While trying not to spend all your money at the Disney parks should classify as an extreme sport by this point, it doesn’t help the family vacation budget any to be constantly bombarded by shiny new Disney merch.
Haunted Mansion Holiday
But while there have been markups on seemingly everything from park tickets and Minnie Ears to food and beverages at both Disney World and Disneyland, we spotted this popular Disney park item was actually a getting MARKDOWN!
If you’ve been to the Disney parks recently, you’ve probably seen these Host-a-Ghost Jars. Originally released in Disneyland in celebration of the Haunted Mansion’s 50th anniversary, that later materialized in Disney World.
Host-A-Ghost Jars
Check out the Hitchhiking Ghost Sippers, Popcorn Buckets and Dessert Holders!
And despite their initial popularity, interest seems to have DIED off (sorry, couldn’t help ourselves). Originally priced at $59.99 each, it seemed like many of these jars couldn’t hitch a ride home with anybody!
But recently we’ve seen walls of Host-a-Ghost Jar at Mouse Gear in Epcot and other locations like Memento Mori the Magic Kingdom marked down to $29.99 — half their original price!
Host a Ghost Jar
And while they don’t have the full gamut of Host-a-Ghost Jars to choose from anymore, two of Haunted Mansion’s most-notable spooks —The Hatbox Ghost and Constance Hatchaway are still lingering around!
Host a Ghost Jar
We’re not sure if Disney seriously overestimated the demand for these things, but either way, there’s still plenty of Happy Haunts in stock waiting for their forever homes! These SEEMED like a cool idea — a spirit trapped in a jar you could “adopt” to take home. But in reality, it was just a $60 frosted jar with a dim LED and a flat plastic image inside. No part of that felt worth $60 to us, unfortunately. Seems other guests agreed!
We’re really curious about how many Host-a-Ghost Jars they actually MADE in the first place considering how many are left. These seemed initially like they would be a popular collectible. Maybe the original $59.99 price tag was too big of an ask?
Top of Host-A-Ghost Jar
Disney merch prices have been soaring to new heights lately for with $600 Designer Ears, and expensive interactive experiences like building your own lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop for $200 or assembling a robot companion at Droid Depot for $100. We’d certainly like to see a reverse-trend of Disney slashing its prices, but we’re not going to hold our breath.
After all, Animal Kingdom’s Pandora: The World of Avatar has been open since 2017, and the best deal we’ve found ’round those parts is 10 bucks off the cost of adopting a banshee from Windtraders‘ rookery — if you buy two. :-/
I’m Still an Expensive Boy!
Check out the sign we spotted earlier today…
Banshees Sign
Needless to say, although the Host-a-Ghost Jar markdown may just be an isolated deal, we’ll keep you updated with any additional news about popular Disney park items hittin’ the bargain bins!
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Saw these at Art of Disney. Still overpriced at 29.99!
With the jars specifically, I think they released too many. A single Hatbox or Leota “spirit” in a jar for $59? Sure, a nice souvenir to put on a bookshelf. Buuuut…NINE! jars requiring $539.91+tax to “collect” and releasing them all at once? Ridiculous. One is great for a bookshelf..but you need a Haunted Mansion themed room or take Halloween VERY seriously and be willing to part with more than half a grand to have a full set for decorating. Reducing the price to $270+tax makes it less gasp inducing but still takes a Haunted Mansion superfan with plenty of display space to bite.
The banshees were at the Character Warehouse Outlet for $9.99 for a while. We got 2 for less than$20!
They were dominantly displayed at the Tower of Terror gift shop last weekend, too. Same $29.99. Couldn’t figure out what it was supposed to be/what the point of it was, lol.
I could not afford to get all of the jars, so I just got my favorite, Hatbox Ghost.