When Ravensburger revealed the night before launch that Disney Lorcana was no longer goinꦐg to be available at the Disney parks as previously promised, I was unimpressed, but understanding. It’s unclear what changed, but I can only assume it was a logistical situation, and these things happen. A week later, via the Disney Lorcana Twitter account, it was revealed that Lorcana would be available at the Disneyland resort starting August 28, but that it would only be available at the Downtown Disney pin trader, only gift sets and starter decks would be sold, and there would be a purchase limit of two of each item. This isn’t what I expected for Lorcana’s Disney park debut, and I had some serious doubts about these decisions.
The Disney park launch was the first time the game would be available outside of local game stores (not including all those Walmarts that started selling it early last week) and the first chance for non-TCG players and those who haven’t already heard about the game to discover it. Lorcana should be as appealing to Disney fans as it is to gamers, if no🐻t more so, and it feels like the park debut should have been an important moment for the game.
Hiding it away at a little pin trader kiosk at the opposite end of Downtown Disney from the park entrances and only selling starter decks and gift 🔜sets wasn’t going to put the kind of spotlight on Lorcana that it deserves. where all of the Lorcana products, including individual packs and accessories, are neatly displayed at the Storybook Store on Mainstreet. I expected Disneyland USA would feature the game similarly, and I was dis𒁃appointed when that turned out not to be the case.
I ventured out to Downtown Disney on Monday to see how the whole thing was being ඣhandled, as well as to score myself a gift set, since all my local game stores are charging outrageous prices for thꦺem. Despite my misgivings, I ended up having a pretty incredible experience. I can’t speak for the Disney Springs situation in Florida, but over in Anaheim, Lorcana sales have never gone smoother.
Putting Lorcana at the pin trader next to the monorail station turned out to be a pretty clever decision. It’s one of the closest retail locations to the Downtown Disney parking lot, so yo𝕴u could easily park and reach the store without walking long distances. Since the monorail is shut down for refurbishment, they were able to use all of the space ✱in front of its gates to form a line - which turned out to be a necessity, as a couple hundred people showed up right when the pin trader opened at 7:00am to get Lorcana. Had Disney put Lorcana in the Emporium or World of Disney - which both opened later in the day - it would have been a lot more chaotic and difficult to control the mass of people that came.
After going through the Gen Con experience with Lorcana last month, battling the crowd and standi💛ng in line for hours, I was bracing myself for a long, frustrating morning when I showed up and saಞw just how many people were waiting to buy the game. But, in typical Disneyland fashion, it was a smooth and pain-free experience. I got through the security gate at 7:05 and reached the line a minute or two later, and by 7:30 I walked away with two gift sets (at MSRP) and a feeling of disbelief at how easy the whole process had been.
Nobody does lines like Disneyland. As a decade-long Magic Key holder, I can attest to that. There were at least half a dozen employees there managing the line, answering questions, and chatting with people while they waited. They knew a lot more about the game than I expected, and were able to answer questions about specific cards in the starter decks. I even heard one woman telling a customer that Elsa was a particularly powerful card, and that she h𒆙opes she finds one in♌ her packs. Cast members are so well trained they even keep up with the meta.
It wasn’t exactly the Emporium all decked-out in Lorcana posters like I imagined, but there was plenty of fanfare for the game. The people managing the line were intercepting park goers as they entered downtown disney to inform tꦺhem that Lorcana was on sale and invite them to join the line. There were laminated info sheets that explained the contents of each product, including the deck list for each starter. People were genuinely enthused to learn about the game and buy their first starter decks, and because the selection was limited to just gift sets and starters, there wasn’t much incentive for resellers ꦆto show up and intercept product from actual players and Disney fans.
Not that that would have been an issue anyway, because there was plenty of product to go around. After I left at 7:30 I headed into the park for rope drop, rode Indiana Jones, and had breakfast at Carnation Cafe. When I left a few hours later, there were still plenty of decks and gift sets left. I told a friend, and when he showed up around 11 am he had no problem buying two gift sets, and said there was still ple⛎nty left. This is the first Lorcana experience I’ve had where product was just sitting there, readily available at M💜SRP, as it should be.
The best part of all was that I got to buy cards and enjoy the park, and I can’t wait for more opportunities to buy Lorcana at Disneyland, meet up with other fans, and play some games in between rides and Mickey-shaped pretzels. I know it's not the most accessible way to buy Lorcana and most people don’t have this kind of opportunity, but I am grateful for the experience and that the game was given its due at the Disney parks. After the chaos at Gen Con and the disappointing price gouging happening at local game stores, it was nice to finally get a bit of Disney magic out of a Lorcana buying experience.