The New Disney Wisdom Quote Series from the Disney Store: Dumbo

 "The very things that held you down are going to carry you up & up & up!" ~ Timothy Q Mouse

 Disney Store's Mickey Memories was a rush.  Crazy.  I didn't find out about it until the end of April sometime, but it was still insane how popular this series became.

This year, on the third Saturday in the U.S.A (except in December when it's the second Saturday), Disney Store is doing Disney Wisdom, a series of plushes and merchandise with favorite Disney quotes.  Last year with Mickey the full set consisted of a plush, pins, and mug.  This year Disney Wisdom has the plush, pins, and mug, but also has a t-shirt, wall art, and journal.  The t-shirt and wall art are online exclusives.

Also, with the pins, last year they released a book where you can slip the pins into clear pockets for page flipping viewing.  This year I was hoping they would do a pin book again, but instead they released a canvas wall hanging.  I ended up getting the wall hanging, but funny enough I won't display Disney Wisdom pins, instead showcasing my favorite pins that I've collected through the years from the parks. I have so many, but will only showcase my favorites in a clean, balanced way.

As of today, January 23, 2019, only the mug, t-shirt, and Disney Wisdom canvas pennant trading pin holder is available.  Everything else is sold out.

Disney stores in the U.K. sold this set the day before the U.S. did, and interestingly enough the pins were the first to sell out.  Here in the States the Dumbo plush sold out first.  Also, the store I went to only got 12 plushes, so they were the first to go.

 Waiting in line.  What I got.  My Mom also got the mug.

 Dumbo: $26.95

So cute!!

I wasn't going to get Dumbo, as he's rather large, but I knew where I would display him and couldn't resist.  He really is adorable.  And I like the stitch work on the ears.

 Disney Wisdom Dumbo Pins: $16.95

I do like these pins, and the pins are the only thing I'm going to collect each month.  Because of the silver you have to have the light reflect on it just right to see the lines, but other than that it's nice.

 Disney Wisdom Dumbo Journal: $16.95

I'm not going to get all the journal's, only the ones with quotes I really like.  I really need to start journaling again.  I use to write all the time.  But I love this quote, and I love this design with the silver.  It's really nice.  Oh, I should have taken a picture of the binding, which says "Disney Wisdom Vol. 1" in blue.

 Disney Wisdom Dumbo Mug: $18.95

Rather expensive for a mug, but it's nice.

 Disney Wisdom canvas pennant trading pin holder: $19.95

And it came with a free pin with Walt Disney's quote:

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

I like the free pin.  And I do like the canvas holder, though I wonder how pins will look when I get my pins out and place them on this.  Will the weight affect the way it looks and hangs?  We'll see, but I'm not ready to tackle the task.

So, thoughts.  I like the first set.  I like the quote, which means a lot with what I'm trying to do with my life.  It's a good start of the year quote.  I will be getting the plush, pins, and journal next month as well, as the Mulan quote is one of my favorites.  From there I haven't a clue what I'll get each month.  I won't get all the plushes.  I will get all the pins.  I'm not sure I'll get all the journals.  We'll see.

Finally Getting the Mickey Mouse Memories May Plush

 Mickey Mouse Memories is a series of monthly collectible Mickey Mouse Plushes, Mugs, Pins, and Christmas Ornaments.  There will be one new plush each month along with the other items, and this started last January.

I only found out about them a few weeks ago!  It's probably a good thing, because I would have wanted to collect all of them.  The Ebay prices are insane.  I contemplated getting all the pins, but decided against that as well.  The mugs and ornaments don't interest me in the slightest.

This plush is so popular I was afraid I wasn't going to get it.  For the April Mickey, the local Disney store only got 12 plushes.  There were 13 people waiting in line.  Then I heard that there were many who tried to buy the plush online, only for it to sell out within the hour.

To play it safe I took the online route.  If that didn't work I could show up to the mall two hours early for the 10 a.m. store opening.  Seems ridiculous, right?  Out of all the pictures I've seen of past and future Mickey plushes, this is the one I wanted.  (The Disney Store has only released images for future Mickey's up through September.  I'm thinking about getting the Sept. plush as I do like that design and it's 90's theme).  May is my birthday month.  I love the May color scheme of aquamarine and pink.  The 50's inspired space theme is really cool.  Each plush represents a different decade.

In the U.S. the Mickey's go on sale the third Saturday of each month, which was May 19th, Midnight morning Pacific time.  That's 1:00 am Mountain time.  I already planned on staying up for the Royal Wedding (I lasted till 3:30 before heading to bed).  That night I did a bunch of research, mainly reading old posts on Facebook about the April launch, getting tips.  There are Facebook groups, and some groups post links to the plushes if the link isn't popping up on ShopDisney.com through page refreshes.  I joined Mickey Mouse Memories Monthly Magic Collectors USA.  Thankfully they accepted me around midnight.

When the clock stroke 1:00 am I couldn't believe how crazy nervous I got!  My fingers were tingling and I was slightly hyperventilating.  Man, I wanted the plush, but that much?  On my browser three pages were open: 2 on the ShopDisney page and one for the FB group.  I started refreshing, over and over, and it wasn't until 20 minutes or so after 1:00 when someone posted the links on the group.  The items weren't showing up when I refreshed ShopDisney.

In April people could order 2 plushes per account.  This month, to fight scalpers, each account was limited to one plush.  I quickly snagged two pin sets and a plush.  And then my Mom wanted me to get her a plush.  With her account I quickly bought a Mickey.  And then, all of a sudden, the plushes were SOLD OUT!  I went back to the plush link on the FB page; it was only 16 minutes old.  

The plush sold out online within 16-20 minutes.  

The next day I started reading FB posts about people getting their order canceled due to the 1 per account rule.  One person had adult children who ordered and used her shipping address, and both their orders got canceled.  Some people were having a second order canceled, or both.  Some ordered one and thought it went through, only to get an "order canceled" email due to ordering right when it sold out.  Others couldn't get the plush online and went to the store, unable to get one there as well.  Scalpers will have someone stand at the front of the line and when the Disney Store opens its doors, suddenly 10 people will show up out of nowhere.  (Read quite a few of these stories on the FB group).  Even though the online rules are strict, at the store each costumer gets a plush.  Some stores reportedly got 6 or 8 plushes.  My local store got 12 again.  The London flagship store got 98, I believe.

I was crazy nervous about my Mom and my orders getting canceled, because we had it shipped to the same address.  I was super happy Sunday night when we both got shipping notices.

The orders arrived yesterday and Mickey is gorgeous.

 I LOVE the May pin set.

 When I found out a few weeks ago about the Mickey Mouse Memory series at the Disney Store, there was only one April pin set left.  I got it!  Love the 1940's theme.  I would have liked the April plush, but not going to fight those Ebay prices.

This pin is my favorite.  Mickey looks so happy.

Last Saturday I wanted to get another pin set (as the second I ordered online was for my Mom), because I want to keep one in the package and take the other one out.  Around 8pm I showed up to the store and got the very last May pin set.  Sold out at the store within the day!  And I got the last April set early this month.  Huge contrast.

As a note, the June plush is going to be equally insane.  From January to June only a certain amount were produced.  Due to the series popularity there will be more plushes available for July though December.  June is 1960's themed.  Dark periwinkle with bright colorful tie died shorts, "Love" written on one ear and "Peace" with flowers on the other.  So many people online are excited!  So if you want June hopefully my story will help you get one.

I'm not going to get June as I'm very happy and in love with May.  July is a bright burnt orange disco theme, ugly.  August is black and shiny gold 1980's theme, again ugly.  (and I was born in the 80's; was going to try for it until I saw the picture).  But I really like September, which is more classic Mickey in bright blue shorts and Mickey type symbols.  (All the pictures are small and blurry).  At the very least I'm going to get September's pins.  October through December have yet to be reveled.

I can't believe how popular these Mickey's are!  Again I feel lucky to have gotten May, as this month is special, my birthday, and having gone to Disneyland a couple weeks ago.  Two weeks ago I went on the "Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps" guided tour for the first time. May 12th.  And the May Mickey items either say 5/12 or 5 of 12.  Cool, right?

So if you weren't able to get a May Mickey Plush, hopefully you'll be able to, or maybe hold out for June or another month.  There's at least one Mickey for everyone, and we're not even through half the year.

(As a fun note, I learned this last week that Push/Stuffed Animals in the U.K. are sometimes referred to as Bears or Teddy's, regardless of the represented animal.  Those overseas are referring to the Mickey Plush as Mickey Bears, confusing us Americans.  Interesting stuff, really.)

(As another note, the May plush has hidden Mickey's. The average seems to be 4-6 hidden Mickey's.  One lady happily wrote yesterday she got 3 hidden Mickey's.  My Mom got 1.  Guess what!?  I got . . . . drum roll . . . 9 1/2 hidden Mickey's!)

Utah Odyssey of the Mind 2016 Pins, Shirt, and Crazy Hats

 A week and a half ago was the Utah Odyssey of the Mind competition, and as tradition we got a whole new set of pins and shirts for our theme, keeping with the blue monsters and going western.  Every year each participating State and Country create new pins and shirts to trade.  Trading at the World's competition is a huge deal, and after closing ceremonies is when the shirt trading starts.  I've gotten some cool shirts these last two years.

 I love Western Omer!

 Creativity Outlaws: Our theme.  BTW, Idaho was on all our pins, but an Idaho team didn't end up competing at our competition (they wouldn't compete against Utah teams, only against other Idaho teams) .  There isn't an OotM program in Idaho, so we let them come to our competition.  There were originally three ID teams, but they all dropped out, but by the time the last team dropped out our pins had all ready been ordered.

 The three blue monsters showing all 5 problems: 

Problem 1, Vehicle: No-Cycle Recycle

Problem 2, technical: Something Fishy

Problem 3, classics: Aesop Gone Viral

Problem 4, structure: Stack Attack!

Problem 5, performance: Furs, Fins, Feathers & Friends

 An Omer pin that's sold on the main website, not tied to a State.

 This years bobble pin.

 The Utah shirt.  Purple is for Officials.  The judges shirt was brown.  The participants/spectactors shirt was like a black, dark navy blue.  The officials/judges shirts were SO much better this year!!  Last year our shirt was based on the box problem set pin.  I really like this years shirt.

 My crazy hat!  So I didn't make one this year.  I wore my Steampunk western style Minnie Mouse ears that I got at Disneyland two years ago. I love this hat!  And it fits both our State theme and Problem 5 theme, which I'm problem captain over.

 My Dad was my announcer/timekeeper this year, and he had a lot of fun creating this Olaf crazy hat.  All the kids loved it.  And my Dad had a lot of fun.  He said he would help again; I'm totally holding him to it!!!  We were super short on volunteers.  I was P.5 problem captain/head judge, P.3 long-term judge, and was supposed to also be the P.5 timekeeper/announcer, but there was no way I could get scores out and later meet with couches with their scores, at the same time keeping our problem site on schedule, if I was timekeeper/announcer, so my Dad stepped in last minute to help me out.  Which was a huge, huge help.

My brother is Problem 2 problem captain, and he created a Raspberry Pi (mini computer), which he uploaded Super Mario Brothers, completely playable, and attached it to his hat.  It was really cool.

So there you have it!  Another year down.

I'm not going to Worlds this year, due to going to France and finances, so I'm sad about that.  I even had a dream about pin trading, and woke up realizing I don't get to pin trade this year!!  Kinda silly.  I hope everyone has fun at Worlds :0)

Utah & Idaho Odyssey of the Mind 2015 Pin Sneak Peak

 March 28th is the Utah State Odyssey of the Mind (OotM for short) competition!  It's at Park City High School.  Each of the long term problems (Silent Movie, Technical Difficulties, Lose You Marbles, Runaway Train, and Pandora's box) is solved in a skit which is presented to judges, and these performances are open for the public to come and watch.  It's really fun seeing how all the teams solve the same problem is so many different creative ways.

Odyssey of the Mind is all about creativity and thinking outside the box, which is the theme of this years Utah/Idaho pins: See What Creativity Lurks Beyond the Box.

Idaho is included on our pins because we have a few teams coming down to compete.  Idaho's OotM program is so small each of the Idaho teams automatically qualify for the OotM Worlds Competition in Michigan this year, but it's good practice to perform the skit in front of an audience before Worlds.  There's a Div. II Idaho team performing in Silent Movie this year, and I'm really excited to see them.  I'm excited to see all the teams perform!  It's going to be fun :0)

Without much further ado here's a close up of our pins.

 Omer as a cardboard box monster is my favorite pin this year.  He's adorable!

This pin is 2 inches high and about 1 1/3 inches wide.

 This pin is all the problems, including Primary, represented within each box.

This pin is 1 1/2 inches wide and 1 3/4 inches tall.

Monsters coming out of the box!  And our States slogan at the bottom.

Measuring at 1 7/8 inches wide and 2 inches tall.

Can't wait for the competition next week! :0)

Utah Odyssey of the Mind 2014 Pin Sneak Peak

 This weekend is the Utah State Odyssey of the Mind (OotM for short) competition!

It's going to be awesome :0)

OotM pins are a really big thing.  Each State and Country produces a new pin each year, creating a frenzy as kids trade them at the World's compition, which is in Iowa this year.  (Maybe I'll get to see some of that in action--I'm volunteering at World's this year!!!!!!!!--but I hear I'll be super busy, which will be fun.)

These are the Utah OotM pins for the year 2014.

 I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this pin of Omer snowboarding on the half-pike.  (I think that's a half-pike.  Heh, I'm a sports dunce . . . probably shouldn't brag about that.)

 

A couple more fun TEAM UTAH pins.

I actually don't know how much they will be sold for at the competition, but they were reasonable last year.

I can't wait to see some of the other OotM pins at the World competition in May.

My Morning in Salt Lake City

This morning I was in downtown Salt Lake for a Utah Odyssey of the Mind meeting.  Odyssey is going to be amazing this year!  I''m so excited!  (It's an excellent program about creativity for kids that's worth checking out.)  The meeting was supposed to be on the south side of Salt Lake, but due to circumstances it was moved to the SLC Library, which I've been to once before.  Awesome place!  Expensive parking (as in $1.50 every half hour, which is why I took TRAX.)

 At the meeting they talked about the Worlds competition and had a pile of pins from the pin trading, which is apparently super popular.  I never made it to Worlds, getting as high as 3rd at the California State Competition.  But the above pins from Iowa are so beautiful.  I'm going to have to see if I can find them on Ebay.

 Such a cool design.

 The inside of the Library.

 I remember from a couple years back this amazing comic book store.  I was actually hoping to buy a comic, but it's gone out of business.  Really sad.

 I've never been to The Leonardo, but when I saw it was next to the Library I had to at least step inside for a look.  Didn't see the above exhibit, but it's going through Sept. 15, and I want to come back with family or friends.  It's more fun then doing this sort of thing alone!

After talking to the people at the ticket desk I found out that in November they're getting a dead sea scroll exhibit with the actual scrolls!!!!!  I've going to that!!!!

 In the Lobby.

 Saw this in the gift store and wanted it!  But not for $12.  I wanted it because I can actually read it!  "Oishii" = delicious.

 Backside of the Library.

 Not sure what that building is, but it sure is pretty.  I believe it's on one of the postcards I bought to send people through postcrossing.com, but I'm not as observant as I should be.

(My Sister-in-law just looked it up and it's the Salt Lake City Hall)

 Waiting for TRAX.

 Back to where my car was waiting for me.