Mickey Mouse is not the top cheese when it comes to headwear sales at Walt Disney World. He’s not even in the runner-up slot.
Those honors go to products based on Minnie Mouse. The top-seller is a headband with the famed round black ears separated by Minnie’s trademark red-and-white polka dot bow, said Steven Miller, merchandise communications manager.
The No. 2 best-seller is the Minnie design, only shinier. It’s made of sequins.
That’s probably the most startling fact I learned during a recent walk with Miller through the mammoth World of Disney store at Disney Springs. I asked to chat with him because I had a theory that Disney was creating more and more varieties of specialty ear hats.
Just five years ago, I wrote a story about the company expanding beyond the basic black styling of the ear hats, which have roots back to the original Mickey Mouse Club of the 1950s. Since then, there have been all manner of ear hats, including ones based on “Star Wars” droid BB-8 and “Frozen” snowman Olaf, which, begrudgingly, I would put in the category of “annoyingly cute.”
Recently I noticed an ear hat with a “2016” design on it. I’m the kind of shopper who looks at the dated merchandise and imagines myself not wanting to wear that in, oh, 2017. It’s so last year.
I might be in the minority.
“Our dated program is huge,” Miller said. People “want to commemorate that moment in time — and that’s when it becomes that souvenir mentality.”
Other recent ear-hat introduction include a mohawk Mickey (with short, colorful “hair” running between the ears) and a new version of the Made with Magic ears, which light up during key parts of theme-park shows and other attractions. The updates feature characters in a metallic finish.
“We also put some of the different new mechanics in here, trying to make it a bit lighter and fit a bit better,” Miller said.
Coming this year are ear hats marking the 45th anniversary of Walt Disney World. They’ll be joining a crowd. Disney World sells about 580 different kinds of headwear, including caps, headbands, visors, ear hats and the like, Miller said.
“Obviously, guests can find a lot of different Disney character product all over,” Miller said. “We want to offer things that are unique to the Disney parks experience.”
For instance, there’s now a line of T-shirts that mashes up “Star Wars” themes with theme-park attractions such as Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise.
“It’s a fun play for guests who love Disney heritage,” Miller said. “You’re probably going to see more of that when it comes to creating parks product.”
There’s already an upscale selection of T’s from the 28th and Main line tied to elements of Disney Springs. I have my eye on the Jock Lindsay’s Hangar Bar one, but there’s also a Springs Bottling Co. shirt.
But I digress from my head games. What do you think this popularity of headbands means?
“Coming this fall, we’re going to do a lot more headbands,” Miller said. Look for different colors and incarnations of Minnie’s bow.
“We’ve found that purple is a color that’s very popular,” he said. “You saw it with MagicBands. … You saw it with color in general.
The look will continue to get shiny options and a leopard look in coming weeks. Designs are already getting more elaborate with flowers and such attached.
Next up headband land: Embroidery. It has been a challenge, Miller said, to stitch onto the ears because of the thickness. Disney has created a work-around with a style where each ear is really two sides Velcroed together. They can be split apart to sew in lettering on both sides.
I was pondering why Minnie’s headbands are No. 1 without being a male chauvinist. It’s rare to see a man in that style, so it seems like half of the potential buyers are a no-go. But, stereotypically speaking, women are more active shoppers. Headbands would appear to be less damaging to hairstyles, and they let the head breathe more than the full-coverage caps.
Somewhere, Hillary Clinton 1992 is smiling.
