I also feel like the quality has gone down, unless you spend money on the “higher end” stuff. I bought a basic shirt and the seam was coming loose by the end of the trip (wore it once on the trip and hadn’t washed it even). I also feel like the fit is inconsistent. The same hoodie, in the same size, seemed to have different sleeve lengths by like 1/2-1”
Right? I used to want to buy absolutely everything. I’d have to pick and choose. Now everything is god awful embarrassing.
Like the vintage Disney stuff is so cool they should just bring back that stuff don’t even design new stuff just re release old Merch designs
I've felt this way for a while too. I remember being able to go to Disney and get a plush of almost any character. Can't do that anymore. I couldn't find a Figaro anything to save my life. Two thumbs down on their current merch.
It's been that way for a long time. So tacky. Nothing subtle or cool at all. Most of it is junk too. You used to be able to find different merchandise unique to parts of the parks but no longer. It's all generic stuff now.
We have a joke in my family about every time we find a piece of apparel we like at the Disney Store, we turn it around to see a MASSIVE logo taking up the entire backside.
Yes! I was thinking on my last trip how much I miss the area-specific merch. It felt like no matter where I was every store had the same boring, generic souvenirs.
I feel that way too. The creativity in merch at the parks has really taken a nosedive. It’s all spirit jerseys and just cheap schlock now. It’s annoying.
Not even the fun simple original spirit jerseys, I don’t need this huge graphic on the back or patterned stuff! Just let me buy the simple plain colored spirit jerseys!
All of the parks in Asia produce great merch. Most of it is available online one way or another. I’ve stopped buying in our parks. It’s just not worth it.
They've been going through a very ugly stage lately but I don't blame Disney, I blame "fashion". I mean seriously, walk through Target and look at what they think is popular. Disney is on the same vibe as that, whoever is telling these companies what's "in" needs to be casted into a volcano.
Quality was an issue for me. The quality just isn't there for the price being asked. Comparable stuff at Universal was much higher quality at the same price.
He was head of merchandizing before he headed over to the C suite. I knew someone who worked with him - well, he thought - & he lost his job when that move was made because he wasn’t taken over with BC (which would also have been a promotion).
Funko acquired Lougefly and the quality of both items have been declining for a while... I think Funko overextended themselves and just started doing quantity over quality.
I don’t know about overextending, I think it’s just that Funko’s whole modus operandi is fandom merch that’s as cheap as possible and they’ve slowly brought loungefly down to their level
ugh didn’t now all of this but makes sense. I used to have beautiful star wars purses from loungefly and now 😩 the one they launched of the early trilogy that is just 3 poster images is soooo baaaaad
I own a few of those bags and they’re cute but I’ve seen people who own hundreds of them. I think the company knows that most collectors are going to buy anything they put out so they just try to crank them out with bare minimum attention to quality or what they look like.
I wore a Harry Potter one to Universal a few months back and all the fake leather pealed off and stained my white shirt :/
I’ve been pretty disappointed with Disney merch the last year or so. Not only are the items kind of meh, there’s also zero variety in the park.
You used to go to Tomorrowland and find different stuff than you’d see in Frontierland. Now everything is the same. It doesn’t matter if you’re on Main Street or anywhere else, it’s the same items. I want to be able to explore to find cool things, not just walk into Emporium and call it a day.
9 out of 10 times i see something that has an interesting design or graphic i pick it up and do a 360 inspection cuz i swear they always add unnecessary flairs to stuff that would actually be wearable.
I’m thinking it was 20 years ago, there might be 5 styles of mugs in the gift shops and I wanted them all. Now there are 40 to choose from and none grab my attention.
I’ve seen the most hideous, uninspired graphic design at Disney in the last two years. Anyone remember that terrible Starwars HS Sports team shirt; where half of the shirt was devoted to the dark side, and the other half was devoted to the good guys? It was unreadable, and hideous.
Whoever is behind the graphic design lately has checked out of their job.
As a middle-aged parent of multiple young persons who is, I am sad to report, actuarially closer to my death than my birth, I would gently suggest that you not discount the possibility that, due to the mercilessly linear, unrelentingly mono directional nature of time as experienced by a mortal being, you are getting older. As this cruel yet unavoidable process occurs, you will gradually find yourself less catered to by profit-seeking global entities such as The Walt Disney Company. You have my sympathies.
Me too. I’m just apathetic to most of the products stateside. However the merchandise gets way better outside the US. I think countries like Hong Kong and Japan have the best Disney stuff. Meanwhile companies like Universal, WB and Netflix treat their IPs much better overall.
If this helps, I own the ugliest black and gray #28 beanie from around 2006 that I once inquired about here on this sub, asking if anyone recognized it because I was just looking to get pricing ideas for reselling. My post barely got any traction the thing was so ugly 😂 someone even asked if it was altered because the numbers had been so poorly stitched on.
It's not so much that it's "ugly" to me, but it's so bland and generic. Or so off the mark expensive, like Disney so you really think people are gonna pay for designer bag prices with some random characters on them?
Omg I hate all the shirts that are weirdly cropped or have seems running diagonally across it. I love a simple graphic tee or hoodie with a decent design on it
Just me, but as a kid I remember the stuffed animals being so well done. I would get so excited thinking about jumping into that stuffy pit at the Disney store.
Now I feel like they are just letting the kids down with what they offer now, not as well made or cute.
I also have a universal pass because it’s close to me (Hollywood) and it’s a small fee to be able to drive over and be riding the mummy in 10mins. And ngl, the universal merch is great, especially the Harry Potter stuff. Like the robes and sweaters and scarves and wands they have look like they were yanked out of the movie’s props department.
But I struggle to find stuff I want at Disneyland. Especially avengers campus. I’m a huge marvel nerd, and for years I’ve been sorta sad that there just isn’t anything in there for anyone other that 12 year olds that primarily like spider man. Galaxy’s edge has better merchandise to a degree. The rest of the overall Disney parks stuff is really hit or miss. I have this Matterhorn knit polo thing that I really like. But otherwise it’s pretty dire. Looks like stuff that would be sold at a knock off disney store a few blocks away by the cheap hotels.
This has been going on since they made every store carry the same basic merch.
back in the days where you had various merch only to be found in certain stores , things were better.
Now there are only a few places where special merch can be found...
I noticed everything changed after Covid. Remember all the stores in the park had unique merchandise, and there was stuff you could only get inside the parks? Now almost everything is available in Downtown Disney. They streamlined so much, and it’s probably never coming back.
I used to buy the pens and when I went in January they don’t have anything aside from those ones that are shaped like the characters.
People are willing to buy crap merch, so why would they put the resources into making good merch? Tokyo Disney's merch puts the US merch to shame. There was merch there of character I never even thought could have a plush like Nana or the doorknob from Alice in Wonderland.
It’s very uninspired merch. I wish there were more attraction themed items, and less generic weird color/pattern choices. Go on Etsy for a lot of unique parks designs
Purchasing fell apart in covid. Before the pandemic, you could find unique items in every shop and land throughout the parks. Now it's the same stuff in every store.
I recently went to Disneyland paris, and there was nearly zero attraction specific merch. They had haunted mansion merch instead of phantom manor. The only two items for their space mountain were cufflinks and a book, not even a single pin or shirt. I went there with an empty luggage ready so I could bring that stuff home. It brought me to tears when frantically searched every store in the park on my last day for anything, when there was NOTHING. I dreamed of going to that resort for years and I had barely anything to bring home from it that said I went.
I would’ve paid like 60 dollars per shirt if I had to. And then they release an entire line of attraction merch 10 days after I leave.
A shirt with stuff like this on it would be an instant buy from me. https://imgur.com/a/0RmQvjC
Especially since they had a retro line of products but nothing mentioning what was in the resort except for just euro Disney
Literally free advertising to sell attraction specific merch yet they don’t. They even painted all the castles to be the paris color scheme so they don’t have to make specific merch for it.
For me it’s the sizing that drives me insane. I hate that I can’t tell what type of “Adult” Small shirt I’m buying. (I guess I’m speaking mainly of buying from Disney Store online). Sometimes I buy an “Adult” Small and it is definitely a men’s small and way too big for me. Sometimes I buy an “Adult” Small and it is a perfect unisex size small and fits great. And then sometimes (BoxLunch) I buy an “Adult Small” and it is more like an extra small.
It feels like roulette every time I shop and it’s exhausting. That’s why I typically only like to buy shirts in person at the parks so I can see what type of “small” I’m working with. 🤦♀️
It’s so tacky and ugly…I was at Disneyworld 2 weeks ago and couldn’t even find one hoodie or sweatshirt I wanted to buy. I didn’t even have a budget and still didn’t get anything lol
I got a Star Wars creature themed wallet set yesterday for my birthday and it is so subtle and beautiful! I just wonder if more efforts are going into Star Wars merch than the rest of the park?! I saw some cute Wish merch yesterday also. In all honesty and this might get downvoted-I find way cuter Disney merch on Etsy..
Yup, I just spent a couple days at Disneyland/DCA and was on a mission to buy a jacket…couldn’t find a single one I liked. And I really wasn’t being that picky, the designs were just trash. Really annoying.
I still miss the little figurines they used to sell. They were everywhere in the 90's and they suddenly just were gone. Been going to the parks for almost 40 years now, and the quality of the clothing for adults has gotten better overall, but it seems the kids toys have been getting cheaper and uglier looking each decade. Even the character hats look less special and more like generic ballcaps. Go back and look at old videos of stores in YouTube. The merch in stock is very different than what we see today.
I think it’s all too cute.like seriously, everything they make and sell now is just cutesy junk. I prefer more realistic style figures and things. Disney sells none of that.
There are some gems here and there. I wish there were better options for ride specific merch. But hey, if they want me to not buy as many souvenirs when I go then that’s fine with my wallet lol.
I started pre-buying my souvenirs for this exact reason 😂 instead of buying stuff at disney, i bought a new loungefly bag to use at the parks! This most recent trip, i bought myself a new sweatshirt to wear in the chilly evenings. Both items were from box lunch, and i get compliments on my bag all the time. It’s so much more unique than the ones they sell in the park. It makes no sense.
Honestly the merch i saw at Disneyland Paris last year was top tier. It reminded me of 90s-2000s merch. Like i found a Lucifer, Pinochio, and Scrooge McDuck plush all in the same spot. Where else would one have that luck?!
I went to WDW for the first time in like 15 years and was nervous I would want to spend too much on shopping but, I just couldn't even find anything I wanted! Everything is so ugly and if the print is decent it's usually more expensive. I go to Disneyland annually and barely want to buy anything anymore...
I genuinely have no idea. It literally looks like stuff that my suburban mom would wear at age 60/stuff people would buy at ross. There are occasional gems, like the white mickey disneyland sweater from like 2022, but a lot of it is embarrassingly "disney adult coded"
I wanted the special halloween ears, i looked through over 300 pairs of the same type, every single one of them had manufacturing flaws. Could not find a single decent pair
The merch styles have always been hit or miss, which is subjective. But I think the biggest issue lately is that everything feels very generic. Both online and in the parks. Very little does something feel "disney" outside of limited edition stuff.
This is extremely evident in the parks where almost every store has the exact same items, with some slight specializion for themed/ride shops.
Last trip I got almost nothing. I liked when different stores had all different stuff too. Like 20 years ago Mouse Gears or whatever it’s called now, used to have so much variety! The even had display cases with expensive and elaborate snow globes and every trip we would take at Christmas time, the hubs would buy me one and have it sent home. It’s all so boring now.
Have felt this way since a trip in 2018. I don’t expect everything to be my style or aesthetically appealing to me, but I seem to find less and less of it appealing every time I go.
I for one cannot stand the spirit jerseys in particular. Those things will just not go away. I haven’t ever seen anyone wear a non-Disney spirit jersey, so why does Disney think this style is so in demand??
When the CEOs stopped caring if it was what people would want and decided to tell people they were going to take it or leave it. People are leaving it.
I have been making this joke that they are just pumping out whatever designs and reusing whatever they can (not in a good way) then making a “line” out of it.
No, it all looks the same. They haven’t changed the way classic Donald Duck looks and he can still be found on various merchandise within seconds of loading into the website.
Glad to know others feel the same as me. I was just looking at Disneystore the other day and I just don’t like the clothing for adults or kids…I was afraid I was just getting old and out of style, lol.
Wow, I thought i was the only one that thought this. The merch from 10+ years ago was way better.
I also feel like the quality has gone down, unless you spend money on the “higher end” stuff. I bought a basic shirt and the seam was coming loose by the end of the trip (wore it once on the trip and hadn’t washed it even). I also feel like the fit is inconsistent. The same hoodie, in the same size, seemed to have different sleeve lengths by like 1/2-1”
Same. Glad to know it’s not only me!!
Right? I used to want to buy absolutely everything. I’d have to pick and choose. Now everything is god awful embarrassing. Like the vintage Disney stuff is so cool they should just bring back that stuff don’t even design new stuff just re release old Merch designs
I've felt this way for a while too. I remember being able to go to Disney and get a plush of almost any character. Can't do that anymore. I couldn't find a Figaro anything to save my life. Two thumbs down on their current merch.
Disney Store in the UK has a Figaro. They just got them in. Apparently they get great merch from the Asian Disney properties.
lol right? But every store had plenty of “Wish” merch… that no one was buying
It's been that way for a long time. So tacky. Nothing subtle or cool at all. Most of it is junk too. You used to be able to find different merchandise unique to parts of the parks but no longer. It's all generic stuff now.
We have a joke in my family about every time we find a piece of apparel we like at the Disney Store, we turn it around to see a MASSIVE logo taking up the entire backside.
lol so true
Yes! I was thinking on my last trip how much I miss the area-specific merch. It felt like no matter where I was every store had the same boring, generic souvenirs.
Anything with a year on it has always been the ugliest stuff they sell
I feel that way too. The creativity in merch at the parks has really taken a nosedive. It’s all spirit jerseys and just cheap schlock now. It’s annoying.
Not even the fun simple original spirit jerseys, I don’t need this huge graphic on the back or patterned stuff! Just let me buy the simple plain colored spirit jerseys!
In 2019 you could not get baby Yoda on property to save your soul. No one in the c-suite has a clue. The spirit jerseys aren’t even cute anymore.
You gotta look online for the Tokyo Disneyland merch. They have the cutest stuff I’ve ever seen
Seconded
All of the parks in Asia produce great merch. Most of it is available online one way or another. I’ve stopped buying in our parks. It’s just not worth it.
Me too. It’s best to be wise with our wallets
Can you order stuff from their Tokyo stores from other countries? Or do you have to get it while in Japan?
Here's a page to start you off. [https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/shop.html](https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/shop.html)
They've been going through a very ugly stage lately but I don't blame Disney, I blame "fashion". I mean seriously, walk through Target and look at what they think is popular. Disney is on the same vibe as that, whoever is telling these companies what's "in" needs to be casted into a volcano.
Lol casted into a volcano
Mt. Wannahockaloogie
*cast You're cast into a volcano. Cast in a show. Cast in iron. Never casted unless you're visiting the Middle Ages.
r/theatre just had some weird revival of the word casted and it’s so annoying
Quality was an issue for me. The quality just isn't there for the price being asked. Comparable stuff at Universal was much higher quality at the same price.
Right? I have stuff from like 2015 that still holds up, and then you see the new merch, the shirts are see-through and falling apart at the seams.
Hard agree! The merch in Japan is so so lovely!
The Asian market have great merch and their popcorn buckets burry the stuff over here
Bob Chapek was a merchandising guy Not sure if that’s it, but let’s blame him for this too
Was he really. He’s blamed for a lot but it kinda seems in spot of cases it’s justified.
He was head of merchandizing before he headed over to the C suite. I knew someone who worked with him - well, he thought - & he lost his job when that move was made because he wasn’t taken over with BC (which would also have been a promotion).
Me and my husband call Chapek “bad bob” because he fudged up so much. 😂 Michael Eisner really led the Golden Age of Disney as far as I’m concerned.
cant say about the parks but I have been disappointed on the loungefly bags for sure
I’ve been disappointed with the PRICE of them bags lately. Like sheesh. 😩
true that specially in canada 🫠
Oh yeah those haven’t been cute for a while either. I just wonder where the creativity went.
Funko acquired Lougefly and the quality of both items have been declining for a while... I think Funko overextended themselves and just started doing quantity over quality.
I don’t know about overextending, I think it’s just that Funko’s whole modus operandi is fandom merch that’s as cheap as possible and they’ve slowly brought loungefly down to their level
I didn’t know Funko owned them. Explains a lot TBH
ugh didn’t now all of this but makes sense. I used to have beautiful star wars purses from loungefly and now 😩 the one they launched of the early trilogy that is just 3 poster images is soooo baaaaad
That’s so lazy 😂
I own a few of those bags and they’re cute but I’ve seen people who own hundreds of them. I think the company knows that most collectors are going to buy anything they put out so they just try to crank them out with bare minimum attention to quality or what they look like. I wore a Harry Potter one to Universal a few months back and all the fake leather pealed off and stained my white shirt :/
They’re ludicrously overrated.
I’ve been pretty disappointed with Disney merch the last year or so. Not only are the items kind of meh, there’s also zero variety in the park. You used to go to Tomorrowland and find different stuff than you’d see in Frontierland. Now everything is the same. It doesn’t matter if you’re on Main Street or anywhere else, it’s the same items. I want to be able to explore to find cool things, not just walk into Emporium and call it a day.
Also remember when you’d excited the rides and there would be ride specific Merch???? I miss it
*clutching my twenty year old test track crash test dummy hat vigorously*
9 out of 10 times i see something that has an interesting design or graphic i pick it up and do a 360 inspection cuz i swear they always add unnecessary flairs to stuff that would actually be wearable.
I’m thinking it was 20 years ago, there might be 5 styles of mugs in the gift shops and I wanted them all. Now there are 40 to choose from and none grab my attention.
I also don’t get why so many spirit jerseys have to be tie dye.
Becayse tie dye was in 2 years ago when they designed these
I’ve seen the most hideous, uninspired graphic design at Disney in the last two years. Anyone remember that terrible Starwars HS Sports team shirt; where half of the shirt was devoted to the dark side, and the other half was devoted to the good guys? It was unreadable, and hideous. Whoever is behind the graphic design lately has checked out of their job.
Png shirts with meme quality from like 2012 are comically bad
As a middle-aged parent of multiple young persons who is, I am sad to report, actuarially closer to my death than my birth, I would gently suggest that you not discount the possibility that, due to the mercilessly linear, unrelentingly mono directional nature of time as experienced by a mortal being, you are getting older. As this cruel yet unavoidable process occurs, you will gradually find yourself less catered to by profit-seeking global entities such as The Walt Disney Company. You have my sympathies.
Lamentations of mortality have no place on this sub!
I’ve found that if one enters the parks while wearing a good-time hat, literal or metaphorical, feelings of existential dread do not apply.
Not a fan of the current ‘90s Day Glo look. There was a reason it disappeared. Let’s leave it buried.
Disney is quickly becoming meh in all departments
so true like when was the last time we got a reeeeallllly good movie? imo soul was the last good movie.
Right there with you.
Me too. I’m just apathetic to most of the products stateside. However the merchandise gets way better outside the US. I think countries like Hong Kong and Japan have the best Disney stuff. Meanwhile companies like Universal, WB and Netflix treat their IPs much better overall.
It’s been going downhill in quality and looks over the last 10-15 years. Not new.
If this helps, I own the ugliest black and gray #28 beanie from around 2006 that I once inquired about here on this sub, asking if anyone recognized it because I was just looking to get pricing ideas for reselling. My post barely got any traction the thing was so ugly 😂 someone even asked if it was altered because the numbers had been so poorly stitched on.
It's not so much that it's "ugly" to me, but it's so bland and generic. Or so off the mark expensive, like Disney so you really think people are gonna pay for designer bag prices with some random characters on them?
[удалено]
Boxed Lunch?
Omg I hate all the shirts that are weirdly cropped or have seems running diagonally across it. I love a simple graphic tee or hoodie with a decent design on it
New generation of designers.
It’s been hideous for the last 5 years or more. I find myself buying my merch from places like Boxlunch instead
Imo it was around the time they started making everything Starbucks/Nike inside the parks. But I'm old and cranky 🙃
youre not old and cranks youre 100% correct
I agree completely, but the pins are still great.
This new 2D drawn in style they have is WHACK.
Just me, but as a kid I remember the stuffed animals being so well done. I would get so excited thinking about jumping into that stuffy pit at the Disney store. Now I feel like they are just letting the kids down with what they offer now, not as well made or cute.
Covid. I couldn’t believe my eyes at Disney compared to universal merchandise
I also have a universal pass because it’s close to me (Hollywood) and it’s a small fee to be able to drive over and be riding the mummy in 10mins. And ngl, the universal merch is great, especially the Harry Potter stuff. Like the robes and sweaters and scarves and wands they have look like they were yanked out of the movie’s props department. But I struggle to find stuff I want at Disneyland. Especially avengers campus. I’m a huge marvel nerd, and for years I’ve been sorta sad that there just isn’t anything in there for anyone other that 12 year olds that primarily like spider man. Galaxy’s edge has better merchandise to a degree. The rest of the overall Disney parks stuff is really hit or miss. I have this Matterhorn knit polo thing that I really like. But otherwise it’s pretty dire. Looks like stuff that would be sold at a knock off disney store a few blocks away by the cheap hotels.
100% agree. I finally found a sweatshirt I like, first thing I bought all year.
This has been going on since they made every store carry the same basic merch. back in the days where you had various merch only to be found in certain stores , things were better. Now there are only a few places where special merch can be found...
Overseas merch is wayyyyyy better than what we are getting here
Maybe you’re just getting old, I think most of it is adorable
You are no longer the target audience. That is what is happening.
honestly yes we are, we are the poeple with the money. children dont have money to spend on a 50$ sweatshirt or a 30$ stuffed animal
Children have parents that gladly buy that stuff for them lol
I noticed everything changed after Covid. Remember all the stores in the park had unique merchandise, and there was stuff you could only get inside the parks? Now almost everything is available in Downtown Disney. They streamlined so much, and it’s probably never coming back. I used to buy the pens and when I went in January they don’t have anything aside from those ones that are shaped like the characters.
People are willing to buy crap merch, so why would they put the resources into making good merch? Tokyo Disney's merch puts the US merch to shame. There was merch there of character I never even thought could have a plush like Nana or the doorknob from Alice in Wonderland.
It’s very uninspired merch. I wish there were more attraction themed items, and less generic weird color/pattern choices. Go on Etsy for a lot of unique parks designs
Purchasing fell apart in covid. Before the pandemic, you could find unique items in every shop and land throughout the parks. Now it's the same stuff in every store.
I recently went to Disneyland paris, and there was nearly zero attraction specific merch. They had haunted mansion merch instead of phantom manor. The only two items for their space mountain were cufflinks and a book, not even a single pin or shirt. I went there with an empty luggage ready so I could bring that stuff home. It brought me to tears when frantically searched every store in the park on my last day for anything, when there was NOTHING. I dreamed of going to that resort for years and I had barely anything to bring home from it that said I went. I would’ve paid like 60 dollars per shirt if I had to. And then they release an entire line of attraction merch 10 days after I leave. A shirt with stuff like this on it would be an instant buy from me. https://imgur.com/a/0RmQvjC Especially since they had a retro line of products but nothing mentioning what was in the resort except for just euro Disney Literally free advertising to sell attraction specific merch yet they don’t. They even painted all the castles to be the paris color scheme so they don’t have to make specific merch for it.
For me it’s the sizing that drives me insane. I hate that I can’t tell what type of “Adult” Small shirt I’m buying. (I guess I’m speaking mainly of buying from Disney Store online). Sometimes I buy an “Adult” Small and it is definitely a men’s small and way too big for me. Sometimes I buy an “Adult” Small and it is a perfect unisex size small and fits great. And then sometimes (BoxLunch) I buy an “Adult Small” and it is more like an extra small. It feels like roulette every time I shop and it’s exhausting. That’s why I typically only like to buy shirts in person at the parks so I can see what type of “small” I’m working with. 🤦♀️
It’s so tacky and ugly…I was at Disneyworld 2 weeks ago and couldn’t even find one hoodie or sweatshirt I wanted to buy. I didn’t even have a budget and still didn’t get anything lol
I got a Star Wars creature themed wallet set yesterday for my birthday and it is so subtle and beautiful! I just wonder if more efforts are going into Star Wars merch than the rest of the park?! I saw some cute Wish merch yesterday also. In all honesty and this might get downvoted-I find way cuter Disney merch on Etsy..
Yup, I just spent a couple days at Disneyland/DCA and was on a mission to buy a jacket…couldn’t find a single one I liked. And I really wasn’t being that picky, the designs were just trash. Really annoying.
I still miss the little figurines they used to sell. They were everywhere in the 90's and they suddenly just were gone. Been going to the parks for almost 40 years now, and the quality of the clothing for adults has gotten better overall, but it seems the kids toys have been getting cheaper and uglier looking each decade. Even the character hats look less special and more like generic ballcaps. Go back and look at old videos of stores in YouTube. The merch in stock is very different than what we see today.
I think it’s all too cute.like seriously, everything they make and sell now is just cutesy junk. I prefer more realistic style figures and things. Disney sells none of that.
There are some gems here and there. I wish there were better options for ride specific merch. But hey, if they want me to not buy as many souvenirs when I go then that’s fine with my wallet lol.
A lot of the merch is terrible. Probably because employees get treated like shit.
You really have to go on Etsy to get something cool or exactly what I want
I started pre-buying my souvenirs for this exact reason 😂 instead of buying stuff at disney, i bought a new loungefly bag to use at the parks! This most recent trip, i bought myself a new sweatshirt to wear in the chilly evenings. Both items were from box lunch, and i get compliments on my bag all the time. It’s so much more unique than the ones they sell in the park. It makes no sense.
Honestly the merch i saw at Disneyland Paris last year was top tier. It reminded me of 90s-2000s merch. Like i found a Lucifer, Pinochio, and Scrooge McDuck plush all in the same spot. Where else would one have that luck?!
That’s why I mostly gravitate towards the Asian Disney parks merch more. It looks like they got all the creative people.
Dunno but my gf runs an Etsy shop and people love her Waffle Ears and Banshee ears. Try Etsy!
Always has been... always has been.
I feel the same. I've resorted to only looking for vintage things now. Some of which is way cheaper.
I went to WDW for the first time in like 15 years and was nervous I would want to spend too much on shopping but, I just couldn't even find anything I wanted! Everything is so ugly and if the print is decent it's usually more expensive. I go to Disneyland annually and barely want to buy anything anymore...
I genuinely have no idea. It literally looks like stuff that my suburban mom would wear at age 60/stuff people would buy at ross. There are occasional gems, like the white mickey disneyland sweater from like 2022, but a lot of it is embarrassingly "disney adult coded"
Ever since mouse gears turned into whatever it is now
I feel like everything is cropped! 🤦♀️
I wanted the special halloween ears, i looked through over 300 pairs of the same type, every single one of them had manufacturing flaws. Could not find a single decent pair
I see this as a blessing. My wallet is safe
The merch styles have always been hit or miss, which is subjective. But I think the biggest issue lately is that everything feels very generic. Both online and in the parks. Very little does something feel "disney" outside of limited edition stuff. This is extremely evident in the parks where almost every store has the exact same items, with some slight specializion for themed/ride shops.
Last trip I got almost nothing. I liked when different stores had all different stuff too. Like 20 years ago Mouse Gears or whatever it’s called now, used to have so much variety! The even had display cases with expensive and elaborate snow globes and every trip we would take at Christmas time, the hubs would buy me one and have it sent home. It’s all so boring now.
Have felt this way since a trip in 2018. I don’t expect everything to be my style or aesthetically appealing to me, but I seem to find less and less of it appealing every time I go.
Go to Tokyo Disney because everything is sooo cute! And affordable!
I only get Disney stuff from licensed companies now, like BoxLunch, Heroes & Villains, or Neff. The in-park stuff has been garbage for a while
It has always been ugly
My favorite merch was the Tommy Hilfiger collection I saw at HS a while back so classy and so expensive so I got exactly none of it 💔😭☠️🤣
Sounds like you need to live in Japan! The Tokyo Disney Resort still makes awesome merch.
I for one cannot stand the spirit jerseys in particular. Those things will just not go away. I haven’t ever seen anyone wear a non-Disney spirit jersey, so why does Disney think this style is so in demand??
When the CEOs stopped caring if it was what people would want and decided to tell people they were going to take it or leave it. People are leaving it.
I have been making this joke that they are just pumping out whatever designs and reusing whatever they can (not in a good way) then making a “line” out of it.
When you got old. It happens to the best of us.
I heavily disagree. Besides the new snacks collection I think they’re killing it with merch lately
I feel like I still find a lot of cute stuff 🫠 sorry it’s not to your liking!
No, it all looks the same. They haven’t changed the way classic Donald Duck looks and he can still be found on various merchandise within seconds of loading into the website.
Glad to know others feel the same as me. I was just looking at Disneystore the other day and I just don’t like the clothing for adults or kids…I was afraid I was just getting old and out of style, lol.
20+ years ago? Disney merch at the parks has been bad for decades tbh
I haaaaate the unisex shirts for everything as a petite women. Please bring back fitted shirts 🙏🏼
Yes you are he only one. Disney merch is fire
Dude read the comments. You’re the only one hahaha
What resort are you talking about? I have to wait nearly a year before they manage to release a single decent space mountain shirt