Disney World makes changes all the time, but some things are more noticeable than others.
Disney merchandise in Creations
We see price increases occasionally, that aren’t noticeable unless you REALLY pay attention, and we also see things like merchandise limits come into play. There are also bigger things that change, like restaurants reopening or character meet and greets returning. And recently, we’ve noticed a change that could impact your shopping soon in Disney World.
Most of the small plastic bags in Disney World have disappeared. We talked to a Cast Member in The Emporium who said that the small plastic bags were pulled from behind the counter and are no longer an option when buying merchandise.
Reusable bags
In addition, Disney has discounted the price of some of the reusable bags by $1 in the parks. The small bag is now $1, the medium is now $1.50, and the large remains at $3.
New pricing
We noticed this trend in Magic Kingdom, but it continued in the other parks. Animal Kingdom also was missing small plastic bags and had discounted the reusable bags.
Same thing over here
In EPCOT, we saw that Creations Shop was using the last of their small plastic bags for mobile orders.
They’ll be gone soon
One place that DID still have small plastic bags was Curiouser Clothiers in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. So, it seems like the method for getting rid of these bags is different across the resort. Some spots returned their bags, and some places are waiting until they run out of them.
Still over here!
This could be an effort by Disney to reduce single-use plastic waste throughout the resort and encouraging people to buy reusable bags instead.
Reusable bags
We’ve seen other things like this happen, like plastic straws no longer being available in most spots.
Paper Straws at Yorkshire County Fish Chop
We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for the plastic bags in Disney World and let you know what’s going on.
For more on what’s going on around Disney World, check out the BEST and WORST things we ate in Disney World in October, all the rides and hotels that will be closed in Disney World in November, and 2023 dates you should know if you’re a Disney World fan.
Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World news and updates.
5 Places You Don’t Want to Walk After Dark in Disney World
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
What do you think of this change? Tell us in the comments.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
While they may no longer give out plastic straws, the paper replacements are still complimentary. With the bags, they are pressuring you to pay for something that used to be complimentary and is still complimentary at pretty much all the stores where one shops at on a daily basis. This is just a way of making us pay more and hiding behind the veil of “saving the environment”.
So ridiculous to force “reusable” bags at a place where the majority of customers will not be back for quite some time.
So, Disney is saying that we have to buy their bag??? They can’t give us a paper bag for free? What more do I have to bring and carry around when I visit? This is getting ridiculous!
I spoke to a merchandise cast member and was told that plastic bags are being phased out almost entirely, and that they will be available only by request. It will be encouraged that guests use reusable totes or carry their merchandise in their bags that they brought with them to the parks. Cast members will still be available to help wrap any merchandise that may need to be wrapped to help make purchases more travel-ready. The only bags that will soon be available will be wide, translucent bags with easier to grip handles. I think these more easily contain merchandise and are much more accessible for people with different needs.
It will not be long until those plastic bags that everyone loves will come at a price.
Question, so they will require you to BUY a bag if you buy merchandise if they are out of their plastic ones? If you don’t want SPEND the extra buck/s for a bag since you’ve already paid dearly for your merchandise, you just don’t get one and have to carry stuff out loose? Money grab! I’m all for recycling but the consumer shouldn’t have to BUY a bag for the merchandise they are already BUYING at the store. If Disney doesn’t want plastic bags they should give the reusable bags for free. There are stores that give you the reusable bag for your merchandise, not charge. Do you know if this is the case at the WDW?
Can you bring you own reusable bags, especially if Disney one. I don’t need buy one everytime make purchase them
N.
It could also just be another way for Chapek to get more money
I really wish that they would bring back ship-to-front of park or resort. I like to buy nice gifts there but I hate to drag it around all day or rent a locker.
Paper straws are a sin and horrible. Why not provide compostable straws. The cost of everything at Disney is already outrageous as it is already, might as well provide better straws!
I’m sure Chapek will come up with some BS excuse like “it’s better for the environment” which, if he actually had a heart and cared about anything but money would be really great! But when it comes down to it, we all know that it’s simply his way of making yet MORE MONEY!!!
My husband surprised me with a trip to WDW this coming spring and we’re both now considering canceling it because we hate this jerk so much and don’t want to line his pockets anymore with our hard earned money while he just sits there and watches it flow in!
Something needs to be done! This jerk continues to kill the Disney experience and magic; just when I think he’s crossed the line, he draws another one and leaps over it!
GENIUS. Just GENIUS. I have to say it is a smart way to make MORE money. Just keep raising prices, Disney. Folks like me will NOT continue to visit. It is sad.
Hmmm, seems like they found a way to charge for something else that should be free. So now you have to carry bags around the parks in case you buy something? Or maybe rent a locker to store your bags? OMG.
I have a little nylon Disney tote bag that folds up to stash in a pocket. Cost less than $3.00 and I’ve been using it for years instead of the clutter of dozens of plastic bags at the end of our Disney vacation. I’ve also purchased reusable bags at the parks, some of which are doing duty right now at home to store knitting yarn and plush toys, so definitely worth purchasing. I carry a couple of zip top plastic bags with me too, to hold small things like purchased pins in my park tote. No need to get more at the shops, although we usually end up with several every trip.
I hate paper straws. The bag thing is just a way to make more money.
If they really cared about the environment they would shut down Disney and let the land go back natural.
So what happens when it RAINS??? Those open top trustable bags aren’t going to keep my souvenirs clean and dry in a downpour!!!
I meant REUSABLE, not trustable!
We just returned from WDW. I took my reusable shopping bag and my daughter bought one based on one of your posts but we still came home with plastic bags in various sizes. It seems like these plastic bags are iconic but we really have no problem using a reusable shopping bag. Now if only delivery to the resorts would return.
So basically they are going to force you to buy a reusable bag, because well… who brings reusable bags on vacation?!?! I mean living in CA I carry them in my car, but now I have to pack them as well?!? UGGGGHHH
We have a bunch of those plastic bags after our trip to Disney World last week. Guess I’ll pack them in the suitcase for next year. Hate those paper straws – bad taste and yucky texture. If we really want to protect the environment from plastic littering, then either get rid of those plastic water/drink bottles or charge a $1.00 deposit on them. I’ve never seen a discarded straw (or Disney bag) in the local waterway while we’re out biking, but we see hundreds of discarded plastic water bottles. Putting a dollar deposit on them would encourage people either to stop tossing them and return them for their dollar back or it would encourage others to pick them up and return them for the deposit. When I was a kid back in the 1960s, we’d go out looking for discarded glass Coke bottles and return them for the 10 cent deposit. Back then, a very large candy bar could be purchased for a nickel.
If Disney doesn’t have free bags available to protect my merchandise while I am at the parks, then Disney doesn’t want my business. I have no interest in purchasing a bag that will just end up in the landfill. I will simply leave the merchandise on the counter and request a refund. The CMs can go through the effort of restocking the merchandise. It’s bad enough that Disney no longer delivers packages to the hotels or the front of the parks. We quit purchasing bottles of wines at Epcot for this reason.
They do the same now on the Disney Cruise Lunes. You need to bring your own shopping bag or buy one of their recyclable ones. Nothing is free at anywhere Disney anymore, not even plastic shopping bags. Sad!!
Wow, just another insult to the “guests”. We got tired of the yucky straws and bought a box of 2000 old Starbucks straws. I bring them with us to use at Disneyland and Disney World.
So, what exactly do we get when we go to Disney? No housekeeping, no amenities, no extras (come on, 30 minutes early isn’t a perk). No bags, no transportation from airport, no package delivery, paying for fastpass or lightning lane if you actually want to be able to enjoy any of the attractions. Many shows and fireworks shows are still not happening or in the case of Epcot, things catch fire.
Hate to say I am becoming jaded. Each day that Chapek is in charge is another day without the magic.
And what about ponchos and the bags they provide on splash mountain? Will those be gone too? Disney is using the environment B.S. to make more money.
Same here. If after they ring up my total and then say I need to buy a bag or two, I will just leave the stuff on the counter and walk out. Enough is enough.
Simple fix to this. Don’t buy overpriced Disney plastic crap that ends up in a landfill. Less junk in your house and more money in your wallet. Our trip in 27 days we won’t need a bag cuz we won’t be buying all the junk they pressure people to buy.
The Disney parks really are nickel-and-diming their guests, aren’t they? At least they could bring back hotel and/or front gate pickup. I bought SO much less merchandise on our last two visits because of this. 🙄
If people accept this, next thing we know they will be charging for other things that used to be free. Pretty soon we will be paying for WIFI, or maybe we will have to bring our own cups to the parks to avoid being charged for disposable paper cups, or maybe they will install a coin slot on water fountains and charge 25 cents to drink water. Perhaps I shouldn’t have written that, they’ll get ideas.
Oh wait, they have done this before. Resort parking used to be free and FastPasses used to be free also. Now we are being charged for those with absolutely no increase in value. I don’t think Disney is getting close to crossing a line, that line was crossed a long time ago.
They should bring back delivery to the resorts.
Wow, just wow!
Yep agree, not putting up with these stupid management decisions as a money grab and disservice to the guest. If they tell us no bag, then no sale, refund it and will leave the stuff on the counter. No more shopping at Disney. This place is getting more ugly by the day with these awful directions coming from California, and their woke junk. Also guest relations is going to hear about it. Hope the cast members are ready for bigtime complaints and refunds. We will refuse the purchase if refused a bag, if a refused a purchase then bank disputes will come next against this place.
Disney’s “re-useable” bags do not hold up very well. Deeply disappointed in merchandise Disney sell’s, is not the quality that it once was and twice the expense. The tee shirts are paper thin. My son purchased the Haunted Mansion light up frame as a surprise for me. I know he paid about $100.00 for it. It takes batteries, doesn’t light for long before batteries need to be replaced and the trap door to hold the batteries, didn’t have a tiny screw where one should have been.
Will they still have the large plastic bags? The article didn’t say. If so, will they put small purchases in the larger bags if you’d rather not buy a reusable one? That seems like a bigger waste of plastic!
I agree that the quality of Disney’s merchandise has really declined. Much of it is now junk that is made in China. I purchased two items recently where both items broke after only a few uses.
We were in Disneyland Paris in September. They only have the reusable bags there. You can’t get single use plastic bags at all.
Well, I’m kind of used to buying reusable bags because they are what we have to use where I live to go food shopping. I’m certainly not saying this to stick up for Chapek; I would never do that because he’s the man who has killed all of the magic for everyone. 😥
This is NOT new. They’ve been trying to phase out the plastic bags for well over a year, maybe even 2 years. They’ve also been good about signage and telling customers. If you don’t want to buy one, then don’t or bring your own . We bring a backpack to parks and just shove our purchases in it or wait until the end of our day if we’re going to be buying a lot. I was in Baltimore, MD the other week and the entire city you had to bring your own bag or buy a reuseable. It forces you to be conscious of your choices, not a huge deal.
I saw this coming when the Disney stores were still open. I remember just staring at the cast member in total confusion when she wasn’t bagging my stuff and then trying to sell me a bag. Disney is so ridiculous I can’t. Like these people now have to pack bags too !!! Like they don’t have enough things to lug around. Unbelievable.