Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
If you have been following popular Disney merchandise launches for some time, you are probably aware of the problems surrounding resellers.
While they sometimes take to shopDisney, resellers are often spotted in Disney theme parks when new, highly sought-after, or limited-edition merchandise debuts. Despite Disney occasionally limiting the number of items each Guest can purchase, we still all-too-often come across the sight of resellers filling up strollers and several oversized bags with merchandise, only to later find it on eBay for double or triple the original price.
Resellers in Disneyland Paris, Credit: @Disneylandpbp
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Despite efforts on Disney’s end, primarily through limits on the number of items an individual Guest can purchase, reselling continues to cause frustration as items sell out in the Parks only to be limited to online reselling at exorbitant costs.
Reselling is particularly challenging to manage when it comes to hot new items like the infamous Figment popcorn buckets, as well as during special events like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and even runDisney Health & Fitness Expos that kick off each race weekend.
Credit: Disney
It may not offer a complete and final solution to the problem, but the next Health & Fitness Expo by runDisney is operating on a virtual queue system. A similar system was used after the initial launch of the Figment popcorn bucket which allowed Guests to mobile order the souvenir the same way you would any other snack or quick-service food item, and while this did help immensely, the buckets were heavily restocked so it is difficult to say whether mobile order or the restock made them more attainable for Guests.
Unfortunately for Guests who plan their Walt Disney World vacations around runDisney events, the Health & Fitness Expo has always been a hot spot for resellers. Since you do not need to be participating in a race to enter the Expo, many resellers tend to show up causing some of the event’s most popular items to sell out.
Credit: Disney
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This year, ahead of the 2022 Wine & Dine Weekend, Guests will be able to enter the virtual queue with runDisney noting:
The virtual queue is required for the runDisney Merchandise Shop on Thursday, November 3. Standby lines will not be available this day and all Guests must use the virtual queue to enter.
Disney already has plenty of experience offering virtual queues to manage crowds for new attractions, so it is possible that this system will finally offer some solution to the reseller problem. Of course, the queue does allow Guests to include multiple party members to join their spot in the queue (they must all be linked in My Disney Experience, however) but this change could at least be a step in the right direction when it comes to keeping merchandise available to Guests looking to shop directly from Disney.
For more information on how to join the virtual queue, or to sign up for your next runDisney event, visit runDisney.com.
