Disney Globetrotter

Your Guide to Disney Parks Around the World

Erin De Santiago

Duffy the Disney Bear Pins to be Released at DLR on Dec 30

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Since the arrival of Duffy the Disney Bear at the US Parks, we were told they would be releasing additional merchandise which includes a molded popcorn bucket, a special Vinylmation Duffy and of course, Duffy the Disney Bear pins!  Disney announced the Duffy the Disney Bear pins would be released sometime this month.  Details are out — two new pins will be released at the Disneyland Resort on December 30.  These are open edition pins and will feature the US version of a sitting Duffy and one of Mickey holding Duffy in his arms.

Duffy the Disney Bear Pin: $6.95
SKU: 1924211

Duffy the Disney Bear Pin $6.95 Photo: Copyright Disney Parks and Resorts

Mickey Holding Duffy the Disney Bear Pin: $7.95
SKU: 1924235

Mickey Holding Duffy the Disney Bear Pin, $7.95 Photo: Copyright Disney Parks and Resorts

If you are not able to get to the Disneyland Resort to pick up your Duffy pins in person, you can also order them via Walt Disney World® Merchandise Guest Services.  To order your Duffy the Disney Bear pins:

  • Contact Walt Disney World® Merchandise Guest Services at 407-363-6200 or send an e-mail: wdw.mail.order@disneyworld.com to place an order.
  • Please reference the SKU number(s), description of the pin(s) and quantity desired.
  • Open Edition pins available for order after release date.
  • Applicable sales tax plus shipping and handling fees will apply.
  • All pins will be available while supplies last.
  • All Limited Edition pins may not be available for ordering via Walt Disney World® Mail Order 30 days after release date based on availability.
  • All sales are final – no refunds, no returns via Walt Disney World® Mail Order.

Duffy the Disney Bear’s Debut at Hong Kong Disneyland

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In conjunction with the commencement of Hong Kong Disneyland’s Christmas festivities, Duffy the Disney Bear made his official debut on Friday, November 19th.  Being a fan of Duffy, my husband and I flew in for the opening day to cover the festivities and meet Duffy.  Hong Kong Disneyland released the Duffy merchandise earlier in the week so I had seen some photos online, which depicted nothing different than what is available at Tokyo Disney or the US Disney Parks now.

Upon arrival, we tried to find one of the Christmas fliers that had Duffy on it, but no one had any available.  We quickly found out that they were giving out Duffy Christmas stickers for the event.  One note on this — what a contrast to how DCA handled the Duffy debut.  The stickers at DCA were for having your photo taken with Duffy and the CM’s would not allow you to get your sticker on the backing.  You had to put it on, which was quite disappointing since many people I spoke with had hoped to scrapbook with them.  On the flip side, Hong Kong Disneyland always passes out stickers during events and have no issues giving you extras sometimes.  Since we had our entire Duffy posse in tow, we ended up with quite a few of the Duffy stickers by the end of the day!

Duffy stickers handed out by Hong Kong Disneyland Cast Members

Once inside the Park, our first stop was in the Emporium to scope out the Duffy merchandise.  A small area was dedicated to the arrival of Duffy and he was fairly offset from the Christmas merchandise, which was somewhat of a disappointment overall (will save for a separate post!)  Something interesting Hong Kong Disneyland did was to feature a number of bears already dressed and ready for sale.  They had price tags on the outfits and the bears so no savings there.

Duffy tie in to the Christmas display in the Emporium
Wall of Duffy Merchandise
Dressed Duffy the Disney Bears available for purchase

Now, speaking of price — this has been an area of interest to many.  I was rather surprised to find the pricing in line with Tokyo.  The outfits are exactly the same as those from Tokyo DisneySea, however, tagged slightly different.  This is quite disappointing as the bears are now identical, just tagged differently — with quite a price gap between the US and Asia Parks.  The bear is $25 in the US whereas Duffy is 3,800 Yen (around $46 US) in Tokyo.  In Hong Kong, he retails for HK $320.00 (about $41 USD).  The outfits are also on par with Tokyo Disney pricing.  The “original” Duffy the Disney Bear outfit is HKD $240.00 and the Christmas outfit is HKD $280.00.

I had noticed on the earlier posted photos, the packaging for outfits is identical to Tokyo DisneySea — so much so they are actually using the same EXACT packaging, but applying stickers to cover up the Tokyo references.  This is confusing to guests who do not know much about Duffy and his origin.  The Christmas outfit has the illustration of Duffy and Shellie May (who is still only in Tokyo) and says “Straight from Cape Cod”.  I took photos of the differences in the packaging to illustrate how it is just being covered up.  While I am happy Hong Kong is getting the quality outfits from Tokyo, I do mind that it is literally the same merchandise with the new generic “Disney Parks” logo.  Does this mean that the Tokyo quality goods will make their way to the US Parks?  Does it mean that Disney is going to really push this “One Disney” concept and rebrand everything with the “Disney Parks?”  How will this affect the unique items typically found only at TDR?  I guess only time will tell.

Disney Parks Sticker over "Tokyo DisneySea"
Underneath the "Disney Parks" sticker it says "Tokyo DisneySea"
The mobile barcode popular in Japan are covered over on Duffy outfit hangers

Observing the reception of Duffy at Hong Kong Disney versus opening day at DCA, he definitely received a warmer welcome from the HK crowd.  He has a little reserved spot on Main Street, which is a prime photo location for seasonal events typically.  There was nothing special noted in the Times Guide and we quickly found out Duffy would be available for photos from 11am – 2pm.  My husband hurried over to get in line, while I photographed holiday decorations.  We were second in line for the photos (about 1/2 hour out) behind a Japanese family who actually live in Vietnam now.  Behind us was a mother and child from Tokyo Disney who had the latest seasonal Duffy stuff from Tokyo.

Duffy's special sign on Main Street

Shortly thereafter, I spotted the big Duffy fans joining the line.  I exited the line to go back and ask if I could photo her “backpack o’Duffy Bears” and quickly learned she was a die hard collector.  Turns out, Beatrice is from Hong Kong and has quite a collection of the mini-plush, many of the older designs you rarely see.  It was great to connect with a fellow Duffy fan who is not local to Tokyo and see that he is loved and well-received outside the Japanese community.

Duffy fans - Kelvin and Beatrice
One of my favorite Duffy Bears Beatrice had

Duffy arriving for his first day as a new Disney character in Hong Kong

Our Duffy family (minus one that we bought later!)
Duffy the Disney Bear's new home on Main Street in Hong Kong
The queue line for Duffy after he arrived

After we finished watching the Duffy fans arrive, we headed off to enjoy the rest of the Park and managed to find a few other interesting Duffy items…unfortunately, neither of them were for sale.  Some CM’s were given really cool “pins” that have Duffy’s face on them — I want one of these!  Then, we were walking down Main Street later in the day, we found a CM with a Duffy shaped balloon!  He was quite talented and managed to make a balloon animal look like Duffy — he even went so far as to draw the Mickey head on his foot!

Duffy "pins" some Cast Members were given with their uniforms

Cast Member with his Duffy designed balloon on Main Street

Detail of the Duffy balloon foot

It was nearly time for the Procession of Toys by this time.  On our way to queue, we found another Duffy lover, Noel, who is friends with Beatrice and Kelvin (the Duffy fans we met earlier in the day).   Noel is a CM at Hong Kong Disney and definitely in the know about all things Duffy at HK Disney.

Beatrice and Noel

We had arrived about an hour early to get a front row spot for the Procession of Toys event so I could get prime Duffy photos.  We were so early they had not even set up the ropes yet and a CM kept giving conflicting information on where we should be.  Quite a difference from parades and shows at Tokyo Disney!  A tip for those who plan to see the show this season – queue in the middle of Main Street to get a center view of Duffy when he comes out!

All the Duffy Bears ready for the Procession of Toys

This turned out to be a perfect spot and provided ample opportunity to photograph Duffy.  The Procession of Toys was quite short and not quite what I was expecting.  Based on the media images, I had assumed Minnie would present Mickey a stuffed Duffy Bear and then they would introduce Duffy the Disney Bear live.  Basically, Duffy appeared from the Christmas present box and then the spotlight came on and well, there you go.  I just think this was a missed opportunity to start out with the stuffed bear (like the story) and then move to the actual character.  Either way, at least he was presented to the HK Disney community in such a way that Duffy may do quite well.

Duffy makes his appearance in the Procession of Toys
Mickey, Minnie, and Duffy during the Procession of Toys

In speaking with the local Duffy experts, there was discussion that HK Disney initially planned to bring Duffy in a limited capacity (perhaps 1,000 bears or something) and feedback from CMs changed their minds.  The CMs know how popular Duffy already is with locals and tourists alike, which they were obviously able to relay to the powers that be.  I spent considerable time in the stores, trying to gauge the reaction and Duffy stuff was definitely moving off the shelves.  I saw numerous people buying bears, clothes, and a few carrying the already dressed Duffy bears.   I was surprised that I did not see more Tokyo Duffy people though.  I’ve seen more on a regular day at HK Disney, but given that I was there on a Friday, the weekend could have been quite different.  One thing was consistent though – there was always a line to have a photo with Duffy.  Although the info booth told us Duffy was only there to 2pm, he did make another appearance in the afternoon after the Christmas parade as we saw him around 4pm.

So far, Duffy is available in a few stores on Main Street and Fantasyland; however, I did not find him in Tomorrowland or Adventureland.  Surprisingly, he is available in the Disneyland Hotel, along with the Christmas costume.

Duffy display at the Disneyland Hotel

So far, the official Duffy releases at Hong Kong Disneyland include:

  • 17 inch bear HK $320.00
  • Cell Phone Charm HK $80.00
  • Mini-plush keychain HK $95.00
  • Magnet HK $95.00
  • Wristlet HK $220.00
  • Duffy Bear Outfit HK $240.00
  • Christmas Outfit HK $280.00
See you soon!

Please check out the gallery below for all the Duffy photos of the day!

Tokyo DisneySea Halloween 2010: Duffy, Duffy, and even more Duffy!

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My main purpose for this trip to the Tokyo Disney Resort was to pick up the new Halloween Duffy merchandise and check out the opening weekend festivities.  I was a bit nervous based on events past that I would not find any Duffy merchandise left since it seems to sell out instantly and was released several days before I was flying in.

Much to my surprise, I arrived at the TDS Thursday (Sept 9) afternoon and there was tons of merchandise available!  Pretty much every store that sells Duffy had plentiful stock of costumes, pouches, duffel bags, keychains/cell phone charms, etc.  After buying every single new Duffy and Shellie May item available, I headed off to check out the decorations (see my post Tokyo Disney Sea Halloween 2010: Seasonal Decorations for photos of TDS itself).

I found a number of people with very well-dressed bears hanging out in Cape Cod taking photos of their bears with the Halloween decorations.  There were several groups that had the bears dressed in the current Mickey and Minnie costumes from both Disneyland and DisneySea.  I also saw several large sized bears dressed up, which I’ve never seen in the past.

Sadly, I was alone on this trip since Brett was still back in the Netherlands on a business trip so I had the embarrassing task of ordering all four souvenir desserts if I wanted the cups and plates.  Nothing like walking up and ordering four desserts and one drink!  The cups were filled with a holiday mousse and the plates had a sweet potato tart.  While I certainly did not eat all four of them, I did nibble on one of the tarts and the mousse cup.  Each dessert had the Duffy or Shellie May head cookie on top.

Please check out the gallery below for all the Duffy related merchandise, souvenir cups, and of course all the dressed Duffy Bears roaming around DisneySea!

Duffy the Disney Bear Debuts at Disney California Adventure

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Thursday, October 14th was the official opening day for Duffy the Disney Bear at both the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.  I had planned to attend the release at both Epcot and Disney California Adventure for my Worldwide Disney Theme Parks column, but sadly had to cancel my brief trip to Florida due to unfortunate family circumstances.

The information release for Duffy’s opening ceremony indicated it would be at 9:45am with the official park opening time at 10am.  I had sent a request for clarification on the official time, however, I never heard anything back.  We arrived at the DL Resort around 9:20am and were surprised to find pretty lengthy lines to get in.  After about 10 minutes, they began letting people in who all went running towards Grizzly Rapids.  My mother figured they were headed to get FastPasses for the World of Color show and I had no idea what they were doing.  I just knew we only had 10 minutes to get to the ceremony.

Lines to get into DCA at 9:20am

After mistakenly trying to go down the straightest route by the Wine Country Trattoria, we were met with a sea of guests and a rope.  A CM told me we could go around by Grizzly Rapids to get back there so off I went with only two minutes to spare!  As I passed the FP area for World of Color, there were probably already 200 or more people in line!

I arrived to find numerous kids in the media area, which ended up working fairly well since I was able to see over them.  The area was pretty packed, but not everyone was there for Duffy.  Paradise Pier itself was blocked off with a rope so the hundreds of people waiting to get back there were now in the middle of the Duffy ceremony about to begin.

Staging area for the Duffy ceremony

Disneyland Ambassador, Danielle DuBois, and Michael O’Grattan, Senior VP of Entertainment and Imaging led the ceremony where they invited Mickey and Minnie on stage with their own stuffed Duffy Bears dressed in the sailor outfit.   The ceremony finale included a short processional to bring the Duffy the Disney Bear character up on stage, followed by an explosion of streamers.

Minnie Mouse bringing her Duffy on stage
Danielle DuBois and Michael O'Grattan
Danielle DuBois, Duffy, and Michael O'Grattan

Everyone posed for a few media pictures and I made a beeline for the store to see what was merchandise was available.  I was mainly curious to see how many outfits were released and what the store displays looked like.

I was surprised to see Duffy taking up such a small area of Treasures in Paradise.  There was just a corner of the store devoted to Duffy merchandise, but the theming was cute.  They are really capitalizing on the travel aspect of Duffy and the bears were placed in suitcases and trunks that have country stickers all over.  There is a sign that says, “Where will you take him?”  There were six outfits released — sailor, Canada, Mexico, China, a baseball jersey, and a safari outfit.  They brought back the 12 inch “My First Disney Bear” as “My First Duffy Bear” with the classic Tokyo bear style.   There was also a 12 inch Holiday Bear that was quite cute and a keychain that is similar to the ones you find at Tokyo DisneySea.  The 17 inch bears and 12 inch dressed bears retail for $25 each, outfits are $15, $8 for the keychain, and the large size bear retails for $60.  I have since learned that Epcot received quite a bit more merchandise than DCA did — including several different outfits, a WDW 40th Anniversary 12 inch bear, and the zipper pouch and magnet that are popular in Tokyo.

Inside Treasures in Paradise
Shelves of Duffy Bears and the Safari and Mexico outfits
If I could only get one of these cardboard guys for myself!
Lots of keychains, which did not last too long!

There has been a lot of discussion online about the quality of the outfits and bears here versus those you get from TDS.  There are definitely differences and the outfits here seem to be more kid friendly – lacking a lot of separate pieces and adornments.  Many of the designs on the outfits you would probably see done in layers and/or embroidery if they were released at TDS.  As my mom pointed out, the $40 price tag would not work for the Disney Parks here so they needed to be simplified.  I think some of the outfits are quite cute and I like the inclusion of the Mickey heads in select areas (like the material used for the China outfit).

Of course, I had all six of my bears in attendance for the event, while my Mom had her three.  One of my bears was wearing his Halloween costume — the Tim Burton version of the Mad Hatter.  Needless to say, he drew quite a bit of attention from the get go.  I ended up talking with Sarah Tully who writes the awesome blog “Around Disney” for the OC Register and later found her video counterpart cornering me as I was shopping.  LOL.  We also had the opportunity to chat with Monty, who designs the Duffy merchandise for the US Parks, and he was in awe of Chuffy (yes, my Duffy Bears all have individual names that end in “uffy”) in his Mad Hatter outfit.  Chuffy was treated like an absolute celebrity and Mom and I were the lucky recipient of some cool stuff – one CM gave us each a Duffy pin (the mystery ones released previously at WDW), while another went in the back and gave us both one of the Duffy chocolate cups and Rice Krispie treats!

Cuffy aka the Mad Hatter Duffy sitting in the case with the Duffys on display

Duffy's Chocolaty Cup available in the bakeries
Rice Krispie Duffy Treat

After buying one of everything released (sans the sailor outfit, and 17 inch and 28 inch bears since Mom was able to get me a sailor suit bear at the passholder event), we were off to finally have our photo taken with Duffy.  The grand total for everything with the 20% passholder discount was only $115 – about 1/4 of my first purchase at Tokyo DisneySea a few weeks ago for the Halloween merchandise!

We headed out for the Duffy line, which was quite minimal, and found Duffy trying to count how many bears we had in tow (had to bring them all for the official release day!)  After finishing up with Duff,y I went back in to finally get some photos of the merchandise and ran into two girls from Japan.  They spoke very little English, but I managed to find out they flew out from Tokyo just for the event.   After that, I spotted someone else with a Shellie May and turns out, it was the person I was hoping to meet.  Margaret is a member of my Disney Theme Parks Facebook page and we’ve chatted a bit online about Duffy and the event.  It was great to meet her and Norio and find out how much we really have in common.  She’s from Taiwan, which is where I have lived for the past 1 1/2 years, and I hope we will get to meet up when she visits early next year.   We chatted a bit more and managed to draw a few more interesting stares from passersby.  We went back and took a couple photos together with Duffy….and again, no real line.  Oh, if that was only the case in Tokyo whenever I am there!

After saying our goodbyes, Mom and I headed off to Disneyland to nibble on the Halloween treats and meet up with my aunt and cousin who were also visiting the resort.  We ended up coming back to Treasures in Paradise around 4pm and found the shelves were nearly bare.  Only a few 17 inch bears remained, a few 12 inch “My First Duffy” bears, one 28 inch bear was on the shelf, and a few Mexico outfits were spread out to keep the wall hooks from being empty.  That was pretty much it.  One of the CMs said they should get more keychains an hour or so later, but we had World of Color dinner reservations and didn’t have time to go back.

Shelves almost empty at 4pm at Treasures in Paradise

Walking back to Paradise Pier again, we spotted the balloon vendors that had the Duffy balloon.  It is cute — a large Duffy is on one side and the other has Mickey holding Duffy.  I had planned to come back and find out how much they were, but we never saw anyone else selling them again and of course, everything was shut down after World of Color.

One side of the Duffy balloon
Other side of the Duffy balloon

The last Duffy item I spotted was the kid’s menu at the Wine Country Trattoria.  It’s an activity placemat and has different mazes, games, etc., along with Duffy dressed in his various costumes — again focusing on the travel aspect of Duffy.

Kids' menu and activity mat at Wine Country Trattoria
Other side of the activity placemat

All in all, the event was handled well, the ceremony was short, but cute, and Duffy seemed to be well-received by those in attendance.  There was a number of management level and above Disney employees on hand for the event so there is definitely a lot of eyes monitoring how everything went.  I hope Duffy succeeds and people keep an open mind on what a cute and lovable character he is.  Personally, I would’ve preferred he stay exclusive to Tokyo, and I am a bit surprised to see him making his way back to the Parks.  I figured it was inevitable and even predicted it in my earlier Duffy article on Examiner this week, but I learned that Duffy will be coming to Disneyland Paris in December.  I will probably not make it back to Paris for his release however…maybe not until February or March sometime.

I will post separate entries on our foodie experience at the Wine Country Trattoria as well as photos from World of Color.  I just have to end this by saying I managed to talk my Mom into adopting another Duffy Bear so now she has four bears (a Duffy and Shellie May from Tokyo and two from Disney California Adventure).  She bought 5 outfits so she really needed another bear to wear some of them!  Be sure to check out the gallery below for the rest of the event day photos.

Mom's new Duffy Bear

Photo Essay: 2010 Halloween Costumes at Tokyo Disneyland

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After finishing up whirlwind trip last month that took me to all the Disney Theme Parks in the span of one month, I can honestly say that nothing compares to the Halloween costumes at Tokyo Disneyland.  If you only visit Tokyo Disney once in your life, I recommend doing it during the Halloween festivities (perhaps I am a bit biased though given Halloween is my favorite holiday).

I was at Tokyo Disneyland for opening weekend of the 2010 Halloween festivities and pretty much spent the entire day on Friday photographing guests costumes!  It’s one thing to see the amazing outfits they make for the Duffy Bears, but it’s quite another to see the attention to detail and magnificent creativity that goes into their own Halloween costume designs.  An interesting note about Tokyo Disney Halloween celebrations — the rules are quite different from the US Parks.  At TDL, you must dress as a Disney character.  Many of the costumes I saw were based on seasonal events or outfits donned by Mickey and Minnie or Donald and Daisy at various events and celebrations.

Without a doubt, my favorite of the day were the two dressed like the 2010 Mickey and Minnie outfits for DisneySea’s Mysterious Masquerade.  I spotted these two when I was hunting down pins in the store next to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.   The girl in the elaborate Minnie dress indicated she made all the costumes, including for the Duffy Bears!  My Mom, who is a seamstress, said the costumes here look as though the spiderweb designs were hand cut and appliqued (or a fusible material was used to adhere them to the black fabric).  Given that this was only the second day of the Halloween festivities – much of her review and preparation came before she could ever see the Mickey and Minnie 2010 costumes in person!


TDL was filled with nearly every Disney character costume imaginable.  Some included groups going as the same character, while others included rather ingenious interpretations.  Many girls were dressed as Easter Bunnies – these outfits were adapted from the 2010 Easter parade that was part of the Easter Wonderland celebration earlier this year.  There were also tons of Disney princesses — a few complete with matching Duffy or Shellie May costumes as well.

Here is a look at a few of my favorites from the day (be warned – photo heavy post):

After spending most of the afternoon photographing costumes and Park decor, I started to head out and finish shopping when I spotted the best costumes – Duffy and Shellie May!!!

I turned around and caught up with them to ask if I could get a couple photos of them.  Super cute outfits and quite ingenious!  I was rather surprised these were the first Duffy costumes I had seen.

I wish I had been able to spend more than one day at Tokyo Disneyland on this trip and definitely plan to make the Halloween trip a 4 day excursion for sure.  Take a look at the rest of the Halloween costumes in the gallery below.  Enjoy!

All photos copyrighted by Erin De Santiago and PoohsTravels.com

Other related 2010 Tokyo Disney Halloween posts:

Halloween 2010 at the Tokyo Disney Resort: Opening Day at DisneySea

Tokyo DisneySea Halloween 2010: Seasonal Decorations

WDW: Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Recap and Photos

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On the fourth stop of my “round the world” Disney Parks trip in September, we arrived at Walt Disney World just in time for this year’s Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.  I have never attended any of the events at Walt Disney World so this was a completely new experience.  We arrived around 5pm and were surprised to find Magic Kingdom was not that crowded (granted it was a Thursday afternoon).

We managed to hit every ride we wanted — Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain were our top 3.  I was shocked to see Haunted Mansion does not get the regular holiday makeover that the Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Resort attractions do.  Outside the Haunted Mansion was the “dead” woman interacting with guests in line, which was absolutely hilarious.  We managed to capture most of her act in video, which I will post here as well.

After coming from Tokyo Disneyland, I have to say I was rather disappointed in the costumes (or lack thereof).  Tokyo Disneyland was filled with some of the most amazing and unbelievable costumes you could dream up, whereas I only saw a few people dressed up at WDW’s Magic Kingdom.

We attended the Villains show, the Halloween Parade and enjoyed a few treats around the Park.  In this post, I will share the photos from the Magic Kingdom Park decorations.  Stay tuned for posts on the Halloween Parade and Villains show!