Anyone else miss when Disney had unique Items

[stoudt6]

at parks and resorts, instead of the now steam-lined very few things that are at every place? Used to be great to be able to find a Scrooge Mcduck T-shirt, or have your choice of 4-5 Goofy hats, or pick of 2 Dixie landings T-shirts. Now you have choice of about 6-7 character Tshirts and hats and are lucky if you can find anything in Resort Merchandise if you are at moderate or value resort.Understand Disney is out to make a $,but feel they've compromised themselves to a point doing it.

 

[kristennn]

Disney.com is constantly putting our new merchandise - or try etsy! (or ebay)
I don't mind spending some significant $$ on clothes - but not tshirts that are hiked up in price because they're being sold at the theme park.

I also don't remember a time when they sold unique merchandise so maybe I would be wistful if I did

 

[jazz0007]

I miss the days when "Walt Disney World (or...DL)" merchandise could only be bought AT the parks. If it had the name....it meant you went there to get it! That's what I miss the most......but yes, I miss the unique items as well.

 

[ebtbmom]

Yes, totally agree. i mentioned this to them in an email I sent after my last trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

I miss the resort specific stuff. I miss being able to get something Epcot specific, for example. I hate that I can save all my shopping for the end of our stay, and do it all in DTD. There is no longer any uniqueness within merchandising at WDW.
So, with that thought in mind, I now spend a ton less money on shopping. Same thing goes for food. The individuality has been done away with. You don't get restaurant specific stuff anymore. Gone are the days of specific paper goods for each restaurant. Gone are the specific things you could only get at a particular restaurant. Same thing with adult beverages in the lounges. Now...it's a generic drink menu.

I spend a lot less money at WDW nowadays. I eat at fewer restaurants. I buy very few things in the shops. I hate buying foreign made stuff, unless I'm in the WS and the item is made in that specific country. So, more money in
my pocket and less in Disney's.

I am starting to seriously consider renting a car for my WDW trips. That way, I can head offsite to eat and visit other attractions in the area. Disney no longer gets me 24/7. They have taken away a certain uniqueness.

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

Definitely!! Really miss the resort/ ride/ theme park specific merchandise. Now it's all generic and can be found in any shop. I treasure my merchandise from years ago that marked the resort we stayed at or a ride that was special to my kids. Even have some great water park specific merchandise but now everything is generic. The only plus side is that we don't spend money on souvenirs anymore since we have no interest in this generic merchandise.

 

[wbeem]

I'm sure there are a lot of unique things I miss. Doesn't really bother me. It happens in other circles, too. Harley-Davidson has a lot of ardent fans who buy almost anything with their logo on it. H-D keeps changing those things, and the die-hard fans keep buying stuff. I walked briefly behind a couple at Epcot on Thursday who were both sporting full Harley shirts & gear. In my mind, they were no different than the folks who go decked out in full Disney gear.

I can't buy every little thing that comes out from Disney, Harley-Davidson, or anyone else. No sense in even trying.

 

[minnie mum]

I miss the resort specific stuff. I miss being able to get something Epcot specific, for example. I hate that I can save all my shopping for the end of our stay, and do it all in DTD. There is no longer any uniqueness within merchandising at WDW.
So, with that thought in mind, I now spend a ton less money on shopping. Same thing goes for food. The individuality has been done away with. You don't get restaurant specific stuff anymore. Gone are the days of specific paper goods for each restaurant. Gone are the specific things you could only get at a particular restaurant. Same thing with adult beverages in the lounges. Now...it's a generic drink menu.

I spend a lot less money at WDW nowadays. I eat at fewer restaurants. I buy very few things in the shops. I hate buying foreign made stuff, unless I'm in the WS and the item is made in that specific country. So, more money in
my pocket and less in Disney's.

I am starting to seriously consider renting a car for my WDW trips. That way, I can head offsite to eat and visit other attractions in the area. Disney no longer gets me 24/7. They have taken away a certain uniqueness.

You took the words right out of my mouth. We used to enjoy window shopping at WDW and looking for unusual/unique items to bring home with us. Now, not so much. Kinda sad for me, although DH isn't upset by the lightened budget.

 

[fairestoneofall]

I encourage you all to send Disney an email with your complaints. I complained about the same thing when I did my resort survey. We stayed at the Contemporary and the ONLY thing I could buy was a pin. But, when we visited WL, they had quite a few WL-specific things.

I'll also complain about this when I send my email to WDW. Things won't change if we don't complain.

 

[Hemlock]

I miss the resort specific merchandise. Specifically, I liked the resort specific refillable mugs. My goal was to collect one from each resort - I didn't even come close before they changed to the generic ones.

 

[eliza61]

When it actually had Villian stuff in it? Now it's 1/2 candy store
and the other half is just Jack skeleton stuff. What tickles me when I think of classic disney villians and themovies, Nightmare before Christmas isn't even on my radar.

I have a sleep tee from there that I got many years ago, it has all 4 of the witches on it, I love the thing but it's faded and worn.

 

[Rosanne]

Yes I do. I hardly ever buy anything because I like things to be more unique. Plus, if I knew I could only buy something at a particular place I would be more likely. As it is, if I see something I like I figure I can find it somewhere else and then end up forgetting about it.

 

[furb & dez]

This was my biggest disappointment from my February 2011 trip. I aggressively searched for various items, and the only thing I left with after six days were two pins that OTHER people asked me to buy for them... not a single item for myself.

Everything was either generic, tacky, or that vinyl crap. I was actually able to take my souvenir budget from that trip and use it to virtually completely pay for a cruise.

 

[wdwmaw]

I was just saying this to people the other day. I really miss the mugs from each resort/park and popcorn buckets from different parks and times of the year. The collection we started is now just that, one we started. Seems now we can just get generic that has been the same our last 3 trips. Guess what we haven't bought near as many in our last 3 trips. Did love the addition of the Mickey ghost and snowman containers.

 

[KellifromCanada]

Just got back and I felt a little... let down over the merchandise too...Something seemed "off" overall. But then, lots of things definitely caught my eye. My daughter loves the shop in Japan and bought a shirt with her own money. Her Duffy hat was pretty unique and I noticed quite a few new and elaborate hats which was fun. I love to people watch and enjoy seeing everyone's park shirts or family reunion t's etc.

The Vinylmation craze has really taken off and seems very popular with her age group (teen).

I LOVED the items at EE in AK although the shirts seemed incredibly expensive.

My dh struggled with finding a Pirates shirt he liked which is his traditional souvenir "gotta have".


I did see lots of lovely Christmas ornaments in the Its a Wonderful Life store in DHS, some unique to each park, but some of the Mickey/Minnie ones looked...meh. The big shop in Epcot had lots of "Epcot" hoodies etc.

I hope the quality of items does not deteriorate.

Kelli

 

[LindaBabe]

I miss the resort specific stuff. I miss being able to get something Epcot specific, for example. I hate that I can save all my shopping for the end of our stay, and do it all in DTD. There is no longer any uniqueness within merchandising at WDW.
So, with that thought in mind, I now spend a ton less money on shopping. Same thing goes for food. The individuality has been done away with. You don't get restaurant specific stuff anymore. Gone are the days of specific paper goods for each restaurant. Gone are the specific things you could only get at a particular restaurant. Same thing with adult beverages in the lounges. Now...it's a generic drink menu.

I spend a lot less money at WDW nowadays. I eat at fewer restaurants. I buy very few things in the shops. I hate buying foreign made stuff, unless I'm in the WS and the item is made in that specific country. So, more money in
my pocket and less in Disney's. . . .

THIS! Was it only 10 years ago I used to tour resorts just to SHOP in their unique stores? Was it only 10 years ago I saved up all my dining out money to spend at Disney because the food was so fabulous and unique?

Dixie Landings had GREAT garden stuff - Coronado Springs fabulous Mexican that was actually MADE in Mexico, not China - And the jewelry stores in the Contemporary! OH MY.

In fact there were REAL jewelry stores in MK and in mouse gears and KeyStone Clotheirs.

And the Villains shop sold VILLAIN stuff and not just that Nghtmare before Christmas.

And don't even get me started on those stupid Vinylmation things - I HATE THEM.

Now, my buying is pretty much restricted to post cards to send to Make A Wish kids, Penzo Pottery in AK and AKL, and Kenyan coffee by the bag in AKL.

There's no longer any reason to shop the different resort stores or more than one gift shop - basically you've seen one, you've seen them all

And that goes for eating too - the treats I used to love and look forward to - gone gone gone - Casey's hot dogs - school bread - beavertails - even the sit downs have gone generic - I eat healthy salad, salmon and chicken at home - on vacation I want Whispering Canyon's oatmeal with Whiskey Sauce!

 

[ppony]

There's even a FB "support group" for us that miss the more unique stuff. Everything from the merch to the food is so bland and homogenized now, we spend FAR lass $ there than we used to. We LOVE shopping at WDW but there just isn't much to shop for anymore. It used to be that if you saw something, you had to get it THERE, becuase you probably wouldn't see it elsewhere. Not anymore.

 

[hoosll]

I have a great ship's clock that we bought in the cool shop next to Pirates which had wonderful nautical gear. There are so many shops that I miss ... I cannot believe how bland the new merchandise is ... and the quality of the clothing stinks, you can do better on Disney clothes at Wal-Mart or K-Mart where it is licensed ...

As for food, I haven't been in years because it had gotten so bad. We are taking grandkids for the first time so I'm not planning on eating any super meals. Since they started central kitchens turning out bulk food, the quality has really suffered and then they eliminated food that could give you e coli so everything is cooked to death....

Disney could make this place really special, instead they would rather just grab our money, and they don't get it that we WILL pay for quality and uniqueness.

 

[POOHsie]

I used to love shopping at Epcot. In Future World, the shops had stuff with a futuristic theme. Stuff for your walls, stuff for your displays. Now there, and everywhere, it's basically like a Walmart-quality shopping experience with stuff for the masses, instead of a WDW-exclusive shopping experience.

In World Showcase, I used to love France. They had little Limoges hinged boxes, and other lovely items. Now they have a big room full of old-fashioned, over-priced fragrance and not because it's more interesting. Same thing in Italy, full of cologne by people I never heard of. Does the average Epcot goer look like they're there for cologne? At least United Kingdom still has a nice, interesting collection of things representing their countries.

 

[Colleen27]

Yeah, we don't shop much any more at WDW because so much of everything is generic Disney Parks merchandise that is the same at every gift shop and that I can get for a better price if I wait for DisneyStore.com to run a sale. And I've given up on buying parks clothing at all; the last two things I bought shrunk massively despite the fact that I wash in cold water and dry on low heat. My size 0 10yo made off with what was once my Disney Parks shirt and it looks good on her, not as form fitting as it is intended to be but not ridiculously huge like a woman's large should be on someone her size.