If you’ve ever scored amazing deals on Disney park merchandise at massive discounts, you probably know about Disney Character Warehouse. These outlet stores are basically treasure hunts where you can find retired Disney parks stuff like spirit jerseys, Minnie ears, pins, MagicBands, and festival merchandise for way less than what they originally cost in the parks. Sometimes you even find things that are STILL being sold at full price in Disney World, which makes the deals even sweeter.
But here’s the thing about Character Warehouse that’s caused massive drama over the past few years: resellers discovered these stores and basically started treating them like their personal inventory suppliers.
Professional resellers would show up, buy entire shelves of discounted merchandise, and then flip it online for profit. Regular Disney fans would walk in hoping to find cute ears or a souvenir and discover everything picked clean by people buying in bulk to resell on eBay or Mercari.
It’s created this whole war between people who just want to shop for themselves and professional buyers treating Character Warehouse like a wholesale operation. And then there’s live shopping, where people literally stream themselves shopping and take orders from viewers watching on social media, which creates its own chaos. Disney tried fighting back with a strict new return policy in February that made all sales final, specifically to stop resellers from buying stuff, trying to sell it online, and then just returning whatever didn’t sell.
But apparently that wasn’t enough to save one of the locations, because now we’re getting news that the Sawgrass Mills Character Warehouse near Fort Lauderdale is closing for good, and people are pointing fingers at who’s to blame.
The Disney Character Warehouse at Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, Florida is permanently closing April 15, 2026. According to Cast Members at the store, Disney decided not to renew the lease, and the reasons include reseller activity, live shopping problems, and the fact that the store is about three hours away from Walt Disney World.
What Cast Members Are Saying
Multiple shoppers posting on the store’s Facebook group confirmed the closure after talking to Cast Members working there. The official reasons given point to several issues that have been building for a while.
Resellers buying merchandise in bulk to flip online have been a massive problem. These aren’t casual shoppers finding a good deal and maybe listing it online later. These are professional operations showing up when new inventory drops, clearing shelves of popular items, and treating the store like their personal wholesale supplier.
Live shopping has added another layer of chaos. People streaming themselves shopping while taking purchase requests from viewers create situations where merchandise gets held, reserved, or tied up based on what’s happening on social media instead of being available to people actually in the store.
And then there’s distance. Sawgrass Mills is near Fort Lauderdale, about three hours from Disney World. The other two Character Warehouse locations are in the Orlando area, much closer to the parks. One is at Orlando International Premium Outlets, the other at Vineland Premium Outlets right off Disney property. Those locations are convenient for Disney World visitors and annual passholders. Sawgrass? Not so much.
The Facebook Group Is HEATED
The store’s Facebook group has been going OFF since the closure news broke. People are upset, they’re blaming resellers, and they’re debating whether Disney made the right call.
One shopper currently at the location wrote: “Sadly, it’s true. It’s closing April 15 due to them not resigning the lease. I’m here now so upsetting.ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜”
Another person planning a March visit was crushed: “Store Closing!!!!! What??? We are going to be in the area in March and were excited to finally go shopping there.”
Some people went straight to blaming resellers: “Oh man the is is so sad you gotta love the reseller who ruined a great store.”
But not everyone agrees that resellers are the problem. One person posted a LONG comment defending resellers (or at least explaining the economics):
“I would argue the resellers have kept them open longer as it gives Disney more business. While it might be frustrating if you go in and you can’t get something you want but more items are being sold, even if Disney doesn’t get that extra profit. They can sell a dated festival item and not lose money on it. Disneys sales approach for merchandise is to not really put things for sale in the parks. Sometimes there is some type of buy one get one for a discount or at the end of a festival things might be 30% off but there are very few sale things. They know the psychology that people will pay full price when in the parks as they don’t think they can get it anywhere else. The Disney store runs lots of sales on things, but a lot of their stuff is not trinkets and things you might find in the store and they do not carry all of the same merchandise.”
They continued: “But I also can see how huge amounts of unsold returns would goof up inventory. I feel like that’s why the new policy started. Malls in general are just not what they used to be.”
That’s actually a pretty fair take. Resellers DO move inventory that Disney might struggle to sell otherwise. But they also create terrible experiences for regular shoppers and cause inventory chaos when they return unsold stuff.
At least one person remembered the real victims here: “Let’s not forget about the lovely Cast Members who are going to be losing their jobs. They must be heartbroken. Let’s be extra kind to them.”
The New Return Policy That Didn’t Save It
Just over two months ago, on February 1, Disney implemented a STRICT new return policy at all Character Warehouse and Cast Connection locations. All sales are now final. No returns. No exchanges. Nothing.
This was specifically aimed at resellers who were exploiting the old policy. They’d buy merchandise, list it online, and if it didn’t sell at their desired price, they’d just return it to Character Warehouse. Zero risk for them, massive inventory headache for Disney.
The new policy means if you buy something and it doesn’t work out, you’re stuck with it. For regular shoppers, that sucks if you grab the wrong size or change your mind. For resellers, it means they actually have to take losses on stuff that doesn’t sell instead of just returning it.
But apparently even that wasn’t enough to fix whatever problems the Sawgrass location was facing, because here we are with a closure announcement anyway.
What About the Other Locations?
Disney hasn’t announced anything about closing the two Orlando-area Character Warehouse stores. As of right now, Orlando International Premium Outlets and Vineland Premium Outlets locations are still operating with no public plans to close.
Those locations have advantages the Sawgrass store didn’t. They’re close to Disney World, making them convenient for park visitors and annual passholders. They probably get more foot traffic from Disney tourists who can easily stop by while they’re in the Orlando area.
But do they face the same reseller problems? Almost definitely. The new return policy applies to ALL Character Warehouse locations, which suggests Disney’s dealing with these issues everywhere, not just Sawgrass.
Whether being closer to the parks is enough to keep those locations viable when Sawgrass couldn’t survive remains to be seen.
Disney Is Changing Retail Everywhere
This closure isn’t happening in a vacuum. Disney’s actively rethinking how it does physical retail across the board.
Disneyland Paris just closed its vintage-style Disney Store at Disney Village on January 4. That was one of the last old-school Disney Stores with the maximalist design and giant character statues that people remember from mall Disney Stores in the 90s and 2000s.
They’re replacing it with something called “Disney Wonders,” described as a “modern franchise-based shop” opening summer 2026. Translation: out with the nostalgic aesthetic, in with the contemporary IP-focused approach.
So we’re seeing Disney move away from older retail formats (vintage Disney Stores, some Character Warehouse outlets) toward more modern concepts. Whether that’s smart strategy or Disney giving up on retail models that don’t work in 2026 is up for debate.
What This Means If You Shop There
If you’re in South Florida and you’ve been hitting up the Sawgrass Character Warehouse regularly, you’ve got until April 15 to make final visits. Expect inventory to be picked over as the store winds down, though sometimes closing stores do clearance sales (Disney hasn’t announced anything specific yet).
After April 15, your closest Character Warehouse options are the Orlando locations, which means turning a quick shopping trip into a 3+ hour drive each way. That’s a lot less convenient for just browsing discounted Disney ears.
And with one fewer location, the remaining stores might get MORE competitive, not less. If demand stays the same but there are fewer stores, good luck finding the best stuff before resellers (or other shoppers) grab it.
The Reseller Debate Continues
Here’s the thing: people are going to keep arguing about whether resellers “ruined” Character Warehouse or whether Disney’s retail strategy was already failing and resellers were just symptoms of bigger problems.
Both sides have points. Yes, resellers create terrible experiences for regular shoppers. Yes, they cause inventory chaos. Yes, it sucks when you show up hoping to find something and it’s been cleared out by someone buying 20 of them to sell online.
But also, resellers move merchandise Disney couldn’t sell at full price in the parks. They take on risk (especially now with the no-return policy). And malls in general are struggling, which makes any mall-based retail location harder to sustain regardless of reseller activity.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Resellers contributed to problems, but they weren’t the ONLY problem. Distance from Disney World mattered. Mall retail struggles mattered. Changing shopping habits mattered.
Blaming everything on resellers is easy and emotionally satisfying, but it’s probably too simple.
Show Some Love to Cast Members
Seriously, if you visit before the April 15 closure, be extra nice to the Cast Members working there. They’re losing their jobs through no fault of their own, and they’re probably dealing with stressed, sad, or angry customers on top of knowing their employment is ending.
They didn’t create the reseller problems. They didn’t choose the location three hours from Disney World. They didn’t make the lease renewal decision. They just showed up to work and now they’re out of a job.
The least shoppers can do is be kind during the final weeks.
Have you shopped at the Sawgrass Character Warehouse? Are you team “resellers ruined it” or team “bigger retail problems killed it”? Drop your take in the comments, and if you’re planning one last visit before April 15, let us know what you’re hoping to find. And seriously, if this is your regular spot, go say goodbye properly because once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.
