Mission: Space Merchandise
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I have been an advocate of attraction-specific merchandise for years. I have always thought that the average guest would love to own a tee-shirt boasting of the fact that they were either one of the first to ride the latest thrill or demonstrate their bravery with a tee proudly boasting of their completion of the mission, irrespective of whether it was Summit Plummet, Splash Mountain, the Tower of Terror, Test Track or Dinsoaur! Everyone has their favourite attraction and giving people the opportunity to buy non-generic offerings should have always been a focus of the DDG. I just hope that they continue to create new images to cater for the repeat visitor. Sadly the merchandise available for older E-tickets such as Test Track and Splash Mountain feature ancient designs and little change annually. The obsession of producing only WDW-labelled product needs to be dismantled and a new concentration of park- and attraction-specific concepts introduced. It seems a shame that the most exciting designs I saw this past summer (apart from those for Mission:Space) were at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, where the Ice Gator and Lagoona Gator mascots are dominating some amusing and imaginative looks.
To mark the soft opening of Mission:Space on Friday, our next article will discuss whether this stunning innovation is the saviour of EPCOT and whether it will herald a new impetus into returning EPCOT to its rightful place as the most innovative, exciting and entertaining of the Disney parks on offer in central Florida.
Discuss It!
-- Posted August 11, 2003
-- Story by Lee MacDonald
-- Pictures by Lindsay Cave