Disney Globetrotter

Your Guide to Disney Parks Around the World

Tokyo Disney

New Duffy the Disney Bear Watch Released at Tokyo DisneySEA

By 1 Comment

Last week Twitter users in Japan were buzzing about a new Duffy the Disney Bear item being released at Tokyo DisneySEA on Friday, December 17.  The Tokyo Disney Resort introduced a Duffy the Disney Bear watch that carries a fairly hefty price tag (32,000 yen – about $385 US based on current exchange rates).  I could not originally tell by the photos what was included as it showed a brown watch band, a navy watch band, and then Duffy on a chain.  Turns out the watch actually comes with two watch bands and the chain so you can wear him as a necklace.

Ironically, we had made plans to visit Tokyo DisneySEA on Friday in conjunction with our mini-vacation to Southern Japan for Brett’s birthday.  I had no plans of purchasing the watch based on the price (it is actually around the same price as I pay for a round-trip ticket from Taipei to Tokyo!)  I saw the watch in all the stores that sell Duffy merchandise and did not purchase it, even though the hubby actually gave me permission.  He was in line for the Christmas Wishes lottery the entire time I hit the stores in search of the Duffy merchandise we were still missing.

After we were denied tickets in the lottery for the Christmas Wishes show, Brett went to look at the merchandise and ended up buying me the watch for Christmas.  I think he felt sorry for me, because I was pretty disappointed we did not get tickets.  I am not sure how many watches they sold that day (if any) and I did not see anyone wearing it, but that doesn’t mean people did not buy them.

We bought the watch from McDuck’s and they had to go searching for one, which makes me wonder if they were nearly sold out there.  After pulling the watch out of the case, the Cast Member put on white gloves to handle it.

Although it’s quite expensive, I have to admit it is pretty cute.  It comes in an adorable brown suede-like box that has the Duffy logo in shiny gold on the box top.

Duffy the Disney Bear watch box
Close up of Duffy watch box

Inside the box, there is a nice warranty card — all in Japanese of course, although Brett was quick to point out that the only words in English were “warranty valid only in Japan.”

Duffy watch comes with warranty
Inside of warranty where Cast Members write serial number

The Duffy the Disney Bear watch comes with both brown and blue watch bands and a silver chain.  The watch is quite heavy and the head is a bit large, but still quite cute.  The watch face opens to reveal Duffy’s face on the dial as well.

Two watch bands come with the Duffy the Disney Bear watch
Necklace chain is included in the box so you can wear Duffy as a necklace
Close up of Duffy's face on the watch
Inside detail of the Duffy watch
Back side of the Duffy watch
Hefty price on the Duffy watch

What do you think of the new Duffy the Disney Bear watch?  Would you purchase it, even with the hefty price tag?

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

By 1 Comment

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!

Photo Essay: 2010 Halloween Costumes at Tokyo Disneyland

By 4 Comments

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

Tokyo DisneySea Halloween 2010: Seasonal Decorations

By 3 Comments

During seasonal events, Tokyo Disney Resort definitely pulls out all the stops with the multitude of decorations and themed elements that make each visit so magical.  During my two visits to DisneySea on Thursday and Saturday (Sept 9 and 11), I took a ton of photos of the decorations for the “Mysterious Masquerade” event.

Other Tokyo 2010 Halloween related posts:

Photo Essay: 2010 Halloween Costumes at Tokyo Disneyland

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

[cincopa 10756589]

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

By 3 Comments

Halloween is my favorite time of year and the inspiration for my crazy idea to fly to all the Disney Theme Parks in the world during  the month of September.  Although I was unable to work Disneyland Paris in during the Halloween festivities, seeing the new Toy Story Playland made up for it.

I flew from Amsterdam to Tokyo just in time to arrive for Thursday’s opening day festivities at the Tokyo Disney Resort.  After a nightmare at the airport, between getting groped by the female customs agent (guessing it was because my flight originated from Amsterdam, who knows) to finding out I had just missed the airport limo bus and needed to wait for over 3 hours in the Narita airport for the next one, the trip was not off to the best start!

Eventually I made it to the hotel by taking a different bus and a taxi (I spent a lot more, but I got in much sooner than I would have had I waited for the other bus) only to find out my room wasn’t ready yet. LOL!  After killing a few minutes, I got settled and it was off to Tokyo DisneySea to try and get all the new Duffy Halloween releases before they sold out.

I got inside around 3pm and was surprised to find the stores relatively empty and the park itself quite manageable.  The first shop as you start to enter the Mediterranean Harbor had Duffy Halloween stuff in the window.  Rather than race back to Aunt Pegs, I ran inside.  Low and behold, DUFFY JACKPOT!

The shelves were fully stocked and they had everything available.  Well over $400 US later, I walked out with nearly every single Halloween item they brought out.  Perhaps I was a little overzealous since this was my first time at the beginning of an event and certainly the first time I was able to get seasonal Duffy stuff, but I figured I deserved it since I had a rough day. 🙂

I wandered around the park for several hours more, taking photos of all the merchandise, seasonal decorations, and of course, the food available.  On my quest for all things Halloween Duffy, I did something I hope I never have to do again – I ordered 4 desserts by myself!  Since the release of Shellie May, they are bringing out a souvenir plate and cup for each!  Four desserts and only one me!  I did not eat them all – just downed one of the milk puddings and brought the two sweet potato tarts back to my room in case I needed a snack later.

By the time I arrived, there was no hope for the Masquerade show lottery, but I did manager to sneak a glimpse of two of the shows.  It looked pretty cool so hopefully whatever they do next year I can check out.

I was pretty jetlagged from the flight as I didn’t sleep much so I opted to leave the park around 8pm and watch the fireworks from my hotel balcony.  The show seemed awfully short and not as good as some other fireworks displays, but watching it from the balcony in my pajamas was pretty hard to beat.

Since I am quite photography happy, I am going to do separate posts for all the Duffy merchandise, food, decorations, and other Halloween merchandise.

Other Tokyo Disney 2010 Halloween related posts:

Tokyo DisneySea Halloween 2010: Seasonal Decorations

Photo Essay: 2010 Halloween Costumes at Tokyo Disneyland