Disney Wants You To Spend More on Souvenirs?

[WhatJaneSays]

On a side note... what is everyone looking for that they can't find?

My little Niece has just discovered my Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers DVDs and loves them now ... unfortunately she's a little late for the C&D era. After 2 hours searching through DTD for something not food or Christmas related I met a nice CM that literally pulled out the Disney phone book and called around until he managed to find a shirt and plush set for me at the Beach Club. I've seen a little set of figures that had C&D in them after that at DHS, but nothing after that. She's got a birthday coming up and I've turned to eBay to find things for her. Maybe we're in the minority, but I thought that they were still high ranking in popularity?

I know Donald is a fan favorite (and my personal fav), but there seems a real lacking in original merc for him in the last 3 years or so. I don't have the opportunity to wear many t-shirts and I think I own every Donald plush made in the last 20 years (seriously I have more than refrigerator box full).

On a Geeky kick: no Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, no DuckTales, no Tale Spin, no Goof Troop, no DarkWing Duck, no Kingdom Hearts ... all things I would gladly pay full price.

 

[terp79]

Wedway71, there are a lot of different vendors that work with Disney Consumer Products. We are one of about 200 licensees that work with the gobal stationery LOB in the keepsake and gift department. Make sure to let me know if you find any points of contact when it comes to park merchandise jobs. Us Hoosiers gotta stick together!!!

Peoplemover, you're most welcome for my insight in this matter.

You have to understand it's so hard for me anymore to want to buy disney stuff. I'm only 28 and it should be really easy for Disney to pull that money out of my pockets, and you know, I don't mind them trying. I like helping and knowing that my dollars went back into the place I love....in whatever small way. It just sucks that they stopped trying. I kinda wish that the parks never got the licenses to all the characters. There was a time that the only character stuff you could find in the parks (now this is way pack when disneyland was just a baby) was limited.

People come to Disney World/Land to escape everyday life, if they want to take something home, they want to take some of the magic, the memories, etc. Not a plush mickey, they want a Haunted Mansion door bell plaque or a ceramic marc davis pirates maquette, maybe a mary blair inspired throw.....we all know disney can do it, they do it for the Disney Direct website.

Those buyers need to get in contact with the people at Disney Consumer Products and make it happen.

 

[NewfieFan]

My little Niece has just discovered my Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers DVDs and loves them now ... unfortunately she's a little late for the C&D era. After 2 hours searching through DTD for something not food or Christmas related I met a nice CM that literally pulled out the Disney phone book and called around until he managed to find a shirt and plush set for me at the Beach Club. I've seen a little set of figures that had C&D in them after that at DHS, but nothing after that. She's got a birthday coming up and I've turned to eBay to find things for her. Maybe we're in the minority, but I thought that they were still high ranking in popularity?

I know Donald is a fan favorite (and my personal fav), but there seems a real lacking in original merc for him in the last 3 years or so. I don't have the opportunity to wear many t-shirts and I think I own every Donald plush made in the last 20 years (seriously I have more than refrigerator box full).

On a Geeky kick: no Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, no DuckTales, no Tale Spin, no Goof Troop, no DarkWing Duck, no Kingdom Hearts ... all things I would gladly pay full price.

This is all so true! Disney should really think about bringing back some of this "classic" stuff b/c it would sell!!! Everybody that watched those shows as a kid is now an adult. And there's nothing more dangerous than a sentimental "Disney Geek" with money in his/her pocket!!! I would totally buy the stuff you mentioned above - such fond memories of my childhood...

And yes Chip 'n Dale and Donald are hard to find, I know because I've looked myself. There's other areas where they lack as well. I had money to spend & people I wanted to shop for and I found it very hard to find items that were unique (not another magnet, mug, pen, etc.) I brought home a couple of the Mickey Hand ovenmitts/potholder - I thought they were something different. And I found some really nice ornaments in the Christmas shop in DTD for my mom (& myself). But it was really hard to find that perfect souvenir! I know I thought of things that I wanted while I was down there but for the life of me I can't think about them now. On my next trip, I'm going to make a list of the items I would have liked to have seen and didn't. Maybe we can give Disney some ideas here...

 

[Emberlene]

I love Donald Duck (Daisy, Huey, Dewy and Louie, too!) but I can only handle so many variations on the same shirt or little plastic figure or plushie year after year before I get annoyed (good luck finding something original with just Daisy on it :brick.

Same problem here. My husband loves Donald and I love Daisy (we used the Lenox Donald and Daisy as our wedding cake topper). He has every shirt Disney has with Donald on it (we're AP holders) and I have maybe two with Daisy on it. The minute we see anything decent with Daisy we snatch it up.

I'm also tired of seeing the same old stuff - like a whole section of the same Disney tshirt with the year on it - same logo different year - 2006 looks just like 2007 and 2008. Nothing new and original. Just cut out one year and slap another in it's place.

 

[WhatJaneSays]

This is all so true! Disney should really think about bringing back some of this "classic" stuff b/c it would sell!!! Everybody that watched those shows as a kid is now an adult. And there's nothing more dangerous than a sentimental "Disney Geek" with money in his/her pocket!!! I would totally buy the stuff you mentioned above - such fond memories of my childhood...

It's true. I remember a while back I went into a Hot Topic just as they were setting some new shirts which happened to be some of the old Disney Afternoon cartoons and the old Nickelodeon shows (Are You Afraid of the Dark? and the like). I got the DW and CDRR shirts that day, two weeks later I brought my friend there and they were sold out! You still see them once and a while on eBay, I wish I'd gotten more at the time.

Same problem here. My husband loves Donald and I love Daisy (we used the Lenox Donald and Daisy as our wedding cake topper). He has every shirt Disney has with Donald on it (we're AP holders) and I have maybe two with Daisy on it. The minute we see anything decent with Daisy we snatch it up.

That is so sweet for a wedding topper; I can only hope my future hubby is understanding enough for something like that.

This last trip I saw the Dream Daisy plush for the first time and grabbed her up (I had Dream Donald already). I only saw her at the World of Disney shop, no where else seemed to have her.

 

[biggiedisney123]

old merch

Robin Hood needs some disney love too, he may not be a franchise character, but he and little john still warm the heart of this jaded cynic.

I would buy every pin and shirt if it had any of the chracters from that movie, but WDW AK and Epcot had no merch to offer.


ps. I bought the Robin/Maid Marian combo at the local disneystore before I left. lol

 

[Minnesota]

I too noticed a few more shirts for the rides at the matching gift stores.TT EE. But where was the HM shirts? I think all rides deserve a shirt. Most of the stuff I saw was ok but the last 2 times I have gone and tried to find a nice Figment sweatshirt I have only found the same one for 48$. It looked cheap to me. I will spend the cash if it's nice. I spent 90$ for a tinkerbelle reversible sweatsuit. We also bought a Mickey leather coat(really nice) for 375$, and a beautiful Mickey shaped saphire ring. You have to really look in the shops most of the front stuff is HSM and HM. If you look to the back and poke around them all you can find really nice stuff. I just wish they would continue to make a selection of misses shirts that weren't ment to fit a 12yr old. 90% of the world can't and shouldn't wear those tight shirts, me included, especially at my age. I end up buying XXX so they hang right and I'm only 150lbs. :shrug:

 

[goofy's revenge]

More ride specific merchandise at exit stores or areas (i.e. Frontierland carries more frontierland attractionbased merch. etc...) This would help and also there should be more variety of choice. Now I collect pins but what happened to old school items from my childhood when you bought a patch or a "toothpick" holder :shrug: I mean why not have that type of smaller souvenir variety on top of more attraction based clothing (or park based) that can only be purchased in those specific parks or areas. Give people something like that and they will buy it.

 

[aj_steig]

I'll admit I'm a bargain hunter and an eBay/Amazon/Half.com junkie. (My Father always joked I should write a book called "Full Price is for Chumps".) My family hasn't bought much from inside the parks in a long time, besides food. Almost all of our Disney shopping is done at the outlets or online. While where at the parks we'll make note of what we want and that night at the hotel we'll see if we might be able to find it online cheaper.

The quality and novelty of the merch is one thing but if I can get the same thing off eBay for half the price, great. And it's one less thing I have to pack for the trip home! I have a difficult time finding new and likeable things in the parks. I love Donald Duck (Daisy, Huey, Dewy and Louie, too!) but I can only handle so many variations on the same shirt or little plastic figure or plushie year after year before I get annoyed (good luck finding something original with just Daisy on it :brick.

I agree. I find the same problem to be with Chip and Dale. I have seen a few more items added over the last few trips, but it's mostly pins. I often stuggle to find a classic chip and dale plush doll or t-shirt in the parks. Oh well!! :shrug:

 

[vickyvale]

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for some cool Haunted Mansion t-shirts.

:fork:

 

[culturenthrills]

Very true.
The last time I was at the Magic Kingdom (New Year's '07) I was really disappointed that the Briar Patch store, which used to be chock full of Splash Mountain merchandise had more Pooh stuff than Brer Rabbit stuff.
Hopefully WDW will bring back some variety.

Having said that, WDW merchandise is definitely head and shoulders above the quality/variety of what they sell at Busch Gardens Tampa!!

You gotta go to the exit store at Splash Mountain to get the merchandise. They actually have some new tshirts that are pretty nice.

 

[danpam1024]

Not to mention that EVERY store in EVERY WDW park has nearly the SAME merchandise these days. It was not always this way. The stores used to be very unique, with unique items themed to their lands. Not anymore. Just themed plush characters.

Sales will go up when variety goes up (and prices moderate).

Paul

I totally agree w/you. Seems the only origional merchandise is at Tatoone Traders outside Star Tours and half the stuff in there has the "exclusive to Target" sticker on the box. The gift shops at the resorts are no exception...the used to stick w/ the "theme", but now it's the same stuff in the parks! It's like you can't find something "special" that you can only get at____. Wow, I guess I really have an opinion about this.:zipit:

 

[thedisneyfan]

I agree that all of the merchandising locations lost their originality and it's the same items being offered everywhere without any specific enough content to that attraction/park/resort etc. The merchandise they had just 8 years ago was much better and offered a greater array of choices. Some theme continuity throughout is fine, but now it's difficult to find specfic attraction collectibles and merchandise. Why don't they check out EBAY to see what merchandise obviously worked and what didn't?

 

[danpam1024]

I agree that all of the merchandising locations lost their originality and it's the same items being offered everywhere without any specific enough content to that attraction/park/resort etc. The merchandise they had just 8 years ago was much better and offered a greater array of choices. Some theme continuity throughout is fine, but now it's difficult to find specfic attraction collectibles and merchandise. Why don't they check out EBAY to see what merchandise obviously worked and what didn't?

all they really need to do is check out these boards! Do you think "They" do:shrug:?

 

[Senderella]

Robin Hood needs some disney love too, he may not be a franchise character, but he and little john still warm the heart of this jaded cynic.

I would buy every pin and shirt if it had any of the chracters from that movie, but WDW AK and Epcot had no merch to offer.


ps. I bought the Robin/Maid Marian combo at the local disneystore before I left. lol

I feel the same way about Humphrey the bear. The only items he's on are a FEW WL things.

 

[SCRacerX70]

WOW, a Blackhole fan!?! I bought one at MGM last year, I thought I was the only person that liked The Blackhole....:lookaroun.....unless you bought it to be silly....:veryconfu

Another fan of The Black Hole here...

 

[Animaniac93-98]

WOW, a Black Hole fan!?! I bought one at MGM last year, I thought I was the only person that liked The Black Hole....:lookaroun.....unless you bought it to be silly....:veryconfu

No I did not buy it to be silly :lol:. I do actually enjoy it (so what if I do?) and would buy more merchandise for it. So far I have the DVD, the soundtrack from the itunes store and the poster. I almost bought the original 1980 VHS but I didn't have enough money for it at the time.