Disney and theme parks around the world are investing more in interactive elements in their parks with each passing year, following a trend jumpstarted by the interactive wands of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. But Disney already had made an attempt at an interactive device within their parks in the early 2000s, with the short-lived Pal Mickey.
Pal Mickey was an interactive plush toy that was sold and rented at Walt Disney World beginning in 2003. Three different versions were created over the years as well as various costumes for the toy.
The idea of the toy was that you would take it along with you throughout your Walt Disney World trip, with it giving you updates on the park as well as fun trivia based on your location in the four parks of Walt Disney World as well as Downtown Disney.
When it had a fun fact to share, it would shake to let guests know to push its paw to get the special information from each location.
The toy also had a series of games to play when you aren't in the Disney Parks making it something you could enjoy even beyond your initial Walt Disney World vacation.
While popular, Disney would choose to discontinue the toy in 2008, however, they kept maintaining the interactive locations until 2014. Since then the in-park Pal Mickey features have slowly deteriorated in the parks, with pretty much no one noticing.
This toy was truly ahead of its time, and I wonder if it would have achieved even greater success if it had been released today. It was an interactive theme park device in a time before it became the norm, and is shockingly similar to the many similar devices that exist today.
Today, Pal Mickey remains a largely forgotten part of Disney Parks history, that has been abandoned throughout Walt Disney World.
Comments
Post a Comment