So Disney was pushing this really cool toy to all their visitors: Pal Mickey. The basic premise is that he is a stuffed Mickey Doll, with a computer of some sort on the inside. He does the basic speaking doll thing: You squeeze him and he says stuff. But he can also do some more advanced things like play a game with you, give you some trivia, or my favorite, give you up-to-date park information.

While it is really designed for kids, I could see it being useful for adults as well. For example, I would have loved to have Pal Mickey with me on my recent trip. He could have told me when different characters are showing up for signings (so my wife could collect more autographs) and could have also told me when the wait on rides are low. Not to mention playing games with him while I’m waiting in line for 25 minutes for Space Mountain (our longest wait of the trip…).

I stopped at one of the stores on Main Street and picked him and played with him for about 30 seconds. My impressions from that 30 seconds of exposure:

• He is really hard. Not something that you would really want to snuggle up with.
• He can speak Spanish. Surprised me to squeeze him and hear a Hispanic Mickey telling me something.
  

The drawbacks to Pal Mickey: it really is designed for kids, especially in its “doll” packaging. While I think I could have gotten over carrying a Mickey Mouse doll all over Disney World, I’m not sure that all of the adults out there would agree. And he is a bit pricey (about $60). Maybe there is some way they could make the packaging (and some of the content) more suitable for adults, and also cut down the price. At $30, I would have had one, even if the packaging was nothing more than just a pager to wear on my belt.

The attached link is a detailed report from AllEars.Com on Pal Mickey. The best highlight: He surprised us when we got off of the front row of Tower of Terror by saying it was scary and asking if we could sit in the back row the next time.