Kidcot masks

[tish9774]

Hi!!

Can anyone tell me if the masks and charms at Kidcot stations are back? We were there in October and they had been replaced by Duffy. I believe that it was a temporary change since it was the week of Duffy's introduction. My DD couldn't care less about Duffy, but LOVES the charms on the masks. We are hoping that by May, they will be back.

Thanks!
Tish

 

[jack hannah bananah]

We were there at the end of November and Duffy was still there.

BRING BACK THE MASKS!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

When we were there a couple of weeks ago, it was still Duffy. I asked a CM in UK's kidcot station whether the masks were coming back anytime soon, and she was under the impression that the Duffy bear on a stick was here to stay for good for now. I was hoping she's wrong but after seeing all the Duffy merchandise on display at Epcot, I think she may be right

 

[famsen]

Wow! My family LOVED the masks!
Decorating them at each station was so much fun. It added a new dimension to our World Showcase experience.

So what you are saying is the face mask had been replaced by a Duffy the Bear on a stick? How are you supposed to decorate it?

Anyone have pictures of this?

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wow! My family LOVED the masks!
Decorating them at each station was so much fun. It added a new dimension to our World Showcase experience.

So what you are saying is the face mask had been replaced by a Duffy the Bear on a stick? How are you supposed to decorate it?

Anyone have pictures of this?

I should clarify - it's a paper duffy on a stick so that kids can color Duffy. You can still decorate it and get stamps from countries on it. CMs also wrote on the back. I still liked the masks better. Here's the best I have after combing through our pics.

 

[famsen]

Thanks for the picture.
Personally, I like the masks better because they were something different and not Disney character driven.
I bet the Duffy's are going to stick around awhile though since they are pushing it so much now and have a lot invested in him.

 

[ms.yt]

Last week it was still Duffy.

 

[ktlm]

Wound up saving us a lot of time in WS, because DD(then 4) quickly decided to chunk paper Duffy in the trash can (this is a kid who never throws away anything- she can scribble on a piece of paper and expect to save it forever). She absolutely loved the masks. She was not impressed with paper Duffy at all, because you can't get creative with him like the masks. She quickly discovered that if you draw over the lines on the cut out Duffy, you can't see his face or body parts anymore. The thing just turns into a giant scribble. She tried it the first night of our trip and had to ask for another one because she "messed up" the first one. She tried to color his face in, but it left him without a face. The CM ignored her and did not give her another one. We told her we would do it on our Epcot full day, since we were only there for dinner that night anyway, so he got chunked in the trash and we attempted to start over on our Epcot day. No fun to color Duffy, so instead of us dragging her out of the Kidcot station, she was ready to go in about 2 seconds. She also hated the charms being gone. Sure, you can still get stamps, but the stamps were going on the back of the thing where you couldn't see them from the front. At the second country, after they stamped him on the back again, she chunked him in the trash and was done with the Kidcot stations.

It isn't a matter of it being Duffy either. We had to go to his meet and greet for pictures multiple times, and we had to buy the stuffed bear and a couple of outfits (what a marketing ploy at $15 an outfit for each country!) She loved Duffy, but she hated the Kidcot paper Duffy.

 

[famsen]

Whoa, I missed another part of this; they no longer even give out the CHARMS to go with the Duffy-on-a-Stick?

This is just sad.

 

[mousireid]

My DS(9) actually enjoyed the mask and collecting the charms. Coloring a Duffy Bear and gettinga stamp is of NO interest to him. Even my 5 year old tired of coloring it and only getting a stamp. We got them passorts instead but now thats done........what about next time? WE did the 'try on a hat in every country" and the Kim possible missions (which we WILL do again). Just took the wind outta the sails of each country with Duffy - especially for older kiddos.

 

[trishalynn]

So is it worth doing this, or should I just skip it with my 5 & 7 year old daughters?

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I agree that the old masks were a lot more fun than the current Duffy on a stick as far as decorating it and personalizing it, and I think that's especially true for younger kids. But, one of the things I've always enjoyed about the Kidcot stations are the castmembers at these stations. Masks or Duffy or whatever, these are still great ways to start a conversation with the CMs who can tell your kids a lot about their home country. Our DD4 had a good time asking each CM how to say hello in their native language, got a kick out of seeing her name written in Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, and finding out she was born on the Year of the Dog. I'm pretty sure older kids could even get more out of talking to the CMs. And all of the CMs were very nice and pleasant to talk to - well almost, there was one CM who clearly was wishing he was somewhere else but the rest of the CMs were great!!

 

[poohfriend77]

So is it worth doing this, or should I just skip it with my 5 & 7 year old daughters?

My girls are almost 6 and newly 8, and they liked it. They still had fun coloring it, but without the charms, I don't think there is the incentive to hit EVERY station. We did them all because I made passports for my DDs, but if they were just going for Duffy, they probably would have colored at one or two stations and been done.

 

[duffy]

I just love Duffy, in all her glory.

 

[familydisney]

A little OT, but 2 trips ago my boys, then 10 and 7, lost the masks somewhere between Italy and Germany...SO we decided to have each cast member write a little something in their native language in their autograph books. This was the best thing we have done as now we make a world showcase section of the autograph book especially for that. No, there are no charms, but that way we still have to get every country to fill out the autograph book plus the kids have to talk to all the CMs. Most of the CMs seemed to enjoy being in the kids' books as well. Plus there's nothing extra to carry and they're easier to store once we get home.

For older kids especially this may be an option.

 

[Colleen27]

Ugh, how did I miss this change? My kids LOVED the masks, but at 9 and 13 they aren't going to have a whole lot of interest in a teddy bear. Especially my teenage son, I can just hear his reaction now - teddy bears are for little kids and that's why he doesn't like Disney as much as we do, because they make everything about little kids.

 

[T1gger]

Such a shame - my two LOVED their masks and still have them on their bedroom walls!

We also used the autograph books (at the back) for WS and the cast members were happy to stamp them and they all wrote a message in their language as the PP also said which was really nice and gave the kids a chance to practice their thank yous in the appropriate language

 

[TDC Nala]

Duffy will be there for the foreseeable future as they are trying very hard to sell him. I don't see the charms coming back even if the masks do. Much cheaper for Disney to have the cast members stamp the sticks.

 

[cheryterese]

Is Duffy a character from a Disney movie?

 

[TDC Nala]

Is Duffy a character from a Disney movie?

Not yet.

Duffy is Mickey's teddy bear. The backstory is that Minnie made the bear to serve as a traveling companion for Mickey, thus the sailor motif and putting him in the World Showcase. In Tokyo Disneyland he is more popular than Mickey. Disney is hoping some of that popularity transfers to the US, so you will see Duffy everywhere for awhile.

Reportedly Disney is producing a Duffy cartoon to run on a continuous loop on the resort televisions.