One of the clearance centers for the Disney Character Warehouse, an store store where Walt Disney World and DCL can remove unused goods at significant discounts, is closing immediately. These are information about the continuous closing of the Sunrise, Florida shop located at the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall.
In Florida, three Disney Character Warehouse locations are merely a fundamental qualifications. Two of these are a little Uber or Lyft journey from Walt Disney World. One is on Vineland ( 8200 Vineland Avenue Suite 1252, Orlando, FL 32821 ), and the other is on International Drive ( 495 International Drive Suite 95, Orlando, FL 32819 ). The Vineland area is closer to Walt Disney World, whereas the I-Drive area is closer to Universal Orlando Resort.
The Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall’s Sunrise, Florida location is the third and final Florida Disney Character Warehouse ( 12801 W. Sunrise Blvd., Sunrise, FL 33323 ). This one is in South Florida, near Miami and Fort Lauderdale. To get to Central Florida, you must consider the Brightline from Orlando International Airport (or, of course drive ). It’s also closer to the Port Everglades Disney Cruise Line connector.
We had a hire car right it for a new cruise aboard the Disney Destiny! ), but seriously, I completely forgot at the time that Disney Character Warehouse had a place in Sunrise. As rumors have emerged that the Sawgrass Mills area is entirely closing, I regret this. I’ve always been, and have always been intrigued about how it differs from the two Central Florida businesses.
Anyway, regular clients and Put Associates are both reporting that the Disney Character Warehouse in Sunrise will shut down completely in two weeks. Here’s the latest …
Disney has chosen not to maintain their contract with Simon at the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall, according to Cast Member conversation. Per these Put People, the Disney Character Warehouse in Sunrise, Florida likely shut on April 15, 2026.
There is a lot of online skepticism about the causes of this, but we’ll start with the most plausible explanation, in our opinion.
Income. This is clear, isn’t it? But we’re seeing a lot of debate about the closing that, curiously, focuses on other issues. Maybe even mentioning items that are essentially the opposite of money to support the closing.
The bottom line, though, is that business contracts are cheap and some companies have made the firm decision to close cement &, cement locations. Even those that perform reasonably well. It could be a matter of Simon increasing book, Disney not wanting to get locked into that area for another X years, realizing that they don’t have outlets outside of Central Florida, or perhaps not wanting real storefronts at all in the upcoming.
There is a striking aspect to this: Saks Global Enterprises, the parent firm of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, announced that it will now shut down many of its channel businesses as a result of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Saks say they made the” proper choice” to close the majority of Saks OFF 5TH retail sites and all remaining Neiman Marcus Last Call businesses.
One of the anchor residents in Sawgrass Mills is one such Neiman Marcus Last Call, which is right next to Disney Character Warehouse. But right away, that’s a significant reduction of foot visitors to the retailer, which is already tucked away on a high end of the shop.
Another alleged causes for the Disney Character Warehouse closing include a flurry of resellers, private shoppers, reside streamers, and the Disney World location.
This is where the supposed “explanations” for the closing lose me. Don’t get me wrong, I detest eBay piracy only as much as anyone else. But this sounds very much like prediction. People need to realize that saying” this thing doesn’t like sucks” and” this thing doesn’t like is honestly bad for business” is wrong. They are not the same speech.
How annoying it is to watch eBay thieves plunder and pillage Disney Character Warehouse without overstating it. I’d rather see back to back exhibitions of Beauty and the Beast: Sing-Along than visit the store on the evenings ( it’s always the evenings ) when these falcons are battling for treasure. These eBay piracy are rude, aggressive, act entitled, and appear to genuinely enjoy playing villains. It’s easy to see why so many fans hate them. I detest them!
However, as we’ve discussed previously, Disney tolerates eBay pirates precisely because they are good for business. Disney’s final product with Character Warehouse is unloading unsold merchandise. They don’t care how. It is more effective to liquidate thousands of dollars worth of junk in one transaction than to have someone like me browse the aisles for 30 minutes before purchasing$ 40 worth of heirlooms.
It’s a similar story in the parks with” collectible” popcorn buckets or whatever. If the business saw resellers as a real problem, they could enforce stricter regulations. For the most part, they don’t …so they haven’t.
There have been a few exceptions to this, such as when empty shelves were a result of supply chain shortages. Or when there was a crackdown on resellers using their AP discount to buy product in bulk.
To deter resellers, the Disney Character Warehouse retail locations have just implemented a stricter new return policy.
As of February 2026, all sales at Disney Character Warehouse and Cast Connection are final, meaning nothing can be returned for refunds or exchanged. With no exceptions, all sales are final and as-is.
This new return policy actually is the direct result of resellers, who would exploit the previous policy by purchasing stuff speculatively, relisting it on eBay, and then returning unsold inventory to the outlet. This was shrewd of the swashbucklers because it reduced their risk. It also created extra work for Disney in processing the returns, managing inventory, etc.
Because eBayers no longer serve as a reliable means of liquidating goods, that is why the policy changed. Not because Disney suddenly hates pirates and is cracking down on them. Disney only wants to dictate the terms for the relationship, which is still very much a symbiotic one.
Honestly, I’m surprised the Disney Character Warehouse clearance centers still exist at all. The writing seems to be on the wall, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the two Walt Disney World locations close whenever their leases expire.
For starters, there’s the bigger picture about brick and mortar shopping. Although shopping centers are experiencing a revival, this is not universal. Outlets have struggled to recover in the last couple of years, and I’d assume this has worsened recently due to a drop in international travel.
I’m not sure if this applies to those two outlet malls because Orlando’s inbound visitor numbers are booming at the same time. It doesn’t really matter either way, though, as Disney doesn’t need Character Warehouse even if sales are strong.
Because Disney could cut out the middleman, cut costs, and operate from its own online store, it is true. As a certified dealhound, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bought something on eBay that is via a company’s official outlet or a sanctioned third-party liquidator. This dynamic is well documented on deal forums, and users are aware of which ( seemingly random ) stores are the legitimate ones.
Even if Disney Character Warehouse is still getting plenty of foot traffic ( and based on my experiences, it very much is ), online outlets are cheaper and more efficient. The cost of leasing a storefront is lower, staffing, and other costs are lower, and the customer base is exponentially larger than the one in Central Florida. This is precisely why eBay pirates are able to achieve their markup–because they are reaching a wider audience, selling for actual free market rates.
I’d also add that eBay pirates ‘ optics are bad for Disney. Even if they’re good for business, I’ve been somewhat surprised that Disney hasn’t cracked down more on pirates. Every time a new collectible is released, images of pirates are bound to make waves on social media, and there is always outrage among the fans. I guess Disney sees that most fans blame the pirates instead of the company for condoning it, so it’s allowed to persist. However, Disney’s main point is that it could stop eBay piracy overnight.
On a positive note, Disney Character Warehouse does not have the same issue as other “factory stores” that actually sell lower-quality items that are made specifically for the outlets. This has become a regular practice over the past ten years, which is another reason we detest the experience of shopping in outlet malls.
As more outlet stores have been built, it’s simply not possible for them all to carry overstock or past-season items. Instead, they’ve switched to offering illusory discounts from lower-quality factory stores. In reality, you are paying less, but you’re also getting less. We post this because many people may not be aware of this paradigm shift in retail, and as a blog that is primarily focused on saving money and getting deals, we believe it’s pertinent.
This is to say that something you buy from the Banana Republic Factory Store, for example, was never sold in a retail Banana Republic, and is more like Old Navy-quality. The majority of stores, from fast fashion to luxury designers, are all playing this game. If you’re buying for the status symbol or having a label emblazoned on something, outlets are fine ( I guess? ), but if you’re buying for quality, they’re generally awful.
Ultimately, that’s why we haven’t been to the Disney Character Warehouse outlet in a while. When we first lived in Florida, we used to travel at least once per month and once per week. I even wrote monthly outlet reports! However, it just stopped being enjoyable as a result of the rise in eBay piracy and livestreamers. Selection became more hit or miss, and the store itself was more of a hassle.
Disney Character Warehouse is just unpleasant and rarely worth it. I’d happily pay ~20 % more via an online outlet operated or sanctioned by Disney. ( I have not, and will not, in principle, support pirates. ) It would be worth the premium pricing just to save the time and expense of visiting the Orlando outlet malls. Additionally, it would give more fans a chance to buy previously unreleased inventory without paying a premium price. Feels like the everyone wins outcome, except for the pirates, but I assume we’re all fine with that.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think about the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall’s Disney Character Warehouse closing down completely? Have you ever gone to the one of these clearance centers? What have your experiences been with eBayers, queues, virtual queues, or the selection of souvenirs in stores? Find anything good, or did you think it was a waste of time? Any queries that we can assist with? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
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