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working on it......

I’m a bit late to this party. In 2021 when we moved to our retirement home, I decided to downsize. I sold over 100 Disney VHS tapes. The gentleman who bought them was a collector. I still have lots and lots of Disney DVDs. With the advent of Disney + I don’t know why I’m keeping them. Being born in 1947 makes Disney not even a reality for me. We were in the military and moved every 2-5 years. When Alice in Wonderland came out my mom took us to see it n the theatre. I loved it. We saw every Disney movie that came to our theatre. When VHS came out I was already 30 and had children I’m sure for them it’s just as nostalgic as it is for you girls. Thanks for your wonderful and nostalgic post. I enjoy them very much.

While I do love the Orange Bird, I’m also learning to love Spike the Bee. How about little history about him? Because I know nothing it’s up to the rest of y’all to do the education. I just love when you do these types of posts. Great job and I like the outfit.

Being Californian I never got to really even see Orange Bird anything until my first WDW trip in 2012, but being the Disney history fan that I was, I did know about him and figment years prior, and I think it's wonderful that the little guy has so many fans for being such a niche character! I also got to try the citrus swirl, delicious, but a tiki room pineapple dole whip always wins out for me lol Thanks for sharing the cute art and lyrics, and of course the pins (I've never seen the heart chaser for that set!)

With the opening of EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival, it means that we’ve just added some fun new event pins to the PinPics database. At the same time, I thought it'd be fun to take a look at one of Disney’s most unique characters (who just happens to appear on some of the cutest pins you’ll find) – The Florida Orange Bird. There are more than 125 Orange Bird pins in the database, and thanks to his current popularity, that number is always growing. Here are a few for starters: Animation has a way of changing your perspective. I mean, in real life, most of us are afraid of a mouse, but everybody loves Mickey! If a lion walked up and started speaking in a voice that sounds uncannily like Darth Vader, we’d probably all turn and run the other way as fast as possible. But animated characters have a way of transcending reality and letting our imaginations soar. Take the Orange Bird, for example; he’s a bird who doesn’t sing, has a head made of a Florida orange, and wings made of green leaves. These days he’s closely associated with the Flower and Garden Festival, but he’s actually been around for a long time. Take a look at this set of Hidden Mickey pins which most pin traders will recognize. These cuties have been appearing on CM lanyards for a long time, and it's easy to overlook them now, since they were released back in 2011 during the 40th Anniversary of Walt Disney World. They’ve been scrapped and faked many times, but the original pins are absolutely beautiful -- definitely worth searching out for your collection! The full set includes five common pins, a plain silver chaser, and an orange heart completer. These pins were the last set that Steven Miller (Project Manager for Disney Pin Trading) developed for the Hidden Mickey collection, and it was also one of his very favorites. Inspiration for pin designs can come from all kinds of places, and he got the artwork for these from the 1971Orange Bird LP record album featuring a 10-page storybook narrated and sung by singer, Anita Bryant. While the Orange Bird himself can’t sing, all of his fans can sing along with The Orange Bird Song, a musical masterpiece by none other than the Sherman Brothers. Notice how this art from the storybook is exactly what was used on PP#82369: For the last ten or twelve years, the Orange Bird has enjoyed a boost in popularity, but only after spending decades in obscurity. He made his first official appearance with the grand opening of Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971, as one of the “featured faces” of Walt Disney World, but there’d been a lot of work going on to bring this cute fellow to life. “The Orange Bird, created by Walt Disney Productions for exclusive use of the Florida citrus industry, hopped out of a meeting with Disney marketing people after Department of Citrus advertising materials were placed on a table with a request for recommendations on how to blend the advertising with the promotional promise of Walt Disney World.” (Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar 1972) It all started back on 3 Jul 1967, when the Florida Department of Citrus (aka Florida Citrus Commission) entered into negotiations for the sponsorship of an upcoming attraction at the Walt Disney Productions coming park, Magic Kingdom. Over two years later, and only after hours of conferences and many trips to California, a contract was signed, making the Florida Citrus Industry the first entity to sign an agreement to participate in the development of Disney World. They agreed to underwrite a “tropical bird show” at the cost of $3,000,000. Thus was born the Sunshine Pavilion (or the Tiki Birds’ Tropical Serenade), now operating “Under New Management” as the Enchanted Tiki Room. The original Tropical Serenade was actually featured on one of the 50th Anniversary Attraction Crest pins: One of the most important features of the Pavilion was the Sunshine Tree Terrace, through which the audience exited the animatronic show. Everything from Orange and Grapefruit juices to Tangerine Cheesecake and Jellied Citrus Salad graced the menu of the Terrace, and the Orange Bird himself sometimes appeared to play the silent host. (The original Terrace occupied the building now known as Aloha Isle, but the two eateries swapped spots in 2015.) While it's been a long time since the Orange Bird was out signing autograph books in the park, there is still a figure of him on display inside the current Sunshine Tree Terrace dining area! And that figure actually has quite a story. It’s the original figure that was mounted in the Terrace in 1971 for the park opening, having been replaced quite soon by an “improved” animatronic version. Thankfully, this first version had been socked away in a drawer at the WDI Sculpture Studio, where it lay forgotten for decades. One of the brand-new Flower & Garden event pins this year gives off a very similar vibe to this decoration, as well as incorporating the iconic Citrus Swirl – the signature treat of our little Orange friend. It’s a delicious blend of frozen orange juice and vanilla softserve, often mistaken for Pineapple Dole Whip on pins . . .Wait, stop the presses! I’m a little blown away right now, having just found out that Citrus Swirl was discontinued two years ago and replaced by a new treat called Orange Swirl (a combo of Orange Dole Whip and vanilla softserve). The classic treat that’s been a staple since the 1970s is no more?! This is almost too much to take in. We’ll just enjoy the two new pins this year and think of them as good old Citrus Swirl. Okey dokey? Today, the Orange Bird can be found on a LOT of memorabilia and souvenirs around the Parks, including some fun fashion accessories. In fact, we got some cool “Squeeze the Day” hats at the Disney Outlet across from Disney Springs a number of years ago and wear them a lot. I’ll never know why Disney didn’t keep this design in constant production. More people have offered to buy our hats, and it doesn’t matter whether we’re at Disney, in the grocery store, or in the airport. Let’s just say, pair the hats with matching Spirit Jersey shirts, and any dreams of walking around incognito fly out the window. Okay, so being identical twins probably doesn’t help, right?! Here we are paying tribute to our little orange friend while enjoying coffee at Riverside Resort. Hmmm . . . now that I’ve officially bunnytrailed to include our favorite Disney treat (coffee at Riverside), let’s get back to the Orange Bird . . . Sometimes, a lot of thought goes into pin designs, and even sets that look simple (like the Hidden Mickey pins shown above) can have a neat story behind them. Next time you pass a pin of this unique Florida bird, just think of his theme song and hum along (if you know the tune)! “With his beautiful orange feathers, And beautiful leafy wings, He’s a fluffy little puffy sight to see, He can turn your frown around, When you see him looking down, The little Orange Bird up in the Sunshine Tree.” And remember to “squeeze the day”, like the Orange Bird hats say! ~ Sarah Does anyone remember when the Orange Bird was actually a park character roaming Adventureland in the 1970s? Unfortunately, Sis and I never got to meet him in the park, since he was not appearing in the early 1990s. If you’ve got a picture with him, please share it, because we’d love to see it!

Congratulations! It's a really cool store to visit, and those mini-boards are great. The Vi Moradi pin is fabulous! We have been to the store a few times and always come home with something. It's a lot of pins to look at when you're there. Here's a link to a post I did last year about our visit there, and it shows what the store looks like inside.

Yay!!! Can’t wait for it to be added to my board

Thank you so much for adding it to the database! I love the extra history you were able to find and add into the description!

Working to hopefully become a trusted trader this year! Thank you to everyone who I have traded with so far -- you've all made such a wonderful online community and I can't wait to keep trading!

Over the weekend I got to visit PinHQ in Florida and man was there alot to look at! As I continue to build my collection I have enjoyed the pin folio binders that they created. It’s truly amazing how you can easily spot other traders in parks because of the binders! The visit to the store was fun and I walked away with a few things to add to my collection! Have you been to the store? Comment below!

I did some trivia over the parks this weekend and I was very excited that I knew some of them! With that being said there are some tough questions that they ask though! Good luck and just have fun with it!

This was so interesting! I was reading some more about this droid and it is cool! This is now listed in the database (and I've added the points to your account): Thanks for sharing!

Very excited! Thank you

This set id\s so cute.

OMG I am SO happy you figured it out and wow what a great little blast from the past and neat pin to have gotten your hands on!

Awesome pin! Do you happen to know if this was sold as part of a series or collection?

Evening All Just updating. Still ISO all 6 of the pins. Open to trade or purchase Thanks Joh

Yay! Ah I love the thrill of the pin hunt!!!

@grottopins - Now that is some great detecting there! Totally spot-on match! We will get this added to the database as a prototype, along with the info about what it is!

My dole whip collection was scattered around my general food display board. Now I want to do one split down the middle with dole whip and orange bird/citrus treats!

Wow thank you all for the help! My current guess is that I believe it may be a real deep cut from the WDI research and development team. They have a page on their website talking about a prototype droid they made named "Jake" (J4-K3) that was made to roam around Tomorrowland before Star Wars Galaxy's Edge was built. https://www.ocregister.com/2017/10/10/a-droid-named-jake-roams-disneyland-will-this-and-other-droids-follow-you-around-in-star-wars-land/ What a fun treasure hunt this has been! I've been on this hunt for 2 YEARS!!! Anyone have any intel on this droid or if there are other references to him around the parks?

I definitely need to narrow down my collection, I’m having a hard time though. I love Minnie’s main attractions 2020 because I was there when the parks closed for Covid, I love ESPN Sports because my daughter cheers so we go every year, and my brother went when I was younger for soccer, I love helping people get their favorites though so it’s so much fun to trade when you can really help someone get what they want

I need your help! I am looking for the final two Muppets Park Days Pins that I am missing, and I am hoping to trade for them. Here's what I am missing: - DLR Mystery Miss Piggy Redd - DLR Kermit Jumbo Here's what I have for trade: - Misc. carded pins and Hidden Disneys - DEC Micky Pin Jumbo (for the DLR Kermit Jumbo) I will upload more carded pin traders on this thread! Happy to do multiples as well. Thanks for looking, and happy trading!

Love the sport theme. God knows I don’t need another collection. Haha

I like this idea, I’ve separated mine into different themes as well and my vintage mickeys, Minnie’s, Holidy Donald complete set and Fantasia complete set are in a separate little pin binder. If I had room for Lade and the tramp bone puzzle on the mini board I’d put it in there too. I have my muppets Christmas Carol advent calendar displayed on a cork board but I really want the new Kermit cork board. The rest I might try to group in chronological order by character so when I get new ones I don’t need to rearrange! Thank you for your reply!