Fantasy Western April 28, 2012

[momo2080]

Hi everyone,

First off I want to say that the FB page is not in any way or form to keep anyone "out of the loop". If u dont FB its not that big of a deal..all major decisions are still being kept to this thread. I dont usually post on these boards as its a bit of a pain. but I do love to read up on all the great info. FB for ME is just easier. I would hope that whoever does use FB join us...but again its a PERSONAL choice.

Also its not just "couples" that joined the FB page. You know what they say about assuming.

 

[Kaylad2006]

Not to take anything away from the Dis boards, but Facebook is much more real time and easier - I don't have time to come to these boards daily, FB is an integal part of social media and my job and makes more sense to me. In fact I searched there first to find more about this cruise before stumbling upon these boards, so thank you for setting it up and I hope any helpful or pertinent information gets posted to BOTH places to keep everyone happy - there is no best way, it's personal preference!

 

[taswira]

momo2080 - -Rather than replying to the PM you sent me, I'd like to state publicly here that I removed your Meet 'n' Greet you had posted to our cruise website, AT YOUR REQUEST. You said you are no longer interested and to remove it. I want everyone to know that was your decision, not mine.

Your post here may have implied that even those who are not on Facebook could go to the page and read the posts. Since that is not the case, Dis-ers not on FB or those who don't join the group are blocked from viewing the content because it is a "closed group." That is bound to leave some people feeling left out whether intentional or not. But as you said it IS a PERSONAL CHOICE. I'm ready to drop the topic and resume happier thoughts about this Fantasy cruise.

 

[Kaylad2006]

Ok this board is getting a little overwhelming for 1st time Disney Cruisers! Vacation shouldn't be about which board, etc you connect with people on.... it's the fact you are trying to get to know some people before hand and get advice! I personally am rather offended by all shows here and ready to pull myself off of all the boards and have a quiet, peaceful vacation and RELAX.......

 

[cruisevirgin]

It really depends on the number of people involved. So far we have a dozen so everyone will exchange. If the group gets large, then I will divide them up.

Are we going to be matched up with 1 room, a group of 4 rooms or all rooms that sign up for the FE?

 

[cruisevirgin]

We ordered from Gradysmommy and had similar problems with shipping, although we live in canada. Once we contacted the post office here, the package showed up the next day. I believe she uses USPS so you could call them and see if your address shows up.

Has anyone experienced problems? I placed an order on 2/4 and have not received our purchase my by cc has been charged....I've sent an email an no response. I k now I can go through E Bay and complain but I don't want to use this option as it seemed like a lot of Dis Boards recommended this person....I hope she is sick or back uped etc

 

[cruisevirgin]

I want FE signups here please! Although I love FB I am disappointed this is happening since we have quite a gathering here already and I'm not a fan of checking in two places for one set of information. So if anyone is joining FB and sees someone that wants to join the FE, please direct them here.

I know there are several here without Facebook. Although I do use Facebook, I did not join the group so have no idea what is going on there, so you won't be the only one "out of the loop." I can only see the members which are currently 6 people (3 couples), so probably no worries about everyone here "abandoning ship" from the Dis.

krhardy requested to keep all the t-shirt orders here on the Dis, to avoid confusion. I don't know about cruisevirgin, but would imagine she'd continue to manage the FE via PM sign-ups here also. People are still signing up on our cruiser list (DisneyFanDC is the latest sign-up today) on our cruise website, which is where I also put any new info I'm informed about. And anyone here can post a Meet-Up on that site. If momo2080 will inform me of the time she decided upon for the general Meet-n-Greet, I will add that to her listing, or she can resubmit the form.

So hopefully activity will continue on this thread and no one will be locked out of info for this cruise.

 

[krhardy]

Guess what we will all be doing 9 weeks from today???

 

[Squeaky1]

OK...we know what Sherri and Holly look like (did I get your names right???) because they have their pictures in their avatar or signature. I'll be the first to post my picture here...anybody else want to follow suit?

Here are some of my wedding pictures. This cruise is going to be our Honey Moon! I was trying to look like Cinderella. lol...


Not sure if it will work... Lets see

 

[Kaylad2006]

Nice! We are considering it our "family moon" since we have been married 7 years and our daughter is five

 

[mr.tom.morrow]

FYI for those not familiar with the Disney Bears, their names are Duffy and Shellie May, they originated from the Tokyo Disney Resort. We have one of each, they are our "pretend" children as we have them with us on all of our Disney trips. Inside Tokyo Disney Sea park they are more popular then Mickey, just about everyone in the park carries their bear with them!

 

[Kaylad2006]

I've actually had Duffy for three years and never knew it until this cruise, and although Duffy originated the same year Tokoyo opened it was not for this reason.

Duffy first appeared as "The Disney Bear" in 2002 as a marketing gimmick to promote the opening of the Once Upon The Toy store in Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney


Duffy the Disney Bear


Background information

Park attractions

Candlelight Reflections
Cape Cod Village Greeting Place
Meet & Smile
Mickey & Duffy's Spring Voyage (upcoming)
My Friend Duffy
Sweet Duffy
Christmas Wishes
Be Magical!
A Christmas Fantasy Parade
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade


Other names

The Bear of Happiness and Luck
Duffy Brings Love



Personality

Caring, loving, kind, adventurous, cute, curious



Appearance

Honey gold colored, has "Mickey Marks" on his face, paws, and on his left hip, has brown eyes, wears a glass bottle around his neck containing a message of love, happiness and luck for his tender.


Occupation

Various

Goal

To keep Mickey company on his long voyages.
To bring love, happiness and luck to all his friends.



Home

Cape Cod, American Waterfront


Allies

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, ShellieMay, TippyBlue, Guests from the Disney parks

Likes

Adventures, making new friends


Various, from the many outfits he wears.



"The Bear of Happiness and Luck." ―Duffy the Disney Bear's storybook tag.
Duffy the Disney Bear (ダッフィー) is a Disney Character that can be found at Tokyo DisneySea, Disney California Adventure Park, Epcot, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Resort Paris.


Contents

BackgroundEdit

Duffy first appeared as "The Disney Bear" in 2002 as a marketing gimmick to promote the opening of the Once Upon The Toy store in Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney. This bear already had the Mickey-silhouetted face, plus Mickey marks on his feet and left hip. However, he had no name and a fairly market-centered backstory, in which Mickey's generic teddy bear is magically imprinted with Mickey's face and brought to life by Tinker Bell's pixie dust. The artwork features cameos by lots of characters who have nothing to do with the story. It should be noted, too, that the highly simplistic, graphic style used to draw the Disney Bear was replaced with a much softer, richer hand-drawn illustrative style for Duffy's Tokyo storybook.

These Disney Bears were released in a rainbow of colors - Valentine red, pink, green, blue, lavender, grey, black, white, chocolate, caramel and honey gold. However, they were never a hit. Having failed to really find their market, by 2004 most of them ended up at Disney outlet stores, long forgotten.

That same year, the Disney Bear launched at the Tokyo Disney Resort as part of that year's Christmas events on December 1st and was instantly popular. At Christmas of 2005, after just one year of successful sales of plush bears and just a smattering of seasonal costumes, the Oriental Land Company decided to fully invest in this teddy bear character the fans had taken such a liking to. They made the him an official part of the park and named him "Duffy," and created an all-new original story to introduce his background. OLC gave him a whole section of the park as a merchandising character. He would go on to "steal the stage" at the restaurant theater (Cape Cod Cook-off) from none other than Donald Duck, replacing "Donald Duck's Boat Builders" with "My Friend Duffy," a show inspired by - but not faithful to the story presented in The Bear of Happiness & Luck. TDS posted signs using the same artwork from the storybook to claim Cape Cod as "Duffy's Hometown." The story had all the hallmarks of Disney - mysterious magic, the power of love and friendship, the wonder of exploration and adventure...and it gave real context to the name, in that Duffy was a hand-made gift that Mickey kept in a duffel bag on his journeys.

In addition to grounding the character in both the parks and a fictional sense of place, the story also made it clear that Duffy was primarily about two things - photos and fashion. OLC put "Photo Points" around the park where guests could snap pictures of or with their Duffys. This was all in response to what fans did with Duffy during that first year. Duffy is a reflection of the fans every bit as much as a product of some marketing team - that collaboration was the "secret sauce" that finally made the concept work. Fans were taking tons of photos. Fans were building thriving cottage industry sewing and selling their own Duffy clothes. Fans were loving this little bear. Then, for the Tokyo Disney Resort 25th Anniversary events beginning in 2008, instead of just a few seasonal costumes, they created one new Cast Member costume every single month, which got people's attention. This was the year that really brought Duffy into the mainstream.

 

[taswira]

Although it is the same bear (The Disney Bear), the actual character identity of "Duffy" (along with his new backstory) did originate in Tokyo, as did Shellie May.

Kaylad2006 - You are becoming quite a Duffy historian. You've had him all this time and only this week discovered who he is. Congrats on the research! Did your daughter ever give him a different name?

 

[Kaylad2006]

nope, but she seems perfectly happy with the name Duffy! Now she is excited to bring him on the cruise. Ironically her Uncle who gave it to her knew all about Duffy when we asked him!

 

[Topelski4]

Wow I haven't been on in awhile and there sure has been a lot of activity! Facebook is much easier for me and I think it's great to have more than one way for us all to connect I will be checking it with both places, especially since I gave up facebook for lent and am only able to view it on Sundays also thanks for the info on BBB reservations, I appreciate it Our family is so excited to be on the Fantasy!

 

[WVURunner]

I am visiting my neice and nephew this weekend and discovered that they each have a Duffy Bear and some outfits to change it into.

 

[WVURunner]

Just an FYI-if anyone was thinking about doing the Everest Challenge on the Saturday we get back, the registration price goes up tomorrow so you might want to sign up tonight.

 

[krhardy]

Is anybody else doing the Castaway Cay 5k? DH and I (and maybe DD Victoria) are planning on doing it since we are training for a mini triathalon in June. We figured the FLAT land would be ideal...we certainly won't be that lucky in Georgia
I've never done a 5k before, so finishing is my goal. Just didn't know if anybody else was doing it, or had done it previously.

 

[supercruiser420]

Is anybody else doing the Castaway Cay 5k? DH and I (and maybe DD Victoria) are planning on doing it since we are training for a mini triathalon in June. We figured the FLAT land would be ideal...we certainly won't be that lucky in Georgia
I've never done a 5k before, so finishing is my goal. Just didn't know if anybody else was doing it, or had done it previously.

Hey!!! I totally plan on running the castaway cay 5k!!! I think I can also speak for my wife and WVURUNNER and her husband!!! I've done it four times so far and have a blast every time. It usually starts about five minutes after you are able to disembark the ship. While you are waiting on the stairs to get off the ship, you will notice that most of the people waiting are adults by themselves wearing running sneakers and holding iPods!!! The run starts right around the towel pick-up area outside of the ship, you run past the shops, the child play area, the family beach, and cookies. You turn right sound the area for pelican plunge and head up to the runway. From there you take the run way to the bike trails, loop the bike trails and make your way back. You have a cruise cast member with you the whole time, they suggest you run behind them at their pace which is about a 10 minute mile, but give you the option to break from the group if you want to. Also, they let you know thatyou can run through additional bike trails to extend the distance of your run. Wen you get back to the ship, they usually have towels waiting for you, and sometimes bottled water. The 5K is a fun run, it is not timed and there are no medals. It is free and you do not have to sign up, just meet at the place and time stated in the navigator. It's a lot of fun and a great way to meet the people you usually see running on deck 4!!!!

 

[Kaylad2006]

Thanks so much for the info on the 5K, I would be totally game for it and I usually un between a 10 and 10:30 mile if it's flat! I am actually going to be starting training for a 1/2 Marathon right after this trip so that is perfect to keep me running during out week! Do they give you information on the cruise about this or is this something that is just kind of unorganized?