Shop Disney Parks App is Ridiculous!

[PrncessA]

We just got back from our first ever adults only trip, which meant we had to of course find our kids the "perfect" souvenir to bring home. We decided that the "Baby" Ariel Plush would be perfect for our daughter, she had wanted it on our last trip but didn't buy it. They were sold out in the Emporium where we were shopping. (Please keep in mind we did not plan ahead well and were doing this on our last day before catching the bus back to the airport, which made this a dire situation, OUR FAULT not Disney's)

Here is where Disney completely failed. I love all of the technology advances that Disney has announced. I am a big fan of MagicBands, My Disney Experience and FP+. Even with the sometimes glitches, I use them all and love them. Of course I downloaded the Shop Disney Parks App...

When the item was sold out at the Emporium, I looked on the app and it was available at Castle Couture. We headed there, since we had a FP+ in Fantasyland anyway. Was it there? Nope. We ask a CM and the answer was, "Sorry, the app is wrong. Try Fantasy Faire.", which also had it in stock on the app. Was it there? Nope. They sent us to Sir Mickey's, nope. Did any CM do anything other than look in the exact same spots that we looked? Nope. No one offered to call any other stores..

At this point we decided that we would check in Epcot since it said it was in stock at Mouse Gears, as we were headed to Epcot anyway to pick something up before heading back to the resort. When we arrived and did not find the plush, we ask a CM (I saved her from looking on the shelf again) and after 3 CM's and a manager got involved, we were told to head over to Gateway Gifts near Spaceship Earth, which ironically was not showing on the Shop Parks app as in stock. I requested that they call over and confirm, since at this point I had picked out a backup gift to get if needed and I was not walking back to Mouse Gears if they were wrong. They did have it and our ordeal was over, but boy what a waste of our time.

The Shop Parks App is a great idea, but what awful execution. Has anyone else had this type of experience with it?

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

I agree that the app could be bad in this situation. Obviously I understand your frustration..

Where the app wins is the ability to buy souvenirs you can only get in Disney and have them sent to your home. It helped us last trip when we wanted to buy toys for our new baby cousins but didn't wanna carry them home on the plane. It also comes in handy when you crave some Disney food but you're not in Disney. I ordered some Chip & Dale pretzels and the Goofy sour balls a few weeks ago to enjoy at home.

I believe there's the option to have it sent to your hotel room if you're gonna be there longer than 2 or 3 days. Otherwise, you can have it sent home. Good luck in finding what you're looking for.

 

[bpadair32]

While I completely understand your frustration, and I would also be frustrated, it was my understanding that this was not the purpose of the app. It was my understanding that the app was so that you could buy items that are only available in the parks, outside the parks and have it shipped to you. If my understanding is correct, I would think that the inventory status on the app is probably not updated constantly.

 

[Skywise]

The app is a great idea in theory but it's HORRIBLE in reality.

The items found on the website vs the app are DIFFERENT. Search requests for the same terms will have DIFFERENT results! (Tried telling my mom about a particular item I saw on the app and we could not find it on the website via searching or by exact name but it popped up fine everytime on the app) (she doesn't have an iDevice).

But the part that really drives me up the wall is when i was actually there and didn't want to carry around all these souvenirs I figured - Hey, I'll just order them on the app and have them shipped home! Well everything I wanted - IN THE DISNEY PARKS (mind you) - was NOT available on the app (I searched with the bar code).

It's like... I have it in my hands, couldn't you just order YOUR store to box it up and ship it to me and charge me extra for the shipping and effort?! I'm willing to be parted with my money here?

No no... please... cut back on the hours and staff because you're not making enough money!!!

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We just got back from our first ever adults only trip, which meant we had to of course find our kids the "perfect" souvenir to bring home. We decided that the "Baby" Ariel Plush would be perfect for our daughter, she had wanted it on our last trip but didn't buy it. They were sold out in the Emporium where we were shopping. (Please keep in mind we did not plan ahead well and were doing this on our last day before catching the bus back to the airport, which made this a dire situation, OUR FAULT not Disney's)

Here is where Disney completely failed. I love all of the technology advances that Disney has announced. I am a big fan of MagicBands, My Disney Experience and FP+. Even with the sometimes glitches, I use them all and love them. Of course I downloaded the Shop Disney Parks App...

When the item was sold out at the Emporium, I looked on the app and it was available at Castle Couture. We headed there, since we had a FP+ in Fantasyland anyway. Was it there? Nope. We ask a CM and the answer was, "Sorry, the app is wrong. Try Fantasy Faire.", which also had it in stock on the app. Was it there? Nope. They sent us to Sir Mickey's, nope. Did any CM do anything other than look in the exact same spots that we looked? Nope. No one offered to call any other stores..

At this point we decided that we would check in Epcot since it said it was in stock at Mouse Gears, as we were headed to Epcot anyway to pick something up before heading back to the resort. When we arrived and did not find the plush, we ask a CM (I saved her from looking on the shelf again) and after 3 CM's and a manager got involved, we were told to head over to Gateway Gifts near Spaceship Earth, which ironically was not showing on the Shop Parks app as in stock. I requested that they call over and confirm, since at this point I had picked out a backup gift to get if needed and I was not walking back to Mouse Gears if they were wrong. They did have it and our ordeal was over, but boy what a waste of our time.

The Shop Parks App is a great idea, but what awful execution. Has anyone else had this type of experience with it.

Sorry you had trouble with it. I will give you an alternative. My wife had a Star Wars shirt and hers got ruined. She looked all over Disney and couldn't find it. Faced with a wife who was near suicidal, I went to the app. It said there was one right down the street. My wife said she looked in that store and they didn't have it. I left DW sitting there in her misery and followed the app into the store. it pointed me to a wall I went to said wall. There were star wars shirts there, but not the one I wanted. So I asked a CM. I pointed them to the app and a picture of the alleged shirt that showed it at that wall. The CM said that the app is usually not wrong and they should have it. She ducked in back and emerged 1 minute later with said shirt in said size. She explained that the wall has limited space so they sometimes switch the shirt out that is showing to move merchandise, but the wall the app pointed to was right on the ball.

So in my case it led me to the shirt I wanted like a bloodhound on a scent.

DW's face was priceless when I returned with her beloved long lost shirt.

 

[wilkeliza]

The app is a great idea in theory but it's HORRIBLE in reality.

The items found on the website vs the app are DIFFERENT. Search requests for the same terms will have DIFFERENT results! (Tried telling my mom about a particular item I saw on the app and we could not find it on the website via searching or by exact name but it popped up fine everytime on the app) (she doesn't have an iDevice).

But the part that really drives me up the wall is when i was actually there and didn't want to carry around all these souvenirs I figured - Hey, I'll just order them on the app and have them shipped home! Well everything I wanted - IN THE DISNEY PARKS (mind you) - was NOT available on the app (I searched with the bar code).

It's like... I have it in my hands, couldn't you just order YOUR store to box it up and ship it to me and charge me extra for the shipping and effort?! I'm willing to be parted with my money here?

No no... please... cut back on the hours and staff because you're not making enough money!!!

Just so you know if you don't want to carry it around all day and it isn't on the app you can have all purchases sent to the front to be picked up.

The app is suppose to be a slice of what is available at the parks not everything. The one thing I'll say is the app is incredibly hard to return from in person. It took 3 different stops and finally a manager to get one of my items returned.

 

[Skywise]

Just so you know if you don't want to carry it around all day and it isn't on the app you can have all purchases sent to the front to be picked up.

I would've done that but it was our last day (Check out was the next day and I left at 1 but there was the possibility that the items might not make it til later in the afternoon)

 

[wilkeliza]

I would've done that but it was our last day (Check out was the next day and I left at 1 but there was the possibility that the items might not make it til later in the afternoon)

Even to the front of the park they were saying it could take until later in the afternoon? Now that is ridiculous. They could just have someone walk it up front.

 

[RafikiTiki21]

I would've done that but it was our last day (Check out was the next day and I left at 1 but there was the possibility that the items might not make it til later in the afternoon)

You can still order it from the app NOW and it will arrive at your home in a few days. Not at all the same as bringing it home yourself to your daughter, but just a thought. I love the app, I'm sorry you had this frustrating experience.

 

[Skywise]

Even to the front of the park they were saying it could take until later in the afternoon? Now that is ridiculous. They could just have someone walk it up front.

Oh sorry - I misread - I thought you meant TO THE FRONT OF THE RESORT!

 

[wilkeliza]

Oh sorry - I misread - I thought you meant TO THE FRONT OF THE RESORT!

Oh ahaha. Yeah the resort shipping takes forever. You can ask them to take it to the front of the park (or at least you use to be able to) and pick it up at the end of your day.

 

[Skywise]

You can still order it from the app NOW and it will arrive at your home in a few days. Not at all the same as bringing it home yourself to your daughter, but just a thought. I love the app, I'm sorry you had this frustrating experience.

The problem was that it wasn't in the app AT ALL. There were several T-shirts and a few mugs. The mugs were collector's items so I can understand their not being in the app but the T-shirts?

BTW if you want an example of how the website is different from the app - Search for "Sorcerers of the magic kingdom" The results in the app and website are different (the card game shows up but the collector's case and the pin only shows up in the app whereas the website shows you 2016 memorabilia with the sorcerer Mickey logo!

 

[erionm]

BTW if you want an example of how the website is different from the app - Search for "Sorcerers of the magic kingdom" The results in the app and website are different (the card game shows up but the collector's case and the pin only shows up in the app whereas the website shows you 2016 memorabilia with the sorcerer Mickey logo!

If the website you keep referring to is DisneyStore.com, that's totally unrelated to the Shop Disney Parks app. DisneyStore.com has it's own merchandise and may or may not carry the same selection of theme park merchandise.

 

[wilkeliza]

The problem was that it wasn't in the app AT ALL. There were several T-shirts and a few mugs. The mugs were collector's items so I can understand their not being in the app but the T-shirts?

BTW if you want an example of how the website is different from the app - Search for "Sorcerers of the magic kingdom" The results in the app and website are different (the card game shows up but the collector's case and the pin only shows up in the app whereas the website shows you 2016 memorabilia with the sorcerer Mickey logo!

What website are you referencing? If you mean disney store website vs disney shop parks app then yes they have different offerings and that was apart of the press release of shop parks app. They do not put everything on the app just a selection of parks products and there may be a different selection and some overlap on Disney Store as well.

 

[Skywise]

If the website you keep referring to is DisneyStore.com, that's totally unrelated to the Shop Disney Parks app. DisneyStore.com has it's own merchandise and may or may not carry the same selection of theme park merchandise.

Is there a web equivalent to the disney parks app? What happens if someone doesn't have an iDevice (like... my mom!)

 

[wilkeliza]

Is there a web equivalent to the disney parks app? What happens if someone doesn't have an iDevice (like... my mom!)

There is not a website equivalent of the parks app. The app is its own thing that was made to make a specific set of parks merchandise available to buy and ship home or to locate in the parks.

 

[erionm]

Is there a web equivalent to the disney parks app?

Nope.

They can be also be reached at:
Merchandise Guest Services
PO Box 10070
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

Phone: 877-560-6477 / 407-934-6111
eMail: Merchandise.Guest.Services@DisneyParks.com

 

[bpadair32]

Is there a web equivalent to the disney parks app? What happens if someone doesn't have an iDevice (like... my mom!)

As far as I know, there is no equivalent.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

Where the app wins is the ability to buy souvenirs you can only get in Disney and have them sent to your home. It helped us last trip when we wanted to buy toys for our new baby cousins but didn't wanna carry them home on the plane. It also comes in handy when you crave some Disney food but you're not in Disney. I ordered some Chip & Dale pretzels and the Goofy sour balls a few weeks ago to enjoy at home

Anytime I try to order any Disney food from the app (Chip & Dale crackers, Lion King animal cookies) it says it is an 'in-store' purchase only. I've tried since the app first came out and haven't had any luck ordering food.

 

[ArwenMarie]

That's outrageous. If it's not meant to track things down in the parks, then it shouldn't have that level of info. Glad it all worked out in the end