The Disney company is DEFINITELY a trendsetter. You can’t walk around the theme parks without seeing thousands of folks sporting Mouse ears, MagicBands, spirit jerseys, pins, and Loungefly backpacks.
Wishes Come True Blue
It’s been years, and we’re still swooning over rose gold Minnie ears (in all their iterations). But, some Disney trends have been bigger hits than others.
While far from #fails, most of these items are just totally and completely OVERSATURATED at Disney World (or, they were in their time).
Reigning Cats and Dogs Merch
You guys, we need to have a little chat about one of Disney’s newer merchandise lines…it’s not simply Reigning Cats and Dogs, it’s RAINING CATS AND DOGS. This line has, and we cannot stress this enough, EVERYTHING. You have your Disney merch standards like Loungefly bags…
Loungefly display at Ever After Jewelry Co.
…and MagicBands.
New MagicBands spotted in Animal Kingdom
But they’ve gone a little crazy! There are cats and dogs baby onesies…
Reigning Cats and Dogs Collection
…keychains…
Dog Keychain
…and so many outfits that you can wear to match your pup!
Reigning Cats and Dogs merch
This line is admittedly very, VERY cute, but when there are bucket hats, rain jackets, ears, wallets, magnets, pins, tees, cat collars, dog bowls, and like EVERY OTHER POSSIBLE piece of merch, it gets to be a biiit overwhelming.
Reigning Cats and Dogs merch
We didn’t know so much pet merch was possible… .
TONS of Merch from the New Cats and Dogs Collection Has Arrived in Disney World!
Ink and Paint merch
Before Reigning Cats and Dogs, there was another EXPLOSION of Disney merch, the Ink and Paint Collection!
©Disney
It was inspired by the colorful lines and artistry of classic Disney animation, but like the Cats and Dogs line, there got to be WAY too much of it. We’re talking dinner plates…
©Disney
…paint sets…
Ink and Paint Paint Box
…dresses, MagicBands, and Dooney and Bourke purses…
Ink & Paint Tote
It was vintage-inspired and truly refreshing to see at first, but after you’ve seen a few colorable Disney canvases, you’ve seen them ALL!
These Ink and Paint Minnie Ears at Disney World Were EVERYTHING!
Collectible Keys
We’re not here to yuck on anyone’s yum, but Disney’s collectible keys are a bit of a mysterious phenomenon to us.
©Disney
What…do you do with them? Put them in a shadow box? Try to unlock the mysteries of the Magic Kingdom? They look cool, but there are SO many, from a Baby Yoda key (of course)…
The Child key
…to mystery keys…
©shopDisney
…to keys for all of Disney’s various movie studios…
Disney studios keys
…to keys for just about everything you could imagine. While frequently touted as limited edition, these don’t seem to fly off the shelves, so who are they for?! We think lots sell because many of our readers have expressed interest, but we don’t tend to see them selling out online.
2021 key
We just can’t unlock this mystery!
Find Out When Disney’s ‘Up’ Collectible Key Is Releasing Online!
Vinylmation
We have a feeling the Disney collectible keys may go the way of another merch line, Vinylmation. Remember these?
Food themed Vinylmations
These little plastic figures were kind of shaped like Mickey Mouse but had a sort of twist to them, like a cupcake design or melting ice cream… .
Toppings
They were EVERYWHERE about 10 years ago, and admittedly, some like this Kingdom of Cute Castle were insanely adorable!
Vinylmation Cute Castle
But, the rise of Funko Pops seems to have been this line’s downfall, and they were discontinued.
Alien Remix
Vinylmation fans still mourning their losses may find some comfort in a newer Disney/Pixar line, Alien Remix.
Alien Remix
This line takes the little three-eyed Aliens from Toy Story and dresses them up in other Pixar film costumes, like Russel from Up or, yes, Merida from Brave.
© Disney
I mean, you just HAVE to laugh at these!
Alien Remix Figure Set
These collectibles may be the ULTIMATE thing for big Pixar fans, especially if you find yourself OOOHing and AHHHing at all things Toy Story, but at the end of the day, we don’t know who this very, very expansive line is for.
How Do You Think Disney’s Alien Remix Figures Stack Up Against Funko Pops?!
Color Trends
In 2018, Disney had a MASSIVE (and we mean MASSIVE) hit on their hands with their rose gold Minnie ears and the accompanying rose gold treats around the theme parks!
Rose Gold Minnie Ears
After that, though, Disney tried VERY hard to recreate this magic. Some were more successful than others. The Millennial Pink line did very well!
Millennial Pink Minnie Ears
And then there was Potion Purple, Iridescent, Belle of the Belle Bronze, Arendelle Aqua, Coral, and Redd.
Belle of the Ball Minnie Ears
These new color lines dropped with Minnie ears, spirit jerseys, tees, backpacks, accessories, and even sometimes special treats! While these had varying levels of success, none were the runaway, organic success that Rose Gold was.
Overall, sometimes Disney just goes ALL out on a trend that doesn’t really blow up or cause lots of chat! We have seen many of these over the years and we’re interested to see what Disney creates next! Will it be a huge hit? Or will it fizzle like some of the trends listed above have?!
Did You Hop Aboard These Disney Trend Trains?
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Mickey and Minnie and friends are not selling quite as well as they once did, thus the dogs and cat phenomena. Disney could do us all a favor and bring back the Mickey Waffle squeak chew toy for dogs. We need it bad…
Unpopular opinion, but the one I’ve never been able to understand are the spirit jerseys. They are the least flattering design and nobody looks good in them. Occasionally there is a relatively cute design, like the Baby Yoda one, but overall I am always surprised at how many people are wearing them.
I am absolutely obsessed with the ink and paint….I want everything and have quite a bit already.
I think their biggest collection success is the trading pins. They started in 1999 to get ready for the Millennium and they’re still being collected. I love trading pins. Each one is a separate vacation memory or movie favorite.
So glad someone else commented on spirit jerseys! I hate them. Still waiting for them to be gone forever. I know most who visit WDW don’t like in FL, but it’s hot here y’all! Maybe have some racerback tanks for those who live here!
I am not a fan of the Minnie ears, but at least I understand them. I do not understand the keys at all. But then I also do not collect those little spoons one can find everywhere.
I just wish some of the Park only items would be available online as travel at this time is still an iffy deal.