Cool New Stuff at Port Orleans, Polynesian, Contemporary, and More!

It’s time for yet another look at new resort-specific merchandise from various Walt Disney World hotels. In this post, we’ll share 20+ merchandise photos of souvenirs from the Polynesian, Saratoga Springs, Contemporary, Coronado Springs, plus Port Orleans Riverside & French Quarter.

We’re big fans of resort-specific Walt Disney World merchandise and are always keeping an eye out for it when we’re at the hotels. Nevertheless, with dozens of resorts, it’s impossible to stay abreast of the latest releases, so what’s here is new to us, and not necessarily hot off the presses.

This post continues our ongoing series of resort merchandise posts, which began with our New Hotel-Specific Merchandise at Walt Disney World post, our More New Hotel Merchandise at WDW, and New Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Merchandise article.

One thing we’ll note that since we’ve started “tracking” hotel merchandise more closely, I’ve only noticed two items make it to the Disney Character Warehouse Outlets: a Vero Beach t-shirt and a very taste-specific Animal Kingdom Lodge shirt.

We’ve also seen other things go out of stock and never return. Which is to say that either these items sell well, or sit on the shelf until they sell out and are then gone forever. Either way, these items aren’t making their way to the outlet, so buy what you like when you see it.

Anyway, we’ll start with Disney’s Contemporary Resort:

I’ve been “chasing” this hat for a while. Sarah told me about it last year and thought I’d really like it due to the five-legged goat. Since then, I’ve searched for it on more visits than I can count, and always come up empty. I’m going to claim that it’s been sold out each time, but that’s probably not true (in my defense, there are like 18 gift shops in the Contemporary.)

Seeing it was a bit of a letdown. I was envisioning a hat with the embroidered five-legged goat front and center, and without all the other stuff. The front logo is a cheap patch that’s sewn on, and it’s too visually busy for my tastes (although the under side of the bill is clever). If this were just the same grey hat with the goat embroidered on the front, and buy it in an instant. Oh well, can’t win ’em all.

Continuing on the monorail loop, there’s a bunch of new-ish stuff at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort:

I don’t have much to say about any of this. Walt Disney World is really nailing it with Poly merch. There’s a wide assortment of options, from fun tropical/tiki inspirations and interesting cuts to more straightforward and classic items. This is what I like to see, and while each individual item may not appeal to me, I respect the diversity.

Of particular interest is the Trader Sam’s purse. Obviously, I’m not the target market for this, but I think it’s a cool item…albeit one that couldn’t be used much. Seems like an ugly shrunken head probably isn’t what most people would want on their ‘normal’ purse, but what do I know? (Nevertheless, props on a clever design.)

Above we have new items from Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa that had to have been released in the last month or so, because options were far more limited when we were there earlier this spring.

Saratoga Springs is our home DVC resort, but I’ve never found a piece of merchandise from the resort that I like. It all plays up the horse-racing angle, something in which I have zero interest. My dream merchandise would use the pastel color palettes of the buildings, maybe with the buildings in the mug above’s logo?

Really, what Saratoga Springs Resort needs is its own mascot to spice things up a bit. Gritty should have some free time on his hands, perhaps he can relocate to Florida and be the Saratoga Springs “Mascot in Residence” for the summer?!

We also have a bunch of new-to-us items from Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter. For the sake of being thorough, we visited the gift shops in both resorts on the same day, and found that they each had overlapping but different inventory.

For instance, there are two versions of the Port Orleans Riverside ornament (both are pictured above) available, with each hotel carrying a different one. I’m not sure if this was just timing or what, but if you’re visiting in the near future you might want to check the other resort’s gift shop if something pictured above is not available in your hotel’s gift shop.

Finally, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, which also has merchandise featured at the top of the post. These items are the new releases that have come out ahead of Gran Destino opening. Not pictured but also currently still available are the older designs.

Comparing Coronado items side by side is really something. The old designs are vibrant and full of personality, whereas the new ones are…well, you have eyes. Sort of like the contrast between old and new Coronado Springs Resort, itself.

That wraps up this resort-specific Walt Disney World merchandise update. Hopefully this was a fun, useful, or interesting post. In another week or two we’ll drop in with either another one like this, or a stand-alone update from Wilderness Lodge, so stay tuned for that!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Have any favorite pieces of merchandise from the resorts? Any hotels you think have consistently better items than others? What do you think of that elusive Disney’s Contemporary Resort hat? Like the stuff at the Poly? Wish Saratoga Springs would use something other than a horse on its merchandise? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!