Duffy the Bear special event!

Yesterday there was a special event that took place inside the old Odyssey restaurant, where all the Disney Annual Passholders were invited to discover something new about a character that is not very famous here in the United States..... YET!

I'm talking about DUFFY, the DISNEY BEAR!

He's coming to both Epcot and Disney California Adventure to stay and meet and greet people!

First, let's see the pictures of the event (they didn't allow pictures during the show itself, but I took some photos before it started) and then I'll explain to you what's coming!:

Let's go!:

I was taking a picture of the area, and I saw this woman that looked like Japanese....

Indeed, during the show, we found out she came all the way from Japan to see Duffy here in Florida!:

The stage:

Duffy's here!:

All the seats were filled by the start of the show!:

Notice the Mickey Mouse face of Duffy:

The gift they gave us:

She was reeaally excited about this, and continued to do many bear-related jokes!:

Well, now some more information on what's coming!:

1) Duffy will have a PERMANENT meet-and-greet just across the street from Odyssey, very near the new Hacienda de San Angel. The concept art showed like a nice, small dock with a cover, showcasing all Duffy's suitcases that he brought from his many voyages around the world with Mickey;

2) There will be a whole store dedicated to Duffy, where you will find many different suits for Duffy that represent every country of World Showcase (there will be also many other items, like mugs, pins, etc..). This "new" shop will be located just across the street from the meet-and-greet, and it will replace the "Tower East" (the big, squared building near the entrance to World Showcase East). The building stays, but it will be repurposed.

Here's a map to let you understand better:

3) There will be a new mask for Kidcot (the Kid areas along various countries along World Showcase) that will feature Duffy;

4) In California, the stuff for Duffy will be available ONLY at Disney California Adventure, while at Walt Disney World, even though the flagship park for Duffy's merchandise will be Epcot, you'll find SOME Duffy items in other theme parks and also Downtown Disney;

5) If you'll stay in a Disney resort after October 14th,2010 you'll be able to see one (or more, this hasn't been specified yet) Duffy cartoon, perfect as a bedtime story;

All of this will begin on

OCTOBER 14th, 2010!

What do you think? Do you like Duffy? Or do you think this is going too far? I mean, they're flooding WDW and DLR with Duffy's stuff! But the meet-and-greet looks great (from the concept art), and many children already loved him when they saw him for the first time!