theprawncracker said:
Anyway, when you get into the actual store you are... Well, rather dissapointed. One third of the store is Muppet stuff, I'm not even sure what the rest of the stuff in there was... It looked to be maybe baby stuff in one third, and just plain Disney World stuff in the other that you can find anywhere in any of the parks.
The whole store was only completely filled with Muppet stuff for only a short time after MV3D originally opened. In talking with a cast member (
years and years ago), I was told that at that time, Brian and Jane Henson had complete control over the Muppet's merchandise and that Disney wasn't allowed to manufacture additional Muppet merch unless it was MV3D related. As you can imagine, that created difficulty determining if creating a Kermit plush with a MV3D tag was acceptable or if it was infringing on actual Muppet copyright. The idea was to create a new MV3D movie with the Muppets so that Disney could tailor the type of Muppet merchandise that was acceptable to manufacture on their terms. Of course this never happened (
but has been a rumor for years) and the splintering of the original Disney contract as well as the mess the Muppets went through in their various owners, sharply decreased any Muppet merchandise whatsoever, and the park was forced into cutting back their Muppet stock, therefore opening the rest of the building to other various resort related merchandise. This is all heresay though as it was an informal conversation between a Disney cast member and a Disney guest.
theprawncracker said:
There were NO Muppet pins, at all.
The pins (
or rather one or two of the pins) should have been available at a small cart outside the entrance of the theatre closer to the Pizza Planet restaurant in front of the fountain (
that's where my photos of the pins were shot). Disney pins are traded among Disney guests and cast members more frequently then purchased. The rare pins are only available upon trade. 9 out of ten times, pins won't be found in stores, but rather the kisosk stands around the parks (
however, the store you enter upon exiting the Pirates of the Caribbean ride has a great selection of pins and is a great spot for a beginner pin collector to start).
theprawncracker said:
...the ONLY Muppet thing I saw was actually really cool, a portait painting of Animal hanging in one of the "Art of Disney" stores. Yup, that was my Muppet stuff for Day Four.
Noting that a lot of the stuff I had posted in my thread is no longer available at the Muppet store, isn't surprising at all at the unbelievably high rate that Disney rotates their stock. I'm actually surprised some of the stuff I posted actually
is still there. I think it's fair to acknowledge though that these illustrations you saw (
of which I'd really like to see if you can scan and post those, Ry) will be extremely varied in both appearance and availability as the art in Downtown Disney rotates stock at an even higher rate due to the fact that a) it's original art that Disney limits the amount of prints for so that the value of said print remains high for the buyer, b) Artists prints that are available for sale are individual commissions. In other words, Disney artists aren't necessarily assigned to draw certain characters, but rather have some liberty in the creation of those characters. Obviously Mickey and Pooh will be done often as a top seller, but they are encouraged to draw other lesser known characters. And c) because of popularity of certain characters over others, stock on those characters will rotate faster during the "on seasons" (
summer, Christmas, Spring break) where there might be less of a selection during the off season (
winter, early Fall, etc.).
All in all, the new merchandise sounds really cool (
any chance of getting a shot of that Piggy liberty statue posted?). Also glad to here the statue of Kermit made it into the MV3D store. Great report, Ry.
Currently the missus and I are planning our next visit in early 2008. I'm planning on making a "What To Do If You're Going to Walt Disney World" thread. I strongly encourage every member here that does go to WDW or WDL to give us reports like this, they're very helpful!
Welcome to the Muppet Central Forum!
Jim Henson Idea Man
Back to the Rock Season 2
Bear arrives on Disney+
Sam and Friends Book
).
