Pal Mickey Support Ending

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

I guess mine will have to stay retired to the back of the couch in the camper...

 

 

Support for Pal Mickey, the original interactive guide at the parks that was introduced in 2008, will be ending this week.

 

From September 27 2014, the plush Pal Mickey will no longer work at Walt Disney World. Pal Mickey uses a series of infra-red transmitters around the parks, which is now an aging technology, and has mostly been replaced with RFID as part of MyMagic+.

 

Using the infra-red locators positioned around the parks, Pal Mickey shared location aware timesaving tips, fun facts and jokes.

 

http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/mymagicplus/news/22sep2014-pal-mickey-support-to-end-this-week.htm

[DaveInTN 3,247]

So what the heck am I gonna do with the 5 Pal Mickeys I just bought for Christmas gifts this year?   :banghead:

 

Ok, just kidding.  I've actually never heard of Pal Mickey.  

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

 

 

Pal Mickey is a discontinued interactive stuffed toy developed by The Walt Disney Company and previously sold at Walt Disney World. While Pal Mickey was discontinued and no new stock is available for purchase as of October 2008, all three versions will continue to function.

 

The toy is a ten-inch (26.5 cm) plush model of Mickey Mouse, soft and easy for children to hold. Inside, it contains a microprocessor, a speaker, three AA batteries, three squeeze sensors (one in each hand and one in its belly), and an infrared receiver in its nose. A loop on the back of its head fits a clip or a lanyard hook for ease of carrying.

 

Pal Mickey was sold for use at the four theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort: the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom. Guests could previously purchase Pal Mickey at various on site hotel gift shops, all four theme parks, and Downtown Disney. It communicates invisibly with more than four hundred infrared transmitters around these parks. It will periodically giggle and vibrate to indicate that it has information to provide; when its belly or hand is squeezed, it will speak up with information about the immediate area, parade and showtime reminders, tips on what costumed walkaround characters may be nearby, and attractions with short queue times. It "remembers" where it has been so as to avoid repeating itself.

 

If it is squeezed when it has no tips to provide or when it is not at a park, it will tell jokes and play simple games. The toy is programmed with over seven hundred pre-recorded phrases.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pal_Mickey

 

I've got one that I think I bought in 2006.  Actually dragged it around the parks once. 

 

That was fun for a day. 

 

I let my friends' 6 year old borrow it.  He was equally unimpressed.

 

For a while they were going for big bucks on eBay.  I'm not sure if this news will make them worth more or... zippo.

 

He's been sitting on the ledge behind the couch in the TT for the past 4 years.  He still works in "non-park" mode.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Buy it now for $65!  Or not.  

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Disney-World-PAL-MICKEY-Retired-Amazing-Interactive-Talking-Plush-Collectible-/301322666002?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46283b0012

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Buy it now for $65!  Or not.  

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Disney-World-PAL-MICKEY-Retired-Amazing-Interactive-Talking-Plush-Collectible-/301322666002?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46283b0012

 

I'll SELL it now for $65 - which if I remember correctly, is more than double what I paid for it.  :)

[Dalspot ... Karen 21]

We had fun with Pal Mickey. Got one in 2003, dropped it on the train in AK in 2006. Got another, which now sits with my assortment of Mickeys.