Walt Disney World Mickey Mouse Fan

Posted on January 12, 2023 by Dis-LEE

Florida summers can reach well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 C). That’s hot! So visitors to Walt Disney World need a way to keep cool. Other than jumping into the Seven Seas Lagoon, or a fountain, and being arrested!

Enter the Walt Disney World Mickey Mouse fan:

The body of the fan has a nice curve to it so that it fits comfortably into the hand of the user. And it has Walt Disney World written on it in case you forget where you bought it or where you are while using it.

The head of the fan can tilt back so that you can hold the body of the fan level and still have the blades directed at your face.

You can carry this around in your hand, wear it around your neck, or clip it to your belt or backpack. But if you choose the neck option, good luck using it:

Here’s a brief video to show the fan in action:

This device uses two AA batteries that are placed in the body by undoing a screw in the bottom. You remove the panel to remove old batteries and insert new ones.

This is a fairly powerful fan for the size. It doesn’t have a misting feature that has become so popular in the hot Florida summers.

For more fun with fans, check out my Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Candy Fan for a tasty twist on staying cool!

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Disney Cruise Line Pirate Party Mickey Ears

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Dis-LEE

Almost, if not all, Disney Cruises have a Pirate Party on deck which culminates in fireworks at sea. We were looking forward to both events when we embarked on our first, and only, Disney Cruise back in 2015 to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary.

As it turned out, we missed both events because we got very ill and ended up quarantined in our cabin for three of the five days of our cruise! But before that happened, we hit the gift shops and bought Pirate headgear:

This is actually the cap that my wife bought to wear. It’s like a bandana with Mickey Ears. I think it makes me look very salty indeed!

Obviously a one-size-fits-all cap as it has an elastic rim and simply pulls over your head, no matter how big it may get, as you successfully scourge the seven seas!

For a blow-by-blow commentary on how our first and only Disney Cruise went, check out my 6-part series entitled First Disney Cruise. The link will take you to Part One with each subsequent post being available via a link at the bottom of each post. Bon Voyage! Or not. You’ll see.

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Walt Disney World Mickey Mouse Gloves

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Dis-LEE

If there was just one ultimate souvenir to buy during a Walt Disney World vacation, what would it be? A t-shirt? A character plush? A mug? All of those things would work, but aren’t really that original.

A pair of Mickey Ears would almost be at the top of the list, just after these Mickey Mouse gloves:

When we first flew to Florida and used the Disney Magical Express service, we were directed through the airport by Cast Members wearing pairs of these gloves. You could spot them from a great distance! The oversized four-fingered hands were a dead giveaway that you were on the right path.

So when I arrived at the Magic Kingdom, I just had to have a pair of my own! I believe these have been available since Day One of the Park, and you can still buy them currently.

No worries, you can also buy them at Disneyland in California with the Disneyland Resort logo on them. I’m sure other Disney Parks around the world would have them too.

For another piece of Disney merchandise that features the famous gloves of the Mouse, check out my earlier post entitled Hallmark Cards Walt’s 100th ‘High Five’ Ornament. You’ll learn some history about the term ‘High Five’ while there, but… can Mickey give a ‘High Five’ with only four fingers?

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Photo Spot: Disneyland Faux Architecture

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Dis-LEE

This Photo Spot post is a twofer. I’m constantly amazed at the faux architecture at Disney Parks. The level of detail the Imagineers put into every nook and cranny is obsessive to say the least, but it pays off in the presentation department!

These two close up shots of wall details are good examples:

The picture on the left even has fake damage with a ‘repair’, and the picture on the right has plant growth that is made to look like the area is being overgrown due to lack of care.

Add in applied patina and aging tricks and you have new construction that looks decades, if not hundreds of years, old. And thusly Disney takes Guests from today, not only to distant lands, but to other times!

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Disney Traditions Tinker Bell ‘Pouty Pixie’ Sculpture

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Dis-LEE

Disney Traditions collectible figurines designed by Jim Shore combine the magic of Disney with the traditional motifs of handmade folk art. You either love them or hate them! I feel that some characters lend themselves well to this artistic treatment while others not so much.

This Tinker Bell ‘Pouty Pixie’ sculpture is definitely one of the good ones:

The legs and arms give the figure a carved look. This seems particularly appropriate as Tinker Bell is a woodland creature.

I think the biggest problem some have with this line of merchandise and the design is the random curvy scrollwork and bold geometric patterns. But with Tinker Bell, this actually works well. It creates a whimsy that fits the character perfectly.

“What are YOU looking at?”

Nothing Tink. And that dress does NOT make your butt look big!

Enesco produced this sculpture for the Walt Disney Showcase Collection. It was made in China for decorative use only. She stands just over 12″ tall and was first introduced in 2010.

For another look at this sculpture, sort of, please check out my earlier post entitled Tinker Bell Shadow. It has a bit of an attitude!

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Photo Spot: Disneyland’s Pile of Pachyderms

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Dis-LEE

How many Disney elephants can you name?

Dumbo. Colonel Hathi. Tantor. Heffalumps. Bing Bong? And how about those Pink Elephants certain Disney characters saw when a little tipsy! Yup, they count. And then there’s these guys:

This likely depicts the scene from the original animated Dumbo when the elephants had to make a pachyderm tower while standing on a ball. That didn’t end well! It looks like these brass elephants are doing a better job.

FUN FACTS: Outside strict biological classification, the term ‘pachyderm’ can be used to describe elephants, rhinoceroses, tapirs, and hippopotamuses . Pachydermata. Not just for elephants anymore!

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Theme Park Steamboat Willie 24″ Knitted Plush

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Dis-LEE

Steamboat Willie was released on November 18, 1928, and is the first on-screen appearance of Mickey Mouse. This date is now used for his ‘birthday’. For an exhaustive review of the Short itself, you can check out a post over at Disney Wiki. You’ll learn more than you ever thought there was to know!

While the Sorcerer’s Apprentice character gets more coverage for Mickey, Willie is definitely one of his most iconic roles! Merchandise appears from time to time but not as often as we may like. However, this Theme Park Steamboat Willie 24″ knitted plush definitely ranks as one of the best pieces of Mickey memorabilia out there:

A plush is a plush is a plush, right? It must be hard for the merchandising branch of Disney to come up with new and fresh ways to depict popular characters like Mickey, who have been around for so long. But I thought giving this plush the appearance of having been hand-knitted was a nice innovation.

You can really see the pattern of the knit, not twit, above. The grayscale really lends itself to the wool theme.

This is part of the current generic souvenir line that is sold in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. I usually prefer merchandise that is exclusive to an individual Park, but this item just caught my fancy!

For a nostalgic trip through the roles of the Mouse, check out my set of Mickey Mouse Through the Years Coasters. Steamboat Willie makes an appearance. So grab a drink and head on over!

FUN FACTS: The title is a parody of the Buster Keaton film, Steamboat Bill, Jr., which was also released in 1928. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

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Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride Attraction Merchandise: Candy Dish

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Dis-LEE

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride attraction at Disneyland is an enduring classic dark ride that literally takes you to Hell and back. Well, to a version of Hell filled with flashing lights and cardboard cutouts. But before Mr. Toad inhabited this venue he was in residence at Toad Hall in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows (1908). Next he went for a frantic drive in Walt Disney’s animated package film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949). 

This is one amphibian who really gets around!

Attraction Entrance – Disneyland

After you escape Hell you are deposited into the obligatory (not purgatory) gift shop where you can buy souvenirs like this:

Although you could put almost anything in this receptacle, I’m sure it was likely intended to be a candy dish.

There are four images around the perimeter of the dish. Two feature Mr. Toad’s Head in a window, and the other two feature Mr. Toad driving wildly in one of his cherished motor cars. What would Ratty say?

The dish is 4″ across and approximately 2″ high.

FUN FACTS: Disney made a live action adaption of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride with many of the cast from, of all places, Monty Python! I have it and it is… strange and wonderful. If you like the character and the story, you owe it to yourself to track down a copy. You can use the link to do so.

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Precious Moments Disney ‘Together’ Figurine

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Dis-LEE

My wife and I can relate to this figurine. We often recline on the couch (or sofa, depending on where in the world you relax) in this exact way!

The full name of this Precious Moments figurine is ‘Together Is the Nicest Place To Be’, featuring none other than Mickey and Minnie Mouse:

Now, is this comfortable for both the man and the woman? Careful gentlemen. It’s a trap! It’s a silly question. Of course no one’s legs go to sleep!

Did you notice who had the remote for the television? You already know the answer, but to confirm if you’re right, you can scroll back up and check the first picture.

Together Is the Micest Place To Be

This figurine is already ten years old as of this posting. How time flies when you’re just sitting on the couch/sofa doing nothing… together.

FUN FACTS: The 2012 manufacturers mark for Precious Moments figurines was a box with a bow. But in this case, you can see that it’s a gloved hand, pointing. This is obviously Mickey’s famous appendage, becoming a Special Mark used for this, a Disney Showcase Collection piece.

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Robin Hood Animated Movie LITTLE JOHN Plush

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Dis-LEE

Robin Hood is a 1973 animated musical adventure from the Walt Disney Company that featured the characters from the English folk tale reimagined as anthropomorphic animals. If you wanted to collect Robin and all of the Merry Men from the movie, that wouldn’t be too hard!

Because all you would need was Robin himself, and this Little John plush:

It is strange, but understandable from a budget point of view, that only two Merry Men are depicted. Less characters means less to animate which ultimately means less expense. Now we do get some of the supporting cast: Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, and Alan-a-dale on the good guy side. And then you have wicked Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham for the bad guy side.

Art Director Ken Anderson wanted to include more of the Merry Men into the film, which was overridden by Director Wolfgang Reitherman because he wanted a “buddy picture” reminiscent of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. So Little John was the only Merry Man who made it into the film, while Friar Tuck was put in as a friend of Robin’s who lived in Nottingham, and Alan-a-Dale was turned into the narrator.

The Disney Store released this mini bean bag plush in 1998. It is 8″ high with plastic pellets in the butt to make him sit up nice and straight, like a good little Merry Man!

The Canasa Trading Corporation doesn’t seem to be in business anymore, at least, not as a toy manufacturer. The name is being used in other industries.

For more fun with Canasa Disney animals, check out my Br’er Rabbit plush.

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