Duffy Vinylmation - ZANNALAND!

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: