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Disney’s Teddy Bear and Doll Weekend

This section contains articles about the Doll and Teddy Bear Convention at Walt Disney World. If you would like to see pictures, go the Pictures section and click on Teddy Bear Pictures. Then click Disney Conv 2003 or Disney Conv 2006. For more information about Disneyworld, visit Disboards.
The 2002 Disney Doll and Teddy Convention Review #1
Author: scott | Monday December 16, 2002

The author of the website thought it would be a good idea if I posted a review of the convention to give another perspective to the subject.

The Doll and Teddy Bear Convention at Disney World was without a doubt an experience to remember. First of all, anything that Disney does is first class all the way. The convention was held at EPCOT in the old millennium building which was originally built to celebrate the coming of 2000-2001.

The event was limited to 300 very excited guests, lasted 3 days and contained 48 artists.

Day 1: The Calm Before the Storm

Preliminary registration which included a randomly selected number for entrance into the event and in the evening EPCOT invited the registrants to Italy to stand on the perimeter of the lake and watch the Illuminations Laser Light and Fireworks display at 9:30. Illuminations is an awesome display of Disney�s creativity and know how.

Day 2: The Storm

At 9:45 A.M the attendees lined up in order of their randomly selected number, and unfortunately for me I had number 198 of 300. At 10:00 a.m. the doors opened and away we went. Now, you need some forward information before I continue, and this is regarding the 9:45 A.M. event opening to the attendees.

Here were the rules. There were 3 entries allowed for this event. The first time around you could only purchase 1 limited edition item from 1 artist from each booth. The second time you could purchase 2 limited edition items from each artist at each booth. The last entry was general and no restrictions applied.

At 10:00 am the doors opened and away we went. Their were limited amounts of collectibles and many were in a small series of 10 or less. When the doors opened some people walked, some sprinted and some RAN! Their was some pushing and shoving during this time as everyone wanted to make sure they got what they came for. Once I got inside, I felt like a cow in a pen. A lot of bumping, hustling and moving.

My personal goal was to pick up 3 bears and that was #100 of 1500 of the Steiff Event bear ($225 now valued by some at $295) and �Teddy Doodle Dandy�(more on this later). Why 100? It is symbolic of 100 years of Teddy Bears and 100 years of Disney which was this year.

Steiff Event Bear
Margarete

I was actually surprised that I got it, because the story in itself (#100 of 1500 representing 100 years Disney, 100 years of Bears) will add value to the bear. A picture of the Bear is located on this page. The bear was also signed by Tweed Roosevelt and included an event pin with the bear as well as an additional Disney Event Pin when you purchase the bear.

Side note: Jim P. (VP of Sales for Steiff North America (Could be sales or just N. America)) is always an interesting guy to meet. This was the second time I met with him at an event, and probably one of the most notable aspects is his willingness to show just how tough Steiff bears are. Jim is a great guy who truly believes in Steiff and the quality in which goes into the creation of the Steiff Bears.

Sandra Dineen of Sandy�s Bearly Bruins
Teddy Doodle Dandy

I was lucky enough to pick up #1 of 10 ($350.00) of this fantastic bear which was created for the Walt Disney Teddy and Doll convention. Teddy Doodle Dandy is a class act all the way, he is made of Schulte German Mohair, premium German glass eyes and his paws are German wool felt and is filled with polyfill and pellets. The ingredients are of little importance to this beauty. What makes this bear special is the fine craftsmanship and the unique facial features that give this bear his outstanding appearance. The clothing was specially made for this bear and is reminiscent of the early days of this country. He carries an American Flag and stands upright. I spoke with Sandra who was an American through and through and was personally sporting red, white and blue bracelets. Sandra was very nice. She explained to me that part of the reason that she made the decision to create this bear was due in part to September 11th .

Goldie Wilson

Goldie had a one of a kind bear which was wonderfully conceived and crafted, but someone beat me to her! I do not have a picture or a tale to tell as I completely forgot to get the information. Goldie Wilson was a fantastically nice lady as well as her friend at the show. We spoke many times throughout the event.

Other Doll and Teddies

Dolls are not included in this review. The Hermann Teddy Original booth was rich with many bears that were well crafted, unique and ranging in styles. North American Bear Company with �Micky Muffy� , Sue Coe �Scooter and his New Skates�, Canterbury Bears �Mickey & Florian� were all also great bears as well. John Blackburn from Canterbury was an interesting guy to meet. He was an Englishmen who loved to talk, so I spent a lot of time speaking with him on a variety of issues.

At 12:30-2:30 a complimentary lunch was served and all of the Disney characters came into the room to visit the guests. At 1:30-3:30 (if you signed up for limited seating) you had the opportunity to build your own bear at the Koto Bear Workshop and I have about 6 holes in my fingers to prove it! At 8:15 pm we were invited to the Candlelight show. There were numerous other activities, but these were the highlights for me.

The Auction at 3:30

This needed a section all to its own. One of the highlights of the auction was a duel for the �Cheeky the Pooh� from Merrythough Ltd. Lot #24. I sat in back of bidder #1 and in front of bidder #2. The bidding process probably lasted about 5 minutes and was heated. Each call starting from inception was bid and rebid at every single bid with just seconds in between the bids. At about $7,000 the process slowed and we knew it was coming to a close with Bidder #2 hesitating at $7,000 and bidding one more time at $7,100 before putting the paddle away. Bidder #1 countered for what I believe was $7,200 and that ended the auction for �Cheeky the Pooh�. Steiff �Teddy Bear Workshop� was not quite as exciting and went for far less then expected. I think the piece expected price was $18,000 – $24,000 with an actual purchase price of around $10,500. Just 3 weeks before this event, Disney held the Steiff bear event which I think captured the high bidders as well as holding the events/auctions so close together might have helped in lowering the bidding prices for the piece. The bidder got a bargain and I know she knew because this piece was worth $20,000 easily, but again, I think the events were just too close together and any serious Steiff collectors visited the event previous to this one.

My only Complaint

This event was really world class and Disney did a fantastic job putting it on. While in the event, security was CLEARLY noticeable and you can bet that attendees and vendors were well protected from anything. Now one problem: we stayed on Disney Property and planned on staying at EPCOT after the event and expected to have our purchases sent back to the room. But since we were leaving the next day, Disney would not ship the stuff back to the room before 1:00 pm (check out is 11:00) so we had to ship it to the front of the park and pick it up at the end of the day and then walk the purchases through the park and the crowds. You would think a system would be in place for an event like this that would get the packages to the hotels that night. So for future reference, plan out how you will get your bears back to your room.

Disclaimer: I would rather give Disney the benefit of the doubt because the issue at hand does not make much sense to me. The cashier was new to this event and could have been mistaken and did not know something was in place to get the packages to the rooms.

You can email me at bearlover@iloveteddies.com and the email will be forwarded to me.