2025 is going to be a big year for the Disneyland Resort, as the Mouse House gears up to celebrate the original theme park’s 70th anniversary. While some updates are coming to existing attractions, like the controversial Walt Disney animatronic, it seems like more time is being spent on the continued revamping of the Downtown Disney District. In the last month, two new stores have opened along with a new food marketplace, and two more spots are slated to open in the coming days. As exciting as the changes are, I’m already questioning the existence of one of the stores.
Theme park reporter Scott Gustin recently shared photos of the rethemed The Disney Dress Shop location which will now be called the Disney Storyland Boutique. The new signage was spotted last week, but this is the first time fans have gotten a peek inside, and judging by the images, the Imagineers pulled out all the stops when it came to the theming. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the same can be said for all the merchandise.
The Disney Storyland Boutqiue Looks Gorgeous
According to LaughingPlace, the store is set to open to the public on Friday, January 24. Judging by the photos both reports shared, the store is bright, colorful, and looks straight out of a fairytale. There appears to be a gorgeous sign spelling out the store’s name with different letters resembling different animated characters, like an “R” that’s totally Remy from Ratatouille. There even seems to be a mini mountain of stuffed animals that’s giving ‘90s Disney Store vibes (if you know, you know).
The new store features plenty of neon lights spelling out words in the shape of beloved characters. However, the highlight of the design might be that the store has been broken down into character-themed sections. Stitch fans will find all his merchandise on one wall, and there also seems to be spots for less mainstream characters like Marie and Baymax.
But Where Is The Exclusive Merchandise?
There’s no denying that the store looks gorgeous, however, from the photos shared, a lot of it looks like the same merchandise you can find in the other shops in Downtown Disney and in the parks. In fact, most of the items we see are already in the much larger souvenir shop World of Disney a few steps away from this new location. Which begs the question: did we really need another store with so many of the same items in it?
There certainly are some items in the Disney Storyland Boutique that you can't find elsewhere, at least in this country. The Disney Store Japan Sakura products, a popular line overseas, have not been available in the U.S. before and now and can only be found here. The question is if there's really enough exclusive merch to justify an entirely new store.
Sadly, this seems to be a new trend when it comes to stores at the Disneyland Resort. A few years ago, stores used to only carry items that reflected the theme. For example, when you exited off of one of Disneyland’s best attractions, Star Tours, you entered into a gift shop brimming with Star Wars merchandise you could only find there. That’s not the case anymore, as more and more generic Disneyland souvenirs have crept in. And with this new store seemingly selling the same old items, I’m worried the days of finding one-of-a-kind, hard-to-snag merch are long behind us.
Even if there isn't too much exclusive merch at the Disney Storyland Boutique today, the possibility of more in the future exists. According to Disneyland, the store will "continuously transform its theming" over time, so down the road, we could still see a lot more cool stuff you can't find elsewhere.
Regardless, I’ll still be popping into the new store when I make my next trip down to Downtown Disney. Here’s hoping by then they’ve revamped some of the merchandise options.
