If you traveled to WDW or DLR on turkey day to pick up the Beauty and the Beast Piece of Disney Movie Pin... how was your experience?
These releases have become fan crazed events that are a stress on collectors, Cast Members and the hobby itself. Disney's response to the guest's increased desire to pick up limited edition merchandise has been an evolving process for years now. And over this process, two things have become apparent: First, Disney has yet to develop uniform policies. Never mind across the board, but event across a single resort. And secondly, guests are beginning to line up earlier and earlier. That one has a snowball effect that may end up like the Black Friday crazies who pitch their tent a week early outside Best Buy.
So what to do? We must first acknowledge there is no single answer that will satisfy everyone. We must also acknowledge the blame for the situations lies on both the shoulders of the guests and Disney.
Both parties involved can and must do a better job. Disney needs to begin by creating uniform policies for such releases and informing all Cast Members involved on what is going on, and how to handle the situation. A perfect example of how policies are not uniform is the WDW 40th vs Epcot 30th. At WDW, wristbands were handed out at the main gate. Guests were given specific times to line up and enter the merchandise area. At Epcot, I was 5th in line at the gates that morning yet a few hundred back in line after the Cast Members line us up at the far corner turnstile and then opened all of them up at the same time and allowed a mad dash toward the store.
Then we can look at the Piece of Disney Movie Pins. Admittedly a different beast because the scenes are different and guests want to pick out a specific scene. At Disneyland, guests line up for wristbands. They then are assured the pin at a location of their choosing. On the other hand, at WDW there are 6 locations that sell the pin: Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, DHS, Epcot and Contemporary Resort... and they all have different policies. Epcot used to the be the best in my opinion. Before the craze for these pins really ramped up, I just walked up the Epcot kiosk where the pins were on the rack. Myself and possibly a couple other guests shuffled through the pins and picked our favorite scenes and checked out. Now, Epcot hands you one or two pins and makes you take what you get unless they are damaged. Magic Kingdom was a mad mob push to yank a stack of pins off the rack and hide in a corner as you held each pin up to the light as anxious collectors huddled around you waiting for your dropped crumbs. Downtown Disney allows one guest or family at the counter at a time where you can look through the pins spread out and then check out. This technique seems to take the longest, but may in fact be the best way to do it. I will applaud Disney for one part about the Magic Kingdom experience on Thanksgiving. They held us at a rope on the Adventurland bridge. When the park officially opened and the rope dropped, they made us walk behind the Cast Member as they escorted us over to the Trading Post. After that, it was a mad dash to squeeze inside the store and get to the rack, but at least we didn't have to run from the gate to the Trading Post. At the Contemporary, guests lined up at 11pm the night before with pillows and were allowed to sleep in the hallway.
But that leads to the guests actions and how it needs to be tempered. Who likes running to pins? How silly does all this look to others? Don't we laugh at the Christmas sale people that fight over underwear? It's fear of not getting the product and greed over the resale or trading price of these pins that drive the craziness. I don't know if we can solve this. We can blame Disney creating this atmosphere of desire, but it is on our shoulders to remain civil and allow for an enjoyable experience.
In the end, uniform policies, wristbands and escorted lines are the basics that need to be implemented by Disney.
My biggest problem is that they know these events occur and the outcomes... yet they do not seem to genuinely care, because they sell the merchandise either way. Individuals at Disney will certainly tell you differently, but I need to see action before it is believed. The escorted line at MK was a huge step in the correct direction. Wristbands and adhered to policies would lower the anxiety of the crowd. Part of the craziness is the unknowing of what is going to happen. Utilize the Disney Parks Blog, the Disney Pins Blog and the Vinylmation Blog to tell guests exactly what to expect and what they need to do. The good news is that however the in person releases go, they are heads and tails above how the online limited edition releases are handled... but that's an article for another time.
