Welcome BACK, Nicole!
Minnie hand sewed Duffy so Mickey could have a friend while he was on a long journey at sea. Minnie packed him in Mickey's duffel bag as a surprise to find later, which is how this little bear got his name! My husband is in the military, and once I heard that story I knew our family needed our own Duffy. While we bought our bear a few years ago, I'm always on the hunt for more Duffy fun.
Duffy is also known as The Disney Bear, and while he has had a bigger role at Walt Disney World Resort in the past, I've seen a small section of these lovable buddies and one to three outfits at the
Emporium in Magic Kingdom Park as well as
Mouse Gear in Epcot multiple times in 2018. In past years there has been a specially dressed Duffy that features the year on it. I don't have the proper magic mirror to know if 2019 will have a special Duffy as not all of next years merchandise has been released yet, but you can visit
ShopDisney.com or write back with us in January to double check.
Duffy is really popular at Disney's international theme parks; in fact he has a whole collection of friends who have special talents, like Cookie the dog who is a chef, Stella Lou the broadway aspiring bunny, and Gelatoni the cat who loves to paint. New in 2018 is 'Olu the ukulele playing turtle. I've been successful in finding Duffy gear on Amazon. (Both sold by Disney and by Disney fans.) But you can also contact Disney's Merchandise Services team who may be able to track down a specific Duffy item for you. They can be reached by email at Merchandise.Guest.Services@DisneyParks.com.
I hope this helped, Nicole, and We'll See You in 2019!
~Kristen