You may not know that Disney does almost all its planning on a three-year cycle. The merchandise for Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary was conceived, designed, prototyped, and ordered in volume with 18 months to spare before the actual date arrives. (There are some exceptions to this.) So there are inevitably shortages and overages where Disney has misfigured public demand for any one line of merchandise or even individual pieces. A lot of times this is out of their control as management changes course midway or the economy shifts for whatever reason.

When this happens the extra merchandise is sold off at or below cost to a group of licensed clearance centers ("Character Warehouses" in Disney parlance) to be sold at a discount to fans lucky enough to find them. These discounts usually range anyway from 25% off in park prices to 80% off. If you make it the Character Warehouse on the right day, when the new Merchandise is set out, you can usually find some great deals.

Cindy S. sends us this report from her Saturday visit to the Fullerton, CA Character Warehouse:

We made a trip to the Fullerton character warehouse last night, and they’ve got in a lot of new merchandise. We unfortunately walked out empty handed, but I thought others might be interested in some of what’s available. Here’s just a sampling:

infant Christmas ears - $.69

50th bandleader Mickey watch (brown band, gold face)
men - $16.49
women - $23.99

Shag jumbo pins
Main Street - $11.99
Adventureland - $13.49

50th castle line watch
men - $23.99
women - $41.49

Wittnauer 50th limited edition watches
men - $1,599.99
women - $1,499.99
(Yes, they’re still very expensive, but these prices are about 50% off the regular price.)

Shag Frontierland purse - $39.99

gold sequined ears - $12.99

Haunted Mansion characters - various characters from $2.69 to $5.19
bride is $11.99

Hollywood Tower Hotel adult slippers - $2.99

Shag Frontierland shirt - $38.49

New Year’s adult ears - $.79

magical milestone pins - about $8

Disneyland varsity wool jacket - $36.99 (This has been there for a while, but it’s even cheaper now. I think I bought mine when it was about $55.)

50th tan sued jacket (upscale line) - $58.99

 

Thanks Cindy!