So Disney is on the cheap...again

[pixiesmimi]

I haven't bought any good souvineers in a while other that resort specific pins. And I got those on eBay. I agree about the quality of stuff available for high prices. I even have trouble finding the coin books for the pressed coins now. Most of the things in the shops are available online or at Walmart and other places. When I go to WDW, I want something unique. I have a hard time just finding a cute T shirt or anything.

[Joeybun]

I noticed this too last September. Same generic stuff everywhere. I did note however, that the prices are not always consistant. They varied from place to place, gift shop to gift shop. At Blizzard Beach, the Mickey ice cream bars were priced differently! Crazy!

[Ian]

Well, it is a lot cheaper to mass produce a lot of the same stuff vs offering lots of different stuff, so this practice could have actually increased profits, or at least set off loss. Which means that they wouldn't really mind if they're selling less of it if they're still seeing a better profit or less profit loss in the end. Sad for us, good for their bottom line. Possibly.

True, but it's the law of diminishing returns. If the reason people aren't buying stuff is because you've made it too generic and cheap feeling you can lower the price-per-unit to boost profits but if you do so by making the stuff even more generic and cheap feeling you're probably going to lose more sales to the point that it's a wash (at best).

But your point is still valid. I mean I'm mostly speculating anyway. It's not like I have an inside view into their financials. It's mostly just based off rumors I've heard and what passes in my mind for common sense which, I think most people would tell you, isn't necessarily very sensible.

[twinboyz]

Sad I always like to shop at different resorts and DD, but when we were there last August, it was similar across the board. Made shopping no fun. Making $$ is important I'm sure, but I can see this costing them a bundle in profits in the long run! Just my

[DisneyDoug2]

We stayed at the Contemporary Resort in January and could not find a single piece of clothing that had the logo on it. Just the generic Disney stuff you can get anywhere! I had the same problem the year before at the Wilderness Lodge when it can to buying shirts, they had some but very limited in size and styles.

[jnfr2424]

I hope this wouldn't include pins.

I hope not either! On my trip in November, I had family staying at ASMo and I got a pin there also from WL, GF, Poly and CR. I am looking forward to completing my new hobby when I return in 3 weeks!

We stayed at the Contemporary Resort in January and could not find a single piece of clothing that had the logo on it. Just the generic Disney stuff you can get anywhere! I had the same problem the year before at the Wilderness Lodge when it can to buying shirts, they had some but very limited in size and styles.

I had to hunt for the Monorail shirt the one that says "Por favor, mantenganse alejado de las puertas" in the Contemp it was so bad that I actually got the last one then we went over to WL and we picked up 4 WL logo shirts.
Lately it's more like hunting instead of shopping!

[buzz2001]

Yes, I heard the same thing prior to my trip to CSR in December. They hardly had any resort specific items. I got a few t-shirts with the CSR logo they had left.

[jonahbear2006]

we rarely see anything cool enough to buy. The best thing we ever got at disney was the mr. potato head disney pieces. Our kids get lots of play value out of those. We bought the castle and the epcot ball with the 2 kids' birthday gift cards last year and it didn't take long for them to fall apart, so our trip in december we didn't but anything.

[princessgirls]

When we were in Disney in December, they were giving out coupons when you purchased a meal at a counter service location you got a coupon on your receipt to enjoy a full 20% discount between 9am-12pm at each parks Main Gift Shop. The deal sounded good to me, so we did one big shopping and everyone got what they wanted and we saved $25, so it was like getting an item free.
We did buy a few little items here and there, but I have girls and they always want to shop... The Accountants dream clients!
Julie

[luvdiznee]

We bought the castle and the epcot ball with the 2 kids' birthday gift cards last year and it didn't take long for them to fall apart, so our trip in december we didn't but anything.

Wow, that's a shame that that happened.

[dtootsie42]

When we were in Disney in December, they were giving out coupons when you purchased a meal at a counter service location you got a coupon on your receipt to enjoy a full 20% discount between 9am-12pm at each parks Main Gift Shop. The deal sounded good to me, so we did one big shopping and everyone got what they wanted and we saved $25, so it was like getting an item free.
We did buy a few little items here and there, but I have girls and they always want to shop... The Accountants dream clients!
Julie

We were also there in December and took advantage of the 20% discount, it was great. All three of our daughters are in college so they loved being able to do some christmas shopping and came home with some great surprises by using the discount.

I do agree that buying resort specific is almost a lost cause. I used to always buy a tshirt from which ever resort we stayed at but I have not done that since 2005. Sad!

[Spaceship Tigger]

This is really sad for me to be hearing this. I've always loved buying the resort specific items. There were plenty of items when we were at CBR last May but maybe this has changed now.

I had noticed last year that the photo albums no longer even had the year printed on them. So now when we go back this year, all we'll be able to buy to fit all of our pictures is the same album we bought last year. Of course, the refillable mugs are also basically the same ones we bought last year...