[eflouret]

Hi, I will be travelling to Orlando and Miami on february 2011 with my kids. I would like to know if there are any good toy stores in that area.
Of course, Orlando is filled with Disney stuff, but I would like to take my kids to a cool toy store with discount prices.
I can buy anything at great prices at Amazon and have it sent to my hotels, but that takes all the fun.
I've herad that Toys'r'us in Miami has deeply discounted toys. Any other place?

Thanks!

Enrique (from Argentina).

[ludovicotek]

Hey Enrique. I live in Miami and usually go to Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and Target for most of my toy shopping. It's interesting that you mention Toys R Us having "deeply discounted toys." That has NOT been my experience at all. Their prices are normal for here in the United States. That being said, I ALWAYS see people from Central and South America in Toys R Us with literally 2-3 shopping carts FULL OF TOYS!!!!! I've talked to a few and they tell me they send or take the toys back home. So, maybe compared to how the prices are in Argentina the prices here are a discount.

There are a few other stores that have even cheaper prices on toys, such as Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Big Lots and Tuesday Morning but you never know what you'll find there. They usually have only the stuff that didn't sell at the normal retail stores but sometimes you can get lucky and find some good stuff. If you are looking for toys that are really popular with kids right now then I would suggest to you the first three locations that I mentioned: Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and Target. They all have pretty much the same prices and all have a good selection. Good luck finding the stuff that you want and have a great time on your trip.

[sug2763]

I also live in Miami, FL and I completely agree with ludovicotek. TRU, Walmart and Target are the places I go for my action figures. I mostly collect Marvel Universe, among other things, and this is where I usually find them. There is a good statues/action figures/comic shop in Coral Gables, near the nice and tidy Miracle Mile area called Animated Toys, which has a ton of stuff, although a bit pricey. I'd also recommend my local comic shop, Mac's Comics near Coral Way and 87th avenue. He usually has a small selection of toys, old and new.

[eflouret]

Hey, thanks for the replies!

Normally, toy prices in USA are MUCH cheaper than in Argentina. Not to mention if they are discounted... I will certainly go to Toys'r'us. I've been to NY last year and went to that huge TRU in Times Square.
Although my kids loved it, I found it extremely dissapointing. As a grown up I expect seeing lots of interesting toys. Instead I found that the selection of toys was average. Some nice stuff, yes, but I was expecting to see a lot more. For example, I was thinking in buying some Mad Balls to bring here to my country, and couldn't find any there. Also I love the Automoblox (hey I'm an Architect and web designer...) and only found them on a small toy store near Ground Zero. In fact, I was expecting to find similar toy stores as those in the web like Brain Toys or Think Geek, but neither TRU nor FAO came close to have stuff like that.
That said, I don't expect to find that in Miami either. But I didn't want to return from Miami to find out that I missed the ultimate discount toy store, which it seems it doesn't exist.

Nice site Toy Ark, by the way.

Thanks!!!

Enrique