It looks like Walt Disney World is dipping its toes back into a feature that fans have been begging to see return for years. Disney is currently testing a new “Find Merchandise” option within the My Disney Experience app — a function that allows users to search for specific products and see if they’re currently in stock.
But before you get too excited, there’s a catch: the feature is only visible to Annual Passholders and Cast Members, and only at World of Disney in Disney Springs. Yep, that’s it. No park-wide rollout yet.
Still, for longtime Disney regulars, this test might sound suspiciously familiar. That’s because it’s essentially a modernized revival of the old Shop Disney Parks app — a fan-favorite tool that Disney quietly pulled the plug on several years ago.
A Familiar Idea Gets a Second Life
If you were around during the heyday of the Shop Disney Parks app, you remember how handy it was. You could search for an item, check its price, and find exactly which stores carried it — sometimes even seeing what sizes or colors were in stock.
Then, it disappeared. Officially, Disney said little about why, but park insiders and guests alike have long assumed it had something to do with “resellers” — those all-too-familiar shoppers who scoop up limited-edition merch only to flip it online for profit.
Now, the “Find Merchandise” test inside the official Disney World app looks like an attempt to bring that convenience back — but with a much tighter leash. By limiting access to a small, controlled audience (Passholders and Cast Members), Disney can see how the system performs without throwing open the doors to everyone.
Fans Notice the Return — and Remember the Problems
Journalist Scott Gustin broke the news about the test on X, and it didn’t take long for fans to jump in with reactions that were equal parts excitement and déjà vu.
Walt Disney World is testing a new “Find Merchandise” feature in the app that will let you search for merchandise and check if the item is currently in stock. It’s only live for World of Disney during the test. pic.twitter.com/1N9oYnL7oB
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) November 4, 2025
One user wrote, “Didn’t this used to be a thing that went away? I remember using something like this years ago,” while another quickly followed with, “This used to be a thing, but was stopped (supposedly) because eBay pirates monopolized it.”
Another person chimed in, “Very similar to a merch search that CMs can perform internally, but a better UI,” and one fan added, “I miss the shop Disney parks app every day, nice to see it making somewhat of a comeback (hopefully)!!”
Of course, someone had to point out the elephant in the room: “Can they block the people who buy merchandise just to sell it online?”
Those comments sum up the collective mood — fans are thrilled to see Disney testing something useful, but the scars from the old system’s disappearance haven’t faded.
Why Disney Is Playing It Safe
There’s a reason Disney is being cautious here. When the old app existed, it gave everyone — including resellers — a map of exactly where to find hot items. Limited-edition ears, park-exclusive Spirit Jerseys, collectible pins, you name it. The result? Some guests were showing up right at store openings to buy multiple units of whatever was trending, only to flip them for profit online.
Disney has spent years trying to control that behavior, implementing purchase limits and monitoring accounts tied to frequent resellers. Allowing anyone to access live inventory data again could reopen that can of worms.
By restricting the test to a small, trusted audience (Passholders, who already have verified accounts, and Cast Members, who work for the company), Disney can test for functionality, demand, and — perhaps most importantly — misuse.
It’s also likely this pilot program is meant to stress-test Disney’s internal systems. Real-time inventory management is no small feat, especially across dozens of stores and thousands of SKUs. If a guest checks the app, drives to Disney Springs, and the item is suddenly gone, that creates frustration — and guest relations doesn’t need another complaint to handle.
What Guests Stand to Gain
Even with those concerns, the feature makes a ton of sense. Disney retail has become a massive part of the park-going experience, and the current setup can feel like a guessing game. Guests see a product online or in a vlog, head to the parks hoping to find it, and are often told to “try another location.”
That’s where “Find Merchandise” could really shine. Imagine being able to search “Haunted Mansion Loungefly” or “holiday popcorn bucket,” tap a button, and instantly see which store currently has it in stock.
As someone who’s personally made more than one wasted trip to Disney Springs hunting down specific merch, this would be a game-changer. There’s nothing worse than standing in line at checkout only to be told the item sold out earlier that day — or that it’s only available at another park entirely.
The Reseller Question
The biggest question hanging over this test is simple: how will Disney stop resellers from abusing the system again?
Fans online have already voiced that concern loud and clear. The phrase “eBay pirates” came up more than once in response to Gustin’s post, and it’s not hard to see why. The moment word gets out that a certain exclusive item is in stock, some resellers swoop in to buy it in bulk.
Disney has made strides to prevent that, implementing purchase limits and tying certain items to virtual queues or mobile order systems. But if the new app tool provides stock data in real time, the company will have to tread carefully.
This may be one of the reasons why the current version doesn’t show exact numbers — only whether an item is “in stock” or “out of stock.” That approach keeps guests informed without giving opportunists too much detail.
A Small Test with Big Implications
The fact that Disney chose World of Disney for this pilot makes sense. It’s the largest retail location at Walt Disney World, offering the widest product range and a centralized testing environment away from the chaos of in-park stores. If the feature works smoothly there — meaning accurate stock, minimal confusion, and no spike in reseller activity — it could eventually expand resort-wide.
From a guest-experience standpoint, this is the kind of upgrade people have been waiting for. Disney has spent years investing in mobile tools: Genie+, Mobile Order, virtual queues, digital tickets, and even resort room controls. Adding a live merchandise locator would round out that ecosystem nicely.
But from an operational standpoint, it’s also a risk. Inventory management is complicated, and inaccurate data could backfire fast. If guests start driving across property for items that aren’t actually available, frustration levels could rise — and Disney’s customer service teams will feel the impact first.
Disney’s “Find Merchandise” experiment might seem like a small update, but it’s one of the most interesting tech tests the company has tried in years. It revisits a much-loved feature, retools it for modern use, and cautiously reintroduces it to a limited audience.
The idea is solid. The timing is right. The execution, however, will be everything.
If Disney can strike the right balance between convenience and control — giving guests the power to locate items without reopening the floodgates to resellers — this could become one of the most useful updates to the app in a long time.
For now, it’s just a test. But if it works, the days of wandering from store to store asking “Do you still have this in stock?” might finally be over.
