Does Universal Have a Merch Themeing Problem?

[SilicaKong20XX]

Heyo to all of those reading! Decided to make my first thread on this website and base it on something that I noticed when going to Universal Orlando for the first time in my life. To sum up my thoughts on that trip, I had a really good time at the resort including with the scenery, rides, and the food as well.

With all of that out of the way, I do want to ask a question about something that I noticed at Universal Orlando. Something that I noticed that when it comes to the merchandise offerings that the resort would have, is that while a lot of the shops at the parks like with The Wizarding World and Jurassic Park tend to have items that are themed to their respective licenses, other shops at the parks, have some out-of-place items that do not align with the theming. For example, at ET's Toy Box store in Florida, there are not only ET merch, but also Back to the Future merchandise as well. While that example is not as bad since both of those 80s films are associated with Steven Spielberg, there are more extreme examples of this in the parks. The Simpsons Land, for instance, has some generic-themed Squishmallows that are prizes for the carnival games that you can do at that land. However, the most extreme example of this is at Toon Lagoon at Islands of Adventure, where there are a lot of items that are not themed well to the land like with Minions merch and even Five Night's at Freddy's plushies that I saw at that park.

I was wondering if any of you have noticed this trend of what I brought up and what your thoughts are on it as well. Is there a reason that Universal Orlando has this minor theming issue? Does this problem exist at the other Universal parks? Would like to hear from those about this particular oddity.

 

[bdubsCEO]

I don’t know. I feel like that’s typical for parks: some stores for more popular rides and IPs will have mostly specific merch, others that don’t have enough to support a whole store or freestanding unthemed stores will carry a wide variety of stuff.

Admittedly I haven’t been to UOR in a few years, but USH is my home park and I feel like they do pretty good with the merch and merch placement for the most part. At least compared to Disney, where every store is filled to the brim with $20 keychains, plastic junk and the ugliest most garish clothes I’ve ever seen, none of which is park-specific or fitting. Or Six Flags, lol.

 

[Brian G.]

IDK if I'd call it a problem. It seems a little "fine tooth combing," tbh.

 

[SilicaKong20XX]

IDK if I'd call it a problem. It seems a little "fine tooth combing," tbh.

Yeah, totally agree with you on that as that's why I said it was a minor theming issue if anything. Doesn't really distract from the ultimate experience, but it can be noticeable at times if you inspect it a bit.

 

[mccgavin]

For Toon Lagoon in particular, it's understandable that most of the merchandise isn't themed to the land. There's a bit of Popeye and Betty Boop items here and there, but generally, most of the characters featured within the land are not popular enough to warrant their own line of merchandise. I'd rather those stores sell stuff that doesn't match the theme of the land if it means that they don't get closed down.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I really do wonder what the ratio is between how well the MiB: Alien Attack branded Laser Gun and Memory Wiper toys sell VS. the Anime / Ghostbusters / Marvel stuff they have in the rest of that store. I would not be surprised if it was rather lopsided haha.

 

[Jake S]

I really do wonder what the ratio is between how well the MiB: Alien Attack branded Laser Gun and Memory Wiper toys sell VS. the Anime / Ghostbusters / Marvel stuff they have in the rest of that store. I would not be surprised if it was rather lopsided haha.

agreed, but I think that’s at least partially because they’ve put their MIB eggs in the wrong baskets. I’d absolutely buy MIB apparel, but I’m not buying another plastic knick knack to sit on the desk I don’t use.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Honestly the bigger issue is the lack of park-specific merch lol

 

[belloq87]

I wouldn't say it's a "problem," but I certainly don't like the way that many shops in theme parks (both at Universal and WDW) slowly start to feel like they're offering versions of the same things that you can find in most of the other shops in the park.

I firmly believe that every retail location (setting aside merch carts) in a theme park -- aside from the primary catch-all shop at the front of the park -- should offer some unique merchandise that can only be found in that location. Not everything in there needs to be available only there, but at least some of it should be.

Honestly the bigger issue is the lack of park-specific merch lol

And attraction-specific merch.

 

[DrStarlander]

I wouldn't say it's a "problem," but I certainly don't like the way that many shops in theme parks (both at Universal and WDW) slowly start to feel like they're offering versions of the same things that you can find in most of the other shops in the park.

I firmly believe that every retail location (setting aside merch carts) in a theme park -- aside from the primary catch-all shop at the front of the park -- should offer some unique merchandise that can only be found in that location. Not everything in there needs to be available only there, but at least some of it should be.


And attraction-specific merch.

I very much agree, this is what creates the chase/scavenger hunt feel. Do you think it should be identified as such -- a "shop exclusive"? I do. In the past I've seen an item deep in a park and didn't want to carry it around all day, figuring I'd buy it at the front-of-park store at the end of the day. But turned out it wasn't up there. Had it been marked "shop exclusive" I would have snagged it while there.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I really want more pins directly based on actual park attractions. Disney and Seaworld do this kinda thing a lot, but Universal leans way harder on general characters and slogans. Would love stuff with logos of River Adventure, Hagrid's, Alien Attack, etc; or even stuff like E.T.'s friends.

 

[Brian G.]

And attraction-specific merch.

Never understood why they didn't get into doing "Expedition" merch for Kong.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I really want more pins directly based on actual park attractions. Disney and Seaworld do this kinda thing a lot, but Universal leans way harder on general characters and slogans. Would love stuff with logos of River Adventure, Hagrid's, Alien Attack, etc; or even stuff like E.T.'s friends.

I would absolutely buy any merch they put out featuring the aliens from either ET or MiB. Not having SOMETHING featuring ET's buddies has always struck me as a huge oversight.

Also, Uni merch plays HEAVILY on nostalgia for BttF, Jaws, etc... but for the films only, not the rides! Give us some merch specifically referencing the defunct rides!

 

[belloq87]

Never understood why they didn't get into doing "Expedition" merch for Kong.

A "Skull Island Field Guide" pamphlet, made to look like something that was actually put together in the 1930s, with maps and sketches of the various wildlife, is one of the great missed opportunities.

 

[DrStarlander]

Also, Uni merch plays HEAVILY on nostalgia for BttF, Jaws, etc... but for the films only, not the rides! Give us some merch specifically referencing the defunct rides!

Sounds like neither Universal nor Disney exploit defunct rides as much as they could. Just as an example because Disneyland is my home park so I know it well, but Adventure Thru Inner Space, Captain Eo, Videopolis T-shirts or mugs or whatever would appeal to many (admittedly middle-aged) fans. I'd love a vintage/vault shop filled with this stuff...but I'd walk out a lot poorer.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Sounds like neither Universal nor Disney exploit defunct rides as much as they could. Just as an example because Disneyland is my home park so I know it well, but Adventure Thru Inner Space, Captain Eo, Videopolis T-shirts or mugs or whatever would appeal to many (admittedly middle-aged) fans. I'd love a vintage/vault shop filled with this stuff...but I'd walk out a lot poorer.

Back in 2016, I bought a Big Bad Wolf T-Shirt from Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and I love it to this day. They had a Drachen Fire one as well which I thought was very cool.

I wonder if it's out of a desire to not market or popularize attractions that no longer exist and aren't ever returning, but given how much both Disney and Universal thrive off of nostalgia, the lack of defunct attraction merch is pretty strange. I do also wonder if it's simply because most times, it's just too niche. I've seen that USF 35th anniversary merch shuffled from store to store for years now, and I wonder if it's because they're still being actively printed and sold, or if they're still working off of that initial stock and no one is buying those BTTF cups and Kong banners. Certainly hope it isn't the latter.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I'd love a vintage/vault shop filled with this stuff...but I'd walk out a lot poorer.

I'm very surprised Disney hasn't done this with the Muppet store at DHS (unused and won't take valuable retail space). I know licensing/trademarks can be a bit of work, but the financials are there to support it. The Figment popcorn bucket is more than enough proof to show how psycho us theme park fans can be when it comes to park-specific merch.

I've seen that USF 35th anniversary merch shuffled from store to store for years now, and I wonder if it's because they're still being actively printed and sold, or if they're still working off of that initial stock and no one is buying those BTTF cups and Kong banners. Certainly hope it isn't the latter.

They actually just ordered and received a new shipment of those retro windbreakers & new hats. They were very popular and for a while only had XS-M sizes for the past year or so.

I wonder if it's out of a desire to not market or popularize attractions that no longer exist and aren't ever returning, but given how much both Disney and Universal thrive off of nostalgia, the lack of defunct attraction merch is pretty strange.

I think it's about prioritizing merch that sells more to the overall park attendance. However, there are tons of retail spaces within the parks that are either closed or don't sell significant volume where a park-specific store could do well (Brown Derby at USF, etc.)

 

[fryoj]

The most frustrating thing for me is the lack of new merch. We just went earlier this week for a couple days for the first time in 3 years, and so much of the apparel was the same as the last time we went. There were some new styles, but a lot was stuff I'd seen before or already had. We definitely spent less on merch than we had before.