Disney Park Ends In-Park Sales of Merch To Tackle Crowds

Shanghai Disneyland is no stranger to long lines, but few expected the merchandise release earlier this month to spark a near-total system breakdown.

With queues stretching overnight, hotel rooms booked for early entry, and resellers flooding the resale market within hours, the debut of the Summer Ocean Party line—featuring beloved character Duffy and Friends—brought the park’s merchandise operation to a halt. Now, in a rare move, Disney has pulled the entire collection from in-park sale.

The decision reflects growing tension between Disney’s desire to cultivate exclusivity and the realities of managing mass demand in the age of resale culture.

A New Era of Collectibles at Shanghai Disneyland

In recent years, niche collectibles like Labubu, Sonny Angels, and Bearbricks have turned product drops into destination events. Disney has increasingly found itself at the center of this frenzy. From Star Wars May the Fourth exclusives to limited-edition runDisney items, merch drops often generate virtual queues and real-life congestion.

Shanghai Disneyland, in particular, has become a hotbed for Duffy fandom. The character, originally created for DisneySea in Japan, commands massive popularity in Asia. With every new collection, fans and resellers descend in droves—sometimes hours before the park opens.

Ahead of the July 8 release of the Summer Ocean Party line, guests reportedly began lining up at 5 p.m. the night before. That’s five hours earlier than typical drop crowds. According to Sina, some even booked rooms at the resort’s hotels to secure early entry and a better chance at purchasing. “Everyone came for the new product release,” one guest explained. “Earlier entry increased the chance of winning the lottery to buy the dolls.”

Originally priced at 179 yuan (around $28 USD), the items were quickly resold for up to 499 yuan (about $56). Within hours, the chaos echoed across Chinese social media.

Shanghai Disneyland Clamps Down on Merchandise Sales

Shanghai Disneyland has faced similar scenes before. In 2023, an eight-hour line for Duffy and Friends merchandise led to disorder severe enough to require security involvement. Though Disney enforces purchase limits, fans often bypass the rules by bringing additional ticketed guests—including children—to multiply their haul.

To curb this, the park previously rolled out ID checks and limited quantities per person. But such tactics have rarely proved sufficient.

Now, Disney has chosen a more definitive route. The entire Summer Ocean Party collection has been pulled from Shanghai Disneyland’s shelves and resort hotels. Guests received confirmation via the resort’s official app that the merchandise will no longer be sold onsite.

Instead, the company is redirecting remaining inventory to its official Tmall storefront—a major Chinese e-commerce platform under Alibaba.

According to The Standard, this marks a shift not just in logistics but in Disney’s willingness to engage with fan behavior. By removing the product from the park, Disney avoids future on-property disruptions—but also risks alienating collectors who seek exclusivity as part of the in-park experience.

The Broader Dilemma for Disney Parks

What’s unfolding at Shanghai Disneyland mirrors a growing issue across the Disney parks ecosystem: how to satisfy dedicated fans without handing control to resellers. Even as Disney implements tech tools and policy changes, the appetite for exclusive merchandise continues to outpace supply—and enforcement.

Resale culture isn’t going away. But for now, neither is Disney’s challenge of protecting the guest experience without losing the buzz that makes these drops so successful.

As one frustrated user put it: “The resellers of Shanghai Disneyland. Whatever the destination, I hate them.”