Does anyone else have like 30 plastic Disney World bags in their closet from trips gone by that you just can’t bring yourself to throw away? We know they’re just cheap plastic bags…but they’re part of the Disney experience!
Plastic bag
It’s not unusual to spot us leaving the Disney Parks with one too many of these shopping bags when new merchandise has tempted us beyond what we can resist. But soon you may begin to see these bags less and less often — and they might be disappearing altogether from Disney World!
Recently, we’ve noticed that Disney has been handing out some mismatched bags at the gift shops. It’s nothing too crazy — we’ve just seen customers receive bags in unusual sizes or even clear plastic bags instead of the Cinderella Castle ones.
Clear plastic bags
We spoke to a Cast Member at the Creations Shop in EPCOT about this, and they told us that Disney is getting rid of the Disney Parks plastic bags. According to this person, Disney is no longer receiving shipments of the bags, and by 2023 they plan to stop using them altogether.
These bags might be disappearing!
Once the bags are gone, the only option will be to bring your own bag or purchase a reusable one from Disney stores. A couple of Cast Members at ImageWorks confirmed this news and told us that the medium-sized plastic bags are quickly running out, which has left many shops with just the large or small sizes or clear plastic ones.
Reusable bag display at La Boutique
Now, this information is coming from just a few Cast Members, and Disney hasn’t recently made any kind of announcement about the plastic bags. So while we can’t confirm absolutely that this is happening, we can report on what we’ve seen so far in the parks.
Reusable bags
However, the shift from plastic to reusable bags isn’t totally surprising. Back in 2018, Disney announced their plan to begin reducing single-use plastic in the theme parks, which included getting rid of all single-use plastic straws by 2019. According to Disney, this has already led to a reduction of more than 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers per year.
Reusable cutlery
In 2018, Disney said, “Over the next few years we’re transitioning to refillable in-room amenities in our hotels and on our cruise ships, reducing plastics in guest rooms by 80 percent. We will also reduce the number of plastic shopping bags in our owned and operated parks and on our cruise line, offering guests the option to purchase reusable bags at a nominal price.”
Epcot Reusable Bag
Disney CEO Bob Chapek (who was the Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products at the time), said, “Eliminating plastic straws and other plastic items are meaningful steps in our long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship. These new global efforts help reduce our environmental footprint, and advance our long-term sustainability goals.”
It’s reusable!
In the future, Disney also plans to completely eliminate polystyrene cups at all Disney parks. Their long-term goal in terms of environmental sustainability is to “work to achieve zero waste to landfill for our wholly owned and operated parks and resorts by 2030.”
If you’re visiting Disney World soon and would rather not purchase reusable bags in the parks, you can always bring your own! We found a set of 12 reusable shopping bags on Amazon, which come in a variety of patterns and fold down to fit in a small zipper pouch.
©Amazon
The bags are on sale now for $23.99 (down from $34.99)! And the best part is that you can keep using them even when you get home from your vacation to reduce even more single-use plastic waste.
Click here to buy the reusable shopping bags.
We’ll continue to watch for more updates from Disney World about the plastic bags, so stay tuned to DFB for all the latest news.
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I was just on a Disney Wish cruise and they had no plastic bags. Everyone that wanted a bag had to purchase a bag. I understand saving the environment, but this is also a way for Disney to save money by not giving you a plastic bag for free and charge you extra for a slightly nicer bag that you may or may not reuse. And yes, I’m one of those people with dozens of old Disney bags in a closet that I feel bad about throwing out.
Can so relate to this post, Disney bags are stored in my understairs cupboard and come out to be used as gift bags for my daughters and now grandson. They have to give them back or promise to re-use them to send to other Disney fans.
Heard that the Disney outlet in Hershey is no longer giving bags when you purchase items. You can purchase one for $.99 if you want. Otherwise you will tote you purchased items out without a bag.
They save money by not giving the plastic bags free and yet now can make more money by having us by their “reusable” bags. Sounds like Bob “Cheapskate” is at it again, this time in the name of saving the environment. This really is getting old.
Disney tried getting rid of the plastic bags once before and it didn’t work. It rains (in fact, it pours buckets), often on a daily basis, in Florida. No plastic bags means no merchandise sales. Disney knows this all too well. Disney may just be changing over to another manufacturer. We have pets, so the bags never go to waste in our household.
It’s fine not having bags on a cruise because you can easily carry the item to your room where you likely already have luggage to carry the item home. This will not work in the parks where you are outside and it pours every day. I’m sorry, but if I purchase hundreds or thousands of dollars in merchandise in a park, I expect Disney to furnish a bag to protect the merchandise. It’s bad enough that Disney no longer ships merchandise to the front of the park or to the hotels. We will never purchase a bag or bring one with us. We are locals (as are thousands of other guests), and we travel light (i.e., no backpacks). Most of the time, if we purchase an item, it was purchased on impulse and not because we planned on shopping. If there are no plastic bags available, we will just refuse to purchase merchandise from Disney. Disney is a luxury, not a necessity. The “other parks” will be more than happy to have our purchasing power.
I worked at The Disney Store and we stopped using plastic bags by the end of 2020. Customers could purchase simple TDS bags, bring their own or just carry out with their receipt. This continued until we closed in April 2021 🙁
what another mess, first of all hate the transparent bags where everyone can look at your stuff all day, absolutely hate that!! Second, the totes do not stay shut!! How are people suppose to get on and off rides and things with these totes totally open all the time, its just stupid. The plastic bags you can at least carry by the handles and everything remains mostly closed or can fold it over. Nor is there any weather protection with the dumb totes. This company is running like its going out of business, eventually people will stop going with these stupid decisions. IF Chapek could you would get charged for using the bathroom and or it would be required on genie, its coming Im sure. Were getting past the tipping point where its just not worth going anymore. Their execs keep talking like they hate the guest, this horrible political culture in this company has to stop.
I actually prefer the Disney reusable bag and often have to insist using it when I visit. They did try to convince me to buy the 50th anniversary edition but like the original I bought and it folds nicely. I used up all my old bags and recycled them. They were pretty but I think the reusable ones are nice as well. 🤷♀️
Whilst I commend attempts to reduce plastic waste this does seem rather pointless when they’re gearing up for yet another new cruise liner. Cruise ships are extremely polluting. One cruise ship’s emissions are equal to those of 1 million cars.
It’s fine not having bags on a cruise because you can easily carry the item to your room where you likely already have luggage to carry the item home. This will not work in the parks where you are outside and it pours every day. I’m sorry, but if I purchase hundreds or thousands of dollars in merchandise in a park, I expect Disney to furnish a bag to protect the merchandise. It’s bad enough that Disney no longer ships merchandise to the front of the park or to the hotels. We will never purchase a bag or bring one with us. We are locals (as are thousands of other guests), and we travel light (i.e., no backpacks). Most of the time, if we purchase an item, it was purchased on impulse and not because we planned on shopping. If there are no plastic bags available, we will just refuse to purchase merchandise from Disney. Disney is a luxury, not a necessity. The “other parks” will be more than happy to have our purchasing power.
No more plastic bags in Disneyland Paris since before Covid, only reusable 🙂