Has anyone noticed a massive increase in Disney merch outside the parks?

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I have yes (I'm in Canada). I'm presuming this is part of their merchandise strategy since shuttering the majority of their Disney Stores.

What’s odd is you would have THOUGHT that move would have been a shift to online sales more?

But their shop site still SUCKS beyond belief.

So it was really just about flooding crap to places with no labor costs

How “genius”

 

[C.Witch]

What’s odd is you would have THOUGHT that move would have been a shift to online sales more?

But their shop site still SUCKS beyond belief.

So it was really just about flooding crap to places with no labor costs

How “genius”

Couldn't agree more. For the most part it has been lower-quality, licensed merchandise. I would have LOVED to see a Canadian portal for their website. As it stands now with exchange, duties, and their insane shipping costs, it's just not feasible to shop online.

 

[Tha Realest]

In the past I might expect a few Disney themed toys, or costumes around Halloween in your normal Targets and Walmarts... but recently it seem I see not just toys but lots and lots of clothes and other things in not just Walmarts but Dolla

What’s odd is you would have THOUGHT that move would have been a shift to online sales more?

But their shop site still SUCKS beyond belief.

So it was really just about flooding crap to places with no labor costs

How “genius”

No labor costs. No rent. No shrinkage issues.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No labor costs. No rent. No shrinkage issues.

Indeed…

And at the bargain price of severing a link to their target, frequent clientele - which is the middle class - in their own spaces…

Cause only here do people try to defend bad moves like these because it impinges on their memories of a once every 3-5 year trip to port orleans from 8 years ago…

Most don’t care and you have to earn their business.

Even in a changing world - there’s no question the Disney store did that

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

You know when a family just had to get a group set of shirts on the cheap during their part of their trip to the resort...This is the one I always think of...The Clipart shirt.

 

[DisneyHead123]

l haven't purchased any Disney Merch since 2019 and that was offsite in Kissimmee but I had done that for years before and found that the quality was better, even in those roadside souvenir stores, than anything I ever bought onsite in the parks.

It was imaginary that the quality was less if you didn't give Disney a 300% profit margin instead of the more honest price found away from properties. If the quality has declined due to them selling via places like Walmart, you can rest assured that it isn't any better onsite and never has been. The T-shirt I bought offsite in 2019 has not faded and the Disney graphic is still like new and that shirt has been worn and washed at least once I week since September 2019 when I bought it.

Disney commissions that product in huge numbers and therefore gets a quantity price. They have always allowed outside locations to sell the excess production to the public for lower prices knowing that people would think that the quality was different and be willing to pay more onsite for the same item. That has been normal retail procedure for decades. I made a statement elsewhere just this week that our evaluation of value and our willingness to accept what is reasonable or not is far more connected with location then logic.

I bought my son a Disney Parks Halloween shirt on eBay recently and the entire hem unraveled after a cold water wash on the gentle cycle. I suppose it could be a knock-off, but I doubt it because the super cheap stuff you can buy online these days holds up really well - it’s actually hard to find clothes that just fall apart after one wash. He was also gifted a pricey toy monorail last Christmas and it literally broke within a day. Reading reviews online, this was the case for seemingly everyone, and yet Disney is still selling them. Again, puzzling because you can buy super cheap electronic toys from China that hold up really well.

Most of their stuff is pretty well made - my niece has a lot of the dolls, and I have some holiday decorations from the parks, no complaints there. It seems like some really shoddy production slips through here and there though.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

The grocery store Mickey bars have been around for quite a few years now, as has plenty of Disney merchandise especially shirts. The Dollar store sold Disney merch 20 years ago. Target, Gap, Walmart, Uniqlo, and Kohls all have a long history of Disney merch, though in some items can only be found online. There's also quite a bit of Harry Potter stuff too, esp online.

That said, Disney and Universal may well have expanded the where/what of merchandise this year.

Last year, Lowe's Hardware/Home depot had a line of Haunted Mansion Halloween decor that they continued again this year. Some of it is kinda neat, IMO.

The past few years I have also seen Universal owned Classic Monsters merchandise this time of year.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The grocery store Mickey bars have been around for quite a few years now, as has plenty of Disney merchandise especially shirts. The Dollar store sold Disney merch 20 years ago. Target, Gap, Walmart, Uniqlo, and Kohls all have a long history of Disney merch, though in some items can only be found online. There's also quite a bit of Harry Potter stuff too, esp online.

That said, Disney and Universal may well have expanded the where/what of merchandise this year.

Last year, Lowe's Hardware/Home depot had a line of Haunted Mansion Halloween decor that they continued again this year. Some of it is kinda neat, IMO.

The past few years I have also seen Universal owned Classic Monsters merchandise this time of year.

They had the haunted mansion decor this year too…it sells out fast

True story: I built my own HM singing head mock-up years ago…used mannequin heads, sculpted the hair, made a video loop on dvd with a projector for projection


…now I coulda just bought a blow up

 

[MadderAdder]

Seeing Disney merch at Spirit Halloween, CVS, Walgreens, and Big Lots is weird to me still but… it’s there!

 

[thomas998]

Indeed…

And at the bargain price of severing a link to their target, frequent clientele - which is the middle class - in their own spaces…

Cause only here do people try to defend bad moves like these because it impinges on their memories of a once every 3-5 year trip to port orleans from 8 years ago…

Most don’t care and you have to earn their business.

Even in a changing world - there’s no question the Disney store did that

Hell I remember when my city had a Radio Disney station that my kids would constantly have to have on whenever we went anywhere... I still don't understand why they eliminated all those which was a great marketing tool... it often reminds me of a company I once worked for that had some operating unit managers that would do anything, including selling off decent assets just to make surpass their annual numbers for a short term bump on their bonus. I watched one unit do it for 4 years in a row before they pretty much had sold off everything that had any growth potential and then the higher ups finally saw their stupidity and cut them loose. Frankly, I see a lot of stupidity at Disney recently but as of yet no one on the board is willing to force some change for the better.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

The 2nd most expensive Disney merch you'll see outside of the parks.......Live on Stage & Ice tour shows souvenirs...Feld Entertainment is making a mint on those tours..And if you haven't had your park fix and your far away from Orlando or Anaheim and you find out the characters are in town you be dang sure to cough up as much as a day in the park for parking, seeing the show, snacks and of course the souvenirs that light up and some that do nothing but look good to display with your collection.

 

[DisneyHead123]

The 2nd most expensive Disney merch you'll see outside of the parks.......Live on Stage & Ice tour shows souvenirs...Feld Entertainment is making a mint on those tours..And if you haven't had your park fix and your far away from Orlando or Anaheim and you find out the characters are in town you be dang sure to cough up as much as a day in the park for parking, seeing the show, snacks and of course the souvenirs that light up and some that do nothing but look good to display with your collection.

Over $40 for a light spinner, I believe. I went to Reddit to find the price and a poster there also said that the people selling light spinners have to register as independent contractors, so they eat the cost of any stolen merchandise.

 

[eliza61nyc]

I'm not a big fan of T-shirts but do love the mooses merchandise in the Canadian pavilion so I usually get some pj's. I didn't find any thing particularly cheap quality wise. Now for my family the point of a souvenir is to have a reminder of the actual vacation, so buying a t-shirt at Walmart defeats the purpose ( for us)
For the most part Disney Springs is sn enjoyable spot to end the night. I do wear Pandora charms , the prices are similar to what I see at the store back home

 

[CheechChongy122]

I think the peak of Disney merch presence was signified by the era of Disney stores in every mall. ...or at least in lots of the malls around here (Texas). I used to like shopping there until they poofed.

It has been on the decline since then. Well, if you are talking about Micky Mousy stuff and not all the other properties. Marvel hass been increasing. At least till the movies *censored due to political drama*. Star Wars stuff doing pretty well, as it always has.

Yup. Peak Disney was when you’d walk into any mall, find the Disney store and the first thing you saw was a literal mountain of Disney plushes from left to right!!

 

[MisterPenguin]

Here's a "news article"...

Disney is selling Figment ear headbands — but they won’t last long

shopDisney has ear headbands of Figment, the purple dragon mascot from EPCOT, for sale, but they aren't expected to last long

www.nj.com

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

In park merchandise is just a low quality as off site merchandise. Sad really.