Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[Sue_Vongello]

To continue the merch talk (and to give an example for support on how we would buy unique items):

I'm 45 years old but if they came out with a retro line of plush, like "Classic WDW" ... SMRT-1, Kitchen Kaberet, Food Rocks!, Buzzy, General Knowledge, etc etc ... I would buy every single one with glee, and they could probably mark them up double what normal plush are and I'd still do it.

(Shhh don't tell WDW but I'd probably buy 'em if they were triple the price.)

The point is, they don't realize how much we'd spend on unique items and how little we want to spend on homogenized items.

 

[FrankLapidus]

For me nothing sums up the current state of WDW's merchandising strategy better than Villains in Vogue in DHS. Once upon a time the shop used to sell merchandise themed to some of the best characters to come out of Walt Disney Animation Studios, the Disney villains. A lot of them are among my favourite characters so over the years I spent a considerable amount of money in that particular shop on merchandise that wasn't readily available elsewhere in the resort. Then the villains merchandise began to dry out and instead the shop now sells vinylmation, generic (and ridiculously overpriced) things that can be bought at a plethora of shops throughout WDW while actual villains merchandise has been allocated a tiny stretch of wall space, tucked away in the corner. I haven't spent a penny in that shop for years.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Consumer products and merchandise has been awful in the past 10 years. They listened with Orange Bird but they seem to go with the theory of "throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks"

 

[Sue_Vongello]

Here's the other thing about merch ... they probably have a slew of designers churning out mediocre to worse designs and concepts ... when they really only need a handful of great designers who could do it all.

I remember seeing some website of a guy that did WDW t-shirt designs, who WDW actually commissioned to do a few shirts ... if I remember correctly he was prolific in his designs. That one guy alone should do all the t-shirt design work.

 

[Lord_Vader]

For me nothing sums up the current state of WDW's merchandising strategy better than Villains in Vogue in DHS. Once upon a time the shop used to sell merchandise themed to some of the best characters to come out of Walt Disney Animation Studios, the Disney villains. A lot of them are among my favourite characters so over the years I spent a considerable amount of money in that particular shop on merchandise that wasn't readily available elsewhere in the resort. Then the villains merchandise began to dry out and instead the shop now sells vinylmation, generic (and ridiculously overpriced) things that can be bought at a plethora of shops throughout WDW while actual villains merchandise has been allocated a tiny stretch of wall space, tucked away in the corner. I haven't spent a penny in that shop for years.

Agreed completely, we seek out the villain merchandise but it has become harder and harder to find. Disney seems too focused on happy Princesses to realize that not everybody is interested in Princesses and Cars/Buzz.

 

[Rodan75]

I think they've done a great job with merch for limited events, but if you miss that event, there is nothing but 2013 merch, a handful of retro merch, generic kitchen merch. Even the cruise ships are losing a lot of their merch, we caught the tail end of the Fantasy inaugural stuff, but everything else they had was generic 2013 crap.

I kinda understand they are going with volume, but given their insane ability to effectively produce for limited events, they should be able to experiment with a wider assortment of merch across WDW.

I think I'm going to start using 'merch' in my everyday conversations...

 

[ParentsOf4]

... The data mining will help schedule CMs, target merchandise to specific demographics, and improve sales pitches.

Is the Magic Band completely horrible? No. But it is being touted as the solution to Ops problems. That, my friends, is the crux of the issue. Execs aren't planning exciting new attractions for the MK and Epcot to increase revenue and drive Guest satisfaction. ...

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Uni is building incredible rides. You know, the things that make people actually want to go to a theme park.

In a nutshell, this is why the "magic" is gone from WDW.

WDW has stopped treating its "guests" like guests and more like factory inventory that needs to be tracked and optimized.

At least Uni still gets it.

 

[sshindel]

By far and away, my favorite way to get something Disney related these days is through a non-Disney source. For T-shirts something like Threadless or RedBubble have some awesome Disney related designs that are miles above the stuff they sell in the stores / parks.

 

[Mr Bill]

Here's the other thing about merch ... they probably have a slew of designers churning out mediocre to worse designs and concepts ... when they really only need a handful of great designers who could do it all.

I remember seeing some website of a guy that did WDW t-shirt designs, who WDW actually commissioned to do a few shirts ... if I remember correctly he was prolific in his designs. That one guy alone should do all the t-shirt design work.

That sounds like Designerland. Disney used his shirt designs for the World Showcase pavilions as part of the EPCOT 30 merchandise. He may have done a few other shirts as well, but those are the only ones I'm aware of.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Tokyo Disneyland has the BEST merchandise. Makes US Disney merchandise look like cheap crap. The good thing is you can find Tokyo Disneyland merchandise on eBay.

 

[IWant2GoNow]

For me nothing sums up the current state of WDW's merchandising strategy better than Villains in Vogue in DHS. Once upon a time the shop used to sell merchandise themed to some of the best characters to come out of Walt Disney Animation Studios, the Disney villains. A lot of them are among my favourite characters so over the years I spent a considerable amount of money in that particular shop on merchandise that wasn't readily available elsewhere in the resort. Then the villains merchandise began to dry out and instead the shop now sells vinylmation, generic (and ridiculously overpriced) things that can be bought at a plethora of shops throughout WDW while actual villains merchandise has been allocated a tiny stretch of wall space, tucked away in the corner. I haven't spent a penny in that shop for years.

I remember when it started degrading. I discovered this store when it was nearing the end of it's best set up. The very next year it had turned into nothing but an NBC store for all the emo kids that were emerging. Then shortly after that the Vinylmations took over. It's sad as that was a store I loved taking my friends into because they had no idea they even sold villains merch. Now it's gone... all gone. Who are the real villains here? Hmm...

I know this will put me in a bad light but I actually like most of the Vinylmations. Moreso the Park Series, & Animation... Not too much of a fan of the Robots & Cutesters & basically all the ones that have nothing to do with Disney except that they are painted on a Mickey shaped piece of vinyl.

 

[Sue_Vongello]

That sounds like Designerland. Disney used his shirt designs for the World Showcase pavilions as part of the EPCOT 30 merchandise. He may have done a few other shirts as well, but those are the only ones I'm aware of.

YUP. Exactly. His designs are easily better than 80% of the t-shirts currently in the stores ...

 

[PhotoDave219]

To continue the merch talk (and to give an example for support on how we would buy unique items):

I'm 45 years old but if they came out with a retro line of plush, like "Classic WDW" ... SMRT-1, Kitchen Kaberet, Food Rocks!, Buzzy, General Knowledge, etc etc ... I would buy every single one with glee, and they could probably mark them up double what normal plush are and I'd still do it.

(Shhh don't tell WDW but I'd probably buy 'em if they were triple the price.)

The point is, they don't realize how much we'd spend on unique items and how little we want to spend on homogenized items.

Wait. 45. Size 4.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii there

 

[rael ramone]

The merch point is mind-blowing. This is so EASY. Give people something they want to buy = they'll buy it. And as for MK crowding, if the other parks pulled their weight, it wouldn't be an issue and NFE would have been the blip it deserves to be. Unreal.

They think we are cattle. You go to the attractions we tell you to go on, you eat the food we tell you to eat, and then you buy the merchandise that we tell you to buy. Or Baby Mickey will cry.

 

[FrankLapidus]

I know this will put me in a bad light but I actually like most of the Vinylmations. Moreso the Park Series, & Animation... Not too much of a fan of the Robots & Cutesters & basically all the ones that have nothing to do with Disney except that they are painted on a Mickey shaped piece of vinyl.

I don't mind them either, even if I don't collect them myself. It's just a shame that Disney seem determined to shoehorn them into every shop that they can at the expense of original, diverse merchandise like the stuff that used to be available at Villains in Vogue. I'm glad I started going to WDW so long ago that I was able to collect stuff that you would never find at a shop in the resort today. Someone here mentioned a Big Al plush and I have one from years back that I got with a Liver Lips plush for $3 apiece from a small shop in MK at one of the walkways between Frontierland and Adventureland that is now closed.

 

[Rodan75]

So I'm firmly in support of FP+ as a crowd control methodology. If they use the technology in a better method than they use the current FP system. So many rides at MK have no understanding of balance between FP and stand by and the problem seems to come from ride management so a centralized system of allocating FP+ seems to be a better alternative. I thought the FP process for Everest was really well managed, but the ones for Soarin, TSMM, TT are managed very poorly.

Now where I see this going is a little less attractive, currently they are offering FP+ for 3 rides per day for free. Next we will see on-site hotel folks getting 4 FP+ rides per day and then we will see an optional package for a 'park hopper' FP+ and a premium 5 FP+ per day option. It will be like going back to 'tickets' but without a rating system.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

I know its slightly cheaper for WDW to buy all one t-shirt design than 20 different shirts, but the difference can't be much, and with more options maybe I'll want more than one shirt. Indeed, I'd much rather pay a couple dollars more for a particular (resort or attraction) design than get a generic Disney design for a marginally lower cost.

Hell, it's also alot cheaper for ME to buy one shirt versus shelling out $$$ for 20 different ones.

You listening Disney? That Polynesian tshirt? Just that one, lone Poly shirt? The pink one? If there were 5 other designs, I'd own them all. And you'd have the green in my wallet.

 

[Fractal514]

A few things on the various topics being discussed.

Merchandise: I get that we, the fanbase, want specialized and retro products, but does the general public? D23 was an attempt to try and make high-end specialized stuff available for us and as far as I can tell it really isn't scratching the itch. Partially, I suspect, because it is way over-priced, and partially because this isn't an in-store on-vacation purchase. Would Disney really homogonize the merchandise without numbers that proove this is smart business for them? I'm just wondering what the motivation would have been, and if the folks on this board aren't just a vocal minority but a true represenation, wouldn't Disney see the drop in sales and then revert?

FP+: I heard a WDWToday podcast last week that featured a guy who writes a site that caters to first-time visitors. This episode was worth a listen, I think, because it made me think about planning and helping others in a whole new way. I think that we who return year after year have forgotten what it is like for the first and possibly only timer to come down. They've been told which rides, restaurants, and shows they MUST see in order to have a great vacation, by 20 different people. They've got a lot of pressure on them to make sure the kids have a good time, they have a good time, and they get their money's worth out of the experience. Being able to plan out when you visit the Haunted Mansion, or Space Mountain, might not seem that important to us, but to this family it not only ensures that they get to see the ride, it now allows them to relax and not worry about getting it all in. I've heard a lot of folks argue that the new system will make it more stressfull, forcing you to get to certain places at certain times, but I think that for a majority of newcomers, it will actually reduce stress by quite a bit.

Put up or shut up: Please don't think that I want to end this convesation or suggest that anyone shouldn't voice concerns and criticisms, but unless folks start speaking with dollars, none of these things are going to change. If Disney can do the things we all complain about and still get return visits year after year, then there is no motivation for them to stop.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

By far and away, my favorite way to get something Disney related these days is through a non-Disney source. For T-shirts something like Threadless or RedBubble have some awesome Disney related designs that are miles above the stuff they sell in the stores / parks.

I got an awesome gray Mickey shirt from Target- in the mens section- for like, $10. I hacked it into a v-neck (i hate collars!) and hacked the sleeves off, and "girlified" it a bit.
If I remember, I'll take a photo and post it later. It's friday, and friday nights are boozer nights, so... yeah.

Theres plenty of non-Disney park/store merchandise that's awesome out there right now. Target has some decent designs. There's also cute fabric at Jo-Ann stores if anyone is into sewing.

 

[rael ramone]

So I'm firmly in support of FP+ as a crowd control methodology. If they use the technology in a better method than they use the current FP system. So many rides at MK have no understanding of balance between FP and stand by and the problem seems to come from ride management so a centralized system of allocating FP+ seems to be a better alternative. I thought the FP process for Everest was really well managed, but the ones for Soarin, TSMM, TT are managed very poorly.

I think the best kind of 'crowd control' is to just maintain a selection of 'pixy duster favorites' (MG&G's, dumbed down princessy food, etc) and do absolutely nothing to alleviate the long lines for them - they will wait in those lines with glee - so those people won't be in the lines that we want to be in so we can have relatively short waits.