Orlando has a great wealth of shops and could be said it is a “shopper’s paradise”. There are several shopping malls within a few miles of each other along with numerous “outlet malls”

 

Sales.

This is an extra special time to shop as there are bargains on top of bargains to be had. Sale times are Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Columbus day, New Year to name a few.

First I must say this, I have been visiting Florida for many years and was never inclined to shop at the old Beltz outlet mall at the north end of International drive, so was not bothered about the fact that it got bought and more or less demolished a couple of years ago. I visited the new shops that have replaced the old ones and I must say I was mightily impressed by the new Prime 1 outlets. I would now favour it over my previous favourite the Premium Outlets. There are all the usual popular stores there, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, Juicy Couture, Guess and much more. 174 stores in all, now mostly open.

It is very well laid out in semi open plan design with a similar look to Premium Outlets. There is a much better food court than the one that used to be there featuring some well known chains such as Sbarro Pizza, Subway and China Max although, I must admit than whenever I have has Chinese food from these food courts I have an incredible thirst afterwards. Some other less common food vendors are 5 Guys hamburgers, these burgers are made to order and nothing like McDonalds!! Really good food and you can choose your toppings. Their fries are cooked in “No Cholesterol “ peanut oil. One thing which is new and I found very good was the Oakley Vault selling a huge selection of Oakley clothing at very reasonable prices. Well worth the visit.

Premium Outlets

This is situated off the Interstate 4 close to the Lake Buena Vista area on Vineland road. There are some great stores here many of them firm favourites with shoppers. The usual designers are here with a few added exceptions such as Armani, Hugo Boss and Versace. There is a nice food court with a Starbucks coffee shop too. On weekends this place gets very busy and since the last time I was there they have now built a multi-storey car park. Well worth a visit. Also if you are over 50 you can get an extra 10% your purchases on Mondays.

Florida Mall.

This is situated along Sand lake road and (OBT) Orange Blossom Trail. It is a large mall with some very good shops but not so much for the bargain hunter. There is a Macy’s here and you can find some bargains here if you are there at the right time. One other thing to remember is that if you are a foreign visitor you can get a discount card by going up to the gift wrap section upstairs and ask for your tourist passport. You need to show ID and they will give you a card that gives you an additional 11% off your purchases. Great place to shop and browse.

Mall at Millennia

This is the latest addition as far as major shopping malls go and it is a highly modern high tech place. Outstanding design and filled with high end stores like Gucci, Cartier, Prada and more. There is however a Macy’s and the same applies here as at the Florida Mall. There is a Bloomingdales too. The food court is ok and offers some differences to the other malls. The mall is situated on Conroy rd, just off the I4. Carry on past the Universal Studios exit and about 2 miles down the road you will see the exit.

In this retail area there are some other gems too. There is a Marshalls, which is a bit like TK Maxx and has many good bargains; you just have to be prepared to hunt them down. There is also a Golfsmiths shop that sells golf and tennis gear plus other good stores.