Shanghai Disneyland Guests Sleeping on Street as Park-Wide Issue Worsens
Not for the first time, guests were pictured sleeping outside Shanghai Disneyland last week due to an increasingly prevalent problem at the theme park.
As Disney’s newest theme park (at least until Disneyland Abu Dhabi rolls around), there’s still plenty of public interest in Shanghai Disneyland and its most unique quirks.
For example, the park is home to a castle inspired by the stories of multiple Disney princesses, Enchanted Storybook Castle, as well as several attractions you can’t find anywhere else across the globe, including Roaring Rapids, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto (where the Tangled boat sank this week), and Hunny Pot Spin.
Shanghai Disneyland Problem Leads to Wider Consequences
The park is also well-known for how passionate its guests are about merchandise. Items inspired by Duffy and Friends are particularly popular, with LinaBell soaring in popularity over recent years to the point that new items featuring her likeness sparked eight-hour queues so chaotic that security had to get involved in early 2024.
In fact, the park has seen mass crowds gather for merchandise releases on several occasions, with some guests queuing outside the park overnight to ensure successful purchases.
Last week, something similar occurred when Shanghai Disneyland released the latest line of the Duffy and Friends Rainbow Series, a limited-edition collection of plush keychains.
According to Shine, a queue had already formed outside Shanghai Disneyland by 1.30 a.m.
Notably, most of the people waiting outside the park weren’t hardcore Disney fans but scalpers. Shanghai Disneyland has notoriously tried to combat its scalping issue in the past, such as by enforcing identification requirements for tickets to prevent people from purchasing and reselling their passes to unsuspecting tourists.
The same series of items went on sale later that same morning at the much more bearable time of 10 a.m. Items reportedly sold out within seconds, with items soon listed on resale sites at inflated prices. As per Shine, an Olu Mel keychain plush originally sold for 179 yuan (USD $25) was listed for as much as 1,379 yuan (USD $192).
Resellers Reign Supreme at Disney Park
Much of the frenzy around Shanghai Disneyland merchandise comes from its lottery-based system for limited-edition items. Guests with Early Park Entry have a better shot at winning the right to buy, creating a high-stakes opportunity for scalpers.
The park has seen resale controversies before, especially over Duffy and Friends merchandise. One Olu Mel plush from 2021, dressed in a Halloween “Purple Dragon” costume, has reportedly sold for nearly 10,000 yuan (USD $1,391) on resale sites.
Shanghai Disneyland isn’t the only park affected by resellers. Tokyo Disney Resort, for example, has struggled to control its resale market.
According to a local news site, in February, fans arrived at Tokyo Disney in the early hours to secure items from a new merchandise drop. Guests were quoted in Japanese as claiming that “the crowds were as high as rush hour traffic” and that there were “screams of despair” as fans tried to get their goods. “The sales floor was packed like a dumpling with cast and guests crammed in,” said one guest.
Resellers are also active at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, with guests spotted carrying armfuls of the same item – often popcorn buckets – on more than one occasion.
How do you think Disney parks can control their resale markets?
