Disney World Merchandise Report: Price Increases, Shortages & Sold Out Stuff

We’re back “by popular demand” with a photo report on merchandise around Walt Disney World. In this post, we’ll share photos of 50th Anniversary and Halloween souvenirs, plus commentary about price increases, supply chain problems, inventory shortages, and more.

Okay, so “by popular demand” isn’t entirely accurate here–hence the air quotes. As regular readers probably know, this blog is not a particularly great resource for Walt Disney World souvenir enthusiasts. When it comes to new merchandise, my motto might as well be the same as that of Kruger Industrial Smoothing.

Even on a normal day, attempting to navigate Walt Disney World’s gift shops is an uncomfortable proposition. When new items are released or restocked–and eBay pirates dock their ships and storm the stores–it’s exponentially worse. If you’ve never experienced this, how unpleasant it is cannot be overstated. I’d rather watch back to back showings of Beauty and the Beast: Sing-Along than visit the Emporium on those mornings. But enough of my “old man shakes fist at cloud” comments…

There are a couple of reasons I’ve been paying attention to merchandise recently. First, because there are a ton of new products out now or coming soon for Halloween and Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. I’d like to purchase a couple of the latter, and am concerned about them selling out.

Second, because there was a (friendly, as far as I could tell) dispute among readers in the comments to a recent post. Some contended that 50th Anniversary items were in plentiful supply throughout the parks, while others couldn’t find anything.

Which brings me to the final point: supply chain problems and merchandise shortages. (By the way, I’m just going to sprinkle some photos through the top part of this commentary since I don’t have anything worthwhile to say about a lot of the specific items pictured.)

As discussed in our Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Merchandise Preview, supply chain issues and resulting product shortages are very much a thing right now. Manufacturing has not scaled back up, inventory in factories is limited, and cargo ships not being allowed to unload at the ports. You’ve probably heard about some or all of this on the nightly news.

Walt Disney World has been a victim of this, and new merchandise releases have slowed to a trickle in the last several months. Many of the “new releases” we’re seeing now were probably intended to debut several months ago.

It’s a challenge just to keep shelves stocked, and Walt Disney World is currently experiencing this. Rather than unloading unpopular items at the Disney Character Warehouses, the company is retaining those items so the Emporium and other stores don’t look like Target’s toilet paper aisle, circa March 2020.

In that preview, we specifically said the following: “It wouldn’t surprise us if the 50th Anniversary merchandise has premium pricing, which would be easy to attribute to opportunism in Disney knowing fans will be eager to purchase souvenirs no matter the cost. That probably plays a role, but it’s also highly likely that this merchandise is costing Disney more to stock—and that inventory is more limited due to the aforementioned supply chain woes.

“Accordingly, Disney might be okay with this merchandise selling slightly slower. It would be a ‘bad look’ if things sell out the first week of October and cannot be restocked for months. That’s all speculative, but certainly not unprecedented—it’s happening with retail and products all over the place right now.”

Fast-forward a few weeks, and price increases are exactly what we’re seeing–and not just on Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise.

Loungefly backpacks, Mouse Ear Headbands, Spirit Jerseys, Crocs, purses, and other merchandise we’re probably missing have all increased in price recently at Walt Disney World.

Defending these price increases is the dumbest possible thing I could do. (Especially after not being as negative about Genie+ as many of you might’ve liked.) Literally no one reading this is on “TEAM PRICE INCREASE!” cheering on higher merchandise costs. So rather than defending the price increases, let’s calling this…explaining it, I guess?

I’ll preface these remarks by saying that all of this stuff was already overpriced and seeing it go even higher is…really just something else. I wouldn’t pay outlet prices for most of this stuff, or even Germany store prices circa late 2020 (when we had deep Annual Passholder discounts), let alone Emporium prices today. To each their own, though.

With all of those caveats out of the way, I suspect Walt Disney World is raising prices here not out of any ulterior motives or a desire to squeeze out a few more dollars in per guest spending. Rather, it’s probably to decrease sales so that shelves aren’t cleared out like the aforementioned Target toilet paper aisle.

Normally, we’re dismissive of the notion that Walt Disney World raises prices to decrease demand. This is a line that is often parroted when it comes to ticket prices, and one we’ve rejected time and time again. (Disney has no desire to cut crowds–they want to “optimize” attendance and pricing.) This is different, as there’s a very real possibility of running out of certain merchandise items and having empty shelves as a result. By contrast, Walt Disney World wouldn’t run out of park capacity but for increasing ticket prices.

It seems like that might already be happening to some extent.

Big Top Souvenirs in Storybook Circus at Magic Kingdom recently reopened, and it has very little non-edible merchandise. Most of its displays look like what’s pictured above, with curtains covering the shelves. This is far from the only store with less merchandise selection at Walt Disney World–just the biggest and best example.

A bit of a tangent, but Big Top Souvenirs has added a ton of seating inside all around the store.

Once TRON Lightcycle Run opens, my guess is that traffic exiting that attraction will be one way (due to narrow walkways), possibly dumping guests into Storybook Circus. Right now, this area of the park is farthest from any restaurants. Between that and the increased foot traffic, adding something back here might make sense.

As for the price increases, they’re all over the place.

Some of the Loungefly bags are $85 or $95 now. I thought these were overpriced back when they were at the outlets for half off (~$35).

Back then (this was only a few months pre-closure), overstock Loungefly bags that were still being sold in the parks would routinely wind up at the Disney Character Warehouse Outlet stores in seemingly unlimited supply.

I’m thus guessing the margins on these are pretty high. But then again, that’s probably true of almost all Walt Disney World merchandise.

In any case, I have absolutely no Loungefly expertise beyond that observation.

I don’t know what makes the Baby Yoda Loungefly “only” worth $75, whereas the Minnie Mouse one is $95.

My non-expert opinion is that the Baby Yoda bag is superior.

Mind you, I’d never purchase either of them–it’s not my style and my nonstop back-sweat would ruin either in hours–but the Baby Yoda one looks classier/cuter. The Minnie one has too much going on and looks cheaper, despite pricing to the contrary. (No offense to anyone who bought it–I have zero style whatsoever, so it’s not like my opinion has any value or merit.)

One “trick” to spotting price increases at Walt Disney World is sticker tags affixed to the paper hanger tags.

Unlike most other ears, which are still “only” $30, these ones are now $40. Some might argue that Big Al adds $20 in value to any merchandise, making these a comparative bargain. That’s an interesting perspective and I think we ought to give it some weight.

I’m not normally into Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, but I do like these ears. The cutesy characters take a bit of the edge off, so to speak.

With that said, I thought Mouse Ear Headbands were overpriced when they increased in price to $24.99 back in 2018. (I swear they were $16.99 not that long ago!)

Most Mouse Ear Headbands remain $30 (for now?).

Not totally sure about this, but I think those ones in the upper right were created for one of the other parks and inspired by Mickey and Minnie celebratory character costumes. Maybe Shanghai Disneyland? It seems like a lot of stuff that doesn’t sell there makes its way to Walt Disney World.

The merchandise purchase limits of two per item, per guest have been extended to everything. Previously, it applied to Halloween and 50th Anniversary stuff.

I’m not sure whether this is actually being enforced. The eBay pirates code is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules. Plus, pirates are incredibly resourceful and clever. They’ll probably find a way around to circumvent this, and I can’t imagine many Cast Members want to fight them over it.

Next, we turn to the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary “pre-celebration” collection, which was released a couple of weeks ago. We’ve seen several of these items around the parks, but never everything all at once.

When we last visited Magic Kingdom, there was almost nothing. I’d hazard a guess new shipments are coming in with some degree of regularity, so what’s available even tomorrow morning may differ from what we saw in Emporium. This is probably going to be “day to day” for a while–so don’t be surprised if what you see differs from someone who goes the day before or after you.

We did see two different 50th Anniversary calendars (the other was character art).

We’ve been big fans of the Attraction Poster Calendars over the years, but since they stopped pulling from Imagineering’s Archives and made different ones for the calendars, our interest has waned.

Here’s a look at the art in the 2022 Walt Disney World Poster Calendar.

I forgot to check the price, but following the aforementioned Big Al rule, it’s worth at least $20 more than the other calendar. That’s just science.

I absolutely love Crocs but think they’re inherently hideous, so a loud design doesn’t bother me in the least.

These Hocus Pocus Crocs definitely lean into that philosophy, as they are quite bedazzled.

Again, I’m not sure how these simpler plaid ones are worth as much as the totally decked out Hocus Pocus ones.

Clearly Walt Disney World doesn’t follow the pricing policies of Dan Flashes. Those Crocs cost $1000 because the patterns are so complicated!!!

Depending upon how you feel about pattern pricing (the more wild, the more valuable–right?!), this post has either gone off the rails or peaked, and should go out on a high note.

Ultimately, what’s going on with merchandise at Walt Disney World is more fascinating to me than the items themselves, so I’ll probably keep paying attention to this saga and see how it continues to play out. While price decreases are exceedingly rare at Walt Disney World, I cannot see $95 being the “new” base price of Loungefly purses or $40 being the going rate for Mouse Ear Headbands. A lot of this seems transitory, as they say, and I’d expect those prices to drop once inventory normalizes and there are no worries of the shelves being wiped clean. On the plus side, these price increases should cut into eBay pirate margins and kill some of the market for that. Silver lining?

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

What do you think of the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary or Halloween merchandise? Thoughts on the price increases? What about inventory shortages or supply chain woes? Optimistic that prices will decrease once things normalize next year, or think these are the new base prices for some of this stuff? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? 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!