Prior to our trip, a friend asked if we could pick up
two Duffy Bear (and Shellie May, but they didn’t have them in Disneyland) tsum tsums.
In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, tsum tsums
are stuffed animals that look like Disney characters.
There is an
accompanying mobile game that is similar to Candy Crush, and from personal
experience, highly addictive.
The Duffy Bear tsum tsums are only available at the theme
parks, and we were more than happy to hunt down some Duffys at Disneyland, so
after our day at California Adventure, we headed to the World of Disney store
in Downtown Disneyland.
If you have never been to a World of Disney store, know that
it is a vast abyss of Disney merchandise.
The store is gigantic and never
ending. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the glassy eyed people wandering
about have been there for a year or more and have yet to locate the exit. If you go with a group, friend, or significant other,
do not under any circumstance separate. You may never find one another
again. Having your phone on you is
always a good idea, but sometimes even that is difficult, as the call goes something like,
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know, I think in some sort of kitchen section. I
see Mickey spatulas. Where are you?”
“Walking through the stuffed animal section. Can you find
the stuffed animals?”
“I’m in a section now with Princess dresses. Are the stuffed
animals near the Princess dresses?”
“I don’t think so. I think the stuffed animals are in the
room next to the sweatshirts or maybe the bath toys, are you anywhere near bath
toys?”
You get the picture. I repeat, do not separate.
We scoured Disneyland’s World of Disney store until we found
the tsum tsum section, semi-hidden, on a back wall. We stared. We located a little stuffed animal
that was perhaps Duffy Bear, but we weren’t one hundred percent sure. Tsum tsums do not have labels, name tags, or any
other identifiers. Some, like Minnie Mouse,
are easily identifiable, while others like Bruno, or say,
Duffy Bear are more difficult (at least to us).
Fortunately our friend is very smart and sent us a picture of the Duffy
Bear tsum tsum prior to our trip.
While I was double checking the picture on my phone, a
sudden surge of store customers swarmed the tsum tsum wall.
 |
| Beginning of the tsum tsum swarm |
It was like the scene in the Charlie Brown Christmas special
when the kids wave their arms over Snoopy’s dog house and all of the
decorations suddenly disappear. Just like
that. I looked over to the column that held the Duffy Bears and watched as a
woman swept the entire column of adorable bears into her arms.
I yelled, quite loudly I’m afraid,
“WHAT!? NOOOOO!!!!!”
The woman startled, froze, and turned to look at me. She did not speak English,
so I did my best to give her a most pathetic, pleading look, and made gestures
that conveyed, for the love of God could you please just let me have two of the
Duffy Bears you are currently hoarding?
Keeping a safe distance, very wise of her, she slowly
plucked one of the bears from her armful, and handed it over to me. I did my best to give her my utmost gratitude
and then politely communicated that one more Duffy Bear would be ideal. She handed over another, then went to grab
one more. I shook my head letting her know that I only needed the two. I once
again conveyed thanks, and then she hurried off to the register before any other
desperate Duffy Bear fans could persuade her to hand over her plunder.
At the time it was absolute, frustrating chaos, but now, we consider it one of the
funniest, most memorable Disney Park experiences we have had thus far.
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