3/15/12 Denise’s Corner – A Visit to Theme Park Connection in Winter Garden (Now Open Saturdays)

Hi everyone!

We have been meaning to go to the Theme Park Connection store for months, and we finally made the trip over – and ended up finding some wonderful treasures that came home with us! In addition to the photos here, Jeff put together a video that includes an interview with the owner!

Theme Park Connection has been in it’s Winter Garden location for over a year. It’s in an unassuming building within an office park, and I thought from the outside that it would be small. Appearances can be deceiving! What you won’t see the moment you step inside is that it’s a warehouse, and that is about to grow again (adding a movie collectible room).

Theme Park Connection has over 250,000 items – from buttons to it’s famous $3.00 pin board, paper items (Eyes and Ears, Annual Reports, etc.), to larger collectibles. In the first room, a Timothy Mouse like the one at the top of Dumbo was the focal point, though it’s already been sold. Casey’s Corner windows sat in one corner of the warehouse. The merchandise can change quickly! And nothing is display – it’s all for sale. One visitor even liked a carpet being used, and they rolled it up and sold it.

The hours at Theme Park Connection have been Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm. But starting this week, they are adding Saturdays from 10am – 2pm.

There is something for everyone here! We brought home some Disney annual reports to fill in our collection (including one with a Horizons cover), and several other Epcot items.

I took some photos around the store to showcase what types of items you might find there!

 

 

 

I like hotel matchbooks:

This Timothy Mouse was once atop Dumbo.  It’s already been sold!

Some of my favorite Disney glasses are from McDonald’s, we have a few sets at home:

A carousel horse:

 

This item was a lovely gift from a couple for an anniversary to their parents, a free night at Dixie Landings. Inside was the room key, paperwork, a dining receipt, and more.

Cast Member Lady and the Tramp gift:

This is a room with mostly paper and books. It’s nicely laid out, and pretty well organized with different types of items. 

A large shelf of snowglobes:

There are lots of buttons – including some I have at home (like the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party button below from 2000). One of the buttons below is for the 26th Anniversary, although it looks like the 26th Anniversary of Test Track from the way the button is laid out!

Epcot Flower and Garden Festival button from 1998:

 

Cast Member costumes:

A vintage Yacht & Beach Club Resort poster:

The $3.00 pin board has thousands of pins to choose from!

Owner of Theme Park Connection, Mark Pianko, poses with a Mickey Mouse telephone while inside his store. Pianko just signed a contract and is in the beginning stages to have a reality show developed about Theme Park Connection!

Real movie props from all 4 Pirates of the Caribbean films are currently here – and one room will soon be dedicated to film props!

More Disney park items:

These are a few of the items we picked up while there – an Eyes & Ears for Epcot’s opening in 1982, a Newsweek Epcot booklet, and what I’ve since found out was a guide to China given to Cast Members for Epcot’s opening (there was one for each country). The China guide gives so much information, so we’ll be looking for all of them now!

You can find store information and directions on the official website.  We highly recommend a visit during your Walt Disney World vacation! It’s only about 20 minutes from the Magic Kingdom in Winter Garden.