Report: Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Evening
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Check-In - Page 2
There was also a list of the participating sponsor’s of Downtown Disney who were offering event guests discounts on food and drink. A very nice touch and much appreciated by guests who were staying in the Resort Hotels.

Getting down to the merchandise part of the merchandise event - the packet also contained an itemized invoice of each attendee’s purchases. The pre-order merchandise brochure and random selection process - a random lottery drawing used to determine which guests received which items for purchase - criteria were honed to a fine point in this event and both seemed to work well. Guests were required to purchase every item they had requested - if the computer had selected them - and credit cards were already billed for the items that they had chosen and the problems of returned or refused merchandise were eliminated. There were some who didn't receive a single item they'd requested and some who received items that they didn't request - but such are the glitches inherent in any system sorting different items with editions of various sizes with a database of 1,450 names.

There is an error rate that can't be erased - only customer service CMs with lots of patience and management with a firm grip on the event. It's problematic when the number of items in an edition offered is 10 times less than the number of guests who can opt to purchase it. But, if limited edition merchandise is going to be offered, guests just have to ask themselves "do I feel lucky?" and send the order in. This event had almost every price point well covered - with the exception of the extreme low end - a button or elongated coin - every guest could find something affordable to take home.

There was also a list of the items that were available on the secondary shopping list. In events of the past it was the high-end items, which remained. With the exception of the leather jacket - at $400 per - it was the t-shirt, sweatshirt and logo pin LE 2,500 which remained. The secondary shopping was also done by the luck of the draw as guests picked the order in which their order would be processed by drawing numbers out of a black cauldron. Merchandise pick-up was also scheduled at two different times to assure that the primary shopping list was addressed first. Any merchandise left after the secondary round would be available in the Disneyana Shop on Main Street later in the week.

The last of the paperwork was an event survey. Anyone who had attended previous special merchandise events could see the progression and trace them back to comments that they had made. This is a merchandise team that listens to the concerns that they can address and smoothes those that have no answers. Guests also had their hang tags - "blood" red for those who were attending the dinner and "slime" green for those attending the event, and a wrist band - red for dinner guests, blue for attendees and purple for special guests and VIPs.

From registration most went on into New Orleans Square as the Nightmare core merchandise was supposed to be available - it had been on sale since Monday. The pins were the first of the core merchandise items to go but a list was started and the pins were pulled and bagged to be picked-up in Pieces of Eight after 5PM. There are several new ornaments, several new plush characters - including a reversible Oogie Boogie and a sound Santa Claus and Clown with the Tear-Away Face, two t-shirt designs - one child and one adult, a sweatshirt and a parchment of the attraction spiel - at $30 - available at Port D'Orleans and the new outdoor vending cart by the Mansion. (Note: For pictures of much of the merchadise, see Page 16)

At noon the primary shopping was available for pick-up in the air-conditioned comfort of the CircleVision rotunda. This seemed to run very smoothly except when adjustments needed to be made in receipts when AP or CM discounts were not applied or an item was damaged and a guest wanted an exchange. Any damaged items - scratched ornaments or pins mostly - were returned for a refund as the production runs were too close and each item sold out. The wait was cut-down considerably in that Disney had offered free shipping to anyone who requested it - 4 to 6 weeks.

Of the items being offered only one was unavailable for pick-up due to a manufacturer's delay - the Jack, Sally & Zero in the DoomBuggy sculpture LE 500. Each guest who had gotten one in the RSP had a note that said "Congratulations on your purchase of the Limited Edition Haunted Mansion Doombuggy sculpture featuring Jack, Sally & Zero. Due to recent world events, this item's production had been delayed. Your sculpture will be shipped free of charge to your address directly from the vendor in 7 - 8 weeks."

For most the merchandise viewing and pick-up went very well and by 2PM they were out enjoying the park. Event guests were allowed to enter Disneyland after 5PM and the lines at check-in were a bit longer, but seemed to be running smoothly. With the changes in the schedule some weren't able to pick-up their primary merchandise until after the panel and a few even missed their chance to ride the attraction opting to get their purchases first. At 5:30 the line began to form for the panel event at the Fantasyland Theater and at 7PM the guests were allowed to enter. One of the perks for the red and purple wristband crowd was priority seating and a slightly different selection of cookies.