Disney fans camped out overnight and packed Downtown Disney in Anaheim before dawn Friday, hoping to score the entertainment giant’s hottest new releases.
The frenzy erupted as Disney rolled out two new sets of its trading card game at Disney stores around the world.
The line outside Pin Traders — tucked beneath the Disneyland Monorail track — ballooned into a winding maze of switchbacks that stretched all the way to Salt & Straw. The snaking queue doubled back on itself several times to keep it from swallowing the rest of the shopping district.
Some die-hard collectors began lining up Thursday night. Even though sales kicked off around 7 a.m., Disney capped the line by 8 a.m. as demand quickly overwhelmed the store.
“I’ve seen some massive lines at Disneyland but nothing that stretched this far before with this many switchbacks. Good luck to all the Lorcana fans this morning,” one X user captioned.
“Whelp… I’ve done every single @DisneyLorcana drop at Downtown Disney since they started them, and this is easily the worst. I definitely won’t be getting any product,” another user said.
The chaos wasn’t limited to California.
At Disney Springs in Orlando, rideshare drop-offs and parking garage access were blocked before 7 a.m., leaving massive crowds waiting outside the shopping complex.
Things got even more out of hand in London, where Disney scrapped the release altogether and closed the store after crowds swelled. Police officers responded to control the scene and issued a dispersal order.
The frenzy is fueled by more than Disney nostalgia. The game’s rarest cards can fetch thousands of dollars from collectors, making every pack a lottery ticket for fans chasing the hobby’s next holy grail.
The $99.99 Lorcana Curator’s Collection: Heroines Edition features six beloved Disney heroines — Ariel, Jasmine, Mulan, Tinker Bell, Elsa and Anna.
The Disney Lorcana: Attack of the Vine set also introduces fan favorites Mike Wazowski, Sulley and Boo to the Disney Lorcana trading card game for the first time.
