Mickey’s Teddy Bear, Duffy, my favorite thing in the entire world. I get asked about my Duffy obsession quite a bit, or just get made fun of for it. Most people don’t like Duffy because they see him as a character created simply to sell merchandise and make money. (I hate to break it to you, but that’s most Disney characters these days.) However to me, he is much more than that.
Photo by 2 Pro Photography.
They announced Duffy on the Disney Parks Blog in September of 2010, literally a month after my grand Disney World Vacation. I thought he was adorable, and I wanted one desperately. At the time he was Park exclusive, you couldn’t find him online except Ebay. My mom had a coworker who went to Disney and the next Christmas I found him under the tree. In 2012, I finally got to meet him when I went to Disneyland for the first time when I found him in California Adventure. He didn’t have a line so I got to spend lots of time with him, and I have a hilarious picture of him 
going “Rawr” at the camera. I was doing a nature photography assignment for school and my teacher told us not to photograph bears so we wouldn’t get eaten… Naturally I asked Duffy to pretend to eat me. Duffy seemed to appreciate my sense of humor, my professor did not.
[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]When I moved into college program housing I was already over packed with lots of cooking and cleaning supplies my mom thought would be important. She insisted I only take one stuffed animal, and as much as I love Duffy, the Mickey Mouse I’ve had since I was a baby was my first choice. On that first day playing in the parks, when none of my roommates could go with me, I took my Mickey and the first thing we did upon arriving at Epcot was go see Duffy.[/lgc_column][lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”true”]
My first time meeting Duffy at Epcot.
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Unfortunately for Mom, my roommate bought a Duffy. This led to most of the rest of my roommates getting them as well. Determined not to be left out, I made her send mine. I immediately bought him a Sorcerer Mickey outfit and the Duffy book.
The story of Duffy is that Minnie made him for Mickey so he wouldn’t get homesick when he was away on adventures. Being away from home and 
my mom, that’s exactly what Duffy turned into for me. It’s hard living in the same town in the same house your whole life and then moving eleven hours away. The more homesick I felt the more I loved that little bear, and the more I heard other people talk about not liking him the more I had to love him to make up for everyone else. It would become a tradition that I would not go to Epcot without stopping to see my beloved bear, and sometimes I would go there just to see him. I didn’t have a lot of friends when I first moved down here, and I was lonely a lot. Duffy was always happy to see me whenever I needed a hug. Pretty soon my collection started multiplying. It wasn’t long before I was in double digits.
In late summer 2014, two wonderful things happened. First, Disney announced that Shellie May, the girl bear who Minnie made so Duffy would have his own special friend, would now be available at Aulani. I know the exact moment I saw this announcement: I was standing in Cosmic Rays in Magic Kingdom with my best friend from home. She had come to visit me before she moved to Hawaii to spend some time with her parents. Right island and everything. Cue the begging! The second wonderful thing was Tokyo Disneyland’s announcement of Gelatoni: Duffy’s new friend who was an Italian cat who painted using his tail for a brush. Although he was adorable, I knew he would be much harder to get.
The day after my birthday, a box from Hawaii showed up, and I could have not been happier. I got a laptop and a stuffed bear for my birthday-guess which one I was more excited about!
Saying good-bye to Duffy. Photo by Disney Photopass.
Gelatoni would not be acquired until the next summer. After trying several other avenues, one was finally ordered on Ebay from a top rated seller. (There’s a surprising amount of counterfeit Duffy merchandise online so I’m always hesitant.) A few months after that, one of the earlier attempts paid off and another one showed up in the mail!
Then in October 2015, something terrible happened. I found out Duffy was leaving Epcot, and they were replacing him with Daisy Duck. His last day was going to be October 3rd, so I cleared the whole day. I packed up Duffy, Shellie May and Gelatoni, and all of Duffy’s outfits with my Mickey and a painting of Duffy I had done. I spent all day going through his line over and over again. In all my visits to Duffy, my bear never had more than a ten minute wait, but when they found out he was leaving, lots of people came to say good-bye so his line was over an hour. I saw him five times, and I spent the last part of the night letting people go in front of me until they closed off the line so I could be the last one to see him and say good-bye. I’m very proud I made it out of the park before I started to cry.
Pluto has replaced Daisy in that spot, but I will never stop hating that Duck.
Duffy wants to pull out the Sword in the Stone. Photo by 2 Pro Photography.
Now I’m saving up to go to Tokyo Disney, because in their second park is Cape Cod, which is basically Duffy-land. You can meet him and Shellie May, in addition to the two little shows they have there. They have all sorts of merchandise that gets released seasonally and an entire event dedicated to Duffy in late winter to early spring called “My Sweet Duffy”. In Hong Kong, you can even meet Gelatoni! I am hoping to go sometime in 2020 for the 15th Anniversary of Duffy Bear, he was released in 2005 in Japan, because Tokyo Disneysea had a huge event that lasted for several months for his 10th Anniversary in 2015. Trying to save would be easier if I didn’t keep falling in love with merchandise from overseas. Last month a new friend of Duffy was announced in Japan. Her name is Stella Lou and she is a bunny ballerina that dreams of dancing on Broadway. I don’t have her yet, but I am working on it.
I have an Oswald’s Garage Duffy exclusive to California Adventure. Shellie May, outfits, and key chains from Aulani. Coffee mugs, hand sanitizer, and post it notes from Hong Kong. Outfits, Gelatoni, a jacket, candy cases and more from Tokyo, and ears and the Tron outfit from Shanghai. I have so, so much stuff from Walt Disney World. Now I just need something from Paris and I’ll have something from every corner of the globe. Or at least, everywhere there’s Disney.
Duffy jacket exclusive to Japan. Photo by Disney Photopass.
The tagline for the My Sweet Duffy event is “Duffy brings love”, and you better believe he does.
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