During the final weekend of PRIDE month, That Park Place was on the ground at Walt Disney World—and what we found might surprise those expecting the usual rainbow saturation.
The Creations Shop in Epcot – Photo Credit: That Park Place
EPCOT’s Creations Shop and Magic Kingdom’s Main Street Emporium, two of the largest retail spaces in the parks, featured only minimal PRIDE merchandise. Each location offered just two small displays with a handful of items: a few t-shirts, a Stitch plush, a Christmas tree ornament, and a couple of accessories. That’s a stark contrast from previous years when PRIDE-themed apparel and accessories blanketed nearly every major gift shop from Tomorrowland to World Showcase.
The subdued presentation appears to reflect a broader trend—not just at Disney, but across corporate America.
The scaled back PRIDE section of the Creations shop in EPCOT – Photo Credit: That Park Place
In 2024, That Park Place reported that Disney quietly moved vast amounts of unsold PRIDE merchandise to Cast Connection, a backstage outlet where deeply discounted inventory is sold to cast members. Entire racks of rainbow-adorned products went untouched by the public during the official PRIDE rollout last year, raising early red flags about waning consumer demand.
This year, those flags turned into a clear message: corporate PRIDE is in retreat.
The scaled back PRIDE section of the Emporium shop in Magic Kingdom – Photo Credit: That Park Place
What’s particularly notable is how widespread this pullback has become. In past years, PRIDE month signaled a wave of corporate logo swaps—rainbow-colored brand identities plastered across social media profiles for 30 days. But in 2025, the rainbow silence was deafening. Most major companies skipped the gesture entirely, with many choosing not to acknowledge PRIDE at all on their primary platforms.
A screenshot from a Bud Light commercial featuring Dylan Mulvaney that led to a costly boycott – YouTube, 4thphaseofmalaise
The shift follows a string of high-profile marketing disasters linked to identity politics—none more infamous than Bud Light’s partnership with TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney. That single campaign triggered a nationwide boycott, a drop in sales that rivaled anything seen in recent consumer history, and long-term damage to the Anheuser-Busch brand. Bud Light has yet to recover its former place atop the American beer market.
The scaled back PRIDE section of the Emporium shop in Magic Kingdom – Photo Credit: That Park Place
Even luxury automakers have stumbled. In 2024, Jaguar faced criticism for a heavily PRIDE-themed campaign that attempted to tie its performance sedans to identity symbolism. The campaign flopped commercially, and Jaguar’s attempt at social signaling fell flat with core consumers—many of whom viewed the move as pandering and out of touch.
In the wake of those failures, 2025 appears to mark a turning point. For years, companies viewed PRIDE month as a low-risk, high-visibility opportunity to signal inclusion. But after repeated backlash, stagnating sales, and shareholder scrutiny, even the most risk-tolerant brands seem to be reassessing whether the rainbow branding is worth the fallout.
The scaled back PRIDE section of the Emporium shop in Magic Kingdom – Photo Credit: That Park Place
Disney’s quiet walk-back is especially significant. The company has been at the center of cultural flashpoints in recent years, including very public political clashes over Florida legislation and criticism for its content direction on Disney+ and within the parks. Internally, Disney leadership has reportedly sought to defuse controversy rather than invite more of it—a likely contributor to this year’s scaled-down approach to PRIDE merchandising and messaging in the parks.
It’s also possible that Disney is simply responding to numbers. Rainbow-themed merchandise that doesn’t sell clogs up inventory and hurts the bottom line. Given last year’s overstock situation, it’s not hard to imagine a directive to cut back on offerings and quietly avoid the embarrassment of discounted leftovers.
The scaled back PRIDE section of the Creations shop in EPCOT – Photo Credit: That Park Place
Whether this signals a permanent shift or just a temporary pause remains to be seen. But for now, one thing is clear: PRIDE month in 2025 came and went with barely a whisper from some of the loudest voices in corporate America.
The scaled back PRIDE section of the Creations shop in EPCOT – Photo Credit: That Park Place
And at Walt Disney World, PRIDE and the rainbow wave has given way to something else entirely—silence.
How do you feel about Walt Disney World scaling back on PRIDE this year? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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