Orlando’s Black Friday Shopping Frenzy

By Susan & Simon Veness

Shopping in Orlando is one of it’s great lesser-known pleasures. From its glittering malls to its cute antique shops, The City Beautiful boasts an extraordinary range and depth when it comes to retail therapy. Put simply, this is a shopper’s paradise.

And, when it comes to Black Friday, Orlando positively goes into overdrive for providing a bargain-hunter’s nirvana. What is Black Friday, you ask? It is only the busiest shopping day of the year, and a chance to stock up on some amazing sales across the board. If you think Orlando does great shopping for the other 351 days of the year, just wait until you see Black Friday. This is typically the sale to end all sales!

What & When is Black Friday?

For those unfamiliar with this most American of occasions, Black Friday is the day after the annual Thanksgiving celebration, which is on the fourth Thursday of November each year. This year, Black Friday will be on November 27.

Its history is hard to track, with mentions of it in January 1891, 1924 and the 1950s, but not as the retail extravaganza we know today. In 1961, shops in Philadelphia tried to rebrand the day-after-Thanksgiving jamboree as Big Friday and Big Saturday, but it really only came into its own in the early 1980s, as an official adjunct to the annual holiday, and allied to the Macy’s Parade in New York.

It also came with some notoriety, thanks to some of the bargains on offer sparking near riots at several stores. There would typically be a limited number of “door-buster” offers for special items, like big-screen TVs, with shops opening at 5am and people camping out overnight. Inevitably, this led to something of a stampede at opening time and often required police intervention!

Black Friday gained increasing momentum in the 1990s and overtook the Saturday before Christmas as the busiest shopping day of the year in 2002. Today, the shops and malls also have to go head-to-head with online sales, as Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) has become a thing in its own right.

In fact, some stores now actually pre-empt the Black Friday rush altogether by opening on Thanksgiving Day itself, which has previously been a big no-no for shops (a bit like opening on Christmas Day in the UK). In recent years, British stores have also got into the Black Friday mood, but the US version is still comfortably the biggest.

What does Orlando do for Black Friday?

Perhaps it’s easier to say what Orlando doesn’t do! This is such a widespread event, with so many shops looking to put out their best offers that it’s hard to find anyone not joining in the Black celebration. Even the theme parks look to appeal to the locals, with various deals aimed at US residents (which, in all honesty, are still not as good as the regular UK tickets).

If you want the biggest array of shops in best Friday mood, head for the main malls, of which there are three of the traditional variety. Each of the Florida Mall, Altamonte Mall and Mall at Millenia feature a superb range of shops, and enough parking to handle the crowds that swarm their way. It’s also worth checking out their Special Deals pages in advance, as follows:

Florida Mall: This is the biggest mall in Central Florida and has the widest range of stores. Black Friday opening time 6am (usually 10am).

Mall at Millenia: This is the mall to head for to experience the most upmarket style and high-end brands, including the likes of Armani, Hermés and David Yurman. This is your best chance for that luxury bargain. Black Friday opening time 8am (usually 11am).

Altamonte Mall: The smallest of the main malls can also be the least crowded, with a good range of top-selling brands like Aeropostale, Charlotte Russe and H&M, plus three big department stores. Black Friday opening time 9am (usually 10am).

There’s also the Lake Buena Vista Outlet Stores on Highway 535 between Kissimmee and Lake Buena Vista. This open plan shopping centre is notably Brit-friendly and will be open from 7am on the day itself (three hours earlier than normal) until 11pm to provide max bargain appeal. Shops here include the Disney Outlet store, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap Outlet and Under Armor. Be sure to check for last-minute updates on https://lbvfs.com/events/.

Orlando Premium Outlets

We’ve saved this pair of Orlando’s most visited outlet centres for last as they are pretty much the epitome of the Black Friday experience. At the height of the typical annual stampede, the two extensive outlets – Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets in Lake Buena Vista and Orlando International Premium Outlets at the top of International Drive – used to open at midnight on Thanksgiving Day evening and stay open for a full 24 hours, i.e. until midnight on the Friday.

Nowadays, they have scaled things back a touch and open “only” from 5am until 10pm, but that is still plenty of time to do some serious bargain-hunting at places like Nike, Adidas, Coach, Levis, Puma and Kate Spade, and enjoy the visceral thrill of the Black Friday frenzy. It’s not uncommon to see people heading straight for the luggage stores, and then wheeling around the new suitcases, etc, to put all their other new purchases in!

Just be aware, both of the two big Premium Outlets centres draw a LOT of people on Black Friday (and the following weekend), and parking can be at a premium (no pun intended). You either need to be an early arrival or wait until late afternoon. Or just have a LOT of patience, as people can park just about anywhere in and alongside the main road in each case.

For more information on these two shopping magnets, see www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/orlando-vineland/news-and-events and www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/orlando-international/news-and-events.

Simon & Susan’s “Don’t Miss” suggestion: While the big Premium Outlet stores are positively packed with good deals for Black Friday, don’t overlook one of our favourite local experiences at Winter Garden Village or shopping in Winter Garden itself.

Simon and Susan Veness are Orlando-based travel experts and guidebook authors writing exclusively for Debbie’s Villas.