I was the Disneyland Resort yesterday to and was able to capture quite a few newsworthy photos. Pictures include Cars Land, Paradise Gardens, Buena Vista Street, and much more…
In Tomorrowland, The Orbitron is finally spinning again
Would it be cool to have a Kevin on the roof or a Carl in the window? Yes, but this is just a nice piece of artwork that represents the film well. There is a painting of the sky with a little floating up house way in the background. I love that painting. I like simple and subtle Disney merchandise. Two things here… the desire to have Up characters on vinyl and the fact that pictures don’t do this one justice had me worried, but the final product is a must add to any Up’s fan’s collection.
9″/3″ Park 6 Alien Encounter – “9 Alien and 3” Skippy
Artist: Maria Clapsis
LE: 1000
Price: $74.95
This design looked intricate from the concept art and the figure does not disappoint in person. In fact, I’d have to say I’m more impressed in person.
The 9″ Alien looks absolutely fantastic. Lots of detail and great colors used on him. Take a close up look at face, I didn’t notice the slimy drool oozing out of his mouth before I got the figure in hand.
Skippy is also well done. His droopy characteristics are captured perfectly by Maria.
One interesting note is that the foot is stamped “Primevil Whirl – Animal Kingdom”. An interesting misprint that appears to be on everyone’s Skippy.
Overall, a win in my book. A great tribute to a great attraction. Sorry Stitch, your awesome, but I loved the real Aliens that would scare the heck out of me as a kid. Just a note, no artist card is included with this combo.
Nick was able to snap this quick pic of Carl Fredricksen and his famous house flying by the EPCOT Spaceship Earth earlier this morning.
From Steven Miller on the Disney Parks Blog:
I started my Disney career as a merchandise host on the Walt Disney World College Program in the summer of 1997. I worked in several locations at Downtown Disney Pleasure Island including D-Zerts, a former merchandise store that once contained a “show kitchen.” That is a term we use to describe merchandise locations that offer both pre-packaged consumable items (think boxed candy) and freshly made sweet treats like cookies, coffee or other desserts (basically my ideal meal each day). You may have visited other show kitchen locations likeMarceline’s Confectionary at Downtown Disney District in California or Candy Cauldron at Downtown Disney Westside in Florida. Patrice Guy, product developer for consumables at Disney Theme Park Merchandise, recently shared with me some details about the new yummy treats appearing in the show kitchens this summer. Patrice only had to say three words to grab my attention – “Mickey Cake Pops!”
“Cake pops are hot items in the consumables marketplace,” explained Patrice. “I wanted a Mickey-shaped cake pop but faced the challenge of how to execute the design. I contacted the Candy Cauldron team in Florida and, for the past two months, we worked to create the new pixie-dusted pop. It’s delicious!”
Yes – it is delicious! I had the rough assignment of testing treats for this article. The pops come in a variety of colors and are currently being offered at Candy Cauldron and Goofy’s Candy Company at Downtown Disney in Florida. They will be introduced at additional park locations soon and eventually at the Disneyland Resort.
Patrice also shared with me some new cookies that are coming to locations in July. I love the “chocolate ear hat” decorations on them (and of course, that is what I ate first – just like a chocolate Easter bunny).
I love chocolate, particularly dark chocolate (which is supposedly good for my health but only in moderation), and it appears I’m not alone. Patrice introduced a new line of concession candies this past spring that featured a variety of boxes that had me laughing. My favorite box is “Please Stand Clear of My Chocolate,” but the most popular one has been the “Mood Chocolate.” Patrice mentioned a second wave of concession candy boxes featuring different artwork is currently in the design phase.
Meanwhile, I now have another place to get my candy fix. The World Showcase team recently set a “nostalgia candy” display in the Heritage Manor Gifts location at The American Adventure. Wow! There were all sorts of candy that I recall enjoying as a child at my grandparent’s house.
After writing this article, I think I should contact Pam Brandon to see if she has any new meals to try. I’m sure there is a delicious one waiting for me when Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, Ko Olina, Hawai‘i, opens in August. I probably should eat something besides all these yummy treats (or not).
We caught Sam the Eagle from the Muppets 2 set making his roost over at EPCOT. Here are some pics.
Update: 6/24/11 The artofdisney site had a second one of a kind Foose vinylmation on display. This one based on the character Ramone from Pixar’s Cars.
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The vinyl is based on the flame design from the side of Ramone from the first Cars movie.
Like the previous one, there is only ONE of this vinylmation and it’s price is $1,500.00.
Do you like this one more or less than the Foose’s first one?
6/10/11 Today Disney announced another one of a kind custom. This 9″ is created by Southern California artist Chip Foose. Chip grew up designing cars and has even been seen in the reality TV show “Overhaulin'” of TLC. The design represents the lifestyle of the Huntington Beach area of California.
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There is only one of these, and it will set ya back $1,500.00. It’s kind of a shame, because I’d totally pay $25 bucks for a 3″ version of this.
Hidden on the Sneak page of vinylmation.com is the concept artwork for the Astrology Series. Check them all out here. Some cool things to note, both Cancer and Scopio have claws as hands! Also Leo and Taurus look amazing! It also seems like they have connected stars on some to create the constellation that they represent. We will see more when we get the turn arounds. We also expect to see these are open boxes so you can pick the one you want.
Artist: Not known
Release Date: None
Set Size: 12 Open Boxed- assumed
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Aries March 21 – April 20 The ram is the symbol of Aries. |
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Taurus April 21 – May 20 The bull symbolizes Taurus. Great detail on this piece. I enjoy the nose ring. And the color is amazing. |
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Gemini May 21 – June 20 Twins are the symbol is Gemini. I have a feeling this piece is going to make more sense from a side view. (Does this mean we are going to have to get two, so we can display both sides?) |
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Cancer June 21 – July 22  Cancer is represented by the crab. Check out it’s hands, they use the claws that we first saw with the lobster from the Sea Creatures series! |
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Leo July 23 – August 23 This is the lion. I love it. If they get the colors to look like they do here, then it will rock! |
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Virgo August 24 – September 22 Virgo is symbolized by “the maiden”. It’s also an Earth symbol. |
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Libra September 23 – October 23 The scales are what represent Libra. |
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Scorpio October 24 – November 21 It’s kinda obvious, but Scorpio is presented as a scorpion. This one also used the claws as hands just like Cancer. |
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Sagittarius November 22 – December 21 Sagittarius is usually represented by an archer or a centaur. It looks like they went the centaur way here, but it should be more clear once we see the back. Will there be a quiver. Will there be another set of legs and a tail? |
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Capricorn December 22 – January 19 I don’t know what a sea-goat is. But this kinda looks like one. Right? Waves on the bottom. Horns, and a goatee. |
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Aquarius January 20 – February 19 Water is associated with this sign. Especially water carried in a jar (which you see spilling on the right ear). |
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Pisces February 20 – March 20 Always represented by a pair of fish, here is Pisces. |
What do you think of these pieces? Will you get the set, or just your personal one?
Update: Thanks for everyone who reminded me (MC) that vinylmation.com said the 9″ Park 6 would be delayed back on the 20th. Thank you!
Update: We just realized that both 9″ Park 6 figures that came out in D-Streets stores today were also supposed to show up online. (See above screen shot from July 7th). According to accounts from both coasts, it seems like less than 400 were at the stores, which means that there are about 500 or more waiting to be sold online, but it’s not up yet. Weird….
Just a quick DSO update today. As of right now, both the 9″ Holiday 2 Independence Day (Sunburned Man) and the 9″ Animation 1 Hippo are available to purchase on disneystore.com. Sunburned Man is $48.95 and the Hippo is $39.95. Pick them up before the sell out!
