I think Walt Disney World has some kind of mental block when it comes to fully understanding how popular the individual attractions (or sometimes even the individual parks) are and how much they mean to visitors. And in return, what that can mean in merchandise sales for them. Promoting everything in Florida as being part of one big "Disney World" is necessary when trying to get people to come for the first time. But once you're there, and especially if you keep coming back, they have to keep offering something that takes those changing interests into account.
Sure on your first visit you'll be pretty darn happy with that generic "characters and balloons in front of the castle" kind of T-shirt, but repeat visitors aren't going to keep buying the same generic junk over and over again, just because it has the current year plastered over it.
Repeat visitors have favorite attractions, shows, parks, and yes, even restaurants. So why not try catering to that demographic? They're already printing SO many shirts and whatnot, it couldn't possibly hurt if they mixed in some unique attraction-based stuff.
Maybe they don't need to print up a million Tiki Room or Country Bears T-shirts, but Disney ought to know what their popular attractions are, and create at least a few specific items for them.
About the only things I buy at Disney World are attraction-related, which means I leave empty-handed a lot, because all of my favorite attractions are very under-represented in merchandise. And it's not like all of my favorites are sleeper "fan favorite" kinds of things, either. Sure, I'd love a Horizons shirt or a Carousel of Progress hat, but even huge attractions like Spaceship Earth, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion are really lacking any good merchandise.
And I don't understand it. :shrug:
