Christmas

Hong Kong Disneyland: Gingerbread Village for 2010 Sparkling Christmas Event

January 13, 2011 By Erin De Santiago 3 Comments

For Hong Kong Disneyland’s 2010 “A Sparkling Christmas” event that wrapped up last week, the focal point was the massive Gingerbread Village at the end of Main Street. Many of the main Disney characters were featured with their own “shops” and the village was pretty busy all day long as guests attempted to get their photos in front of each building.

I have to commend Hong Kong Disney for the level of detail and intricacy that went into the Gingerbread Village. Each “store” had elements completely unique to the character(s) it represented. Some had “windows” that featured information in Chinese, English, and Japanese about the character(s) history, while others featured illustrative Christmas scenes.

GBV37 — Gingerbread Village at Hong Kong Disneyland

As the sun set, the Gingerbread Village was aglow, creating the perfect backdrop for the nighttime parade! Here are some of my favorite shots from the afternoon.

GBV14 — Love the shape of Donad Duck's House!

GBV20 — Mickey and Minnie wreath on the door

Be sure to check out the gallery below to see more photos of Hong Kong Disneyland’s Gingerbread Village!

Erin De Santiago

A lifelong Disney fanatic and freelance travel and food writer currently based in Belize and the Netherlands. Annual passholder to all Disney Parks worldwide. Bring you Disney Magic from around the globe.

Duffy the Disney Bear and Shellie May Christmas Treats at Tokyo DisneySEA

December 25, 2010 By Erin De Santiago 5 Comments

Of course, no holiday celebration at the Tokyo Disney Resort would be complete without Duffy and Shellie May! For Christmas 2010, Tokyo DisneySEA offered four Duffy the Disney Bear related snacks and desserts. There were souvenir plates and cups for Duffy and Shellie May, a new popcorn basket, and even a Duffy shaped cookie!

Tokyo DisneySEA Duffy Cookie

There is a fun treat available now — soft cookies in the shape of Duffy’s head for 350 yen. This is a new food stall (at least it was not there when I was at DisneySEA in September), so I am wondering if it is going to be a regular fixture in Cape Cod.

Goodies28 — Duffy the Disney Bear cookie at Tokyo DisneySEA

Goodies27 — Close up of Duffy the Disney Bear cookie

Goodies26 — Duffy the Disney Bear food stall

Goodies25 — Close up of sign and decorations on new food stall

Tokyo DisneySEA Duffy and Shellie May Christmas 2010 Souvenir Plates and Cups

For the seasonal Duffy and Shellie May plates and cups, some people are under the impression you have to go to the “My Friend Duffy” show in order to purchase them, but you do not. They have two lines — one for those who want to purchase just food and the other long line is the one to purchase food and see the show. To purchase the souvenir desserts, go to the line on the left and tell them you are just there for food.

Goodies36 — Cute seasonal sign for Duffy and Shellie May souvenir desserts

Thankfully, I had my husband with me this trip so I did not look like a total pig ordering all four desserts! When I was out in September, I was all alone (except for the Duffy Bears in tow of course) and felt completely self-conscious ordering four desserts and one drink! I ended up eating only two and took the other two back to my hotel for breakfast the next two days!

For the 2010 Christmas event, Tokyo DisneySEA sold Salted Caramel Mousse for the souvenir cups (600 yen each) and Strawberry Custard Tarts with the souvenir plates (700 yen each). Proof of Tokyo Disney’s attention to detail is further demonstrated in the desserts as each contains either a Shellie May or Duffy cookie on top — they do not skimp and feature just the Duffy Bear dessert they put on each plate or cup. It’s the small touches like this that make me fall more in love with the Tokyo Disney Resort.

Goodies16 — Shellie May Christmas 2010 plate detail

Goodies17 — Front side of the 2010 Christmas Shellie May cup

Goodies18 — Back side of the 2010 Christmas Shellie May cup

Goodies19 — 2010 Christmas Duffy the Disney Bear souvenir plate

Goodies20 — Front side of Duffy the Disney Bear 2010 Christmas souvenir cup

Goodies21 — Back side of Duffy the Disney Bear souvenir cup

Goodies22 — Detail on the bottom of the Duffy and Shellie May souvenir cups and plates

As with all the desserts I’ve had at Tokyo Disney – these were excellent! The salted caramel mousse was awesome – so light and just a perfect blend of sweet and savory. The strawberry custard tarts were moist and flavorful, without being overly sweet.

Goodies40 — Shellie May salted caramel mousse cup

Goodies37 — Shellie May strawberry custard tart

Goodies39 — Duffy the Disney Bear salted caramel mousse

Goodies38 — Duffy the Disney Bear strawberry custard tart

Duffy Seasonal Popcorn Bucket

The popcorn stand near Aunt Peg’s in Cape Cod still had the Duffy seasonal popcorn basket when we were there. I had already seen photos online and was a little disappointed to find Shellie May was absent from the bucket. Really kicking myself for not getting the Halloween one when I was there since they were both on it! The Duffy popcorn buckets are not cheap, yet the lines rival those to get into Aunt Peg’s during a Duffy release. The buckets are 2,600 yen, which includes milk tea popcorn, and if you want the matching shoulder strap, the price is 3,200 total.

Goodies33 — Duffy sign on the popcorn cart

Goodies34 — Duffy the Disney Bear popcorn cart seasonal signs and decorations

While the price for the popcorn bucket is high, the quality is high and they are quite detailed. The handles are removable and they even include “plugs” to give them a finished look if you are using the strap. I was never really into collecting popcorn buckets, but they are quite popular in Japan and I now have two Duffy ones and several seasonal ones as well.

Goodies31 — Detail on 2010 Duffy the Disney Bear popcorn bucket

Goodies30 — Detail on strap you can purchase with your Duffy the Disney Bear popcorn bucket

Goodies29 — Close up detail on cap to put on bucket if you take handles off

Goodies32 — Detail wording on the Duffy popcorn bucket

Which is your favorite Duffy and Shellie May seasonal treat?

Erin De Santiago

Duffy the Disney Bear’s Debut at Hong Kong Disneyland

November 23, 2010 By Erin De Santiago 5 Comments

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!

Duffy51 — 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.

Duffy6 — Duffy tie in to the Christmas display in the Emporium

Duffy22 — 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.

Duffy52 — Disney Parks Sticker over "Tokyo DisneySea"

Duffy57 — Underneath the "Disney Parks" sticker it says "Tokyo DisneySea"

Duffy55 — 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.

Duffy9 — 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.

Duffy11 — Duffy fans - Kelvin and Beatrice

Duffy12 — One of my favorite Duffy Bears Beatrice had

Duffy17 — Our Duffy family (minus one that we bought later!)

Duffy27 — Duffy the Disney Bear's new home on Main Street in Hong Kong

Duffy24 — 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!

Duffy29 — Cast Member with his Duffy designed balloon on Main Street

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.

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!

Duffy36 — 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.

Duffy39 — Duffy makes his appearance in the Procession of Toys

Duffy44 — 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.