Archives for September 2010

Facts On Duffy The Disney Bear’s Move to Epcot’s World Showcase Oct 14

20 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 13 Comments

Saturday, September 18th saw the Walt Disney World Annual Passholder preview of Duffy the Disney Bear and his move from Japan’s Tokyo Disney Sea to our very own Epcot World Showcase. Duffy is getting some mixed reviews among die-hard EPCOT Center fans that would rather see money spent on new or improved attractions. Call me a sentimental girl, but I for one am excited for Duffy’s arrival and supportive of the treatment he’s getting as he get introduced to the rest of Walt Disney World.

I look at it this way – as a young girl visiting EPCOT in the early 1980’s, if Figment was given the same love and attention that Duffy is receiving now, I’d have been as happy as, well, a little girl. This is not just some random bit of merchandise being promoted without any research or follow-through. Duffy has experienced great success among Japanese Disney fans and while I don’t anticipate he’ll be quite as popular here, I can appreciate that he has a “history” and is not just going to show up on store shelves. If you don’t like Duffy, there is no reason you have to partake in Duffy madness, but for those with a softspot for cute and cuddly characters, he is a welcome friend.

As ZannaLand reported earlier last week, Duffy merchandise will be plentiful in World Showcase. Here are the Duffy Fast Facts, as discovered Saturday:

The Benefit Sale at Downtown Disney – Save & Give Back!

17 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 3 Comments

I love shopping! And when my shopping can benefit the Orlando local community, why then my ADOS (Attention Deficit OOOOOHHHHHH SHINEY) makes me a model citizen.

The Disney Community Relations team has been working with Downtown Disney, the Heart of Florida United Way and their local agencies to create an early morning shopping experience on November 6, 2010 from 5:30 to 9:30 am.

With the purchase of a $5 voucher, all proceeds go directly to the Heart of Florida United Way, shoppers will get a wristband to gain entrance into exclusive sales offering deeply discounted park merchandise, doorbusters, designer boutiques (Dior, Pucci, Acqua di Parma & Guerlain), and product launches at several locations in Downtown Disney.

The things that really stick out to this shopper are:

Launch of a 9” Rocketeer Vinylmation figure {reason enough for me to go! ~Z}
Launch of the newest Urban 5 3” Vinylmation Pin Mystery Set (Limited Edition of 1000)
The Designer Boutiques will be offering “Purchase with Purchase and Gifts with Purchases”
Select Dooney & Bourke purses will be offered at a discount
Select Vinylmations will be included in the sale

The Benefit Sale site www.thebenefitsale.com, will be updated to include more information about the specials and event activities on October 1, 2010.

I have gone to the Annual Passholder sales that are held this early in the morning at World of Disney, and while getting there was a little rough the sales were totally worth the extra bags under my eyes!
I know that I’ll be there in my finest shopping PJs…will you?
~Shelley

EDIT: The Disney Parks blog has added some updated info about The Benefit Sale which takes place in just a few days —

Disney Theme Park Merchandise has never done a sale to this magnitude with select items up to 75 percent off, over 125 door busters, Authentic Disney Theme Parks T-Shirts for $5, fragrance and beauty boutiques from Guerlain, Givenchy, Acqua di Parma, Dior, and Emilio Pucci with special gifts and SO much more…this single day sale event will be THE sale of the year. The prices have never been and will never be this low again…so shop, give back, and save BIG!

So what are the special offers and discounts you can expect to see at The Benefit Sale? While there’s too much to tell you about, here’s a sneak peek of the great offers you’ll find this coming Saturday:

50% off Select Plush & Dolls
40% off All Board Games
40% off Select Dooney & Bourke Handbags and Accessories
70% of Select Graphic Apparel
50% off Select Major League Baseball Apparel
25% off All Disney Trading Pins and Trading Accessories
70% off Select Vinylmation Figures and Series
75% off K’Nex Space Mountain and Flying Dumbo Building Sets
40% off Select Art & Collectibles from Jim Shore, Precious Moments and Walt Disney Classics Collection
75% off Halloween Merchandise
Nearly 100 Door Busters under $5
75% off 2010 Dated Merchandise (excluding Holiday Merchandise)

Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members don’t forget that this is your ONE shopping event this holiday season to save big on your Disney Theme Park favorite!

Still need to get your voucher for The Benefit Sale? It’s not too late! You can still purchase a Benefit Sale Voucher online at TheBenefitSale.com or you can purchase your voucher at Downtown Disney the morning of The Benefit Sale on Saturday, November 6!

Duffy the Disney Bear to Have a Costume for Each World Showcase Country

16 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

We’re going to dive right in with something reader Shelley C. discovered today about none other than Duffy the Disney Bear. As you may recall, Duffy will be appearing to passholders this Saturday in a special presentation welcoming him to Epcot. Many people wondered if Duffy would appear park-wide, in addition to the question of whether the existing “Disney Bear” that once appeared at Walt Disney World was still available. Shelley answers those questions for us here —

After seeing a picture of Duffy Bear taking up residence in the Emporium on Main Street on Twitter, I decided to head on down and check it out! When I got there, I found it quite curious that there were no Duffy or Disney Bears on the shelves. However, I had also noticed that over the past week the Disney Bears that were once available at Once Upon a Toy and World of Disney had vanished. I asked around, and found out a little more information about our Tokyo Disney Seas import.

According to a management cast member on Main Street, USA, Duffy is going to be primarily based in EPCOT, but have ties to the Disney Cruise Line. He will have outfits that represent each country of World Showcase, some everyday outfits (rain coats and such like Pal Mickey had), the sailor suit that he is seen sporting in most of the Annual Passholder emails, and a Disney Cruise Line uniform. They were vague about Duffy having his own “store” in EPCOT, but said that he would definitely be “around”. However, don’t get your hopes up to Shellie Mae anytime soon (Super Boo on this part).

We’ll have to wait until Saturday for more information, but a resort wide launch is planned for around October 14, 2010. Stay tuned…

~Shelley C.

¡Bienvenidos a la Familia! La Hacienda de San Angel Opens in Epcot

16 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 6 Comments

Last night local media and cast members were treated to a special opening preview of Epcot’s newest dining spots – La Hacienda de San Angel and La Cantina de San Angel. Completely new in design and construction, the two restaurants will replace the former counter service-only Cantina de San Angel. The new space will now accommodate both counter service during the day, using the outdoor tables as well as the air-conditioned comfort within La Hacienda, until 2:30pm, when La Hacienda will prepare for its dinner-only table service dining. Extending out onto World Showcase lagoon, the new construction is simply beautiful and fits right into the existing architecture and theme of the Mexico pavilion. While I will be sharing a more in-depth review after we’ve gone back and dined there as regular guests, I thought I’d share some of the highlights from last night and what you can expect from these two new choices.

Farewell to Captain Rex – D23’s Last Flight to Endor Celebration

9 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 11 Comments

Star Tours Last Tour to Endor — He's smiling on the inside, right?

Many of you may have heard about the Last Tour to Endor party associated with the Star Wars Celebration V that took place at the Orange County Convention Center last month. I know I was disappointed that we couldn’t get it to work out logistically, so when I saw the D23 event for the Last Flight to Endor (which was an essentially free event save for the $5 per ticket processing fee), I was all over it! What’s more, this free event was going to take place on the actual last night of Star Tours operation before it closed for refurbishment and would be limited to the number of guests that could fill the speeders in the attraction for the actual last flight. It was too cool to pass up. I am so glad I didn’t.

{I apologize in advance for the photo quality. I was using my cell all night – convenient, but not so great at night and when you are pretty much constantly moving. Hopefully the spirit of the evening comes across in the pictures, despite the blurriness! }

I make no claims to know all there is about Star Wars, but I know enough to make obscure references or movie lines when needed and get suitably excited when our escorts for the evening turned out to be some of the 501st Legion‘s finest Stormtroopers (even though my first response upon seeing one of them was “Aren’t you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?”). It was great to see so many excited fans and fellow bloggers/Disney media people there as well as meeting some twitter friends. We all checked in and were given a commemorative boarding pass and FastPass for the evening, and the first 100 guests received a limited edition Star Wars coin set as well. Soon the Stormtroopers arrived and we were on the march to our destination: Star Tours.

Star Tours Last Flight to Endor — I wish I could say this was the first time armed guards escorted me somewhere...

All New Secretariat Behind the Scenes Trailer-Penny’s Story: Against All Odds

9 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 3 Comments

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I will admit to not having given Secretariat a second thought when I heard they were making the movie. I mean, I like horses, don’t get me wrong. As a girl I went through the requisite Black Beauty and Black Stallion phases but I’ve never been so into horses that I wanted to watch a full-length movie about one, as an adult. Then I saw the trailer to Secretariat and was blown away.

Perhaps because I loved the time period of the film (I am a wee bit obsessed with Mad Men as my friends may be aware), or my love of John Malkovich as an actor, or my new found love of Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette on True Blood). Maybe I even did what the Disney marketing team wanted me to do – identify with the “just a housewife” moniker with which Diane Lane’s character is branded. In any event, I became excited for a movie about a horse. Disney has just released a new behind-the-scenes featurette focusing on Penny (the housewife in question) and her journey against all odds. I enjoyed it and thought you might too.

For those unaware of the story, housewife and mother Penny Chenery (Diane Lane) agrees to take over her ailing father’s Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing knowledge. Against all odds, Chenery—with the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich)—manages to navigate the male-dominated business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and what may be the greatest racehorse of all time.In 1973, Secretariat became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting race records that still stand today in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.

Muppets Kitchen With Cat Cora Sneak Peek!

8 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

Check out this sneak peek from Disney Online – the all new Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora is coming soon!

Muppets and cooking? Sounds like the perfect combo to me – it worked for the Swedish Chef!

Watch for the Muppets Kitchen – Where Everything Tastes Funny!

Pets Get a Dose of Pixie Dust at Disney’s Best Friends Pet Care

2 September 2010 by Suzannah Otis 7 Comments

It’s not news that devoted pet owners will do just about anything for their “fur children”, including luxury accommodations which are gaining popularity across the country. I have a friend who’s been putting her dog in a similar pet hotel for years, allowing her to watch her pets on a webcam while she’s away. After all, if you’re enjoying the place “Where Dreams Come True”, why not let your beloved pets experience some magic as well?

I was really impressed with the facilities at the Best Friends Pet Care, which opened this week. Situated across from Port Orleans Riverside on Bonnet Creek Parkway, the newly built Best Friends Pet Care replaces all other Disney kennels throughout the Walt Disney World Resort. With facilities for over 300 pets, this one new location will be able to comfortably accommodate all of Disney’s four-legged visitors. Whether you are just dropping your pet off for a day visit, or an overnight stay, they will be given as much attention as if they were a human guest at one of Disney’s deluxe resorts.