full to the brim with sugar!

With renewed energy, we realised we weren't far from Costco, and we wanted to start bulk buying things we had on our list to bring home with us, so off we went! We bought a huge box of swedish fish sweets and a massive bag of hot tamales to bring back, some tylenol and Sleeping medication. I'm sure there was more, but my memory escapes me! We will definitely be back to buy more supplies to bring home, but it's good to make a start.

When we got back to the villa - it was pool time for the girls and th rest of us just relaxed.We had wanted to go to Volcano Bay in the evening, but the weather looked iffy and storms were brewing, so we thought it best to leave it or we would have a repeat of last time we went!

So the plan tomorrow is Volcano Bay for opening, Universal to do a couple of the rides we had missed and to pick up some Voodoo Donuts!

[dibdon]

Just want to say how amazing your trip report is, my little boy has just been diagnosed with Autism and your reports are really helpful xxx

[Tea]

Agree with Dibdon; am finding it very helpful.
Cannot get over the price of the LOL dolls! Dd (6) loves them too but that is nuts money. Even at £11 I find the blasted things expensive given the only thing we end up with is a tiny plastic doll and an accessory.

I love that TTOT tshirt. The colour is fantastic 😍😍😍
We have a navy one but that one is far nicer.

[mick]

A good day some bargains and a few disappointments

Joan

[Beanie1]

We never find any bargains either! Really enjoying your trip report. We are going next week with my sister and family. Both my son and nephew have autism... some of the quirks you describe have really made me smile. Xxx

[Lisaw1971]

Did you say ‘grandchildren’ how your kids are all young.?

[collybird]

Have you looked for LOL Surprise in Target or Walmart? I hope Lila manages to find some reasonably priced ones.

That Splash Mountain t-shirt is fab, I love things that are subtly Disney.

[Cinderella]

Some nice bargains 👍

[caitlinsmummy]

Quite a few bargains in the Disney outlet, well done

I am so glad my daughter is too old for the LOL doll craze! Those prices are extortionate I would have banned her from using her money on them too x