The resale of Disney parks props is a huge industry. While it’s a niche industry, there’s never a shortage of Disney props for sale. They include but are not limited to cast member costumes, park signage, ride props, and even a monorail car at one point. Now, Disney is selling Splash Mountain props on eBay for as much as $1,000,000.

Typically when Disney World props are for sale on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or resale shops, they are sold by third parties. These people acquire the items, usually legally, and sell them for a profit. Disney is not the one behind selling their old park props no longer in use. There are likely many reasons for that. However, that is a separate conversation.

Disney has decided to get in the resale game with their Splash Mountain props. They see this as a huge opportunity to generate more cash for the company. As everyone knows, Splash Mountain closed permanently today to make way for a far less exciting attraction. While we reported here that the Florida government is suing Disney over the closure of Splash Mountain, it seems unlikely at this point they will win.

Disney is well aware of how much people already miss Splash Mountain. However, they’ve decided to add insult to injury. Disney is now listing props from Splash Mountain on eBay. They are listing the items at extreme prices too. The famous paddleboat from Splash Mountain is listed at $1,000,000. As you can also see in the image at the beginning of the article, one of the Br’er Rabbit animatronics is listed at $500,000.

Why is Disney selling Splash Mountain props?

It seems unusual that Disney is getting into the resale game. Typically they go to third parties as mentioned above. However, they see the love for Splash Mountain and know they can cash in on it by selling direct. Disney knows have consumers that are willing to pay $500,000-$1,000,000 for a prop from one of the all-time most-loved rides. There’s virtually no downside for Disney to sell props from their own rides. Only some extra bookkeeping for the accountants.

The problem is Disney continues to be strapped for cash. We have seen the concept art for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Each time more art is released, the ride seems less impressive. This is clearly due to financial pressures and the lack of budget to support the retheme. Because of that, Disney reselling props on eBay is essentially a way to fund the new attraction.

This begs the question, why is Disney reselling props when they could just reuse them? We reached out to an internal source for more on that. They mentioned that many of the ride props and mechanics are out of date and need to be replaced completely. Disney knows that consumers won’t care that they are broken and out of date when purchasing the props. They’ve decided that reselling them for cash is more beneficial than trying to repurpose old and broken items.

Disney is taking the used car approach. While a used car may work, oftentimes people determine they can get more value out of selling a used car rather than fixing it. Especially when Disney is stretched thin for cash, they have decided that the value of selling these items is far better than reusing the existing and old items from the ride. After all, many of the animatronics in Splash Mountain were already being repurposed from the old America Sings attraction as seen below.

America Sings Animatronics used on Splash Mountain
America Sings animatronics used on Splash Mountain. Photo via Disney

It’s extremely sad to see Disney reselling props from Splash Mountain. If the ride was so controversial, why do they think it’s okay to sell overpriced items from the ride to consumers? While as of now there are only two items listed on eBay for sale from Disney, we expect many more to be listed over the next few weeks.

What do you think of Disney reselling Splash Mountain props for massive amounts of money? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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