Exit through the gift shop

[JerseyDad]

....not bothered by the exits directly into the shops ....nope ..not one little bit.

....beyond the "magic" ...WDW is a business ...a pretty darn good one at that. If the added income from gift, food , etc. sales in a park will continue to keep the "magic" available to me ...then I say more power to it.

....I also know that there are parents that loathe the experience of walking thru the gift shops with little ones for fear of the dreaded "Magical Tantrum" ....to them (including my own relatives with lil` ones) ...I say ..."Be a parent ...and recite the following to the kids "What Part Of NO Don't You Understand"?

[Auntie B]

I actually kind of enjoy it, then again, I am a self-proclaimed "shop-a-holic".

[DisneyFr33k]

Another vote for "it doesn't bother us". The one at the end of the Star Tours is absolutely slammed, though, and hard to exit sometimes.

[Scrappy2]

I would not say I hate them but I do not love them either. When traveling with the smaller kids it gets hard sometimes. We tell him we are not going to buy anything just passing through. It makes me sad for my babies to be so happy on the ride then to be so sad and upset because we are not buying anything and they leave the store crying. I know it's business for them.

[texas211]

Yeah, I like them. Nice opportunity to cool off, and might see something cool. I liked it more, when stores had more ride specific stuff.

[SandmanGStefani24]

i don't see it as the money grab that many do. yes, it is what it is, but I like to look around. i see it like this, I love the ride, so why not have the chance to take a piece of it home with me in some way, as most of the gifts are pretty well related to the ride in some way. plus, it's better than just getting kicked out of the ride with no "post show" of sorts...

that's just me..

[Going2HeavenRU]

Has anyone been to Dollywood? You have to go through a gift shop to exit the park. No other way out!

I love walking through the shops at the end of rides. Sometimes that is where you find the best themed merchandise for that attraction. I wish the Haunted Mansion had one. Disney is missing out on the opportunity to make money off people like my DH who would mortgage our house for anything to do with the Haunted Mansion.

[TheVBs]

They don't bother us either. We usually enjoy browsing after the ride, or if DH & DD12 are going on a ride that DD8 and I aren't, then it's a fun thing to do while we wait.

[GBBT]

WHOA...WHOA...WHOA.....Stop right there....take a little time to look at the shops......spend some money.....it'll spur Disney to pay me more dividends on my stock...

[DisneyorBust]

I'm not bothered by it at all.
1) I view going thru the gift shop at the end of an attraction like it's 'part of the queue'.
2) Just because they're selling something, doesn't mean that I have to buy any.

[roses]

They aren't part of the ride and theming?

[grumpyguy]

Actually,I like it.I wish the TOT gift shop was bigger ! It is a brilliant idea.Amazingly,if I don't see something that want,need or desire,
I DON'T BUY IT !

[ANG]

We usually just walk right thru. And I don't allow my kids to whine for anything.

[TinkerbellFan16]

I don't mind it, except when the gift shop is PACKED and accessibility is an issue, but this is very rare for the times that I usually go. I like seeing ride pictures, even if I don't buy them. And some of the merchandise is just cool to look at.

And it is sometimes an opportunity to find merch for characters that are underrepresented elsewhere (Peter Pan is one of the first that comes to mind for me)

[Mrs Bus Driver]

I say let the kids earn their own money to spend in the gift shops. Its a little harder to part with when you have to earn it. They may just learn a lesson in spending

[PlutoPlanet]

It doesn't bother me one bit, and like you, I love a chance to get some AC! I am thinking this may bother some people if they have kids and the kids want to touch stuff and buy stuff....

Agreed. I need the AC.

[MrPeetrie]

Another vote for not bothering us at all.

For me, I think it makes great business sense and I agree with others: it's what helps to keep the doors open.

Also, sometimes after seeing an attraction (like Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time in over a year), we are so "juiced" for the ride, it's nice to let the kids take home a memento or two.

I agree, however, that if you have little ones and they've gotten enough already, sometimes it's hard to herd them out without a purchase. But it's not that much an issue that I'd complain.

[minnie04]

They don't bother me at all. The kids have been taught over the years we don't buy anything we have to carry around the park or hang on the stroller (when we used them). We always wait until we are leaving the parks and walk through the main gift shops. (my kids are not perfect, but we started this the first time we went and it worked for us) Since we travel in such big groups all the time it was hard at first, but they all got the hang of it and it was so much easier on the adults we were all in the same page with it, so no ones kids got anything until the end of the day. I love to browse around the entire gift shop when we exit a ride, but it's always just that browsing. Thank god my kids never gave me a problem with this. I can see where it could get ugly. I have seen many people go through the crying and screaming to get out of the gift shop. Poor kids they have no clue that it’s a set up.. lol

And now that they are older I'M the one they have to drag out at the end of the day...

[cuteduck223]

we love the gift shops. Our DD4 loves to look around, and knows that we don't buy anything. We don't usually buy anything the first few days of our trip, "lets see what else we might want". She's never thrown a tantrum and if she sees something she really likes and chooses for her souvenir, we go back and get it later. We took her at 2, 3, and now 4. This time she's even making "envelopes" like mommy for her snacks and souvenirs. (that doesn't mean mom and dad won't help out, but its a great object lesson). She also LOVES piggy bank adventure..so here's to hoping shes better with money than her parents

[hauntedmansiongirl]

I wish the Haunted Mansion had one. Disney is missing out on the opportunity to make money off people like my DH who would mortgage our house for anything to do with the Haunted Mansion.

This is my favourite ride and I agree with you 100%!!!!