As many of you may know I’ve been collecting elongated coins for a long time, and it really all started with a trip to Walt Disney World when I was young. There have been some times during my collecting career when it’s slowed down, or even stopped for a period of time, but that itch always shows up eventually and I’m sucked back in.

Out of all the coins I’ve collected throughout the years I still maintain that the heart of my collection are the ones I’ve pressed at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. I’ve collected hundreds maybe even thousands of Disney pressed coins with designs running the gamut of classic characters, attractions, and even some depicting Disney historical themes. As an avid collector of course I have my options about designs I would love to see made available in the parks and even made a post about my wish list that you can read about here.

There is one design however that I didn’t even think of. Thankfully our friend, fellow collector and elongated coin designer Don Cade has created an “Unofficial” Disneyland and Walt Disney World Pressed Coin Collector penny. He has created variations of this design over the past few years and as soon as I found out about this fantastic design I picked up each version I could get. Some are also available pressed on different denominations but those tend to go pretty quickly.

If you are interested in one of these special coins, or any of Don’s other unique designs he makes them available through the TEC Elongated Collector Club Facebook Group. It would be nice to see Disney release an Official version in one of the machines as I think it would be very popular, but to be honest I’m extremely happy with Don’s version and may need to pick up some extras so I can hand them out to other collectors at the parks.

Have a fantastic week, stay safe and as always Keep on Pressing!

In my collection I have thousands of different elongated coins. Many are from big name Theme Parks, aquariums, zooms, museums and then some road side attractions during my travels. I love them all, but I do have a very special spot in my collection for privately designed pressed coins. These are something that I have only really recently gotten into and just fell in love with because of their uniqueness and also to help support our community of very talented designers. One of these designers has become a close friend and we chat about our collections together quite often. Her name is Amy and she is the Boss Lady over at the Facebook group called the Pressed Penny Mafia – PPM.

As you can see I am an official card carrying member of the PPM club and since joining I’ve been able to acquire the entire set of custom elongated coins Amy has created for the club. We helped create a fun little film-noir style video on our Youtube Channel showcasing all the available designs at that time. Since then however Amy has continued to release a few new coins each year and I’m so thankful that I was able to get copies of her latest coin and #13 in the series.

This is such a fantastic designs I really love it. PPM Lucky Penny #13 with the large Shamrock in the middle. I also gave a sneak peek at some of her other designs in the above picture, but you can check out more on her other designs in one of our previous posts here.

Something I was not expecting in my package with Lucky #13 was a special additional Amy had sent my way. It was wrapped separately and marked as “Surprise” which I absolutely was. There was a second elongated coin included with Amy herself on the coin, and her name in beautiful script. This turned out really great and I’m happy to have this included in my collection.

Thank you as always to my friend Amy for continuing to release all these new privately designed elongated coins. Each one is better than the last, and I’m always excited to see what she comes up with next. If you are not already beside to visit the Pressed Penny Mafia PPM Facebook group which I have linked at the top of this post. Membership is completely free, and the community we have there of fellow collectors and enthusiasts are really great and lots of fun. Plus you get the inside tip on any of Amy’s brand new designs and my understanding is she still has some inventory of her other pennies available.

Stay safe friends and as always Keep on Pressing!

Recently I received a special envelope in my mail from our friends at TEC The Elongated Collectors Club. I was pretty sure all my club dues were up to date so I wasn’t sure exactly what may have arrives. To my surprise the envelope inlcuded this beautiful card and a nice message letting me know I had earned a couple recruiter coins. This was thanks to a couple of our readers joining TEC and mentioned my name.

Here is a closer look at the 2021 recruiter coins a penny and nickel.  It was designed by current TEC Secretary Terri V, she also worked on the included card and mailing these all out. These are always fun coins of appreciation from our club and I’m honored to receive them. Thank you to our latest TEC members that mentioned my name, I hope you are enjoying the TEC newsletters and special coins throughout the year.

My passion for the hobby has always been about sharing experiencing and connecting with fellow collectors.  May times I’ve submitted questions to the club about collecting processes or suggestions on specific topics and our fellow members are always so eager to share their experiences and knowledge. If you haven’t already, be sure to visit the club website at TECNews.org to find out more.

Thank you all for helping to create and maintain our wonderful community we have, I love reading all your comments, and please feel free to leave me any questions about pressed coins and I will be more than happy to help.  Take care and Keep on Pressing!

If you are like me and always following the latest Disney parks news I’m sure you have been inundated lately with videos and blog posts about the Galactic Starcruiser or what some were just calling the Star Wars Hotel. Before we get too into this post I will just say up front that I have not personally experienced this, but from what I have seen I would love to it sometime in the future. For now let’s just take a little bit of a look inside and then I’ll share with you something very special that some friends of mine send over.

From the outside the building looks like a pretty unassuming terminal. This is where you would park your vehicle, get checked in, take some special photos infant of the Galactic Starcruiser logo wall. Then you head inside for a virtual transport trip up to the Halcyon ship situated above our planet just waiting for guests to arrive.

Once aboard your experience begins. This is something that I think is a bit hard for some people to grasp with this place. It really is not just a Star Wars themed hotel, but instead a fully immersive Star Wars experience. You will find yourself in the middle of various different story lines that include characters for the First Order, Rebels, Resistance, Jedi and more. During your stay there are different tasks you will be asked to participate in like keeping Chewbacca hidden from the First Order, or smuggling some Coaxiom back from Batuu (in Hollywood Studios).

At some time during your trip you will go through training on the Halcyon’s bridge utilizing the shields and other defense systems which may come in handy later on during your voyage. Plus there is the ever popular Lightsaber training and so much more.

The voyages are three day and two night adventures so of course you will have a cabin to yourself, and their design really does look like you are on a Star Wars movie. The details I have seen on the Halcyon ship are really amazing, and I can only imagine are so much better in person.

Of course this is Disney so you know there is a ton of special merchandise available for Halcyon passengers only. As I mentioned above I have not experienced this myself yet, but I did have some friends attend one of the first adventures after the grand opening. During their stay they received this special collectible coin / medallion and were nice enough to send it over my way knowing how much I enjoy collecting coins.

They mentioned that this coin was left for them in their cabin, but that only one was given per group / cabin. They had four people in their group and hoped they could get one for each person, but were told that was not the case. I have heard that these were only given out to each cabin during those first few cruises, but now are only available for those lucky enough to upgrade to a Captain’s Table dining experience. One side of the coin has the Halcyon Starcruiser logo, and the reverse side has a profile design of the Halcyon ship.

As you can see from the picture above, this coin is very large. I included a US penny and quarter for scale. I’m not sure of the type of medal it’s comprised of, but it definitely is quite heavy. I absolutely love this and am so thankful for my friends who offered to gift this to my collection. Now I just have to figure out how to safely store and protect this.

On a quick side note before we got, my friends did mention that they did not see any pressed penny machine onboard the Halcyon or in the terminal where they checked in. I was kind of hoping maybe there would be a very special machine released for this adventure, but as of right now that is not the case.

Have you taken a trip aboard the Galactic Starcruiser Halcyon? What did you think and was it worth the price. Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear all about it.

Have a fantastic week and Keep on Pressing!

I wish I could say that my family just got off of a wonderful Disney cruise to the Caribbean but that is unfortunately not the case. My wife and I did go on the Disney Dream a few years ago for our Anniversary and you read about that adventure here. To be honest we have really just been waiting for our kids to get a little older before we embark on another cruise and I can’t wait for that trip.

Disney does have their fifth ship the Wish about the start its inaugural sailings later this year. Then they have their sixth and seventh ships scheduled in the near future as well. There are certainly lots of new things happening with Disney Cruise Line and I’m happy to also report that they have released some brand new pressed pennies as well here in the Port Canaveral Terminal.

Now before you hop in your car and try to press a set of these at the terminal I want to state that this machine is not available to the general public. It is located beyond the terminal security checkpoint meaning that only Disney Cruise Line passengers about to board their ship will have access to the machine. This has always been the case here at Port Canaveral and makes these pressed pennies very sought after by collectors.

As I mentioned above my family doesn’t have any Cruise trips scheduled so I was a little worried about how I could get a set of these new pennies. Thankfully I was able to cruise some very nice friends online who offered to pick up a set on their next cruise. Previously there were two separate 3-design machines in the terminal but those have both been removed and replaced with a new touchscreen 8-design model instead.

This is a great new set of pennies with images of the Disney Cruise Line logo, Captain Mickey, Captain Minnie, and their friends. Now the only thing I was sad to see is that there are no longer penny designs for each of the Disney Ships. Those designs were always very popular with cruisers to commemorate each ship they had cruised on. Maybe once Disney has all their new ships in active service we will see some updated designs or maybe even a second machine for just those pennies. I know those would be extremely popular.

Do you have an upcoming Disney Cruise? Be sure to leave me a commend down below, I’d love to hear all about it. Happy Cruising and Keep on Pressing!

I have visited and stayed at Disney’s All-Star Resorts many times in the past. During some of my impromptu vacations (ahem…penny pressing trips) I would stay here due to their lower cost. I always figured since I wasn’t going to be spending much time in my room why pay more. They may not have a Spa, or a table service restaurant but these resorts still have all the Disney charm and plenty of amenities to keep you and your family busy. Of course for us elongated coin collectors these resorts also were a treasure trove of machine having 3 or 4 machines at each resort. Unfortunately just recently that has changed, thankfully there are still pressed penny machines available, but the numbers have been trimmed down a bit. Let’s take a trip over to the All-Star Resorts to see what has changed.

After passing through the security checkpoint the first resort we come to is All-Star Sports which at the time of this post has only recently reopened after all the shut downs. It was the last Disney run resort to reopen.

As soon as I walked inside the resort I could tell the cast members were so happy and excited to be back. I must have been greeted about a dozen times during my quick visit on this day, and they were really trying to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves.

Once you are inside the main resort building all you need to do is head straight down the big long hallway towards the Foodcourt and just outside the Game Point Arcade you will find the new lone pressed penny machine.

I do like that the new machine has kept the same color scheme the old machines had and this changes with each of the All-Star Resorts.

Keeping with the sports theme of the resort you can see that the pressed penny designs have all our favorite Disney characters participating in various sports from Basketball Mickey, to Volleyball Donald. Plus I love that these designs include All-Star Sports on each of the designs.

Once back in my car it was only a short drive to our next destination theAll-Star Music resort.

As you may notice from these pictures these resorts are all designed very similarly. Once I walked inside All-Star Music I just headed straight down the main hallway towards the Food Court and same as at the Sports resort just outside the Note’Able Arcade was where we found the new machine.

Just as we saw previously the multiple machines that used to be here are now gone and instead replaced with one of the new 8-design versions. The cabinet is painted a bluish green and red color to match the old machines as well as the collectible medallion machine just to the side.

Here you will be able to press another fun set of themed pennies. Since we are at the Music resort it makes perfect sense to find our Disney Friends either making music or listening to it. I love seeing the design with Animal and his drum sticks, plus Chip and Dale sharing a pair of headphones is just too cute.

All the way down at the end of the road is where we found the last resort on this trip the All-Star Movies resort. Out of all the All-Star resorts this is probably the one I have stayed at the most. I’m a movie buff and this just had some really fun theming from the Mighty Ducks pool to the Herbie the Love Bug rooms.

This resort however had the pressed penny machine in a different location. Instead of outside the arcade this one is inside the World Premier Food Court.

I used to love coming in here and seeing this wall just stacked with pressed penny machines, but now we are down to just one. Plus you do have another collectible medallion machine if you are obsessed with those as well like I am.

This new set of pressed pennies is my absolutely favorite. I love the idea of showcasing these classic Disney Animated movies and including the release year for each of them right on the design. Aladdin is my favorite..holy cow 1992 am I that old?!? Hopefully they come out with more designs following these with other movies that would make for such a fantastic mega-set of pennies.

Have you visited any of the All-Star Resorts? Do you have a favorite? Let me know if the comments below. Thanks for tagging along as we did our quick visit to each of the All-Star Resorts and tracked down these new sets of pressed pennies. 24 new designs all acquired in one day, that’s not too bad!

Keep on Pressing!

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Let the Good Times Roll!

It’s that time of year again for one of my favorite events at Universal their Mardi Gras Celebration.

The festivities can be found since the Universal Studios theme park and includes some great food, concerts, a scavenger hunt, decorations, a parade and a brand new set of collectible medallions. But before we get to those new coins let’s take a stroll around the park first.

I’ve visited Universal’s Mardi Gras the last few years and always have a great time. There are decorations all throughout the park, but the heart of the festival for some reason is in the New York section of the park.

Be on the look out for the King and Queen of Mardi Gras. I usually find them riding their marquee float during the parade.

Of course any good festival will have a lot of food trucks and food booths to experience and this was no different.

My recommendation is to go during the week to help avoid some of the crowds. When the food booths first open is usually a great time to jump in short lines and enjoy the hot fresh food.

This year one of the tag lines for the festival was that it was “Spicier” and that was certainly the case. Many times at the theme parks they tend to tone down the spice just due to the wide range of guests tastes. But I can attest that a few of the items this year definitely brought the spice. The Nashville Hot Chicken Mac & Cheese was amazing, and the Blackend Chicken Po-Boy was also a great option. The different varieties of Arepas we tried were very flavorful and one of my favorites was the Pressed Garlic Bread Meatball slider. So many great options, there are almost too many to try in just one visit.

After indulging in some great food it was time to explore the latest version of the Tribute Store. This time around it was themed around a Float Factory. The facades they create for these stores are always so details and really gave me some Horror Nights vibes (soon my precious…soon).

As with the other Tribute Stores we have experience in the past there are multiple rooms each telling a different part of a larger story. Inside this Float Factory each room took us through the process of designing and creating a parade float. Above was the second room we encountered and showed how they start carving in foam the details for the float.

The next room detailed the paint and decoration process for a float. Plus did I mention all the merchandise we’ve encountered. There were scented candles, masks, beads, t-shirts, sweaters, hats, Christmas ornaments and so much more.

The last room which always contains a lot of amazing themed snacks and desserts was also where we found the finished Space Gator float. Now I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see the actual parade floats but I guess that would have been just way too big to fit inside this store. Still the details of the entire float creation process was very unique and definitely interesting to see all the steps involved.

On the way out of the Tribute Store there is one last scene before you head back out into the park and this is where we found the new Collectible Medallions machine.

The cabinet looked to be the exact same machine we have found here recently for the Holiday Tribute Store and last years Halloween Horror Nights. But I’m certainly happy to see they have kept up the trend of releasing new medallions for each of their big events throughout the year. The cost was $5 per Medallion or $15 for all four designs.

Each design has a nice Mardi Gras theme to it including the tag line I mentioned for this year “Louder, Wilder and Spicier”, a Fleur-De-Lis, a classic Mardi Gras mask, and an interesting Voodoo design. The reverse of each coin all had the same Mardi Gras at Universal 2022 design.

I had so much fun again this year at Universal’s Mardi Gras and thankfully there is still plenty of time to go back and experience more food and more fun. The parade is always one of my highlights to watch and if you are lucky enough you may also get to ride on the float and toss those highly sought after beads at all the gusts along the parade route. Then before you jump back in your car you can toss a few of your beads onto the famous Mardi Gras bead tree.

I am so happy to see another set of collectible medallions released and can’t wait to see what’s next. Will this be it until Horror Nights? Who knows, I’m kind of hoping we see something new in-between these two marquee events. Only time will tell, but I’ll make sure and let you know as soon as I find out.

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