Pal Mickey

[MICOL]

Sounds like a fun plush toy. All details can be found at www.intercot.com.
States Pal Mickey is a small plush that will talk to the kids as they go through the parks. $8 to rent per day and $50 to own. Available April 1 2003.

 

[BrianD]

Bump!

 

[JBurke]

I just saw this too on Intercot, looks interesting.


"Picture a young girl walking with her family near the Tree of Life Garden at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Suddenly, the Mickey Mouse plush toy she’s holding vibrates and giggles, indicating that he has something to say.

When the girl presses Mickey’s hand or stomach, he says, “Now somewhere around here is a secret trail with lots of swell animals. That’s where the capybara lives! Supposedly, he’s related to the mouse. Hmm... I wonder if he’s related to Minnie Mouse or Mickey Mouse... Ha ha! Aw, gosh, let’s see if we can find him. Wanna?”

Clutching her toy tighter, the girl spots the trail and leads her family toward a new adventure.

This experience will come to life in unique ways at all four Walt Disney World theme parks when Pal Mickey, a new type of theme park entertainment, becomes available in resorts in April and in the theme parks in early May.

“Pal Mickey brings a whole new level of personalization to our theme park experience in that he will give guests — kids in particular — a greater interaction with our characters,” said (the) vice president of Operations Strategy and Technology. “Usually, you see Disney characters in shows and parades or waiting for autographs. Now you can have Mickey himself talking to you as you travel through our parks.”

The 10-and-a-half-inch-tall Pal Mickey delivers hundreds of messages, from show details to Disney trivia to attraction height
requirements, in all four theme parks, focusing on the unique aspects of each park.

Pal Mickey will relive stories at the Magic Kingdom Park, share travel tips and fun facts during a world tour at Epcot, be a star-struck Hollywood insider at the Disney-MGM Studios and play up the feeling of adventure while sharing safari secrets at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

“Pal Mickey extends the individual stories of the things you’ll see,” said (a) senior show producer and executive director for Walt Disney Imagineering. “He has a much broader emotional range — happiness, anger, fear, excitement, nervousness — and real attitude like the way he appeared in the old cartoons. For instance, when you’re near Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and you can hear the background sounds of logging chainsaws, Mickey gets angry about the destruction of the natural
environment.”

Pal Mickey also tells jokes and plays games when guests press his hand or stomach, whether they’re in the theme parks or at home.

“Our goal was to make Pal Mickey feel like a member of the guest’s family,” said (a) lead interactive designer for WDI.

Guests will have the opportunity to rent Pal Mickey for $8 a day (including tax) with a $50 credit card deposit. If the guests decide later to take Pal Mickey home, the $50 deposit will be deducted from their credit card. Guests who know in advance that they’ll want to take Pal Mickey home may buy one for $50 (including tax) instead of renting one and paying a deposit.

(The) Product Development Vice President said Pal Mickey will build memorable Cast and guest experiences. “This little guy ... will create great conversations between our Cast and guests,” (she) said. “These interactions will turn into great experiences that guests can remember by taking him home.” "

 

[Mike]

I remember reading about this a couple of months ago and that article said that Pal Mickey would only be available to people who book their vacation package on-line. That no longer seems to be the case. I'm glad it will be available to everyone - for a nominal fee of $50 anyway!!

 

[JOC]

How do you suppose they'll sanitize these Pal Mickeys?

I guess we'll be buying one since I'm not sure I'd want our son to have one that's been slobbered on by someone else's child, and I'm sure other people wouldn't want one that my son has slobbered on (although he is 3.5 years old and past the slobbering stage...we think!).

Wait, I get it...that's Disney's marketing ploy coming into play now, isn't it?

 

[piglet33]

when we went to AK in November, 2000, we got to "try out" a handheld device that talked in certain areas and told you all about the "land" you were in and the attractions that you were near and took digital pictures. It was really cool. We wound up getting $50 in Disney Dollars, baseball hats that identified us to the castmembers, a special fastpass to ride one of the rides (I can't remember which one) and access to a website that had the pictures we took. Unfortunately, there was a problem with some of the downloads of the pictures so Disney sent us two FREE passes to one theme park, which we are planning to use this coming trip in October.

After the trial time, we had to go in a room and complete a survey. One of the questions was something like "Would you pay to use this type of device in the parks if disney offered it?"

This sounds very similar to the device we used. Guess people said they would use it if it was more kid friendly.

JOC - I agree with you about buying one. I wouldn't want to give my daughter one that we didn't know when and how it was cleaned.

 

[donna in Oz]

Wow . . . I'm really excited about this. My MIL is totally blind; this will be a great plus for her during our trip in October !!

 

[Terry S]

piglet33.... Actually around that same time, we were asked to test the Pal Mickey. They were testing both an adult version (handheld device) as well as a kid version (plush toy) of basically the same thing. They assumed adults wouldn't want to carry the toy around.

 

[piglet33]

Hi Terry S - I didn't know they had both of them then. Did you participate in this? I was surprised they actually gave some good perks for doing this. Iliked the handheld device since it had a digital camera attached to it. I had a lot of fun playing with it. Wish I could get lucky to get to do something like that again.

 

[Terry S]

Yes piglet33, we did test the Pal Mickey. They gave us the baseball caps for everyone in our party and $50 Disney Dollars. I would have tested it for free! They did take us back into a room and fed us pop and cookies while they asked us a bunch of questions. We also had to sign a confidentiality agreement , so I have had to keep it quiet until they announced it. It sounds as if they have made a few changes to it since then.

I wouldn't mind if they approched me to test something again, it was fun!

 

[Tinks]

Does anyone know if you can buy Pal Mickey ahead of time?? We are going in May (Yea!) and it would be great to have him in our room with a note for the boys when we arrive. How fun!!! I wonder if they are already planning to have him on the table with the rain ponchos and mugs that if you touch him...you pay! Too funny...but does anyone know???

 

[MICOL]

Goodbye $50, oh well Pal Mickey should be fun.

 

[Tinks]

*BUMP!*

Anyone know if you can pre-purchase??? Thanks!

 

[Fridye]

Tinks -- I read on another board that someone was told to call the Mail Order number for WDW (phone purchase of items at WDW shops) 1–407–363–6200. I tried this but the rep couldn't find anything listed for Pal Mickey. Anyone else have a suggestion? I thought about calling a resort shop.

 

[Tinks]

I thought about calling the resort, too. I think I will about 1 week prior to our trip and have it in our room when we check in if that's possible. I'm hoping by late May it will be!

 

[BrianD]

Yeah, I'm a little worried that this may become the next Disney craze and they will be all sold out when we go at the end of May. I hope not, but we'll see.

 

[Mickey_Maniac]

Does anyone know if Pal Mickey will do anything interactive outside of the parks?

 

[BrianD]

Originally posted by Mickey_Maniac
Does anyone know if Pal Mickey will do anything interactive outside of the parks?

Yeah, he'll annoyingly tell you that it's time to go back to WDW until you get so tired of hearing it that you go back to WDW and spend more money!

Actually, I think outside of WDW, he may have a couple of things that he's says, if you squeeze him or something (not totally sure about this), but nothing interactive.