The Florida Project Explained

BE HERE FOR OUR LIVE BLOG OF VINYLMATION CHAT SESSION ON 

SUNDAY 9/11 FROM 10:45AM - 12:15PM EST.

The Florida Project - Vinylmation Showcase

Date: September 11th 2011

Time: 9:30am - 2pm EST

Location: EPCOT World ShowPlace at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida

Details: This is a ticketed event. Click here for ticket details. Admission to EPCOT is also needed.

Free Hours: 2p-5pm on September 11th. Event is free during these hours, but EPCOT admission still needed.



Update: 9/6/11 The Florida Project is days away and we have word that around 14 new series will be revealed during the 11am Chat Session on 9/11!!! Including the much talked about Project Z. We will keep you updated all weekend long!


Update: 8/20/11 The Pin and Vinylmation Itineraries have been released:

Florida Project Vinylmation Itinerary
Florida Project Pin Itinerary

Also, at D23, the free Vinylmation gift that registered guests get for attending the Florida Project was on display:

Minnie is not getting a warm reception. New mold aside, this figure looks kind of dull for such an amazing event celebrating Walt Disney World. And from D23, here is a better look at the Orange Bird Cast Chaser that will be in the Mystery Boxes at the Florida Project:

Now that's what I call a great looking Vinylmation! Happy hunting.

Update: 8/19/11 Check out this article by Claudia with some helpful Florida Project info straight from the big D: Claudia's Florida Project Info Update. Also, You should have received your RSP results by now. How did you do?



Update: 8/1/11 The RSP process is over. Results will be announced around August 12. Cards will be charged on August 22.


Update: 6/2/11 The RSP emails have gone out. Deadline to make your selection is July 31st at 11:59 PM PST.

Update: 5/6/11 Disney added prices for The Florida Project vinylmation. Pooh is $14.95, the Mickey/Dumbo 9"/3" combo is $74.95, and the 9" Empress Lily is $49.95.

Update: 4/9/11 Disney released a picture of the box that will contain the 3" Winnie the Pooh. Check it out:Definitely one of the best pieces I've seen so far for the project! - MC

Update: 4/8/11 BIG CHANGE. Hula Girl is OUT! Replaced by 3" Dumbo:

This Dumbo will be packaged with Retro Mickey 9". Here is the quote from Steven Miller at Disney:

"We unfortunately had to make a change to the 3-inch figure. The Hula Girl inspired figure was replaced with a rather colorful Dumbo. We asked Donald Ferro, developer for Vinylmation, about the change. Basically, he said that when the sample of the 3-inch figure arrived today, he did not like how the art was applied to the figure."

Update: 4/6/11 We registered for The Florida Project. A bit of a wacky system. You couldn't seemingly buy more than 1 ticket at a time. Also, it is technically 2 separate events... Pins on September 9th and 10th and Vinylmation on the 11th. Both require a separate ticket. The system also ran into some problems not letting me pass the "additional fee activities" page. You can purchase box lunches ($15), breakfast ($40) or dessert ($40). I selected "none" but the page wouldn't advance until I closed my browser and started over. Good news, the Pin Event tickets dropped five bucks to $100 pre-May 6th and $115 after.


Update: 4/6/11 The catalog is out and there are only 4 figures in it. All of which we've seen parts of already. Now here are the full figures. Nothing too impressive to me. I was hoping for several series, but there looks like there will only be 1 9", 1 9"/3" set, and 1 3" figure as exclusives. I really really hope they are holding something back or this show will be disappointing. If I wasn't going for the website, the exclusive figures would not get me to pay the $40! I am very underwhelmed by the back and sides of all the figures except for Empress Lily. -MC

Update: 7PM The vinylmaiton blog released one more sneak peek image of a vinylmation from The Florida Project. Check out the head of the Hula Girl. Thanks Chuck!

REGISTRATION BEGINS ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6TH AT 2PM EST.

Click Here To Register For The Event

Usually we reserve the "Explained" heading for pages with information about series collected as we lead up to their release. We will be updating this page with the information we know about The Florida Project.

The Florida Project is a 3-day Disney Pin and Vinylmation trading event from September 9-11, 2011. There are 2 separate ticketed events, the Pin Trading Event (9th and 10th) and the Vinylmation Event (11th). We will focus here on the Vinylmation part of the event. There will be one day dedicated to the collecting and trading of Vinylmation...

The Florida Project - Vinylmation Showcase
Date: September 11th 2011
Time: 9:30am - 2pm EST
Location: EPCOT World ShowPlace at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida
Tickets: $40.00 (Event admission does NOT include Theme Park admission to EPCOT, but that is required to attend.)


Event Admission Includes:
- First opportunity to purchase new Vinylmation Figures created for The Florida Project
- Silent auction featuring a variety Vinylmation items from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
- Vinylmation Trading opportunities.
- Artists Signings with Disney Design Group Artists.
- Limited edition commemorative gift.
- Plus extra special surprises throughout the event.

Free Public Day
There will also be a "Public Day" from 2pm - 5pm EST on Sunday, September 11th. This means FREE admission to the event, but you still need EPCOT admission. DV attended the public day at last year's Trade City show and were still able to pick up some of the LE Vinylmation, see upcoming releases first hand and there was still plenty of trading going on. However you will not receive any of the gifts and will miss certain opportunities.

Pin Trading
If you are interested in the 2-day event dedicated to pin collecting, buying and trading activities, the cost of the event will be $105 before May 6th and $120 after. $100 before May 6th and $115 after. The pin event features LE items, a tee-shirt, silent auction, event only pins available for trade, autograph sessions with Disney artists, (2) $15 gift cards good for food and beverage at EPCOT and "extra special surprises." You can find more details on the pin portion of the event by clicking here.

What to Expect at The Florida Project
A lot of this will sound familiar, because it is basically the same place, time of year, and event as Trade City was last year. Because of that, we assume that for the most part the event will be similar, just different in theme. That means we expect lots of LE exclusive merchandise, including pins and vinylmation, to come out that weekend. We also hope that either Steven Miller (or a similar Vinylmation official) will be giving a presentation showcasing future Vinylmation figures like they did on Sunday of the Trade City event. We hope that there will be several announcements made during that presentation, and that several never seen before figures will be on display to tease us for the next year. We also expect a lot of trading tables for collectors to bargain with each other. Also expect for Destination Vinylmation to be out in full force.

History of The (real) Florida Project

Walt Disney introduces The Florida Project in 1965. Photo courtesy of WDW News

The Florida Project refers to the term that was used by Walt Disney when he was secretly buying up large plots of land in Central Florida near Orlando to build his new theme park. The theme of this event will be the planning and opening of Walt Disney World in the early 70s here in Florida. Expect a "alternate" preview center retro merchandise and lots of 70's design colors. Like the poster above and this first exclusive Vinylmation:

	Retro Dumbo RSP2 Artist: Thomas Scott Sold with Retro Mickey 9" LE 1500 Set Price: $74.95 It looks like Dumbo will have the same hat he had in his Hong Kong 5th Anniversary figure. (It's not removable). The flower details are cool, as is that collar around his neck. I really want this piece.
	Hula Girl WILL NOT BE AT FLORIDA PROJECT Artist: Thomas Scott Sold with Retro Mickey 9" LE 1500 Expect to see this at some other time Thanks to all the readers who reminded me that this is probably a reference to the Hula dancers at the Polynesian Resort at WDW. (I can't believe I forgot about the lei I got last time I went!) "I am really not impressed with this figure. Nothing interesting on the turn around either." - M.C. "Love it! Now I have to get the 9" Retro Mickey." - Nick. (Click image to enlarge.)
	Retro 70s Mickey 9" RSP2 Artist: Thomas Scott Sold with: 3" Retro Dumbo LE 1500 Set Price: $74.95 "I was hoping this was part of a set of 3" figures. But it's not. It's a 9" and is part of a set with the Hula Girl. Kinda lame." - M.C. "I'm the biggest fan of retro Disney there is, but the colors here do not look good to me. I was hoping for more of an artistic figure (when all we saw was the head) with different retro items similar to the poster above in the body." - Nick Here's the turn around for this piece. Click to enlarge.
	Retro Pooh 3" RSP1 Artist: Casey Jones LE 1000 Price: $14.95 "This too I hoped was part of the set. Relatively similar in design, it's a great representation of Pooh and his honeypot. And as always, there's a Bee keeping everything in check. I think I will get this because it's a 3"." - M.C. "This figure represents one of the early costumed Poohs that walked around WDW. An interesting note, is the ears are clear, not blue as in the concept art." - Nick
	Empress Lilly 9" RSP3 Artist: Lin Shih LE: 750 Price: $49.95 Now home to Fulton's Crab House and Birthplace of Character Dining. "Not sure if this one floats my boat." - M.C. "I'm not on board with this design either." "Wow! Nice detail now that we see the entire figure. I'll make a decision when I see it in person." After seeing this in person, it is a greatly detailed and colorful piece. I sill don't care for the subject matter, but Its a nice figure." - Nick Here's the back.