Is 50th Anniversary Merch Too Expensive?
Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, known as The World’s Most Magical Celebration, is well underway at the Walt Disney World Resort. . . . . which means that lots of new and fun merchandise has been hitting shelves. From plush toys of Mickey Mouse wearing his 50th Anniversary outfit to Starbucks tumblers, there’s a little bit of something for everyone. . . . or is there?
As most of you who’ve materialized here today will know, Disney has been under a lot of scrutiny since they reopened in 2020; especially when it comes to what they’re charging. Whether it’s park admission or merchandise, Disney fans and enthusiasts have not been quiet about their displeasure regarding how expensive things have become. Unfortunately, the merchandise being released for the 50th Anniversary Celebration is no exception. From the price of the Starbucks tumbler that caused brawls in the Emporium to the Luxe Collection and it’s $1000 Mickey ears, it’s easy to point out how the pricing at Walt Disney World has gotten completely out of hand. Almost too easy. That being said, we can’t help ourselves. . . . we have to ask: without that well curated list of outrageously priced merchandise, are the prices really that out of control?
Credit: Disney
I’ll be the first person to admit, right off the bat, that conversations like this are tricky to have. Not only are we talking about money, which is [for some] an altogether forbidden topic, but we’re also talking about the very subjective concept of things being “expensive”. With everyone’s definition of what expensive is being different, there’s a lot of wiggle room here and plenty of room for opinions. [Which, by the way, we’d love to hear over on the Jamboree.] That’s why we’re not just focusing on the price tag. Goodness knows, there are plenty of people pointing to the most ridiculous pieces of 50th Anniversary merchandise out there. We’re going to also ask ourselves a very important question when it comes to the price of merchandise. . . . compared to what?
Tricky a conversation as this might turn out to be, if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that there are some pieces of Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise that have quite the pricetag. There’s a long list of items that will cost you hundreds to take home, but the one [or more accurately two] that stands out to us when talking about being expensive is the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Jeweled Ear Headband and Hat. I’ll admit, when I first saw the pictures of the 50th Anniversary Jeweled Ear Headband and Hat it caught my eye. Though I’m not an ear headband and hat kinda girl, they were interesting enough that I wanted to check them out in person. . . . so that’s just what I did. Truth be told, if I hadn’t seen these in person, I might not have had them so firmly cemented in my own personal “there’s no way that’s worth the price” folder. Fancy as they might look in an oversaturated and brightly lit picture on shopDisney, these hats and headbands look very much like a well executed budget craft project in real life. The gold part of the ears are covered in a sequin material over the top of which plastic craft jewels of various sizes are sewn on. While I can appreciate the work that may have gone into making these headbands and hats, the price would have you thinking that there would be some sort of rhinestones or unique feature to them that wouldn’t so easily be reproduced at a local Walmart; especially with the pricetag of $750 for the headband and a whopping $1000 for the hat.
Credit: Disney
Aside from its impressive [or outrageous] pricetag, the reason that I start here with this headband and hat is because of its price in comparison to similar items. For example, you can expect to pay somewhere in the ballpark of $40 for an ear headband at Walt Disney World. That’s not a great comparison though, because these are special and limited release. A better comparison would be one of the designer ear headbands that were released beginning in 2019, such as the Minnie Mouse Ear Tiara Headband for Adults by Heidi Klum. This headband, which sold for $600, included a metal frame “tiara” and over 150 Swarovski crystals. This headband also came in a velvet-lined box and as part of a limited release collection.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to sit here and tell you that a $600 pair of Minnie Mouse ears is a bargain. As it is, I’m not a huge fan of ear headbands in the first place. . . . so it takes a lot of convincing for me to pay the $40 regular price. It does make for an interesting conversation though. On one hand, the Heidi Klum headband and its 150 plus Swarovski crystals certainly seems to be offering more for less than the 50th Anniversary headband. So that’s a thing. On the other, this is clearly an example of Disney doing something similar in the past.
Of course, one $750 ear headband doesn’t say any more about the overall price of 50th Anniversary merchandise than the price of a 2022 Bentley Flying Spur [starting at about $200,000] does about the overall price of cars. There are plenty of examples around Walt Disney World we could point to [such as a $65,000 coffee table or a $200,000 crystal encrusted castle] that don’t truly represent the overall price of souvenirs available at Walt Disney World. Something similar could be said about the entirety of what is being called the Luxe Collection at Walt Disney World. Which, in case you were wondering, is why we’re not going to be focusing our energy there.
Credit: Disney
While they’re often the most talked about, ear headbands and hats aren’t the only walt Disney World 50th Anniversary souvenirs that will cost you hundreds. Another item that makes the list would be the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Express O-Gauge Ready-to-Run Electric Train Set by Lionel. Coming in at $499.99, this electric train set will cost you a pretty penny. That said, this isn’t just any toy train. Lionel has been making model trains for about 120 years. Train sets by Lionel start at around $400 with some being upwards of $2500, making this 50th Anniversary train set right on par with what you might expect to spend for this type of product.
For me, this Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Express O-Gauge Ready-to-Run Electric Train Set by Lionel is a perfect example of something that is expensive, but only if you’re not entirely sure what it is you’re gettings. Other things that fall into this category, at least in my opinion, are the Citizen and Bulova watches or the Ray-Ban sunglasses. All of these brands can [and are] easily described as expensive, but the price point of their Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise is right in line with what you’d pay for their products otherwise.
Ok. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the souvenirs that will cost you hundreds, but what about something for the rest of us? You know. . . the people who aren’t interested in $500 train sets and $600 watches?
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise at reasonable prices to choose from. The trouble is, for most people, the focus tends to be on the more expensive stuff. Can you honestly blame them? Whether they’re making the purchase or not, it’s hard to ignore a $1000 pair of Mickey Mouse ears. It certainly makes for a more interesting story than a $12 mug that you thought was cute. . . . but I digress.
Though there are some exceptions, some of which we touched on earlier, there is a lot of Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise that falls right in line with what you’d expect to pay for similar non-50th merch online and/or at the theme parks.
Among other things, Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary plush toys are the same price that you’d pay for similar items. We noticed that the Chip ‘n Dale Plus set is the same price that we’d paid for the Clip ‘n Dale plush set [where they’re wearing cute little dino outfits] back in 2019 at Animal Kingdom. The same can be said for the 14 1/2” plush Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse plush toys featuring their 50th Anniversary outfits, which are $29.99 each.
We’ve also seen plenty of other items that fall right in line with what you’d expect to pay, both at Walt Disney World theme parks and over on shopDisney. Some of what stood out to us were Pin Trading Pins, such as the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Pin Trading Booster Set, being sold for $19.99 on shopDisney. Similar 50th Anniversary pins can be found for the standard price of anywhere between $9.99 and $12.99, depending on the design.
There are also lots of Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise options available for those who prefer apparel. From shirts to sweaters. . . . . even bucket caps. Like other items we’ve talked about today, much of the apparel is priced in the same way as the non-50th merch would be priced. The only exception being when the merchandise is clearly offering, such as a Spirit Jersey that is covered in sequins. Even so, the price increase is what we would consider fair; coming in at $109 rather than the $80.
On the lower [and arguably more practical] side of things, Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise also extends to things like calendars, coffee mugs, sippers, pennants, pens, magnets, patches. . . the list goes on. We even saw some back scratchers, which are part of the Vault Collection, for $11 each.
While there is plenty of Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise available to purchase that won’t break that bank, there still seems to be a conversation going about how expensive the merchandise is. The way we see it, there are a few reasons that this might be the case. First and foremost, like we’ve mentioned before, it’s more fun to talk about a $1000 pair of Mickey ears you’d never be able to afford than the $12 mug that you ended up buying. It’s not only human nature, but it’s also something we see exacerbated by Content Creators that we watch to get a sense of what is available at the theme parks so we know what to keep an eye out for during upcoming trips. Just look at the way we started our discussion here today. . . . Without taking the time to balance out the discussion of 50th Anniversary merchandise with some of the less expensive options, it paints a picture that things are very different than they are.
Credit: Mercari
There’s also the matter of scalpers. Scalpers are people who visit Walt Disney World, often regularly, and buy large quantities of popular merchandise to turn for a profit online. This has been a problem for year, but thanks to supply chain issues and the 50th Anniversary Celebration, it seems like people are noticing it a bit more now than they have before. There is, of course, a larger conversation to be had about scalpers. . . . which we’ll surely have in the future. For today though, I bring them up because of the way they contribute to the illusion that Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise is more expensive than it actually is.
A quick search online for a piece of merchandise, maybe for the sake of budgeting purposes, will more likely than not result in a wide array of results all showing prices well beyond what they are selling for at Walt Disney World theme parks. For example, the 50th Anniversary Mickey Mouse Popcorn Bucket that is still being sold at Walt Disney World for $18 is showing online for $55 or more. Similarly, the new Vault Collection Spirit Jersey featuring a map of the Magic Kingdom is priced as high as $175 on various marketplace style websites, when it is being sold for $85 at the parks.
Credit: Google
While some of us [who are familiar with the way these scalpers operate] recognize these prices as overinflated right away, that’s not the case for everyone. In fact, there are a lot of people out there who take a quick glance at these search results and make the determination that they can’t afford 50th Anniversary merchandise right out the gate. Who could blame them? The prices scalpers charge for these items, some of which are still being sold at Walt Disney World and on shopDisney, is so overinflated that it doesn’t make sense to purchase the item. Though, people still do. . . . which is a conversation [again] for another day. It’s worth mentioning though, because it contributes to that picture that is painted about how much items cost.
There’s also the matter of some merchandise for the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Celebration just not being that interesting. We talked about this a little bit during our live discussion, but the long and short of it is that much of the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary merchandise is average at best. At least, it is in our opinion. This might not directly contribute to the way people interpret the cost of these items, but it most certainly plays a role in the way people [such as the above mentioned Content Creators] talk about it. As a content creator myself, if there’s nothing really catching your eye or drawing you in, there’s a good chance you’re not going to talk about it unless you make an effort to look beyond those things that appeal to you. Like I mentioned above, this is something I’ve experienced first hand. I don’t find a lot of the 50th Anniversary merchandise that appealing and so I really have to reach to find something I like. . . . which sometimes comes with a big pricetag attached.
So what can you do in order to get a better idea of what merchandise is going to be available during your trip and how much it’s going to cost?
It’s hard to say definitively what you can do in order to get a good sense of what 50th Anniversary merchandise will be available during your trip to Walt Disney World and how much it is going to cost. I know that there are a lot of people out there who really want to make sure that they can budget for their trip and that sometimes involves doing research ahead of time. Heck! We’ve recommended looking up what you want to buy and setting money aside for it ourselves! The thing is, it’s important that if you are going to do that type of research, you don’t get too discouraged by what it is that you find online. It’s important to remember that there are other options beyond what you see in videos on YouTube and the prices are more likely than not going to be significantly less than what you’ll see on ebay. Will everything be available while you’re there? Maybe not, so be sure to keep that in mind and set realistic expectations for yourself. In fact, my personal recommendation is to skip the research and focus on finding that perfect souvenir once you arrive at the theme parks. This will not only give you the most accurate sense of what things are going to cost, but it will be the best way to see what’s available without spending your entire trip trying to find an item that no longer exists.
Of course, we’d love to hear what you have to say and your thoughts. Join the Jamboree to tell us everything you’ve got on your mind about this topic and any others! We’ll see you there!