One of the biggest reasons why Disney’s amusement parks are so profitable is due in part to the vast amount of souvenirs and merchandise they sell at each attraction. Shirts, hats, mugs, toys, collectibles, and jewelry you name it. To them, no vacation is complete without a Disney-branded item to remind you of your visit. However, Disney was just caught selling something that technically belongs to their competition.
Twitter/X user @Marty084 posted multiple photos of him visiting Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim. He came across one of the dog tag dispensaries where you can get your pet a Disney-branded custom tag. Surprisingly, one of the choices was actually for Disney’s biggest competition, Universal Studios.
Buy your Universal Studios Fast and Furious Dog Tag right here here in Radiator Springs DCA. 👀 pic.twitter.com/oXwBhbgQUp
— Marty Snyder (@Marty084) January 7, 2024
The tag in question advertises the Fast & Furious Supercharged attraction, which is at both the Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Orlando parks. Upon closer inspection, to make sure that it wasn’t a display glitch, Marty did indeed confirm that the tags were in the unit.
Marty later found another unit, attempted to buy one of the tags, and filmed a video. Unfortunately, the machine put up an error sign, and he was required to ask for assistance from a cast member as he already paid for the tag.
Damn it, I wanted that TAG too. I broke the Disney Matrix https://t.co/mLDmTI85Al pic.twitter.com/EoP3rhFIbf
— Marty Snyder (@Marty084) January 7, 2024
Afterward, the option to purchase the tag was removed from the selection, but the tags were still in the machine.
I can't even make this stuff up. The changed it lol https://t.co/sayn9GLsr0 pic.twitter.com/3nn31evwF2
— Marty Snyder (@Marty084) January 7, 2024
This piece of merchandise appearing in the dog tag dispenser was most likely a mistake made by the supplier. Since both parks operate within proximity, there was probably a mix-up in distribution. But this didn’t stop the official Universal Orlando Twitter/X account from commenting on the original post.
Family Forever
— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) January 8, 2024
What do you think of this? Was Disney trying to profit off of their competition? Or was this just a mistake? Let us know your thoughts.
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.