The Muppet Mindset Goes to Walt Disney World, Part 2

Ryan Dosier - As you all surely remember, on Tuesday I discussed the first two days of my trip to Walt Disney World. Well I'm back again (go figure) to share with you my experiences in Disney's Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom (again), and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Ready? Well hop in your flying elephant and let's go!

Disney's Animal Kingdom
Unsurprisingly, this was an extremely lackluster day for Muppet stuff. Considering there is virtually zero Muppet representation within this park, I was completely surprised to see some Animal, Kermit, and Fozzie plushes displayed fairly prominently within one of the DinoLand U.S.A. gift shops. I have no idea why they were there, but they were the only Muppets I saw in Animal Kingdom.

But I did meet Jiminy Cricket in Animal Kingdom, so the park wasn't a total bust.

Magic Kingdom, Day 2
There was nothing that would be able to stop me from seeing Kermit and Miss Piggy in the Honorary VoluntEARS Parade at the Magic Kingdom today. That's why at 1:00, two hours before the parade started, I dragged my party to the top of the Main Street railroad station for some absolutely perfect seats to view the parade. (Okay, so it was my brother's idea to sit up there. Like he's going to read this anyway!)

Our view of Magic Kingdom atop the Main Street Railroad Station

So as we waited, my antsy brother had to get up to go get popcorn for himself. Much to my surprise, he returned with a souvenir cup with the same design and picture as the popcorn bucket I mentioned earlier. It was a pain in the neck to carry around all day (I almost left it on Space Mountain), but it was a nice gesture on my brother's part.

Finally, 3:00 struck and the parade began. I was thrilled to see that the Volunteer portion was the very first thing out of the gate. On a side note, if you are planning a trip to Walt Disney World anytime soon and want to catch this show, they aren't kidding when they say it starts at 3:00. You'll want to make sure you're there early.

Anyway, out come the frog and the pig and I'm thrilled to death and waving (because I know they can see me) and then I remember that I need to take pictures... so here are those pictures I remembered to take!

It was so much fun to see the crowd watching the parade react to a real Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy right in front of them. It was tremendous to see so many people giving Sweetums high-fives and stopping him (in the middle of the parade!) to take pictures with him. I came to one conclusion after seeing this parade, and it's that we need to see more Muppets in the Disney Parks. Whether it's just in a daily parade like this, or if the characters do silent meet and greets--I think Disney-goers would eat it up. So... get on that Disney people!

More pictures of Kermit and Piggy and Sweetums (along with most of the pictures from my trip) are available on the new Muppet Mindset Photobucket account!

Disney's Hollywood Studios

This was obviously the biggest amount of Muppet stuff in one place (thanks to Muppet*Vision 3D). Aside from all of the wonderful atmospheric elements of the Muppet*Vision outside area along with the lobby area, there is also a gift shop right outside of the show where you can, presumably, buy Muppet stuff.

All of the Muppet stuff you can buy, however, is on one very small side of the rather large store. I was severely disappointed by the sparse amount of Kermit merchandise I could buy. Aside from the stuff seen at Magic Kingdom mentioned in Part 1, here there were t-shirts of Kermit, Fozzie, and Rizzo as their Star Wars personas (Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and Yoda) with clever little quips on each shirt (I was not impressed), two different Beaker t-shirts, a Sam the Eagle "Bald and Proud" t-shirt, two different Animal t-shirts, and a group t-shirt (which I bought, pictured at right).

Other than t-shirts there was... well, not much. There were drumsticks with Animal on them, a glass with Kermit's face on it, keychains and magnets with Statler and Waldorf that read, "Old... It Sure Beats Dead!", Pepe and Miss Piggy's books, and, shockingly enough, Jim Henson: The Works, the incredible 1993 that I haven't seen for sale anywhere. But... yeah, that's it. No Miss Piggy girly merchandise, hardly any fun Kermit stuff, one Gonzo in the form of a plush, no Swedish Chef cooking items--zip, zilch, nada limonada! (Yes, I just called you lemonade.) A true testament to how little the store had is in the fact that I only bought the group t-shirt and the Kermit glass (because it was $6.00)--I buy anything Muppety!

But I still have faith that more merchandise is coming and I just caught the store in its in-between phase. I'm sure that once the new movie comes out the Muppet*Vision store will be flooded with Muppet stuff (and hopefully stores we can go to every day will too).

Well, unfortunately, that's all I've got for Muppet stuff in Walt Disney World. I wish I had more, but, alas, I do not.

Thanks for tuning in! And be sure to check out The Muppet Mindset Photobucket account for all of these pictures and more!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: February 12, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: February 12, 2010
Kermit and Sweetums played a big part in Walt Disney World's "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" presentation at EPCOT yesterday. Kermit joked around with Tom Staggs, Chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, about cans of peas and other volunteering puns. Jim Hill has news and pictures available. Just gotta love that frog!

Also in the news, The Playlist blog has a "new" review of the new Muppet movie script--this time claiming that the title has once again been changed back to "The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time." There's still no official word yet on whether it has truthfully been changed (again), but this blog post does add some interesting elements considering their script draft was dated October 2009, a month after the announcement of "The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made" at D23.

A week ago, The MuppetCast posted an hour-long interview with Muppeteer Steve Whitmire. The hour-long listening time may seem daunting, but I promise that it is more than worth the time spent. Steve discusses character development, "Bohemian Rhapsody," upcoming projects, America's Got Talent, and more! Be sure to check it out!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

New Muppet Badges and More with Walt Disney World on Facebook!

Walt Disney World is obviously the happiest place on earth (unless of course you're a bakery that Cookie Monster has wandered into), but did you know they also have the happiest Facebook Profile on earth as well? Well... that might not be true, but, starting today, for Muppet fans it is pretty darn chipper.

Disney debuted a brand new "Give a Day" section to their Facebook profile. And who is the first Disney character you see on this brand-spanking-new page? Why, none other than Sam Eagle, of course (of course?)! Sam is the first of Disney's "Volunteer Spotlights," a selected volunteer who has an incredible story to tell about their volunteering experience. I don't know what makes Sam's story so heroic, but it does have a nice quote from him: "Painting the house red, white, and blue."

But that's not terribly exciting is it? Well, lucky for you there's more! The site also features some really cool "badges" that you can attach to your own Facebook profile or to your blog or other website (see Gonzo and chicken at right).

Did I mention these badges are completely free and look absolutely gorgeous? Because they are. And they do. Yet another reason for Muppet fans to be proud of the job Disney is doing with our favorite fuzzy friends. We're finally seeing some new, quality poser puppet pictures featuring more than just Kermit and Miss Piggy. It's truly a wonderful time to be a Muppet fan.

The Facebook profile also features all of the Muppet TV commercials in one convenient location (as if having them all on The Muppet Mindset wasn't convenient enough for you...). Yet another reason to check out this neat addition to the Muppet "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." promotion timeline!

So have you volunteered yet? Do you have any interest in volunteering yet? If not, what the heck do these Muppets have to do to inspire you? They're working their non-existent rear ends off here!Give 'em a break, eh? After all... they've been volunteering since September!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Haul-A-Steer, World Premiere, and, above all, Volunteer

Have you been to the brand new Give a Day, Get a Disney Day website located at disneyparksgive.com? You haven't? Oh, good grief. Fine. I'll wait here while you go. Just go on. Let me know when you're done...

Hmm? Oh. Right. Well, first put in your name and email address--am I going to fast for you? After you've put in your information, put in the info of up to three of your friends (or, if you have no friends, just put in your own info again).

Are you done? Good. Now, go to your email (trust me, it's worth all of this work) and check your junk mail folder--Don't worry, it's from the Muppets. It's safe. Click the linky link and...

BAM! Kermit and Miss Piggy! Right away they're talking to each other about a world premiere/volunteer and all of a sudden--Wha?! Did they just say YOUR NAME?! They did, yes.

This is just another step in Disney's huge push for the Muppets and their "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." promotion that has been taking the world by storm recently. Unfortunately, the Muppets destroy the website, so it probably won't be storming the world for too much longer--but how awesome is it that the Muppets destroy the website?

Once you've watched Fozzie Haul-A-Steer and the Swedish Chef and Animal don pirate hats, you have the option of choosing three groups of Muppets to help you clean up the site: Animal (in a French maid outfit), Bunsen and Beaker, and Miss Piggy. Whichever one you click is hilarious (and fret not, you'll be able to watch the other two too), but I'm personally quite fond of Animal the French Maid.

Anyway, once your Muppet "cleans up," you're redirected to the site where you put in you and your friends' info. But don't navigate away just yet! Simply hit the back button or reload the page and your treated to even more Muppety goodness! First it's Sam Eagle revealing that you are a spy (I am shocked and appalled at you!) and then if you click back after the session has played through again, it's Gonzo trying to burst through your computer screen with a jet pack (he sadly fails).

Are you having an awesome attack yet? Because you should be. The Muppets are back to their old, destructive selves once again--and Disney's letting them do it all over their website!

What's more, they're also letting the Muppets do it elsewhere in the Disney family. As you all know, they tore down an entire house on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition last Sunday. And exactly a week later (this Sunday, January 10th) they'll be appearing on America's Funniest Home Videos. I only assume they'll be funny on videos in a home in America. But that's just spit-balling.

And starting tomorrow at both Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Sweetums will be appearing in a daily pre-parade at the parks to honor volunteers who participated in "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." So they get a free ticket to Disney and they get to be in a parade with the Muppets? This volunteering thing doesn't seem half bad!

So if you find yourself in Walt Disney World or Disneyland anytime this year (after tomorrow) be sure to check out the pre-parade with Kermit and Miss Piggy. And if you're in front of a TV this Sunday night at 7/6c and it's tuned to ABC, be sure to catch the Muppets on America's Funniest Home Videos!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: December 22nd, 2009

NEWS UPDATE: DECEMBER 22
Don't forget to watch The Muppets on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon tomorrow night (Wednesday, December 23rd). Muppets Studio's Facebook page is reporting that Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rizzo, Pepe, Scooter, Rowlf, Robin, Sam Eagle, and Animal will all be appearing to sing "The 12 Days of Christmas." This is sure to be an incredible appearance--and not just because Scooter, Rowlf, Robin, and Sam Eagle will be there. Well... okay, mostly because of that. Be sure to check it out!

Multiple Disney blogs are reporting that the Muppets will be a big part of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World's daily "Celebrate a Dream Come True" parades. Tentatively scheduled to begin January 4, 2010, Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Sweetums will be on-hand to help welcome those volunteers who got into the park for free as part of the Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. promotion during the pre-parade ceremonies. Some sources are reporting that the actual Muppets, and not walk-around characters, will be in the parade. If we find out more information, you know we will report it!

ToughPigs has another interview with The Muppet Show Comic Book writer and artist Roger Langridge posted. Be sure to check it out!

ToughPigs has also broken the news that artist Katie Cook will be writing and drawing one of the new Fraggle Rock comics from Archaia Comics to be released next year.

Muppet Magazine Advertisements Mega Awesomeness

Remember a few months ago when the Muppets headlined Disney Park's "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." promotions with commercials and things? Well, there's more!

In the December 2009 issues of both O Magazine and Real Simple magazine, there are brand new, gorgeous spreads of the Muppets volunteering and subsequently celebrating at Walt Disney World. Don't feel like going out and paying $5 a piece for two magazines you'll rip three pages out of and never look at again? Well, aren't you lucky you have The Muppet Mindset?

Photos courtesy of Lisa Alexander and Scarecroe from Muppet Wiki.











The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier.