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Credit: Nicholas Cole, FlickrA recent merchandise launch went awry at one Disney park, with guests claiming that there were “screams of despair” as parkgoers rushed to pick up new items.
Disney merchandise is consistently in high demand, driven by limited-edition releases, park-exclusive items, and the brand’s dedicated fanbase. Popular collections, such as seasonal plush toys, themed popcorn buckets, and anniversary merchandise, often sell out quickly, creating a resale market where items fetch high prices.
Back in 2022, for example, Figment popcorn buckets sold during EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts were snapped up by resellers en masse before being listed on eBay for extortionate prices. The same has proven true for several other similar limited items over the years, particularly at Disney’s international parks.
Tokyo Disney Resort’s resale scene is notorious, with a huge local appetite for new merchandise – particularly items featuring Duffy and Friends. The same is true to an extent at Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland, where a line for new items spanned a whopping eight hours in 2024 and forced the involvement of Disney security.
Crowds Swell Out of Control at Tokyo Disney
Similar chaos sparked at Tokyo Disneyland this week over the latest drop from its Photography Project “Imagining the Magic” collection.
The second round of merchandise from the Tokyo Disney Resort Photography Project “Imagining the Magic” will be available on February 13th!
The design conveys a sense of fun, using snapshots taken at the park by photographer Hideaki Hamada 📸
Check out the goods with photography and camera motifs here ✨
東京ディズニーリゾート・フォトグラフィープロジェクト「イマジニング・ザ・マジック」第2弾のグッズが、2月13日に登場！
写真家の濱田英明さんがパークで撮影したスナップショット作品を使った、楽しさが伝わってくるデザインです📸
写真やカメラに関連するモチーフのグッズはこちらからチェック✨… pic.twitter.com/QVXC1ayFHG
— 東京ディズニーリゾートPR【公式】 (@TDR_PR) February 10, 2025
According to a local news site, fans arrived at the park in the early hours in their efforts to secure items from the drop. Guests are quoted in Japanese as claiming that “the crowds were as high as rush hour traffic” and that there were “screams of despair” as fans tried to get their goods. “The sales floor was packed like a dumpling with cast and guests crammed in,” said one guest.
Another noted, “There were so many people that shopping carts were hanging in the air.”
Items from the drop are reportedly already listed on resale sites such as Mercari.
In the wake of the chaos, guests have called for improvements to how Tokyo Disney Resort tackles similar launches in the future. “I would like the sales method to be improved,” said one guest, while another suggested that the resort relies on standby passes to control the crowds.
“Why do we have to compete in the land of dreams?” asked one parkgoer.
How do you think Disney parks can limit resellers?