A History of Duffy the Disney Bear & Friends!
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What do you pack with you when you go on vacation? Socks, bathing suit, sunscreen, teddy bear...
That’s where Duffy comes in. In his most recent back story, Duffy the Disney Bear was supposedly made by Minnie Mouse for Mickey Mouse to help him get through a long sea journey. He supposedly gets his name from the duffel bag he was packed inside.
Previously, it was said that Mickey brought The Disney Bear (his old name) to the Magic Kingdom to have a friend in the park. Tinkerbell sprinkled some of her pixie dust on him, bringing him to life to spend time with his pal! After Mickey hugged him, a Mickey shape appeared on his face to bond the two forever.
Duffy was first briefly seen in 2002 in Orlando at Once Upon a Toy, but his popularity came when he went overseas! He was a hit at the Tokyo DisneySea park when he debuted in December 2004, with some guests carrying multiple bears around on their park visits! There were even photo points inserted for fans to take pictures of Duffy or with their Duffy bears!
In October 2010, Duffy made his way back to the American parks. He was originally seen in Epcot in Walt Disney World and California Adventure in Disneyland. He made his way to Hong Kong Disneyland in November of the same year and Disneyland Paris in 2011. Duffy also can be purchased at the newest Disney Resort, Shanghai Disneyland, as well as various Disney stores.
You can even meet Duffy and friends similarly to meeting Mickey and friends at Hong Kong Disneyland if meeting the Disney Bear is on your bucket list.
Duffy’s Friends
ShellieMay
ShellieMay is a pink bear that was created by Minnie to be 'special friends' with Duffy after he and Mickey returned from their sea voyage. She received her name after Duffy gave her a seashell as a gift. She was the first friend of the Disney Bear, debuting in 2010 as a special Valentine’s themed event called Sweet Duffy.
ShellieMay can be found at Tokyo DisneySea, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, Aulani Resort, and Shanghai Disneyland.
Gelatoni
Gelatoni is a green cat that Duffy and Mickey met when Duffy’s gelato fell to the ground on one of their trips. Geletoni uses his tail to paint with gelato. After painting with the dropped gelato, he exchanged pictures with Duffy so they would never be apart.
He debuted in 2014 and can be found at Tokyo Disney and most recently, Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa.*
StellaLou
StellaLou is a lavender rabbit designed for great things! Her story is that she dreams of dancing on the theatre stage, always dressed in her tutu and ballet slippers. After Duffy goes over to help when he sees her stumble, she tells him of her aspirations to be a great dancer. Duffy has vowed to help her make her dreams a reality!
StellaLou debuted in 2017 at Tokyo DisneySea and can now also be found at Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland.
Cookie
Cookie, a yellow dog, is another friend of Duffy the Disney Bear. She’s a great cook that enjoys making and coming up with all sorts of delicious recipes.
Cookie the dog is the most recent friend of Duffy, having debuted in July 2018 at Hong Kong Disneyland.
An image of the five friends together as well as Cookie's debut can be found at the Disney Parks Blog here.
Merchandise
Duffy
Although you can meet Duffy and his friends, most people are familiar with him in his plush form! The most recent 2018 Duffy bear can be found on shopDisney - you can pick him up here!* For those of you not fond of plush animals, you can also pick up a Duffy figurine by Arribas.*
Duffy has even starred in a video game: Kinect Disneyland Adventures!* Although he doesn’t speak, players have the opportunity to interact with him. He also plays a part in Disney Infinty 2.0.*
ShellieMay
ShellieMay is a little harder to come by. On shopDisney, you can currently get a Pandora bracelet charm of ShellieMay.* Believe it or not, Walmart Marketplace in Canada actually has a Valentine's Day plush set of Duffy and ShellieMay for purchase.* Us Canadians rarely get any of the cool stuff, so this is a welcome surprise. Etsy has outfits for her as well if you're looking for various ShellieMay outfits.*
If you're looking for something a little more obscure and are willing to go unofficial, you can get a Kawaii set of Duffy and ShellieMay satchels. After looking at them from various angles, I still can't decide if these are creepy or awesome.
Gelatoni
As mentioned above, Gelatoni has a plush from Aulani you can get. Additionally, there is a tourist outfit you can get for him.* Not sure that the Aunties and Uncles in Hawaii will be on board with this poor cat dressed like that! His cuteness will get him through, I guess. There are also re-sellers such as those on eBay with plushes from Tokyo DisneySea to sell.*
StellaLou
As a newer friend only offered in select locations, offerings for StellaLou are limited. Unofficial options include transparent phone cases and various outfits from Etsy (my personal favourite is the Haunted Mansion costume - called Spooky Mansion for liability reasons I assume). To get an official StellaLou, your best bet is to either go to Tokyo DisneySea, Hong Kong Disneyland, or look for a re-seller online (expect to pay a premium if you go this route - this option from eBay would cost at least $50.00 USD with shipping, but is new with tags). *
Cookie
Although Cookie is brand new, there are already re-sellers such as US Shopping SOS that are providing international purchase and shipping of the Cookie plush.*
Do you like Duffy the Disney Bear and his friends, or do you prefer Mickey and pals? Comment, subscribe and/or follow me on Instagram :)
Let me book the magic for you! Fill in this form for a FREE quote and/or click here for my contact information!
What do you pack with you when you go on vacation? Socks, bathing suit, sunscreen, teddy bear...
That’s where Duffy comes in. In his most recent back story, Duffy the Disney Bear was supposedly made by Minnie Mouse for Mickey Mouse to help him get through a long sea journey. He supposedly gets his name from the duffel bag he was packed inside.
Previously, it was said that Mickey brought The Disney Bear (his old name) to the Magic Kingdom to have a friend in the park. Tinkerbell sprinkled some of her pixie dust on him, bringing him to life to spend time with his pal! After Mickey hugged him, a Mickey shape appeared on his face to bond the two forever.
Duffy was first briefly seen in 2002 in Orlando at Once Upon a Toy, but his popularity came when he went overseas! He was a hit at the Tokyo DisneySea park when he debuted in December 2004, with some guests carrying multiple bears around on their park visits! There were even photo points inserted for fans to take pictures of Duffy or with their Duffy bears!
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In October 2010, Duffy made his way back to the American parks. He was originally seen in Epcot in Walt Disney World and California Adventure in Disneyland. He made his way to Hong Kong Disneyland in November of the same year and Disneyland Paris in 2011. Duffy also can be purchased at the newest Disney Resort, Shanghai Disneyland, as well as various Disney stores.
You can even meet Duffy and friends similarly to meeting Mickey and friends at Hong Kong Disneyland if meeting the Disney Bear is on your bucket list.
Duffy’s Friends
ShellieMay
ShellieMay is a pink bear that was created by Minnie to be 'special friends' with Duffy after he and Mickey returned from their sea voyage. She received her name after Duffy gave her a seashell as a gift. She was the first friend of the Disney Bear, debuting in 2010 as a special Valentine’s themed event called Sweet Duffy.
ShellieMay can be found at Tokyo DisneySea, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, Aulani Resort, and Shanghai Disneyland.
Gelatoni
Gelatoni is a green cat that Duffy and Mickey met when Duffy’s gelato fell to the ground on one of their trips. Geletoni uses his tail to paint with gelato. After painting with the dropped gelato, he exchanged pictures with Duffy so they would never be apart.
He debuted in 2014 and can be found at Tokyo Disney and most recently, Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa.*
StellaLou
StellaLou is a lavender rabbit designed for great things! Her story is that she dreams of dancing on the theatre stage, always dressed in her tutu and ballet slippers. After Duffy goes over to help when he sees her stumble, she tells him of her aspirations to be a great dancer. Duffy has vowed to help her make her dreams a reality!
StellaLou debuted in 2017 at Tokyo DisneySea and can now also be found at Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland.
Cookie
Cookie, a yellow dog, is another friend of Duffy the Disney Bear. She’s a great cook that enjoys making and coming up with all sorts of delicious recipes.
Cookie the dog is the most recent friend of Duffy, having debuted in July 2018 at Hong Kong Disneyland.
An image of the five friends together as well as Cookie's debut can be found at the Disney Parks Blog here.
Merchandise
Duffy
Although you can meet Duffy and his friends, most people are familiar with him in his plush form! The most recent 2018 Duffy bear can be found on shopDisney - you can pick him up here!* For those of you not fond of plush animals, you can also pick up a Duffy figurine by Arribas.*
Duffy has even starred in a video game: Kinect Disneyland Adventures!* Although he doesn’t speak, players have the opportunity to interact with him. He also plays a part in Disney Infinty 2.0.*
ShellieMay
ShellieMay is a little harder to come by. On shopDisney, you can currently get a Pandora bracelet charm of ShellieMay.* Believe it or not, Walmart Marketplace in Canada actually has a Valentine's Day plush set of Duffy and ShellieMay for purchase.* Us Canadians rarely get any of the cool stuff, so this is a welcome surprise. Etsy has outfits for her as well if you're looking for various ShellieMay outfits.*
If you're looking for something a little more obscure and are willing to go unofficial, you can get a Kawaii set of Duffy and ShellieMay satchels. After looking at them from various angles, I still can't decide if these are creepy or awesome.
Gelatoni
As mentioned above, Gelatoni has a plush from Aulani you can get. Additionally, there is a tourist outfit you can get for him.* Not sure that the Aunties and Uncles in Hawaii will be on board with this poor cat dressed like that! His cuteness will get him through, I guess. There are also re-sellers such as those on eBay with plushes from Tokyo DisneySea to sell.*
StellaLou
As a newer friend only offered in select locations, offerings for StellaLou are limited. Unofficial options include transparent phone cases and various outfits from Etsy (my personal favourite is the Haunted Mansion costume - called Spooky Mansion for liability reasons I assume). To get an official StellaLou, your best bet is to either go to Tokyo DisneySea, Hong Kong Disneyland, or look for a re-seller online (expect to pay a premium if you go this route - this option from eBay would cost at least $50.00 USD with shipping, but is new with tags). *
Cookie
Although Cookie is brand new, there are already re-sellers such as US Shopping SOS that are providing international purchase and shipping of the Cookie plush.*
Do you like Duffy the Disney Bear and his friends, or do you prefer Mickey and pals? Comment, subscribe and/or follow me on Instagram :)
Let me book the magic for you! Fill in this form for a FREE quote and/or click here for my contact information!
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