Official One-and-Only "What I Got" / "My BF Experience" Thread

[steph3306]

The cops were called at our ToysRus. I didn't go but was told by my neice. She said it was a mad house and she ended up leaving. We only have one TRU for the big city of about 300,00 people and then all the surrounding towns.

 

We went to the mall first went well. Got to Walmart at 4:45 and people were already checking out with stuff:shock: People we knew said that people were putting stuff in there carts at 3:30 but they weren't letting the big ticket items go until 5?? Our Walmart was just horrible this year. They were not organized and it was a mess. There was a lady who bought 10 nintendo ds.

I am so glad I ordered my cricut online!!

Other than waiting in line at walmart for about an hour the rest of the day went smoothly. Pretty much got what I wanted. The only thing I didn't get was the exective chair and some snow boots for my son.

[50sjayne]

As ususal, thanks to a lot of work research and this board, I got everything I wanted (and more lol) this year between online, thanksgiving and today. Was up till about 1am after dinner was done and family gone looking at the real paper ads making sure I didn't miss anything and making a final game plan. Slept until 3am, rolled out of bed and into the car. Got to Penneys about 3:30 am and they had just opened the doors. I think it was probably because of the Toys R Us overflow this year but they have done this before which was fine by me lol, grabbed my snow globe, pillow and cute dressed up yankee candle and checked right out. Got to Shopko about 5 minutes later and was about 20-25 in line. The line was fun, great people and I got to hear the horror stories of the Target and TRU lines. Both blew me away- longer than any Best Buy line I have seen. Also I heard Old Navy was an absolute disaster, letting people cut if they wated to sign up for their card or something. I got everything I wanted at Shopko including the microfiber bed that there was only one of, (I rock) with minimal blood sweat and tears. Doing recon really does help. I then went to Home Depot, stood in line for about 10 minutes and grabbed 2 sets of the led batteries, checked right out and hit Fred Meyer only because my Mom requested a Scrabble game for them last night and they had all board and handheld electronics BOGO. I was thrilled to find a handheld scrabble- my present to me-- as my freebie. Was home by 7 am and had a bath and slept 6 hours. Woke up and scored some more movies on amazon- all the ones I didn't go to Target or Best Buy for because I knew the crowds would be bad at the same price or less. I had already got a Kodak for my husband off Best Buy-- a great one according to reviews with 5 x zoom for $99 a few days ago thanks to a tip on this board somewhere. I was reluctant to get another Kodak but my husband really liked his and wanted another so...I also got the Norton 360 and a great phone from Office Max online thanksgiving day-- I was very thrilled about those and a wii mote from radio shack thanksgiving day. Might go out again to look around today but 'probly not. Edited November 27, 2009 by 50sjayne

[outnumbered]

Started in last night with the purchase of a DS Lite on Amazon for the $98 price. Left with my mom and sister at 3:30 and got to JCPenney's a bit before 4. Picked up snowglobe for my other sister who had to work, got six pairs of the $9.99 jeans for my kids and a few other clothing items. Went to Sears but didn't like anything once I tried it on. Hit Starbucks and then left the mall for Walmart. Arrived at 5:30 am and was too late to get the DS Lites there--and it was such a madhouse with every possible walking area jammed with people and shopping carts that we just left--even so it took 10 min to find our way to the exit. Went to Kohls and got clothes, toys, home decor stuff for various people, using $10 coupon that was on my newspaper and got $20 in Kohls Cash too. Went back to the mall and considered going in GameStop but the line was just crazy long and not moving. Decided not to get used DS Lites after all and just hope for getting in on another deal later. Went to Disney Store and made out with LOTS of stuff for cheap--things that were usually $20 or $25 were on sale for $10 and then with an extra 20% off that made them $8 each (dolls, stuffed animals, etc). But the line was an hour and a half long! I had NO idea it was going to be that long to get through it; it hadn't looked that bad. Got in line around 8:30 and was at the register at 10 on the dot, when the extra 20% off expired, though I think I heard they were going to keep honoring that for people who'd been in line. Went home, ate, passed out!

 

All the workers and fellow shoppers I saw were very polite, with the exception of the Walmart madhouse, so I was glad I didn't stick around there overnight to get tickets for the cheap tv and DS Lites. Still on a DS quest though since I only have one and need three. Will probably try Kmart tomorrow and see what kind of coupon they have (they're offering a $25 "nintendo gaming coupon"--as long as it's not a mail-in kind of thing I'll probably get them that way if they're in stock).

[tsalmon11]

Well I was all psyched up to go but ended up buying 100% online! Shopped for 10 hours! Got all of the doorbusters I wanted from Old Navy, TRU-yes including the 2.98 littlest pet shop vip plush x 7,Macys,Sears and some from Walmart. I do not know why people continue to go fight with crazys at the stores! Only thing I did not get was the 98.00 Nintendo Ds walmart online. Bought it for 112.00 at Amazon. Love BF:cheesy:

[wx4svr]

I did online as well... wasn't feeling well. BUT... I did show up at WalMart a little while ago and they were still packed.

[amberj365]

Didn't start my shopping trip till 10AM this morning. There was absolutely nothing in the ads worth getting up at 3/4/5/6AM for.

 

Wal-Mart- sold out of most of the items I was most interested in (DS Games, MP3 Player, board games) not that that surprised me. I ended up with a new coat for my grandmother ($35 coat that I got for $15 after speaking with the manager because it looked JUST like the ones in the ad but did not ring up correctly.) Also got some snowboots for $20, they were so much better than the $7 ones in the ad. My uncle picked up 3 of the $2 movies and a pair of the $7 snowboots for himself.

 

Office Max - I got the Brother Label Maker for $9.99. I've been wanting one of these for a long time! I'm quite excited. I would never pay the $39.99 reg price for a labelmaker.

 

Kohl's- I got the Fuzzy clog style house shoes (can't remember the brand name at the moment) for $9.99, reg. $22

 

My major disapointement, I wanted several of the $5 board games Wal-Mart had on sale (Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader, Life, ect.) but obviously, those go really really quick! Maybe I'll find 'em somewhere else at a decent deal.

 

For a first time black Friday shopper, I guess I didn't do bad.

[bugglebum]

I ran into the same experience as another poster at Walmart. My oldest DD wanted the $49 bike for her sister. Only reason why we went because she really wanted to get this. She was given a ticket and told to check out in the garden center and they would tell her where to pick up her bike. Well with 2 registers in the garden center and the line about a 100 people long (apparently they told ticket holders of other items to check out there also) it was going to be a good 2 hr wait. We stood for about 15 minutes in line and heard an employee tell another employee over the walkie talkie that they only had mens bikes left. Glad we found out before we waited in line and paid for it. Grrrrr. The store was a mess and disorganized. We left. Drove across the street to Kmart which wasn't open yet but the there were a good 200 people in line. Nothing important there. Went over to Big Lots. DD wanted to get some of the $3 DVD's for gifts. Had everything she wanted plus the Dance Dance Revolution for PS2 and $30 Cricut cartridges! Walmart manager said they didn't get any of those in stock. Went to Target and it was beautiful. Got everything we wanted, no lines, clean and organized. Same with JCP, Belk and Books a Million. B&BW was packed so we skipped. Bonus were the homemade chocolate chip cookies that were being made and given out by Nestle. DH and I went to another Walmart around 1pm and they had the bikes plus several other items so we picked them up. Overall a good day but Walmart still needs to work on their system.

[Kmakksmom&dad]

This is our very first post here on GD, but we have been following everyone and everything *all the deals Black Friday and not* for MONTHS now. Yes, we are definitely "lurkers" here :)

 

This BF experience started out great and ended great. We left our kids *4 girls and a baby boy* with family and headed out around 9pm Thanksgiving evening. We ended up getting to TRU around 10pm and were about 30th in line. The people that came and stood behind us became fast "friends" to us. The one thing that didn't go according to plan was that it started raining about 10:30pm and didn't let up til later in the morning...oh well. We were going for the Tek Nek Rock n Ride pony for $23.99. Around 11:30 a TRU employee started handing out maps as to where the "hot items" were. Apparently the pony we were going for was NOT a hot item, which had it's advantages and it's disadvantages. *No one really wanted it, we were the first to get one, but it was all the way back in the store so we had to walk quickly to get it and then get in line* Anyway, going back to 11:30pm...at about 11:45pm another employee came out with tickets. Didn't need any of the ticketed items, so we didn't take any. LOTS of people took them then went to the back of the line and sold those tickets for $50 a piece. Craziness I tell you! About 11:50pm there was a huge influx of people that decided to stand right by our van and spread themselves out. Our van was *legally* in a handicapped spot right across from the front doors. People from behind us started yelling to "get in the back of the line, that we had been standing here for 2 or more hours and why should they get in the store before us?"<~~~with LOTS of colorful language:shock: TRU employees came out armed with walkie talkies and started to usher people in 10 at a time. We were in the 3rd handful of people who were ushered in, got the pony, 2 $10 Wii games and got in line. Hubby ran to get the $11 MP3 player and we were out at 12:20am. Easy peasy.

 

Hubby's knees were hurting, we were cold, so we came home for a couple hours. We started again at 1am.

 

Next was Walmart. It was awesome. Very well handled. They had lines marked off with caution tape and the exact items were at the exact spots that were discussed on the map. We weren't aware that the "big" item we were going for there had a "spot" tho, but ended up having to spend a couple hours in line at the jewelry counter for the 7" Philips Portable DVD player and bag. We were second in line for it. We were given a ticket and had to stand there. If you needed a break then you had to give up your ticket and get a 15 minute pass so you could walk around/go to the bathroom/get a drink/etc. Luckily, we were a twosome, so when we needed a break we would just hand the ticket off to the other. 4:55am rolls around and hubby heads to the pjs and picks up 5 pjs for our 16 month old baby boy. At exactly 5am the associate asked for the first person in line for the DVD players. When her ticket was satisfied, she zoomed off *she was in a Motorcart* and then I was called up. When my ticket was satisfied, I was asked to move along, and the next was called. It was very orderly. I met hubby walking up the aisle I was coming down, and headed to the self checkout. So, we got the 7" Philips Portable DVD player + $10 Philips DVD player bag, 5 jammies, The Dark Knight DVD, Gran Torino DVD, Casino Royale DVD, The Marine DVD, Over The Hedge DVD, Spaceballs DVD *which was a MUST for me, I grew up on it, lol* and a $7 Cabela's game for the PS2 which hubby "had to have". He decided he could live without the sunglasses that weren't on sale, which was good because that $15 was spent elsewhere There was a sales associate for each self checkout and that was very nice since two of the jammies rang up incorrectly. Imagine if we had to wait forever for someone to come over to fix that, wow. Oh, and Gran Torino came up with a restriction because it's an R rated movie. They had 3 associates at the door checking everyone's bags to their receipts.

 

Starbucks time! Got a pumpkin spice frappuchino and hubby bought me a new traveling christmas mug. Like I said, the $15 spent elsewhere :)

 

Next was Home Depot where hubby picked up the 30 + 30 free Rayovac AA batteries, the Combo LED Aluminum Flashlight 6-Pack, and I got 3 .99 cent poinsettas.

 

Then we went to Hastings, which is a local music, movie and book store. I don't know if there are any other Hastings around other than in our city and the city beside us. We got 4 calendars for the price of 2, *buy 2 calendars, get 2 free coupon...which the 2 free we picked were 2 New Moon ones*, some buy 1 Used DVD get 1 for 1 penny deals, and also a few games with the Buy 2 Used Video Games Get One for 1 penny deals as well.

 

This was the first year that hubby went with me. I went with my MIL last year. The past years before that we were working retail on Black Friday. We are vowing next year will be much more fun because we didn't plan like we should have for today monetarily wise, but will do so for next year :)

[buffaloguy]

This year was so easy - it was the first year we didn't wait out in line anywhere. I bought all the video games we were originally going to get from Gamestop at Amazon.com and got free shipping and saved like $11 in tax. Went to Target right when they opened and it was WAY too crazy there - the past few years I did price adjustments there but this year our store (Wausau, WI) said they wouldn't do it. So my DH and I just left. We didn't want any "big ticket" items, so we went to Old Navy which was also too crazy and we left there also.

 

We went to the mall and got a reversible down comforter at Younkers - I scored the last king sized one in chocolate brown. Then we went to Home Depot and got a price adjustment on the washer/dryer I bought over 3 weeks ago. The manager was totally accommodating and sweet - even though they originally price matched Best Buy, I was still able to get another $180 back!! So at this point, I had spent $20 on a comforter and gotten $180 back on my HD credit card!!

 

We went to Shopko and got a coffee pot and some gloves for about $20 - no line there. Then we went home and made a turkey! I also hopped online and was able to order the things we wanted from Old Navy with no issues (and free shipping!!)

 

About 3 p.m. we went back out to Target and I was able to get everything I originally wanted (mostly bedding and housewares) with no lines and no waiting. Plus I had a bunch of gift cards, so I got $120 worth of stuff for $12!! Awesome!! Then we went to Menard's and the few things I wanted were still around, so I spent another $15 there and came back home to rest.

 

Overall a perfect Black Friday - one in which I came out ahead due to my Home Depot price adjustment (at least that is how I like to think about it!!!)

 

Thanks, Brad and the gottadeal team for all you do!!

[amom22]

Just thought I would share my experience. I hope this is an okay place to start this topic, as I am interested in hearing other people's experience today.

 

I got to TRU at 6:30 pm. First and only one there, until about 7:15. Then about three more people joined. Then right after that, my friends arrived. We laid out blankets, and pillows and gossiped for a few hours. By 8, the line was about 100 deep. By 9, double the size, by 10 quadruple the amount then there was at 9!! About 30 minutes before they opened, some very intoxicated guy tried to convince us to let him and his friends "cut" as they were at the end. We refused and tried ignoring him and he then started talking about needing a dollhouse for his friends kid. More drama ensued, ended with him calling us a few choice words and saying we didn't deserve to be at the front of the line and then his friend coming up and adding a few more words. We ignored her and at 12:03, the doors opened and we grabbed S'mores, all the zhu zhu accessories and each of my babies has a zhu zhu ready to be wrapped and put under the tree. In and out in less than 30 minutes. As we left, we saw the "friendly" couple still waiting to get inside. All in all, successful night...even with the crazies! Oh and as an added bonus, my friend took a picture of me holding the zhu zhu ticket with a beautiful handwritten number ONE written on it. Then, we took another of all of us holding up our zhu zhu tickets numbers 1 thru 5!! Great time!! (And yes, we are geeks!)

[civiclover88]

Fortunately, I didn't have to brave that store. When I went by my local TRU at about 11:30pm, there was a line WELL past the store, with their parking lot full and the next store well on its way. Honestly, there had to have over 500 people in line or getting there!

[Bopeep]

When we got to WalMart this morning, we were handed a map with all the doorbusters marked. My sister went to get a bike for my son, and I went for the $59 TomTom. The map just said "GPS" so I went to get in the right line. Stood there over an hour before the sale started, then another 45 minutes or so to get to the site to store where the items were being held, only to be told the $59 Tom's were over by the groceries and they only had the higher ones back there! Of course by then they were gone! I have never been so mad at a store in my life (I know, irrational to be ticked at a whole store).

 

I've decided it wasn't meant to be, I really couldn't afford to spend money on me right now anyway :).

 

Happy Holidays everybody!

[Shine]

I went to Carter's. They had 50% off the entire store. I shopped the clearance rack which was 60% off. They then had an additional 10% off entire purchase from 5am-12pm. THEN I had a coupon that they sent to me through email for an additional 20% off my entire purchase. Total at checkout $275.00, after discounts-$81.32:)

[o_arlene]

Just got back from target is 2:53 pm local time. Got the digital picture frame that I wanted and the movies, they still have some of the tv's from the ad. I love target!

[tryn2save]

Our Walmart was awful. We arrived at 4:45. Everything was a mess...people were checkilng out...lines went from one end of the store 2 the other...we left went 2 bath and body which was a great experience. then 2 target. Target must have sold the bissell steam mops in like 2 seconds because they were completely gone at 5:02. We then went 2 Joan's we were #15 at the cutting table and the experience was wonderful. :) Then we went back 2 Target and then back 2 Walmart. We price matched at Walmart and did very well. However there new "system" is awful. They need 2 figure out something.

[dmintelsgt]

I really think Thursday was my best shopping day! I went to Radio Shack and got 10yr old dd's laptop, bought us a new desktop from BB on line and picked up some toys for 5yr old dd at K-mart!

 

Friday's experience:

JCPenny was great - clothes for the kids (mostly the 5yr old), two golf shirts and a waffle maker for DH - their check out sucks, but I always sneak to the little known cashier in the furniture section.

 

Target - was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT - usually they are so helpful, I had to ask 3 people where to find one item, and the stupid hard drive - that was a joke, we were all waiting in line, a guy brings a box of 8 or 10 and there had to be 30+ people waiting, he hands them out randomly and says they have a pallet coming out, then another guy comes out and says if you want the hard drive you need to go to the register in electronics (where there are a whole 2 people working) so this mass of people heads that direction in no particular order, the line was insane. I said forget it, totally not worth it... I went to the check out where the lines were again outrageous... I then realized I had less then 10 items in my cart - so I went to the express line! I spent about $70 at Target when my normal BF receipt is around $400. I will say the eastside Target renewed my faith and when I stopped there after lunch I found very helpful employees and a whole shelf full of the hard drives!

 

TRU - better than I expected, but I didn't get there until after 5am... so the mad rush was mostly over, I didn't have much on my list and a couple of items were gone, no biggie

 

Sears - I really had no reason to go to Sears but I was killing time waiting for my friend so I flipped through their ad and ended up going in and getting the Sony DVD player for my daughter

 

I figured I'd go in and see stores were open - holy cow! The majority of the mall opened at 5am! The poor employees... the lady at Motherhood said she didn't have a single customer until 8am, and the girl at Justice said they were dead all morning. I bought my oldest daughter clothes at Justice and I bought myself some clothes at Motherhood.

 

Sports Authority - ended up getting DH a hoodie sweatshirt w/college team for $14.00 - in and out in less than 10 min!

 

Michaels - eh, it was ok, didn't end up buying anything, but my friend did.

[POLLOCK56TH]

Total Success! I really stimulated the economy this year.

I started Wednesday wanted the maytag bravo pair from home depot was able to PM match at Lowes with cheaper service agreement and friday delivery HD earliest was 12 22!

Lowes didnt have the same washer in store they offered me the model up same price.

Thanksgiving day at 6am did best buy online. Got CODMW wii for 17 bucks, about 6 blu rays for like 9 bucks each.

 

Got online at target at 1145pm I was about 6th in line. At 5am there was well over 600 people online.

 

Target management on the scene around 3am. They were top notch taped off area around front with tape, overturned carts, and 4 very serious looking security guards orbited the perimeter . There was 0 cutting by scumbag lot lurkers.

They handed maps and totes at 4am no tickets. 5am on the dot doors opened very swift yet orderly entrance. Here was a first, they had carts staged down the main isle of traffic like race cars on pit row .

As you entered you just grabbed the cart without stopping and the flow kept moving. igot to where the tv's were. I snagged a 32" there were only about a dozen of them there! But there were at least 40 of the 42" go figure? Kept moving (loved the map) 2 people ahead of me at this point got a bissell floor cleaner only 6 of those that I could see. Kept moving felt victorious was heading towards electronics figured i try for a tom tom. At this point the store was filling through fast! Memories of waiting 2 plus hours to get out of store Abort!

 

Followed very well sectioned path through to registers was out at 515AM! Home at 545am

Washer and dryer show up at 9am on the mark. Wife was totally suprised (today is her birthday). and happy to say goodbye to the 20 plus year old maytag pair.

[Monstermile]

First year in a while I didn't go out. Thanks to Amazon price matching and beating ads I got alot of stuff early. My wife headed out this morning around 3am to get to Sears by 4am. She hit Sears, Staples, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Kohls, Home Depot and Lowes and was home by 8am. She said the worst was Wal-Mart. That took her over an hour alone. People trying to horde and argue over the doorbusters. In several cases they had to review security tapes to see who was in line first. Apparently this Wal-Mart didn't play by the rules. Everywhere else she said 10-15 minutes max. And we got everything on the list which included no doorbusters. Our big ticket items are being ordered online and there is no rush. The biggest thing I was after today was the Memorex iPod alarm clock at Staples for $25. Got two.

[kgm520]

I agree I went to wal-mart also, and there was a big difference then last year. I got everything I needed. Lines were outrageous but I went back to sporting goods there was no line at all. On my way out I let some people know who were at the back of them long lines to go to sporting goods.

Our Walmart was a nightmare. They let everyone in instead of having them stand outside, and people gathered around the various pallets. The employees were very strict in saying you couldn't start putting things in your carts, but you were allowed to pick out what you wanted and keep it there, stacked on the pallet (if that makes any sense). Five minutes before 5 AM, they announced for employees to cut the plastic on the pallets and "in an orderly fashion" start handing out items. Riiiight. All heck broke loose.

 

There were so many people in the store that within 15 minutes there was a traffic jam of carts and people and boxes plugging up every large aisle in the store, along with several smaller aisles that were feeding into the bigger ones. There were some people who "got smart" and checked out in the back of the store, but they found it took them an additional half hour just to get OUT of the store thanks to the giant bottleneck for the front registers. I took only 15 minutes to get all my items and got in the line rather quickly, but it still took me 2.5 hours to get checked out. It was claustrophobic and miserable! Getting hung up at Walmart threw my entire "plan" off for the day.

 

If I ever, ever, ever try to do Walmart when it opens on Black Friday ever again, someone please punch me in the face.

[CowNcalves]

This year my 13 DS wanted to go so I thought I would make it interesting (so he didn't want to go next year and see his gifts) Left the house Thurs night at 8:30. Arrived at Walmart by 9. Asked where the Emachines were going to be (automotive) and they were just setting up the ropes. Asked where the front of the line was going to be and sat down right there to wait it out. I was FIRST!! By 1 they were sold out of the 12 they had. By midnight they were letting ppl shop for all the doorbusters. No waiting till 5. I left on my "potty break" to be the ipod touch. Sent the son with a map and a list and let him shop. After 2 energy drinks in 3 hrs he was rearing to go. He got all the doorbusters on the list by 1 am and then start shopping for others in line that could'nt leave. By 5 we checked out.. 2 emachines, 1 HP, Ipod touch, rockband and a whole cart full right at the automotive registers... we were first to check out. Left for target.. madhouse and left. Went to another walmart in hopes to find the girls track suits. Noone around here got any in. Sent my son home and I headed to work a 8 hr shift. Headed to a football party and here I am online shopping... 37 hrs no sleep...

Sons first question is "Can I go next year too?"

Loved Walmarts new system.. no pushing, no shoving and they kept me locked up in there to spend a couple hundred more.I had to keep the kid busy getting more items lol

[CarpeDiem]

My friend went to target @ 430 am and was 2nd in line for the lego indiana jones set for me. the lady in front of him took all 12 cause you know what she was doing with them. So I didnt get one

[rachealb]

My day started out terrible! First, hubby wouldnt get up with me after he told me we didnt need to set the alarm because he would be up. So I was up late and alone. I got to Target around 6 am and they were sold out of everything I wanted! I was almost in tears I was so upset. All I was there to get was the $47 portable DVD player and of course the Xbox 360 COD bundle. So went to Home Depot and got my 60 batteries for $10 and two .99 poinsettas. Came home in a really terrible mood and couldnt even fall back asleep. Finally went to Bath & Body Works around 9. Line was really long, but I did get the tote and some cute stuff. Mega stocking stuffers done. Feeling a little better. Then we went to Sears. Scored a camera case for my son for 2.97. On the way home, decided to hit a different Target (the big busy one!) and got to the electronics dept and there were TONS of Xbox's!!! I was so excited I was almost crying then. I am a dork, I know. I was hugging it. A lady was laughing at me. I also scored the port DVD player and the Dark Knight DVD! This was at 10:30 this morning. I couldnt believe it. So with my purchase I got the $50 gc, the $10 gc, and I had gotten a coupon the mail for a $15 gc with $150 purchase, so scored $75 in gift cards! Totally made my day. My son will be soooo excited, so I am too! Yay!

[booga12345]

I got almost everything I wanted but the whole experience this year was terrible. We went to Toys R Us at 11 pm. There were at least 500 ppl in line and they were only letting 100 in at a time, which is fine and the responsible thing to do, but they only had 3 registers opened . Needless to say we left. Decided to go to Wal-Mart to price match the Toys R Us midnight ad, they refused to pricematch until 5 am. Went to Walm-Mart at 4 am. People were ripping the black plastic off the pallets and taking what they wanted, the electronics line went from the back to the front of the store by 5 am. We were told that was where we needed to be to get the ds's. I waited there while dh decided to go to electronics to see what was going on and ended up coming back with 3 ds's. They had all those ppl waiting in line when you coulda just walked up there and asked the salesperson for them. I have never seen Wal-Mart so unorganized and I was really disappointed this year. Got back to Toys R Us at 7 am and it was so much less busy and more organized. They also restocked much of the merchandise so I got everything I wanted and was out in 30 minutes. Target was awesome as usual. I think they are the most organized of all the stores by a long shot!

[DramaQueenLucy]

Just finished with the in store items and I have to say that I got everything and then some because of people not taking stuff that they took to the registars to pay for I went through the carts of returns and got tons of door busters at TRU, got all the pj's, movies and a few toys walmart & target....I have to say this was a very productive and pretty relaxed BF then what I have had in the past :)

[newmom517]

We went to Walmart at 3:30 this year and it was WONDERFUL....you were able to go ahead and get your stuff and put them in your carts..but had to wait to check out at 5am...it was nice...I saw a lot of the big stuff left like DS lites and tvs. We didn't need those things, but we were able to get everything we needed..and got about 15 bikes for our Church charity without a problem.

 

 

I really liked it, there wasn't any chaos, pretty organized. Then after we ate at IHOP, we went to Old Navy and got in and out in 30 mins. I guess it helped that the Alabama/Auburn Game was on today, so everyone in my area was pretty much done at 10am.

 

 

ETA what we got:

 

-$19 Imaginext Dino Island (the must have that I wanted)

-Mickey mouse fishing game

-About 15 dvd's (the $2 and $5 ones)

-Spongebob PJ's

-15 Bikes for the church along with other house hold items

[hnybee411]

Yesterday I went to Kmart and got 2 pairs of $6 route 66 jeans, an oversized throw for $3 and a pair of slipper socks for $3 all for the boy and senior citizen we adopted off the angel tree this year, plus a $5 sparkling disney princess doll for my niece.

 

I picked my mom and aunt up at 11:30 and we headed to toys r us. Line was insane. We were standing there looking at the line and there were about five people behind us and we were all kind of talking about whether it was worth it or not when this total and complete A**hole starts stomping his way down the length of the line and starts yelling at all of us that weren't in line about how we weren't getting in the line, how we needed to get to the end of the line, etc Only about every other word out of his mouth was the f-word. One the ladies next to us yelled at him to have a merry christmas. :) Now I could understand him saying something to the people that were lining up down by the exit, but most of us were just trying to decide whether to go back to our cars or get in line. Anyway, we decide we might as well stay and get in line. That lasted about fifteen minutes before we decided to go to walmart and price match what we could. It was just too cold and the line was not moving.

 

We get to walmart about 12:45 or so and watch someone checking out with one of the big screen TVs. We're like what the heck so we start looking around and discover that if it was on the floor you could put it in your cart. They stopped the early check out thing though right after we got there so you had to wait until 5. My aunt went to find the line for the blu ray and was told to just take one. We had everything in our carts by 2:00 and we went over to the pharmacy and sat on the benches and waited until about 4:15 when we got in line. During the wait we heard reports of fist fights and police being called to 3 different toys r us stores in the area, including the one we'd been at. Of course, people were coming in the store at 4:30 wanting to know what the heck was going on and how we were all in line already. They weren't happy at all.

 

I got: 11 DVDs (2 pricematched), 2 pairs of snow boots, 2 boys hoodies, marbles, vsmile pocket, vaccuum, misc toys and bread. (we were out)

 

Managed to price match everything I was going to get at TRU except one thing and my dad called from TRU as he was there with an uncle trying to get a swingset. I asked him to look for the one thing I was missing and he got the last one. He also went to Lowe's and picked up two of the $45 shelves for me.

 

From wal-mart, I rushed to K-mart to get the handy manny motorcycle and some other things. Found out they only had 2 motorcycles for the whole store. (ordered it from amazon for $3 more) Got sweats for hubby and the senior citizen we adopted and a folding 6 ft table for my mom.

 

Went to breakfast.

 

Went to sears and got everything I was after except the autoloading screwdriver. Left there and went to Ace to get a dog bed and some extension cords.

 

Came home and ordered 2 movies and the n strike wii game I missed elsewhere for DH and got tru blood for 19.99 for me. Then ordered what I needed from BBW. I missed the VIP bag but that's okay. I have one more little thing to get for my dad and my mom's birthday and I am completely done. Whew! What a day, but so worth it.

 

Deal of the day: One of TRU online ad specials was for Open Season 2 for 50% off which the boy off the angel tree wanted. Found a copy among the walmart movies, but it wouldn't ring up so she over rode it for $2. :)

[Stowasser]

My friend went to target @ 430 am and was 2nd in line for the lego indiana jones set for me. the lady in front of him took all 12 cause you know what she was doing with them. So I didnt get one

that is so sad that she took all, she could of at least let him have one

[queenofshopping]

This is our very first post here on GD, but we have been following everyone and everything *all the deals Black Friday and not* for MONTHS now. Yes, we are definitely "lurkers" here :)

Hi lurkers! Glad you de-lurked to share your experiences with us! :)

[kjunea]

Well, I've still a little woozy, but here is my story of the day....

 

After cooking dinner for 20 people last night and they had left, I cleaned up the kitchen and took a small nap until 11:00 pm. I drove the 10 minutes to my TRU and low and behold, there were about 150 people in line! By the time the store opened at Midnight, there were about 750 people in line! Didn't get a Zhu Zhu, but got the razor and a few other items. Took 45 minutes to get out of the store and back home to rest for an hour an a half.

 

Sister in Law shows up about 2:45 and wakes me up, we head out to JC Penney. No one in line, so we wait in our nice, warm car until about 3:45 am, get out and get in line with about 10 other people and Penney's opens EARLY!! Awesome service in there today! Got my jammies for everyone, shirts for hubby and a tie and 2 snow globes (because we came back in to go into the mall.) On to Macy's for some glassware, frying pans and a Mickey Mouse (love that mouse!!), then to Chik-fil-A for a breakfast biscuit.

 

We then left the mall to go to Academy Sports. It's about 6:30, and I see people lined up outside. We are very puzzled, because they are only letting in 10 people at a time. We find out why....They are giving out free Tennessee Titans Jerseys! Score! Free $50 jersey!

 

On to Wal-mart. Most of the doorbusters are gone, but the crowds are too. Price Matched several items with no problems. We get what we need and head on to Target. Still crowded, hard to find anything. Couldn't find the Duck Hunter game or Wizard of Oz DVD, but found most all else.

 

Next stop, back to the mall. Bath and Body was packed, took 30 minutes to check out, so hot in the store, I was afraid people would pass out!). On to Yankee Candle, so nice and peaceful. Still busy, but no pushing/shoving. They had lots of coupons and let you up them, so instead of buy 2/get 2 free, I did buy 4/get 4 free! By this time, it's getting to be a little after 10:00. We go to TJ Maxx to get a pair of shoes that my sister in law had held for her, then to PF Chang's for early lunch and free lettace wraps! Service was very slow. Then over to Best Buy to get Entourage videos and try to get Zune Marketplace cards, but they wouldn't work and so I didn't buy them. Then home and a nap for a couple of hours, since I had only slept 2 hours in over 24 hours. But I love BF!!!

[speeddiva]

I travelled to Indianapolis today & I had some time to kill so I went shopping. Imagine my surprise when I scored all the doorbustersi hadn't gotten online in the AM! At EVERY store, I got what I was missing...@ 4 PM! Yay!!