Fun Find: Duffy the Disney Bear

Hi friends!  Today, I thought I'd do one of my Fun Find Fridays since I haven't done one since January.  This time, we're diving into the story of Duffy the Disney Bear.  After writing about Duffy and his friends in my Aulani merchandise post on Monday, I figured I'd introduce him to those of you who have no idea who Duffy and his friends even are.

Duffy originally debuted as "The Disney Bear" back in 2002.  It was a few years before he became the Duffy we all know and love today.  He used to be available in a bunch of different colors, mostly pastels, before merchandising finally settled on his light brown color.  Eliot and I actually bought his youngest sister, Elissa (who was nine at the time), one of the original pre-Duffy bears while we were in New York City at the old Disney Store on 5th Avenue.  If only I'd known then what I know now... those original bears go for hundreds and thousands of dollars on eBay.  I wish we'd bought a few for ourselves- both the black & white and aqua versions would match our bedroom!  

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Eventually, Disney decided to make him in one color and to rename the bear, Duffy the Disney Bear.  He became much like Figment, a park specific character that wasn't from any other Disney movie or franchise.  He's known for his "hidden Mickey" face, having Mickeys on his feet, and having a small embroidered Mickey on his hip/butt next to his tail.  The video below goes into more depth about Duffy and his full history.  

Over the years, Duffy became a very popular character at Tokyo Disney in Japan.  in 2010, Duffy finally made his way into the American Disney Parks.  Duffy had a new backstory that Minnie made him so Mickey wouldn't be lonely while on long trips overseas.  (That's why Duffy is usually shown in a sailor costume.)  Disney used the story of Duffy to make a special bedtime story video to show on their Resort TV.  Each night, you'd be able to watch the story of Duffy when you put your kids to bed. 

As more and more Americans discovered Duffy, he became more popular.  He became a meet and greet character in Epcot at the entrance to the World Showcase (Mexico side).  His merchandise was sold at the store near his meet and greet location.  There was also a giant Duffy in Once Upon a Toy along with more merchandise.

Unfortunately, Duffy's popularity in the US never became what it was overseas.  While the parks in Japan and China were adding new characters to the Duffy and Friends line up every few years, he was slowly being phased out of the American parks. 

In a weird coincidence, Eliot and I were actually at Epcot on Saturday October 3rd, 2015, the same day as Duffy's final meet and greet Walt Disney World.  When we realized it was his last day, we immediately got into the line.  Someone else in line with us was having him autograph one of the Duffy books.  Eliot disappeared and came back a few minutes later with a book for us to have him sign.  Of all the Disney things we have, that signed Duffy book is one of my most favorite Disney possessions.

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Eliot and I absolutely love Duffy and his friends.  I'll never forget my first little Duffy plush.  I bought him a few days before our Disney wedding.  I had seen this smaller Duffy plush with him wearing a cute pumpkin costume for Halloween.  I immediately fell in love with him.  I purchased him right away and he sat proudly the television stand of our Pop Century hotel room the entire week of our wedding celebration.

Duffy was always one of our favorite meet and greets at Walt Disney World.  I was so excited to take a picture with him in his Halloween Costume at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party a few days after our wedding.  I always wanted to get a picture with him in his Christmas outfit too.  Eliot and I were both devastated when he left Epcot "to go on an adventure around the world".

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Thankfully, Duffy is still huge overseas.  Like I said earlier, he's so popular over in China and Japan that he gains a few friend every few years:

- ShellieMay debuted in 2011 at Tokyo DisneySea.  She's a pink, female version of Duffy and according to her story, she was also made by Minnie Mouse.

- Gelatoni debuted in 2014 at Tokyo DisneySea.  He's a gray cat with white accents that wears a blue beret and he loves to paint- sometimes with his tail.

- StellaLou debuted in 2017 at Tokyo DisneySea.  She's a lavender and pink bunny who dances ballet and dreams of dancing on Broadway.

- CookieAnn debuted in 2018 at Hong Kong Disneyland.  She's a yellow dog with long floppy ears who loves to bake new recipes.

- 'Olu Mel debuted in 2018 at Aulani in Hawaii.  He's a shy turtle who likes to play the ukulele.  He was originally called 'Olu before they changed it in 2019. 

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Like the original Duffy bear, all of Duffy's friends have Mickeys on their feet, (except 'Olu) and they have the same loose Mickey outline on their faces.  ShellieMay is the only one who also has an embroidered Mickey on her hip like Duffy does.

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Duffy merchandise isn't seen very often here in America anymore, but those of us who are Duffy fans still keep an eye out just in case.  Most recently, he's been seen in a few items of last year's Christmas collection.  Most people would see an unassuming teddy bear with Mickey's outline on his face, but we Duffy fans immediately know who he is. 

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Like I mentioned on Monday, Duffy and friends merchandise is available at Aulani.  I always keep an eye on ShopDisney as well.  They'll occasionally post items from Aulani... even though most of it is Olu stuff that we already have at this point! 

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Disney does still recognize Duffy occasionally.  Duffy and his friends have their own pages on the Walt Disney Imagineering website.  Disney also occasionally makes new stop motion videos of Duffy and his friends every once in a while.  The one they just released a few weeks ago for spring is super adorable!

Eliot and I hope to meet all of them overseas one day!  In the meantime, we'll be happy to snuggle with our very own Duffy and Friends plushies from Disney's Aulani!  °o°

Aloha Magical Mail

Aloha friends!  Today I have a special edition of my Magical Merchandise Monday to share with you!  If you've followed Eliot and me at all through the years, then you are probably aware of our affinity for Mickey's teddy bear.  Eliot and I love Duffy and his friends.  Duffy was one of our favorite meet and greets at Walt Disney World and we were both devastated when he left Epcot "to go on an adventure around the world".

At this point, Duffy merchandise is impossible to find in the US, aside from Aulani in Hawaii and the recent stuff they brought over from Aulani to sell at the Polynesian Resort.  Thankfully, you can still purchase merchandise from Japan and China where they absolutely love Duffy.  (He's so popular overseas that he keeps gaining new friends every few years!)  Unfortunately, most people here don't even know who he is.

Back in January, I found out that Aulani was taking phone orders due to the ongoing pandemic.  With people not traveling, Disney decided to try another way to allow guests to purchase their merchandise, even if those guests weren't staying at the Aulani Resort.  Eliot and I have been planning on ordering for months.  When we saw the newest Spirit Jersey with Duffy and all of his friends on it, we knew we needed to get them and it was time to place our first Aulani merchandise order.

Eliot and I first called Aulani around 11 pm on May 1st.  (Due to the time difference from Maine to Hawaii, it was only 5 pm there.)  Eliot got through to the store and then we accidentally got disconnected.  We called right back and the girl on the phone directed us through again and Eliot even spoke with the store manager Ben.  Since it was a Saturday night, the store was really busy and they weren't able to take phone orders right then.  But Ben took down all of our information and promised that we'd get a phone call the next day right after they opened at 8 am.

We got a call right after 2 pm the following day as promised.  Unfortunately, I didn't hear my phone go off and we missed their call.  After calling the store back and leaving a voicemail, they called us back a second time a few hours later.  Eliot and I took our time going through the list of things we wanted to purchase.  Then, the cast member went around the store to collect everything and make sure it was all in stock.  She was so patient and helpful.  After we had everything all set, she went through the entire order to make sure she got everything, she gave us the prices of everything and took down our mailing information.  Then, she told us we'd get a call back from the store when a cashier was free.  About 10-15 minutes later, we received a call, got our order's total, gave the cashier our credit card information and the order was all set.

It was definitely worth the back and forth as all of the cast members we got to speak with were so friendly and happy.  The Disney cast members really are the true magic makers.  Plus, this was the best hold music I've ever been put on in my life!  Eliot kept joking that the Hawaiian music was putting him to sleep!  It was so relaxing!

Eliot and I were so excited about our order.  We ordered the Duffy and Friends Beach Days Spirit Jerseys since that was the main reason for our phone order.  Unfortunately, they didn't have my size in stock, but I ended up getting one size larger which I was still happy about.  We also ordered all of the large Duffy and Friends plushies.  It was really funny... when talking with Eliot, I'd been referring to them as the "naked" versions since a lot of the Aulani plush had little Hawaiian outfits on.  Then, Eliot actually called them the "naked ones" on the phone.  The cast member didn't skip a beat though... and she added Duffy and his friends "without costumes" to our list.

We also decided to get a few other things.  Eliot got an Olu Hawaiian Shirt and an Olu plush with a Hawaiian shirt that he'd liked.  I got the Cookie Ann (Duffy's newest friend) cupcake mug that I've been admiring for months.  I asked if they had any Loungefly bags and they still had some of the shaved ice mini backpacks so I decided to get one of those too.  Most of the Duffy and Friends merchandise was buy one, get one free so it was a wonderful deal.  I wasn't sure if they'd let us get the deal with a phone order, but they did!  After the cast member double checked our list, we could get one more "free" item so I ordered a little resin Duffy and Friends photo holder. 

We knew it was going to take a few days to get everything, but it definitely got here quicker than I expected it to!  Last Wednesday (the 5th), I got the email that Fedex had our tracking information.  Then, on Thursday (5/6) it was picked up from Aulani.  This morning, I got an email that our magical merchandise had been delivered.  I told Eliot to check the porch before he left for work and he came back inside with a large box.  It was a bit beat up with a few small holes in it, but thankfully everything was inside.  

Eliot carefully unpacked each of our new plush friends and handed them to me one by one.  They are so cute and soft; I want to snuggle on the couch with them all day.  I've wanted to get these plushies for years, but since Disney got rid of the Duffy program at Walt Disney World, I knew it would be harder to get them.  This was so easy.  I always thought I'd have to get them sent over by a personal shopper in Japan or China.  Now, we have all of the Duffy and Friends plush friends we've wanted!  I'm so happy!!!

I was so impressed with the package.  Everything was carefully folded or wrapped in bubble wrap.  They also included our receipt and the Aulani shopping bags they'd used to pull all of our merchandise from the store shelves.  My Loungefly bag was still in it's original wrapping so they'd pulled that one from storage which I was grateful for.

We also had a happy accident!  Eliot got to the end of the box and said "um... did you order a print?"  I was like no... Then he took out a large print that had Duffy and all of his friends playing on the beach with Aulani in the background.  We both realized there must have been a miscommunication about the Duffy and Friends photo holder that I'd asked for... but this print was way better!  Eliot and I didn't even know that this print existed and I'm so glad that we got it instead!  We can't wait to hang it on our wall!

The only negative about receiving our order is that I'm really regretting not purchasing an Olu dress to match Eliot's new Hawaiian shirt.  However, it's not too difficult to call Aulani and place another phone order... so I might be doing that soon!

I really hope Disney continues this pilot program!  Shop Disney never has much Aulani stuff and it always seems to go quickly when they add it.  I would love to have a way to order from Aulani whenever we'd like to.  It would also be nice to have an official page or catelog somewhere that showed all of the merchandise that is currently available to order.  Right now, Eliot and I have been stalking the Aulani hashtag on Instagram to see if other guests will post photos of the merchandise.  Nevertheless, something is better than nothing and this was definitely a magical experience!

Mahalo to all of the wonderful cast members at Aulani who made this possible!  Eliot and I will definitely be keeping an eye on social media to see if there are any other items from Aulani that we'd like to order for our Disney collection!  Aloha!  °o°