This past weekend I had some friends in town and of course you know I’m always looking for an excuse to get back into a Disney theme park. We ironed out our plans where we would spend the entire day together at EPCOT. In my excitement about getting there I neglected to remember that I was not staying at an on-site Disney resort so when I arrived at EPCOT I couldn’t get into the park right away. There was early entry available for anyone staying at a Disney resort, but since I was not I got stuck in the huge crowd out front.

It had been quite a long time since I rope dropped a theme park. For those of you that may not be familiar with that term, basically if you arrive at a Disney park too early the cast members hold up an actual rope to keep you from entering the park too early. Then once the opening time arrives they remove the rope and the crowd surges into the park usually towards their most anticipated attraction or ride.

If you don’t like large crowds this may not be the ideal situation for you, and in that case I would recommend just arriving a bit later on. One perk however is that the crowd quickly disperses especially at EPCOT just because of how big the park is. Plus as I mentioned above most people are headed to one of the popular rides or attractions to try and beat the longer lines that can form quickly. My friends were stuck in line for the Frozen Ever After ride at the Norway Pavilion so I had a bit of time on my hands to explore, but I knew exactly where I needed to go.

While I was on my way to the park I got some intel that a new pressed penny machine was released in the United Kingdom Pavilion. This pavilion is not very big, but has quite a few different shops. The info I had received didn’t specify where the new machine was so I just took some time going through each and everyone one.

Thankfully I didn’t have too far to go before I found it in The Queen’s Table store. It’s near the Twinings Tea store at the front of the Pavilion.

Inside they had quite a bit of Cherry Tree Lane and Mary Poppins merchandise. The new pressed penny machine was just inside the shop door.

As you can see from the above picture they released a new 8-design machine. The cabinet has a nice kind of classic wood finish that matches really well with the interior of this store.

The penny designs that were released in this new machine include a few we have seen before. Mickey in front of Big Ben, Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin & Pooh, Tigger, Alice, Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.

There used to be a 3 design penny machine in a near store called The Toy Soldier that has been removed and we assumed this new machine is the replacement. The Toy Soldier store has still not reopened so I’m not sure if this machine will be moved over there once it does reopen or if The Queen’s Table will be the permanent home. The designs do include a few we have seen before which I guess is nice to not have lost them, but I’m always anticipating completely new designs and am kind of surprised we didn’t see any Mary Poppins themed coins this time around. By this time my friends were checking in to see where I was so it was time to meet up and have a fantastic day. Thanks for taking a trip to the United Kingdom Pavilion with me today, it’s always fun to find new pressed penny machines. Stay safe and as always Keep on Pressing!

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