Souvenirs lacking?

[i'm grumpy]

I must say I wasn't at all impressed. Either it was way overpriced or not that great. Ts were faded/washed out, frames/snowglobes 4 or 5 years old. Keychains under $15? I can't believe they had signs up for that. It took around an hour to get from MK to DTD and it wasn't worth the trouble.

[PirateLover]

For the t-shirts, that's just the style right now, but yea I agree the selection is really dwindling. I remember on our last trip we were looking for a nice new picture frame and photo album, but it was all the same stuff that had been there for our last two trips! We will look again this June but my hopes aren't high... Plus you have the same exact stuff being sold in all the stores. Not too many special, exclusive items anymore.

[Maleficent_vf]

I have to agree. When we were there in March, I kept hoping to see something that would make me say "I gotta have it!" but there just wasn't anything. I thought the same with our last trip. It's pretty bad when you want to spend money and kind find anything to spend it on.

[DWHUBBY]

The thing that bugs me (ok more than one thing) is first, as the above poster mentioned, that all the stores are selling the same merchandise. You used to make shopping on Main Street USA a part of your trip. Now all you need to do is go into any store and you have pretty much seen all the merchandise available. But more than that is the trend that everything is now saying "Disney Parks". The idea of buying a "branded" item to me is to remember a trip to a specific place. Did you go to WDW, Disneyland, Hong Kong, Tokyo? You can't tell because the item does not show the specific place just the very generic "Disney Parks". To me it takes away some of the magic. Do you wear a hat that says "Major League Baseball" or do you wear a hat that has the logo of your favorite team? To me it is the same thing. I know it is a cost savings to do the generic instead of each individual park, but don't you think people would buy more and Disney would make more in the long run if the merchandise was more park specific. Anyway, that's my opinion, I welcome yours.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

I have to say I agree with you, I can buy Disney t-shirts anywhere (Wal-Mart for example) and they are a lot cheaper. So what will make me part with my hard earned cash and buy an overpriced t-shirt? Something I can't get anywhere else! Hey Disney execs you listening? I go to DTD for Raglan Road only, not for some overpriced mall shops I can go to anywhere. On my last trip I would have tried some of the clubs there but they closed them the day we arrived. What a waste, we did look at the shops after dinner and then we left without spending a dime. I won't waste my time in those stores again. I will say that 7 years ago after eating at Chief Mickey's DD and I did buy shirts at the store in that hotel. They were beautiful shirts we hadn't seen elsewhere. Shirts that you wouldn't find at Wal-Mart. You need more stores like that.

[JPL]

I have been saying this for years now. I use to spend alot of money on unique "gotta have it" merchandise. Now it seems all I come home with are pins. I actually had an $80 dollars gift card from Disney Visa and and couldn't find anything to spend it on at DTD. I ended up using it on my next trip luckily it didn't expire before I returned. I am tired of seeing all the Hannah Montana, HSM, and Pirates merchandise everywhere in the parks. Can some one please explain to me what these are doing in AK To make it worse it's not exclusive toys or shirts it's the same stuff you can buy locally for about half the price. I was looking in the POTC gift shop and saw the same playsets selling for about $40 that you can buy at Toys R Us for for $25.

[Iluvpooh]

I also noticed several toy items that are for sale at Wal-Mart/Target for sale at the parks for WAY more than they should be.

I always buy coffee cups, but I am not a big fan of those HUGE mugs. I was unable to find a single regular size coffee mug. (except the retro WDW mug that I bought 2 years ago)

[BluewaterBrad]

Bummer

[DizneyRox]

I have been saying this for years now.

Hey now! I've been saying this for years! I would say the merchandise has been deteriorating since about 2001 or so. I hardly spend anything on souvies anymore, I use my rewards card as quickly as I can on anything, everywhere I possibly can. I am pretty sure I won't be using it on merchandise. On our upcoming trip, we're budgeting about $50 total for something (For a 2 week vacation). I'm thinking I'm going to have a tough time spending that.

[i'm grumpy]

There seemed to be very few pins at WOD and most were over $10 each!!

We don't have the Ts at our WM, but they would probably look better. One basic Mickey shirt was $30 at least.

I hadn't noticed the "Parks" label. That stinks!

[dmosher]

There are three things to remember here, regarding the purchasing of souvenirs at locations not in WDW.
1) In the current economy (yes it is getting worse) Disney has had to cut back and merchandise is just one of those areas. It is much cheaper to make more of the same item and send them all over the world than to make WDW and DL, etc specific items and raise the cost so most people wouldn't buy them anyway.

2) Some people do not have access to the stores you are referring to. If you are say, an international traveler, then you have no access to a Walmart or target and the items in WDW may be new to you.

3) Lastly (steps up on the soap box), if you buy specific Disney merchandise from evil retailers like Walmart that buy in "over bilk" and not from Disney stores in and out of the park, then you have no right to complain about the prices Disney must charge for their merchandise. It is because of stores like these under cutting the prices (though yes they would be a bit higher in the parks out of demand anyway) of the merchandise after buying in bulk from distributors that Disney has to consider increases and lessen the amount of product available. I know I will get flamed for this, but it is the responsibility of the consumer to decide what companies should and should not be allowed to do, as they will be the ones dealing with the backlash of it all. Know who you are buying from and why. Sometimes it is worth the extra $ to keep the magic alive.

D

[DizneyRox]

To me, Made in China means the same thing, junk. At this point, IF I'm going to spend the money, cost is a huge factor. I'm a big believer in you get what you pay for, EXCEPT with Disney products (and a few others). Quality is no better at DTD, TDS or WalMart/Target.

But as I've been saying, when you're not making/selling anything that interests me, cost doesn't even come into play.

[i'm grumpy]

All our WM has is Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell and Tinkerbell.

[zcrsdad]

All our WM has is Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell and Tinkerbell.

It's all over WDW too.

[JPL]

1) In the current economy (yes it is getting worse) Disney has had to cut back and merchandise is just one of those areas. It is much cheaper to make more of the same item and send them all over the world than to make WDW and DL, etc specific items and raise the cost so most people wouldn't buy them anyway.

The trend in making generic, poor quality, and uninteresting souvenirs and merchandise started long before the economy tanked. The only word to describe what happened is GREED!

[LiloLovesTheKing26]

I used to spend around $700-1000 every year on souvenirs! The last 2 years I have barely spent $200. I used to buy lots of Tshirts, snowglobes, mini snowglobes, jackets. But now it's the same stuff year after year

[valjane]

The trend in making generic, poor quality, and uninteresting souvenirs and merchandise started long before the economy tanked. The only word to describe what happened is GREED!

True.

The souvenirs have been cheap and generic for years now, way before the current economic crisis. I can't remember the last time Hollywood Studios, for example, had actual studio-themed stuff.

And in Frontierland, for another example, you used to be able to find interesting.... frontier stuff (turquoise jewelry, Native American crafts, country bears souvenirs, etc.,.) And now it's just a pin shop.

[playdead88]

we get the same things every year - a hoodie for each of us, 1 xmas ornament from the resort we're staying at and 1 from the xmas store with the year on it - i get a watch - dh gets a hat and the kids usually find 1 or 2 things that they want - we have found some of the coolest things in world showcase - that being said i have to agree with everyone about the quality going down and the $ going up so this year im blowin' my money on dole whips and fiesta s

[PirateLover]

1) In the current economy (yes it is getting worse) Disney has had to cut back and merchandise is just one of those areas.

As has been stated, the cut back in merch started years ago. Maybe the recession made it even worse, but it's been an ongoing problem.

2) Some people do not have access to the stores you are referring to. If you are say, an international traveler, then you have no access to a Walmart or target and the items in WDW may be new to you.

In my opinion, they should be even more upset that they are being overcharged for items that the rest of us here in the U.S. can get for much cheaper.

3) Lastly (steps up on the soap box), if you buy specific Disney merchandise from evil retailers like Walmart that buy in "over bilk" and not from Disney stores in and out of the park, then you have no right to complain about the prices Disney must charge for their merchandise.

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Disney has to license their characters, therefore they know that these items are being sold in such stores and probably get profit from it. I know that I bought a Jack Sparrow and a Tink shirt from Target and they both had the official Disney logo on the tags. It's not like these are unlicensed, knock-off products

[Stich8818]

I agree about the amount of certain mechendise is way overboard...I am really thinking next time I go to DW I am planning on looking at things diffrently...Like CDs...Off Kilter and other groups...maybe a new watch..something like that.