Pal Mickey

[DodgerGirl]

I read that Walt Disney World had a very special toy for kids called Pal Mickey and it was a Mickey plushie that you could rent and Pal Mickey was designed to keep kids entertained while waiting in line by telling jokes and fun facts about the rides or shows people were gonna see. I always thought that these were neat when I read about them but I wonder why Pal Mickey failed? Because it seemed like a smart idea for Walt Disney World to do to keep kids from being bored. Could you also buy Pal Mickey at the parks as well?

 

[jo-jo]

I read that Walt Disney World had a very special toy for kids called Pal Mickey and it was a Mickey plushie that you could rent and Pal Mickey was designed to keep kids entertained while waiting in line by telling jokes and fun facts about the rides or shows people were gonna see. I always thought that these were neat when I read about them but I wonder why Pal Mickey failed? Because it seemed like a smart idea for Walt Disney World to do to keep kids from being bored. Could you also buy Pal Mickey at the parks as well?

Never heard about renting them, but I bought one years ago. It was cute. Sometimes talked at the wrong time. On my birthday, we were leaving Epcot after hitting all four parks and he said, "that was a fun day". Of course he probably said that everyday, but still we had bought it that morning.

After a few years it was abandoned by disney. And now has issues, shakes whenever it wants and hardly talks. Lives in the toy box.

 

[serenitynow]

Never heard about renting them, but I bought one years ago. It was cute. Sometimes talked at the wrong time. On my birthday, we were leaving Epcot after hitting all four parks and he said, "that was a fun day". Of course he probably said that everyday, but still we had bought it that morning.

After a few years it was abandoned by disney. And now has issues, shakes whenever it wants and hardly talks. Lives in the toy box.

Yes, he was for sale in the parks. He also had different costumes for purchase. Pirate, Sorcerer etc.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We had a Pal Mickey and loved it but, it became outdated as technology improved. It was ahead of its times and provided great entertainment but not without challenges. While fun, it’s was also heavier than a normal plushie due to the mechanics inside. We had ours (that I had purchased) attached to a lanyard.

Pal Mickey would vibrate when he had something to tell you (it was based on early version GPS kind of technology) but if you were not holding him close you’d miss it. One other challenge we found was that to hear him you needed to hold him ver close to your ear to hear him.

We loved our Pal Mickey and he took a number of trips with us until the invention of smart devices. Hmm, guess he’s tucked away somewhere in the basement now.

Games were fun but limited and soon repeated so didn’t offer the ‘reusability’ offered now.

So glad we had him and he did provide a lot of entertainment in the parks for the time!!

 

[lockets]

Very cool. I had no idea! Here are pics. looks like most people are listing them between $50-100 used.

 

[HopperFan]

Still have ours!

One negative is they were very heavy!

 

[DodgerGirl]

It would've been nice if Walt Disney World would've also created a Pal Minnie Pal Goofy and a Pal Donald to go along with Pal Mickey because a whole line of these characters would've been wonderful sellers. I think had they lowered the price of Pal Mickey and made him less heavy and easy to carry around the parks he would've sold better. Interactive toys have always interested me ever since I was a little girl and when you look at the interactive toys that are sold in toy stores today nowadays they require the use of smartphones or tablets because they come with apps that enable kids to chat or play games which I think is impossible for kids to do because when you look at it chatting on a tablet or smartphone is a lot like chatting in chat rooms on the internet which I can't figure out why some games have chat interaction and they should have gaming apps with no chat in them for kids. But I think why Pal Mickey failed was because people thought that it would be a great interactive plushie like Webkinz was but I mainly think it was because Pal Mickey was pricey to begin with. If Walt Disney World were to develop a new improved Pal Mickey in the future I bet people would buy them and they would sell very quickly

 

[lockets]

Interactive toys have always interested me ever since I was a little girl and when you look at the interactive toys that are sold in toy stores today nowadays they require the use of smartphones or tablets because they come with apps that enable kids to chat or play games which I think is impossible for kids to do because when you look at it chatting on a tablet or smartphone is a lot like chatting in chat rooms on the internet

If Walt Disney World were to develop a new improved Pal Mickey in the future I bet people would buy them and they would sell very quickly

I was thinking similar. My idea is they can release an interactive Genie plushie for kids to use in the parks and it would be similar to Pal Mickey in that it has some basic smart functions but not something that requires a smart phone so the younger kids can easily hold it and use it and it’s “their own” version of Genie since their parents are likely using Genie on MDE throughout the day.

 

[Communicore1991]

Still have ours!

One negative is they were very heavy!

I remember carrying ours around our necks in the park with a lanyard. After a little while we would hand him off to someone else in the group because it would be pulling on our necks too much!

 

[DL1WDW2]

I wonder how successful that new Mickey Interactive Hello Disney Ears Placed in ResortHotel has been . Good?Bad?Yes?No thank you ?