American Adventure- no more store filled with quality, patriotic, historical merchandise

Mindy55

Active Member
Original Poster
I was in EPCOT today and headed over to America to find out of the store there had re-opened, only to discover that it’s never going to be a store connected to “America” any more but just will have Disney artwork .
what happened?
There was a time when that store had fantastic merchandise!
 

donsullivan

Premium Member
Kind of overly and unnecessarily dramatic to say it’s NEVER going to be a store connected to America. Epcot is in the midst of a significant transformation right now and a lot of things are going to be constantly changing over the next 3 years. If you are going to throw that sort of response around for every change you are going to be choosing to be very unhappy for the next 3 years.

The location that shop was in is being torn down, so it needed to be relocated. We don’t know that it’s permanent, only that it had to go somewhere and this was an available option. Disney likely looked at the guest demand for the merchandise each store sold and concluded there was more demand for the Disney merch than what was in the store previous.
 

Mindy55

Active Member
Original Poster
Kind of overly and unnecessarily dramatic to say it’s NEVER going to be a store connected to America. Epcot is in the midst of a significant transformation right now and a lot of things are going to be constantly changing over the next 3 years. If you are going to throw that sort of response around for every change you are going to be choosing to be very unhappy for the next 3 years.

The location that shop was in is being torn down, so it needed to be relocated. We don’t know that it’s permanent, only that it had to go somewhere and this was an available option. Disney likely looked at the guest demand for the merchandise each store sold and concluded there was more demand for the Disney merch than what was in the store previous.
Thanks for your response, I am disappointed, and I only reported the response I received from a cast member when I inquired. I’m sorry if you think I’m being overly dramatic.
 

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
I was in EPCOT today and headed over to America to find out of the store there had re-opened, only to discover that it’s never going to be a store connected to “America” any more but just will have Disney artwork .
what happened?
There was a time when that store had fantastic merchandise!
Really, you thought that was good stuff. I remember going in there and being ed that every tee shirt was made in China. Had a discussion with the cm (so sorry girlfriend I must have seem like a crazy lady) about how every other pavillion had stuff originating from that country and we had crap made in china.

I did like the childrens books. It also maybe that I live in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the USA and we take the early american stuff pretty serious. :p so the American pavilion gift shop was a cheesy made in china filled junk shop.
 

HongKongFooy

Well-Known Member
I remember going in there and being ****ed that every tee shirt was made in China. Had a discussion with the cm (so sorry girlfriend I must have seem like a crazy lady) about how every other pavillion had stuff originating from that country and we had crap made in china.


Perfect!!!!

Thank you for bringing this up.
 

Mindy55

Active Member
Original Poster
Really, you thought that was good stuff. I remember going in there and being ****ed that every tee shirt was made in China. Had a discussion with the cm (so sorry girlfriend I must have seem like a crazy lady) about how every other pavillion had stuff originating from that country and we had crap made in china.

I did like the childrens books. It also maybe that I live in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the USA and we take the early american stuff pretty serious. :p so the American pavilion gift shop was a cheesy made in china filled junk shop.
While there were some cheesy items made in China, (which I too mentioned to the staff) that shop also carried beautiful, hand crafted items, made in the USA. The shop sold art, blankets, books, and historical replicas.. there was a broad scope of items offered. I loved going In there. it was well done, at one time and I’m curious as to what happened. Whatever team was in charge of merchandise Buying from around 2010-2014 was much better than whoever is doing it now .. I’ve noticed that virtually all the Disney merchandise has gone down in quality
 

Rosanne

Active Member
It would be nice to only have products there that were made in USA since many of the other places have things from that country. They could have brought in products made from different US states. I think people would have loved it. But people are also price conscious and may be drawn to the cheaper things made in China that are sold all over the world. Most of the things at Disney are over priced.
 

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
While there were some cheesy items made in China, (which I too mentioned to the staff) that shop also carried beautiful, hand crafted items, made in the USA. The shop sold art, blankets, books, and historical replicas.. there was a broad scope of items offered. I loved going In there. it was well done, at one time and I’m curious as to what happened. Whatever team was in charge of merchandise Buying from around 2010-2014 was much better than whoever is doing it now .. I’ve noticed that virtually all the Disney merchandise has gone down in quality
The last time I was there was August of 2018 but honestly I always thought the stuff there was horrible. I'm probably not objective because I always think the resort shops are much better than the parks

It's weird that some years, I enjoy the shops then I can go back and they're bad.
 
Last edited:

Mindy55

Active Member
Original Poster
The last time I was there was August of 2018 but honestly I always thought the stuff there was horrible. I'm probably not objective because I always think the resort shops are much better than the parks

It's weird that some years, I enjoy the shops then I can go back and they're bad.
I hadn’t been to Disney since late 2015 returned to Disney in August of 2019, so I was delighted with some changes and shocked by Others.. I agree, I used to love the resort shops! It just seems like the quality and variety of merchandise began to decline in 2015, and continues to :(
 

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
I also enjoyed visiting that shop after visiting the America Pavilion. As a history buff I'd usually find something interesting to take away. Hopefully they will restock it with appropriate merchandise. After all you can find all the other Disney type souvenirs in almost every place you visit. The Heritage House outside of the HoP also has many patriotic items and had a more diverse selection of American historic items of interest.
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
In reality, if the products are made in the USA and labor rates are more than what the labor rates in the sweatshops in China, the made in USA merchandise may cost more for the consumer in the long run. I like the idea of buy American but possibly paying more for it, I would have to think twice.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Really, you thought that was good stuff. I remember going in there and being ****ed that every tee shirt was made in China. Had a discussion with the cm (so sorry girlfriend I must have seem like a crazy lady) about how every other pavillion had stuff originating from that country and we had crap made in china.

I did like the childrens books. It also maybe that I live in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the USA and we take the early american stuff pretty serious. :p so the American pavilion gift shop was a cheesy made in china filled junk shop.

Perfect!!!!

Thank you for bringing this up.

Looks at user handle.

Aren't you posting against your best interests?
 

Qscout

Active Member
Buying from around 2010-2014 was much better than whoever is doing it now .. I’ve noticed that virtually all the Disney merchandise has gone down in quality

Cannot agree more, I have T-Shirts that we bought on a trip in 2014 that I still wear. In April last year I got one and it is so thin I would need to wear something in below it as it is practically shear, and the print on it has all but worn off. Yet the 2014 on is still in good condition and the print clearly visible but showing signs of its age.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom