Opinions on Pal Mickey please!

[DisneyObsessed]

Is Pal Mickey worth buying? We are a family of 4 and our kids are not young. DS 15 and DD 12. We have been to WDW 4 years in a row and are going again in Feb. He sounds really cute but would we get alot out of having him along with us?

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

well, my mom and I enjoyed him and I'm 25 and she's 50...Mickey's really cute, but if you're not sure whether or not to buy him, why don't you try renting him first?

 

[Tank]

My kids DD5 and DS2 liked the look of him but didn't want to be bothered holding him. They got bored with him very quickly. I liked the idea but it wasn't worth the $60 for me. In my opinion it is not worth it unless your kids are really into it.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Pal Mickey was not the greatest experience for me (I took advantage of the free use day as a DVC member). I found that I had to hold him to my ear to hear him in crowded somewhat noisy areas.
He doesn't always synchronize properly and you can get some really odd reports! For instance, I was in the villa at WL and he told me that the MK parade was due to start in 15 minutes. I'd been out of the MK for hours!

He isn't supposed to get wet. Fun keeping him dry in the rain.

He gets cumbersome. The clip isn't so handy as it doesn't turn to prevent entaglement. He is heavy and awkward.

I think if children really used him to entertain themselves in line or while waiting for dinner, then he's probably a good idea.

Personally, I prefer to discover the parks not be told about them.

 

[LoriZH]

We just bought him and I am on the fence. On one hand, I think that he is cute and pretty informative, we didn't find him hard to carry or heavy nor did we get bored of him, however, he was hard to hear at some points and I just don't think he is worth the $60 bucks. If I had not already purchased him I would not have done so. I would rent him for a day first and see what you think. I don't know if they have the rent to buy option but if they do, then I would opt for that.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

I purchased a Pal Micky for my niece on our last trip to WDW. DN loved him he was cool, funny, and a pain in keister when she got tired of carrying him around.

 

[pjlla]

Nice to hear the different input about this new guy.... I was really gung-ho to get one on our upcoming Jan. trip, but now am not so sure... maybe if I can earn some extra play $$ before the trip I will splurge, but then again, maybe not!! Maybe we will just rent it at the MK and maybe at MGM, but not the other days... still deciding..... love to hear more feedback....

 

[TiggerPiglet]

We had rented him for the day for $8 and the kids loved it. I don't think it would be worth buying, as kids tend to get bored with things rather quickly. I felt the $8 for the day was definitely worth it and would definitely rent him again, if we ever go again that is

 

[beatnik]

My husband and I (no kids) really found our Mickey amusing. He would tell silly jokes, remind us about parade times, and give us interesting facts about the parks. I personally did most of the Mouse carrying and did not find him cumbersome to carry-- the clip worked well and I frequently palmed him. You would definately need to hold him to your ear in all parks except the Animal Kingdom (I guess its quieter there)-- but again, this was not a problem for us.

There were some glitches with the fellow-- he was confused about where we were a few times (telling us about a parade in a park we had already left-- this seems like a common problem). But we were at the World for 2 weeks, with 6 days in parks-- and didn't leave home without our Mouse... He will be joining us for a quick trip we are making in December. And another quick trip in May...

However, if your teens are prone to finding things lame and if they embarass at corniness, you might want to skip the Mickey. He can be quite a chatterbox and it would be e bummer if the mouse caused family stress...

Beatnik

 

[m&m's mom]

We were planning on buying a Pal Mickey on our trip a couple of weeks ago before we heard about the price increase. We compromised by renting him one day.
First I was very surprised that we hardly saw any of them. My 7 YO DD was a bit upset we were not going to buy him so she pointed out and counted everyone we saw. On any given day we did not see more than 7 per day. I thought they would be everywhere.
I was also prepared to buy him for my DD for Christmas if she threw a fit when we returned him but she had no problem giving him up.
Now Pal Minnie for $50.00 again and I would probably do it.

 

[lindaso]

I think Pal Mickey is probably better for older kids. My kids are 6, 3 and 15 months and quite frankly, Pal Mickey became just another thing to carry and worry about. I brought a bottle strap after reading on these boards that the belt clip was lame. There is no way you can hear Mickey down on your waist so I'm glad I brought the strap. My kids were not the least bit interested so it really was for me. I liked the info he gave but as the week wore on and I carried the 30 lb. baby more and more, Pal Mickey stayed stuffed into the diaper bag.

The games were kind of fun but my kids were a little too little for them.

 

[dawgsgirl]

Was at WDW a couple of months ago and bought a Pal Mickey for my 7 year old cousin. She seemed to really love him. I used a lanyard type of thing and looped it through PM where the clip fits. She wore it around her neck all week and had him up to her ear a good bit of the time. She was the "expert" on everything in the parks! She rarely ever made me carry him around--I was quite disappointed. I really bought it for myself!