In Search of More than the Disney Store: Dollar Store Disney

Like many other Disney Fanatics, the Disney Stores in my surrounding area have closed, leaving a large void in my shopping trips as well as my heart. So, I was left with a simple question: Where is the best store for a Disney Fanatic to turn for a magical in-person shopping experience?

Our first adventure in pursuit of this question was to the dollar store, and it certainly delivered. Here are our best finds:

Activity Books

From word jumbles and connect-the-dots to spot-the-difference, Disney activity books offer fun and educational activities for kids with Mickey & Friends, The Disney Princesses, or The Avengers as their teacher. Parents can count on these to keep kids’ attention for hours at a time. These books are very useful to keep around.

Coloring Books

The dollar store is an excellent place to fill a need for Disney character-themed coloring books. Visiting around a holiday like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, or Halloween can almost guarantee fun holiday-themed coloring pages featuring various Disney properties. These are, of course, perfectly paired with dollar store markers or colored pencils.

Picture Books

The dollar store has a variety of different picture books appropriate for both preschool and grade school-age children. Sturdy and affordable board books are excellent bets for babies who are teething and wish to sink their teeth into a good story, as well as toddlers tuning fine motor skills who have just discovered the joys of ripping paper. Older kids, on the other hand, will enjoy the longer-form stories featuring adventures of their favorite characters.

Balloons

 

One of the best services the dollar store provides is the cheap and quick inflation of mylar balloons upon purchase, for birthdays and other special events. There is a variety of options on the wall of every dollar store, and often some balloons will feature Disney characters. They make a great addition to parties, centerpieces, or gift baskets.

Bubbles

Bubbles are a dollar store staple. The tubes often come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. They are guaranteed to bring joy to kids and adults alike when used. Adding to the fun is the Disney brand being featured on tubes of bubbles and their bubble wands. Characters include the Disney Princesses, Frozen, and Mickey & Friends.

Collectible Figures

Complete Disney character figure playsets from The Disney Store or ShopDisney.com can run from around $15-30. But there are affordable quality Disney figures available to collect from the dollar store. At just one store we were able to find the entire Parr family from The Incredibles, several characters from Toy Story, more miscellaneous Pixar friends, and some of Mickey & Friends.

Disney Baby Brush & Comb Set

The Disney Baby brand at the dollar store is a welcome sight for a new mom like me. Disney Baby books, bottles, brushes, pacifiers, and socks are all available on display at the dollar store. This soft-bristle brush and plastic comb set are basic care essential for new moms, and the Disney Princess design offers an opportunity to insert a little magic into the everyday.

Disney Baby Pacifiers

How adorable are these Disney Baby pacifiers? Featuring artistic renderings of Aurora, Ariel, and Cinderella these pacifiers are perfect for a little Disney Princess. Pacifiers are absolutely essential, and very easy to lose, so cheap and aesthetically interesting pacifiers are a great buy. As a Disney Fanatic mom of a baby girl, I of course had to grab all 3.

Disney Baby Socks

Speaking of being just as essential as they are easy to lose, baby socks! Nobody likes cold feet, especially little ones. But they sure do love to kick, wiggle, and stretch right out of their socks anyway. Stray baby socks get dropped in grocery store parking lots, lost in the wash, and abandoned at the bottom of diaper bags. So going for something affordable and fun, like these princess socks, are the best bet.

DIY Sun-catchers

The dollar store can always be counted on for providing cheap and easy craft projects. These simple princess profiles in transparent plastic can be hand-painted and hung in windows for the sun to shine through like stained glass. This set features both Ariel and Belle. A very good afternoon family activity.

Drinks

Since 1941, Citrus World Inc has partnered with the Walt Disney Company to produce the Donald Duck brand juices. Donald Duck Drinks seen here include: Orange Juice, Apple Juice, Grape Guice, Lemonade, Fruit Punch, and a Kiwi Strawberry flavored drink. The fun branding and affordable price tag make them worth a try.

Gem Art Set

Stick on Gems let anyone add a little extra glitter to their day. This Jasmine art set features false gemstones that match her signature teal color, with golden accents. This allows for a mess free fun artistic activity. And any leftover stick-on gems can be used for other art projects.

Grab-and-Go Activity Packs

Featuring Marvel’s famous heroes The Avengers this Grab & Go activity play pack includes 3 crayons in primary colors, 1 coloring sheet, and 24 themed glossy stickers. They come themed to various characters. These make great favors for birthday parties, stocking stuffers at Christmas, classroom Valentines, or Easter basket additions.

Magic Towels

Magic towels are a useful product and fun activity all in one. Starting out as one small block, when left in water over time the compressed object expands and becomes fluffy and full, and can be rung out and used as a washcloth. The finished product, with a smiling Mickey Mouse, can be seen here.

Nail Art Stickers

Nail Art is a fun but often very difficult time-consuming process, but these miniature Minnie Mouse stickers make it easy. The stickers can be applied to the surface of clean fingernails with an additional clear topcoat (also available at the dollar store) and create a Minnie manicure.

Paint Trays

Painting is a beloved childhood activity, and every true painter needs a palette to mix and apply colors. So why should one not paint in style? In particular, with a Disney Princess tiara or Minnie Mouse’s bow?

Paper Craft Set

Origami paper folding is the ancient art of paper folding. But some rudimentary designs can be done by kids. 5 easy paper folding projects are included in this set, with markers included for creative colorful decorating.

Play-Doh

Cra-z-art softee dough is the Cra-z-art brand of “play-doh” and can often be found in the dollar store. Play-doh is an absolute necessity for playtime, but often unsecured lids lead to dried out pots, so cheaper alternatives are a good bet. These small Frozen branded sets are inspired by Olaf and Princess Anna.

3D Play-Doh Molds

Pla-doh sets can often be expensive. Fortunately, the dollar store brand of play-doh also carries these matching fun Disney character molds. Children can form the silhouettes of Woody, Daisy, Princess Anna, and more. These molds can also be used to melt down old broken crayons and form new larger crayons of swirling color shaped like Disney friends.

Playing Cards

Playing cards are used for lots of quick and fun childhood games. Additionally, they can be used to teach colors, numbers, and letters. Having this jumbo set of Disney Princess playing cards is a great way to add pictures of your child’s favorite princess to these experiences.

Puzzles

 

There are always lots of options for puzzles at the dollar store; boxes or bags, small or large pieces, and various characters. 500+ piece puzzles can be a fun challenge for older children while smaller 50+ piece puzzles are options for the younger. As puzzles are good for development of fine motor skills, as well a spacial reasoning, they are good to have multiple sets of.

Reusable Bags

 

Every family needs reusable bags. For groceries, toys, and on-the-go needs, sturdy reusable bags are always good bets. At this store alone we found designs from Encanto, Disney Princesses, Marvel, and Minnie Mouse.

Reusable Cups

Plastic cups are great for young kids. And there are very fun designs available at the dollar store. We found the bright cartoon Mickey Mouse decal, a Pink and Gold Minnie Mouse print, and this sketch-like Disney princess design.

Shampoo

For adding a little fun to the bubbles at bath time, and only a dollar, Anna and Elsa shampoo can be brought into your bathroom. A perfect way to get girls excited to get clean.

Spot-The-Difference Set

Another helpful tabletop game for keeping young kids busy, “spot-the-difference” sets can be used for longer car rides, waiting at tables in restaurants, and rainy-day afternoons.

Sticker Books

Sticker books are always good to keep on hand for rewards, especially for doing chores and reaching milestones like in potty training. This particular sticker book has a variety of types; puffy. glitter, foil, and glossy.

Sticker Sheets

Individual sticker sheets are great for sticker lovers who want a larger variety of characters, as opposed to single character type sticker books. Here we found Frozen, The Disney Princesses, and The Lion King.

Tissues

It is spring, and time for seasonal allergies to rear their ugly head in addition to the usual cold and flu. Every family needs tissues in mom’s purse, baby’s diaper bags, school backpacks, teacher’s desks, and car glove boxes. We were able to find individual to-go tissue packs featuring Frozen, Mickey & Friends, The Disney Princesses, and Marvel’s Avengers.

Tsum Tsums

Credit: Maggie Koch/Disney Fanatic

Last but certainly not least, we were able to find a veritable wealth of Disney’s Tsum-Tsums at the dollar store. These small stuffed Disney friends are highly collectible and a fun gift for a kid or yourself. Here we can see Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore (Winnie The Pooh), Minnie, Goofy, and Mickey (Mickey & Friends), Dumbo, Marie (The Aristocats), and Stitch (Lilo and Stitch).

Those were our Dollar Store Disney finds. Head out to your own closest dollar store and see what Disney treasures are hidden within.