As most of you know, Epcot’s Festival of the Arts started yesterday. Instead of the chatter being about the art booths or the fancy food offerings, the buzz was all about a Figment popcorn bucket. Oh yes, a popcorn bucket. Let’s chat!
Yesterday morning, we headed over to Epcot to get coverage of the Festival of the Arts. We always make an effort to go to Epcot festivals on the day that they open so our readers can get the latest info right from the scene. While in the car, I was starting to get messages about the extremely long line that was already happening for the new Figment Popcorn bucket. Last week, Disney put out a teaser on TikTok that they were launching a Figment popcorn bucket on the 14th and social media went wild! I know Figment has a large fan base so I knew there would be a lot of frenzy happening at Epcot with guests doing whatever the can to get their hands on a bucket. Little did I know just how HUGE said frenzy would be! When we arrived, the line for the popcorn buckets was reportedly around a 5 hour wait. The food booth that the Figment bucket is sold at is Pop Eats! This food kitchen is near the entrance of World Showcase across from the Starbucks. When we arrived to check things out, the line went all the way back around the entire water area, inching towards the Mexico Pavilion. Here’s a peek at what we saw.
As we were walking along this massive line, there were people sitting in the grassy area off on the side with their Figment bucket haul.
Once we got up near the sign of the food kitchen, we saw that the Figment bucket was priced at $25.00 and it said the limit was two buckets per guest. Seems reasonable. This is the only location that you can purchase the bucket from, so that is a huge factor as to why the line was so long. I took some photos and video, but there was no way I was going to stand in the line, so we went about our day. While walking around World Showcase, we ran into a few different groups of friends, some had the coveted Figment in hand. I think the biggest question of the day was “How long did you have to wait for that bucket?” I know I was asking, I had news to report so it’s a must! The stories varied, some waiting outside of Epcot before the park opened. One person said that once guests were allowed inside, it was a mad dash for the popcorn bucket line. Like, runDisney but the short, short version. And no medal. Even then, the line was still around a 2 hour wait when people first arrived on the scene. That quickly turned to 5 hours. Then 6 to 7 hours, and some said by mid afternoon, the wait topped out at roughly 8 hours. EIGHT. Here’s a close up pick of what they were waiting for!
It’s a cute bucket, but I honestly can’t think of any item that I’d wait up to 8 hours for. I’m a huge Tangled fan, but I don’t think I’d even wait that long for a Rapunzel popcorn bucket, if Walt Disney World ever offered them. The funny thing is, the wait for these buckets today was only around an hour and a half, give or take. They still had Figment in stock this morning and people didn’t have to wait all day for them. This usually isn’t the case for popular merchandise, normally hot ticket items sell out within hours, which is why so many were willing to wait in a long line for a chance to get one. Disney obviously planned ahead and made sure to at least have a good inventory. Maybe the line wouldn’t have been so horrendous yesterday if these Figment buckets were offered at more than one location. Plus, what if you just wanted the fancy Pop Tart or popular grilled cheese sandwich at the Pop Eats booth? You’d have to wait that long for a snack too. I’ve never had a grilled cheese sandwich that I’d wait all afternoon for, but that’s just me. Now lets talk about the purchase limits…
The sign at Pop Eats clearly stated that the buckets were sold at a two person limit. As soon as we walked into the park, we saw people walking out with BAGS full of Figment bucket. There were people walking around with a large amount of them as well. Within an hour of park opening, these buckets were already on Ebay for over $200 a pop. Some had bids over $300. For a plastic Figment bucket. I just can’t. Yesterday, people were actually paying other guests to get them more buckets. Another trick is to bring a whole group of people with you so each person can get two buckets, which really adds up. In all of my years covering all things Disney, I have never seen lines like this for a popcorn bucket. Even the 50th Anniversary buckets didn’t cause this much of a fuss. So, is there a solution to all of this? It’s all about supply and demand, plus hype over limited edition items. Like I said earlier, if popular items were sold in multiple locations that would help with long lines such as this. If guests knew that Disney had enough merch to accommodate the demand for longer than a few hours, that would also help. This may help keep all of these items off of Ebay for a ridiculous amount higher that what said product is worth. From the feedback I got, and trust me there was plenty of it, some sort of resolution certainly is needed. Hopefully, the powers that be will have some take away from this situation and come up with more effective ideas for future trendy merchandise releases. Until then, we will keep an eye out for the latest and greatest products from Disney, and just hope that an 8 hour line won’t be something that we’ll be faced with once we arrive!
What are your thoughts on this one? Are there any items that you’d wait all day for?
Photo below contains borrowed buckets… we didn’t wait in line for them!
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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