The infamous Queen Elsa Dress: still driving parents MAD!!!!!

TooExcitedCantSleep

I can't with you basic chicks
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Why is it so hard to make this one dress???? All it takes is cheap cloth and a pound of glitter and sequins!!!!! :confused3 Gosh Disney---- these Queen Elsa dresses are going upwards of $1600.00..... think of the kids, especially the parents!!!!!!! Do something about this.


Elsa's Frozen Dress: The Hottest Gown in Town http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-17/elsas-frozen-dress-the-hottest-gown-in-town

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Aaryn Costello is searching for the perfect dress, a 30-inch-long light-blue number with a sparkly bodice and a detachable white cape. That would be the Elsa dress from the Walt Disney (DIS) hit Frozen, the most sought-after fashion item among the kindergarten set. Many stores are sold out, and limited-edition versions originally sold by Disney have been offered for up to $1,600 on EBay (EBAY). Desperate parents are sewing their own or shelling out up to $225 for replicas on craft sites such as etsy.com. “Every mom in the world is dying for this dress,” says Costello, a Los Angeles marketing consultant with a Frozen-obsessed 4-year-old.

Toys, dolls, and clothes have always been a big part of strategy at Disney, the world’s largest licensing company. Even so, it’s hit an unexpected merchandise jackpot with Elsa, the Snow Queen of Arendelle, and her ice gown. “It took everyone by surprise worldwide,” says Stephen Berman, chief executive officer at Jakks Pacific (JAKK), a manufacturer that sells to chains such as Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Target (TGT). “This is a new Disney princess franchise. It happens maybe once or twice in a business career.” In January, stores sold out of Jakks’s version—price, $20—and some retailers are ponying up to airlift reinforcements from Chinese factories.

Buyers stocked only about as many of the ice gowns as they did Rapunzel outfits from Disney’s 2010 Tangled. But since its Nov. 22 opening, Frozen has become the top-grossing animated film of all time, with worldwide theater receipts of $1.1 billion, according to researcher Box Office Mojo. “We are thrilled that audiences formed instant connections to the characters, and we are working hard to get additional products into stores as soon as possible,” wrote Tasia Filippatos, a Disney spokeswoman, in an e-mail. When shipments do come in, Disney stores limit customers to two dresses to curb black market sales. Filippatos declined to comment on the size of the Frozen merchandise market.

Early on, Elsa dress sales were slow, and stores thought they’d over-ordered. Then kids fell in love with the movie princess. As sales climbed and orders poured in after Christmas, Jakks had trouble restocking because of the Chinese New Year, which shut down manufacturing for a month until mid-February. It takes two to three months for retailers to receive new shipments from China, according to Jim Silver, editor of TTPM.com, a toy industry website. Demand picked up again in March when Disney issued the film on DVD. Berman says Jakks will roll out new merchandise this year, including Frozen-themed furniture and snow-cone machines. He also expects Elsa and Olaf, the snowman from the movie, to be top Halloween costumes.

Disney designers created fancier versions of the dress priced from $50 to $150 for sale at the company’s stores and parks. The sought-after limited edition, which has a white cape and a bejeweled cameo, is fetching top dollar online. Costello, the L.A. mother searching for the dress, says her daughter got an Elsa nightgown for Christmas and wears it every day—even to the park. Costello’s holding out for the limited edition of the ice gown. “I, of course,” she says, “want the real deal.”

Most-wanted dress in the U.S.: 'Frozen's' Elsa frock http://www.ocregister.com/articles/costume-609376-costumes-stores.html

'Frozen' out of the market, desperate parents pay thousands for Elsa dresses http://www.today.com/moms/frozen-out-market-desperate-parents-pay-thousands-elsa-dresses-2D79516107

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It was 3 a.m. when Lyla Gleason finally got her hands on an official Princess Elsa dress for her 4-year-old daughter.

'Frozen' Elsa dress selling for $1,000 on eBay http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/10/news/companies/frozen-elsa-dress/

A 'Frozen' retail supply angers parents, saddens kids http://www.wtop.com/628/3604164/A-Frozen-retail-supply-angers-parents-saddens-kids

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An Elsa dress from the Disney movie "Frozen" sells for nearly $1,200 on eBay. (WTOP Screen Shot)

It's not just the U.S........Queen Elsa dress woes are felt all over the globe!!!!!

Canada - Disney's 'Frozen' merchandise shortage creates mob of angry parentshttp://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcom...se-shortage-creates-mob-of-angry-parents.html

Canada - Frozen-out in the toy aisle: Why merch for Disney’s hit film is in short supply http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts...-hit-film-is-in-short-supply/article18054075/

Singapore - 'Frozen' dress sold out in Singapore http://www.straitstimes.com/lifesty...tory/frozen-dress-sold-out-singapore-20140420

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Housewife Ainsley Yip bought a Disney original dress on eBay, which cost US$80, for her daughter Rianne Chew (above). -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF AINSLEY YIP

UK - Frozen merchandise shortage spells trouble for parents http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...dise-shortage-spells-trouble-for-parents.html

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Why Disney's Frozen is Financially Crippling Parents http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-disneys-frozen-financially-crippling-parents-1444189

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‘Frozen’ merch is making parents do crazy things http://nypost.com/2014/04/14/parents-fight-and-connive-for-sold-out-frozen-merch/

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Megan (left) and Lauren McDougal came all the way from Scotland hoping to buy a coveted Elsa dress and Elsa doll at the Disney Store in Times Square — but the picked-over options were not to their liking.
Photo: Anne Wermiel


Last Friday, the Disney Store in Times Square was the saddest place on Earth.

Kids streamed in, one after the other, talking excitedly to their parents about Elsa and Anna, the stars of Disney’s hit “Frozen,” the top-grossing animated film of all time, with more than $1 billion in worldwide box-office receipts.
But their smiles quickly melted.

“We’re all sold out of ‘Frozen,’ ” a Disney sales associate said for the 200th time that day. “Except for this,” she added, pointing — weakly — to a paltry stand decorated with five pairs of Anna boots, a handful of floral frocks emblazoned with a “Frozen” logo and four “Frozen”-themed ballet flats large enough to house Dennis Rodman’s feet.

“I can’t believe in a great big store, this is all they have,” lamented Pauline McDougal, who was visiting from Scotland. Her daughters, 11-year-old Lauren and 8-year-old Megan, had their hearts set, respectively, on the Elsa dress and Elsa doll.

“You’d expect more in New York,” McDougal added.

It’s official. “Frozen” fever has swept the world. The only problem is, the merchandise is sold out everywhere.

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The Disney Store classic Anna (right) and Elsa dolls retail for only $16.95 each. But with all the dolls sold out until who knows when, people are now hawking them on eBay and Amazon for nine times the original price — and more.

Since the movie’s release on DVD in March, “Frozen” merchandise has been selling so fast, Disney had to institute a two-item limit on all goods last Wednesday (not that there’s anything to buy).

Maternity-wear designer Rosie Pope says her pal — who works at Disney, no less — recently shelled out $1,200 for an Elsa doll on eBay after she promised her daughter one for her “Frozen”-themed birthday party.
“By this point, she didn’t care about the price,” says Pope. “She didn’t want to disappoint her daughter.”

It’s a buy-or-die mentality. And one that Upper West Side mom Shannon Russo-Pollack admits to adopting. While at Walt Disney World last month, Russo-Pollack trekked to more than 42 stores in search of the elusive Elsa dress for her 6 ½-year-old daughter, Summer.

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Nina Kedersha threw her 5-year-old daughter, Danielle (left, with big sister Lauren), a “Frozen”-themed birthday bash last Saturday. She decided to resell her two “Frozen” balloons for $5 total because of their scarcity.

“They were totally sold out,” says Russo-Pollack, who owns Dasha Wellness and Spa in NYC.

That’s when Russo-Pollack’s husband, Dr. Darren Pollack, plopped down $480 on Amazon to preorder two dresses (he didn’t know which size to buy), in addition to more than $350 on other “Frozen” paraphernalia.

“I said, ‘What are you, crazy? Keep looking!’ He said, ‘I promised her. How many more stores can we go into?’ ” recalls Russo-Pollack. “It was crazy, but totally worth it. My daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw the dress.” (Russo-Pollack will be donating the extra size 6 dress to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.)

Experts liken the frenzy to the 1980s Cabbage Patch Kids craze.

“We’re now at the stage where the demand is almost being driven by the scarcity because of the social status attached to being able to find it,” says Sean McGowan, a toy industry analyst at Needham & Co. in NYC. “Being someone who had a Cabbage Patch [Kid] meant you were loved more than the others. It was social status and elite achievement that came with finding this rare gem.”

According to Times Square’s Disney Store employees, every other customer who walks into the flagship is on the hunt for “Frozen” gems.

Needless to say, “sold out” doesn’t always sit too well.

“People have gotten into physical fights in the morning,” says one Disney Store employee, who asked not to be named.

“The kids cry, but the parents are the problem. They try to guilt us, say their daughters are sick. They have no shame. But I can’t make it magically appear!”

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Five-year-old Samantha Venokur’s baby sitter won the award of the year when she bought the little girl this stunning Anna costume. Samantha’s still gunning for the Elsa one, but no luck so far.
Photo: Gabi Porter


Donna Ladd, who writes a blog called Motherburg, didn’t even realize what a hot commodity “Frozen” had become until after she snagged an Olaf doll during a recent business trip to Italy: “I was with another mother, and we passed the Disney Store in Venice and we saw the ‘Frozen’ shop and she went crazy.”

Ladd brought home the stuffed snowman for her 4 ½-year-old son, Charlie.
Chaos ensued.

“Anywhere I was, at the Met, at the supermarket, all the mothers were going crazy screaming, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe you got it!’ ” says 43-year-old Ladd, who lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. “They were asking me if they could borrow the doll for a few days . . . I feel like I had a bag no one else could get.”

Things got so intense that Ladd became wary of letting Olaf out of the house: “It’s causing so much angst for the kids and parents, and also kind of making them sad,” she says.

Disney message boards are rife with angry mothers lambasting the company for being ill-prepared; some are even accusing the company of orchestrating the shortage to ramp up interest. But McGowan says the latter is nonsense: “There’s no chance Disney doesn’t want to be selling more.” Retailers just made the mistake of playing it too safe after being burned by an excess of inventory from lackluster movies including “Tangled,” “Brave” and “The Princess and the Frog,” according to McGowan.

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Motherburg founder Donna Ladd didn’t even realize what a frenzy “Frozen” had become until she brought home an Olaf doll for her son, Charlie, from a business trip to Venice, Italy.
Photo: Christian Johnston


“We knew this movie was a winner,” says Erin Barrier, a Disney Store spokesperson, “but it overperformed so significantly that now we’re doing what we can to get in more product as soon as we can.” (Barrier says the Elsa dress should be back in “limited quantities” by early May and “back fully in stock in July and August.”)

But most moms aren’t willing to wait.

Lyss Stern, founder of Divalysscious Moms, a luxury lifestyle company, is already stocking up for her 6 ½-year-old son’s “Frozen”-themed birthday party — in July — because “I know I’m not going to be able to find anything,” she says.

Leslie Venokur’s friend was in such a bind for her daughter’s “Frozen” birthday bash last Sunday that the pal shelled out $150 on a homemade Elsa costume for her child from the crafts site Etsy. “It didn’t even look like Elsa,” bemoans Venokur, co-founder of the Big City Moms site.

In an attempt to override the price-gougers, mothers have set up Facebook groups, such as “Unfrozen Trading Friends,” in which approved members can exchange tips on where to score “Frozen” merchandise and sell their toys, at cost, to one another.

When one group member posted that Disney canceled her Elsa doll order, D.M., a lawyer who lives in New Canaan, Conn., FedEx’ed the distraught mother a spare Elsa doll she owned.

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After Shannon Russo-Pollack scoured 42 stores at Disney World for an Elsa dress for her daughter Summer (pictured), her husband caved and bought two costumes from Amazon for a total of $480.
Photo: Zandy Mangold

“She was so upset because her daughter is chronically ill and going through chemo,” says D.M., who asked that only her initials be used for professional reasons.

With a Netflix release of “Frozen” scheduled for Tuesday, even rentals of the movie have been hard to get recently — the “Frozen” wait-list at the Scarsdale, NY, library is 702 deep (with just 5,418 households, according to the 2010 census).

The biggest “Frozen” fanatics admit, though, that it might be time to just let it go.

“You want your kids to be happy, but at the same time, what are you willing to do, what are you willing to pay?” asks 31-year-old Upper East Sider Nicole Ross, who has a 3-year-old daughter, Sydney, and another child on the way. “It’s really dumb. We should probably just learn to say ‘no’ more often. But it’s so difficult when they are so obsessed with the current movie.”

“The sad thing is, when all this stuff gets restocked, they’ll be on to the next thing,” admits Venokur, who still hasn’t managed to get her daughter the Elsa dress.

“Until ‘Frozen 2’ comes out.”
 
Disney designers created fancier versions of the dress priced from $50 to $150 for sale at the company’s stores and parks. The sought-after limited edition, which has a white cape and a bejeweled cameo, is fetching top dollar online.

I saw one of the limited edition ones in the parks last January, and it was amazing. Talked to the parents...they had been offered $1000 for it that day at Epcot.

If people weren't offering that much, no one would be asking for it. Don't blame the sellers, blame the people who will pay it!


And maybe just find an amazing seamstress who can create something extraordinary for less than that.

Or just say "no" to the request. Goodness knows I've said no to my kid about pirate costumes from Disneyland, etc etc! No difference!
 


LOL. Or parents could say NO to paying extortionate prices to third-parties.


this. when I was growing up my parents laughed me out of the Magic Kingdom if I asked for anything more fancy than a set of Mickey Ears or a tee shirt.


why in hell would someone pay that money for something a kid might wear for a few weeks/months before they get tired of it, it rips, or they outgrow it?
 
I think the Elsa dresses will be returning soon to the stores. Not sure how they will handle the sale of them though.
 
I agree with all comments on free markets and just not paying through the nose for such things.

However, some of these eBay sellers are doing some pretty underhanded crap, like bribing retail salesmen to sell them the bulk of these dresses before the customers who want them for their little girls can get to them so they can sell them for massive premiums without adding a hint of value to the process. They bring to mind the popular meme of The Dude from The Big Lebowski with the caption "You're not wrong, you're just an *******."

I wouldn't call for any action to be taken, I can't think of anything that I would support. But I hope this same bunch of jerks takes a bath over-investing in merchandise for the next Johnny Depp stinker that Disney throws a bank at.

And maybe just find an amazing seamstress who can create something extraordinary for less than that.

My mother made an incredible Merida dress for my daughter for our last trip, but there was a pattern available. As far as I've heard they haven't offered one for Elsa. If we had a trip planned I might search for a similar pattern that could be adapted and get her to try it. But now I'm probably not returning to WDW until MM+ stabilizes into something I'm confident to work with and the Frozen issues abate, since I know my daughter would be as fixated on it as anybody else.
 


I saw one of the limited edition ones in the parks last January, and it was amazing. Talked to the parents...they had been offered $1000 for it that day at Epcot.

I would be hotfooting it to the nearest store to purchase DD a new outfit if someone offered me $1,000 for a $150 dress. ;) I've been peeved since November that I didn't buy loads of Frozen goodies in Norway in October.
 
My kid would need a new outfit too. I have seen some patterns on Etsy and some nice dresses. My daughter wanted Elsa's coronation dress and we found a beautiful one on there. Plus I feel better about giving an actual seamstress my money.
 
Some of the comments in the linked articles just make me laugh.

"My girl has been waiting for a classic Elsa doll since Christmas. She can't understand why Santa didn't get her one since it was what she wanted most. Now she is hoping that the Easter Bunny will put one in her basket. She has been so patient. I really think this might be what stops her believing in Santa and the Easter Bunny. I can't afford to spend over $100 on eBay for a $16 doll. This whole situation makes me so sad and angry. Thank you Disney for killing the magic for my 6 year old."

Seriously, lady? Why don't you just explain to your kiddo that Santa's at the mercy of supply and demand just like all the rest of us, so she'd just going to have to wait until the Disney store can restock. :rolleyes:
 
Dang! Why didn't I just buy the 8 dresses at my local Target on the day I happened to be there. Coulda made a bunch of money!
 
Yeah my dd really wants one too. until the Disney store restocks and I can get it at the regular marked-up rip-off price that Disney charges for their princess gowns my answer to dd is no. She has asked for it several times in the last two months and been told no each time. She is still alive.
 
Dang! Why didn't I just buy the 8 dresses at my local Target on the day I happened to be there. Coulda made a bunch of money!

I thought the same thing. I was at the Disney Store the day they restocked them. I could have made a killing off of it, wouldn't have mattered if I was limited to only 2!
 
These parents need to adopt the CTFD parenting approach. Google it.
 
Etsy...starting around $30. Some really great seamstresses there, and you can get custom sizing. Most are much nicer than the mass produced ones.
 
Its things like that that make me really happy I have boys :rotfl:

Good luck on the hunt everyone! :goodvibes
 
My DD8 doesn't even like Elsa. So, we don't need to hunt for a dress.

The situation currently is: rarity drives a high demand.
When the dress finally comes out in abundance in Spring, no one will want it that bad. People want "rare things", and would pay big bucks for it. It is a "status" thing now, a bragging item. If it is available everywhere, no one will care to look for it.

Similar situation happened to Sofia dress last year, but not to this extreme.
Now, Sofia dress is everywhere.
 
For those of us watching the unbearable angst, this is really funny-- the 9 types of Frozen parents. Think of the kids!!!

http://www.mommyish.com/2014/04/11/****-parents-disney-frozen-toy-shortage/
 

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