Yeah, and every time I step foot in the one at EPCOT or the one at DTD, I'm shocked it's still there. They are absolutely the best shops on Disney property and I know, one day, they'll be gone.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Sid's One of a Kind Shop to close?
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
Yeah, and every time I step foot in the one at EPCOT or the one at DTD, I'm shocked it's still there. They are absolutely the best shops on Disney property and I know, one day, they'll be gone.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Somewhere in the massive Eddie Sotto thread he mentions how at one time Disney had a system in which retail locations were planned categorized based on how much they were for pure retail and how much they were more about show. Like so much of what was, that system seems to have been done away with in favor of everything being viewed as for pure big box style retail.
Problem with that is WDW has waaaay too many retail locales to make a system like that work. You need to have retail as part of show partially just because of this fact. Some small Fantasyland shop isn't going to sell what Emporium will ... the Daisy's Garden shop at Swan won't sell as much merchandise at Everything Pop at Pop Century.
That's why you spread merchandise around and don't have the same stuff at every location.
I also think that they lose out on some sales because by now people expect the same stuff to be everywhere. So they see something they like and think that they can make a decision about picking it up later. And after a while they might come to their senses that 30$ for that t-shirt is actually too much to pay for it, or they don't see it at another shop. If there were more location specific merchandise, I am sure there would be more impulse buying as people would realise that they have to get it now or miss out.
Absolutely. And they're sorta attempting this with Carsland and BVS merchandise at DCA. I really wanted the Carsland CD and planned to buy it last month, but in three days I never got around to it. On my last day in SoCal, and with a business coffee meeting in the late afternoon followed by dinner with a friend just north of LA, I figured that I'd drop on by WoD and pick up one for me and one for a friend ... well, long story short, but that merchandise is all exclusive to DCA now (let's see how long it lasts ... I mean, I saw a shop at DD O-Town selling Mad Tea Party stuff last week) and the CM at the shop wasn't very helpful (no offer to send a runner over or anything since they eliminated the shopping pass). It took some MAGIC by a few CMs at the Grand Cali and a friend of mine to get the CDs (although they wound up being free and that was even more special!)
They need to go back to this. I can remember as a child my brother being in the Emporium well after midnight and wanting something they only had in the Frontierland General Store, so we trudged back and bought it. That's how it has to be now. Every shop just doesn't need Avengers DVDs on the counter and WDW 2012 pins and Tinker Bell hoodies.
yoda_5729
Well-Known Member
I very much love this shop and hope it doesn't close as has been rumored. I partially got into autographs from visiting it, though that was a long time ago.
I think that some here haven't realized some of the benefits the store has in the theming of Hollywood Studios. Lots of places in Hollywood have dozens upon dozens of celeb autographs lining the walls, and that is a great way for Disney to represent some stars that aren't represented elsewhere, whether they were Disney stars or not. You can learn a lot about movie stars from this place from modern to classic, and anything that does that I see as a major positive.
Also, though I know Disney is always interested in the bottom line, and making money Sids does serve a purpose. As many said many of the stores sell the same merchandise, but Sids has unique memorabilia not found anywhere else in the park. They even allow you to photograph the autographs which the place at Downtown Disney never allowed. Time is money at WDW, and if one store draws curious people in to look at and learn about stars, then that makes Toy Story Mania or Tower of Terror or RocknRoller Coasters lines shorter. The point to theme parks is to occupy peoples times with things that are fun, so they aren't bored.
The autographs in the store are over priced from what I know, though in odd ways. It's more based on star power and not based on autograph value. Marilyn's autograph is quite expensive, and is expensive at Sids. Garbo however is astronomically more rare, and Garbo was a huge star, but her auitograph was once being sold for less then Marilyn's in Sids. Because Garbo was so reclusive, her autograph is usually a lot more then Marilyn's at auction houses and such. Also many warn that 90% of all autographs sold on Ebay are fakes. Not being able to see an autograph you are buying can be very, very risky.
The way I looked at it, Disney put a price tag on the autograph, not so much because they thought iot was worth that, but because that's the trouble they'd have to go to to go hunt down another. If the autograph didn't sell, it still was a draw. If it did, then they have some money to go out and find another one they are confident is real then. Even if it didn't sell the autographs and just displayed them, that would be interesting, and then it could sell more mainstream items inside it like John Wayne/Marilyn Monroe/ Wizard of Oz merchandise.
I love Disney, and it should first and for most be present in the parks. But, Walt is not the only thing that made Hollywood, Hollywood. He'd even admit to that. It's important those items/movies/people are represented as well.
Hopefully they keep it, as it does represent something commonly found in Hollywood, and also allows for some stars not in the rest of the park to get some TLC.
I think that some here haven't realized some of the benefits the store has in the theming of Hollywood Studios. Lots of places in Hollywood have dozens upon dozens of celeb autographs lining the walls, and that is a great way for Disney to represent some stars that aren't represented elsewhere, whether they were Disney stars or not. You can learn a lot about movie stars from this place from modern to classic, and anything that does that I see as a major positive.
Also, though I know Disney is always interested in the bottom line, and making money Sids does serve a purpose. As many said many of the stores sell the same merchandise, but Sids has unique memorabilia not found anywhere else in the park. They even allow you to photograph the autographs which the place at Downtown Disney never allowed. Time is money at WDW, and if one store draws curious people in to look at and learn about stars, then that makes Toy Story Mania or Tower of Terror or RocknRoller Coasters lines shorter. The point to theme parks is to occupy peoples times with things that are fun, so they aren't bored.
The autographs in the store are over priced from what I know, though in odd ways. It's more based on star power and not based on autograph value. Marilyn's autograph is quite expensive, and is expensive at Sids. Garbo however is astronomically more rare, and Garbo was a huge star, but her auitograph was once being sold for less then Marilyn's in Sids. Because Garbo was so reclusive, her autograph is usually a lot more then Marilyn's at auction houses and such. Also many warn that 90% of all autographs sold on Ebay are fakes. Not being able to see an autograph you are buying can be very, very risky.
The way I looked at it, Disney put a price tag on the autograph, not so much because they thought iot was worth that, but because that's the trouble they'd have to go to to go hunt down another. If the autograph didn't sell, it still was a draw. If it did, then they have some money to go out and find another one they are confident is real then. Even if it didn't sell the autographs and just displayed them, that would be interesting, and then it could sell more mainstream items inside it like John Wayne/Marilyn Monroe/ Wizard of Oz merchandise.
I love Disney, and it should first and for most be present in the parks. But, Walt is not the only thing that made Hollywood, Hollywood. He'd even admit to that. It's important those items/movies/people are represented as well.
Hopefully they keep it, as it does represent something commonly found in Hollywood, and also allows for some stars not in the rest of the park to get some TLC.
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
They could also put this stuff in the store too.
http://www.mondotees.com/
http://www.criterion.com/
http://www.mondotees.com/
http://www.criterion.com/
Maybe it is just me, but I have always viewed buying an autograph almost like cheating. It would be akin to someone that buys a fully restored classic car and then acts like they did the work. I have a number of autographs and everyone has a story behind it and that is where the real value of an autograph lies, to me at least.
Silver Figment
Active Member
I'm ashamed to admit i've never been in there. It really would be a shame if they closed it though. Especially if it's for Duffy or Starbucks...
wannab@dis
Well-Known Member
I've lost count of the number of people that said they've never been there, or if they have, haven't bought anything. Yet, they are somehow upset the shop may change?
Talk about disconnect from reality...
Talk about disconnect from reality...
fngoofy
Well-Known Member
Came here to say this.
CBOMB
Active Member
I've never purchased anything at Sid's, but I always enjoyed browsing in hope of finding something I just had to have. I considered this part of the entire experience at the Studios. Also I thought Sid's had unique merchandise, and I enjoyed going into a Retail store at WDW that didn't sell Princess merchandise.
I also don't think it's wrong for people who have never been into Sid's, want it to remain as is so they can experience it on future WDW visits.
I would be very disappointed if Sid's became another run of the mill generic Disney strip center outlet, like the shops on MSUSA have become. As far as a disconnect from reality. I did that years ago.
Enderikari
Well-Known Member
How DARE you sir, inject Logic into the argument! You should be ashamed!
SirNim
Well-Known Member
On a related note, if one doesn't trust the 'Bay yet would love to purchase an autograph for one's collection, or perhaps as a gift for one of one's friends or family members, one would do well to visit a site like RR Auctions (a simple Google search will take one there), which specializes in purveying authenticated autographed memorabilia from noteworthily historical figures across the worlds of politics, sports, and entertainment. 
janoimagine
Well-Known Member
I would pay good money if they had some of George Hurrell's work ... especially some of the balck and whites he did of Walt in his younger years, the shop has been removing merchandise for years ... they had a great collection of Disney One Sheets, then they disappeared overnight. I would definately hate to see this place go.
jlg263
Member
Just as an update, I looked inside the shop tonight and Sid's portrait is back up! Also, I asked management in the area but no one has heard about it closing. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but I wouldn't give it a death sentence just yet. I wasn't able to actually go inside because it was already closed (so was the rest of the park), but the walls seemed fully stocked at least. Also, I saw earlier in the day that they were selling the usual matted photos and tubed posters on the patio. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Thanks.
And that is good news. The photo was definitely gone. And the walls were bare when I was there.
They also had all merchandise inside (the patio was totally empty beyond the big dalmatian). I very much hope that what you experiened means the shop isn't on death-watch, but still not convinced entirely!