On January 6th, 2021 a new specialty donut shop opened in Disney Springs called Everglazed. I came out on that opening day because I’m a sucker for a good donut and was immediately blown away with their unique creations.
The only problem I had was how to share this place with you my penny pals, since there wasn’t a pressed penny machine inside, or anywhere near here. So I just enjoyed the donuts by myself and have gone back numerous times since that first visit.
They have two different styles of donuts, first what they called The New Classics like a Vanilla Iced with Sprinkles or the Fruity Pebbles. Then they also have some wilder donuts called The Funky Bunch like the Cookies & Cream, Peanut Butter Explosion, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Mounds Coconut Cream pictures above. Plus it’s hard to tell in the pictures but these donuts are huge. They are yeast style donuts made from scratch daily and in limited quantities so they do sell out of the more popular flavors.
After a couple visits I’d tried all their usual line up of donuts, but then found out that through tier Instagram account they post new donuts for most holidays. Some are only available for one or two days so I always jumped at the opportunity to try these as well. Above I’ve got pictures their Cinco de Oh-My-O Donut which was a flaky croissant dough sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and topped with buttercream, crushed heath bar, drizzled with caramel and chocolate then topped with a hand made churro. Wow that was a mouth full, not only the description but this donut was fantastic.
Just a few weeks ago they released what they called S’mores Galore. A chocolate iced donut topped with marshmallow fluff, crushed golden grahams and a giant toasted marshmallow for a true campfire flavor. It was simply heavenly. These are just the tip of the iceberg for this place, I’ve also tried a special Girl Scouts Thin Mint Donut, a St. Patrick’s Day donut with lucky charms marshmallows on it, and my wife loved the Mother’s day donut. Maybe a father’s day donut is in my very near future? I could go on and on with pictures and descriptions but I need to get this story back on track.
If you ever find yourself in Disney Springs with a need to indulge your sweet tooth head over to the West Side and Everglazed is in-between the AMC movie Theater and Splitsville Bowling Alley. You won’t be disappointed!
Since this place opened I’ve still always held out hope that a pressed penny could come along that would tie into this place as I really wanted to share it with everyone. Then just recently as if a sign from the Donut and Elongated Coin heavens I saw an intriguing post on the TEC Facebook group page from fellow coin collector Tyler Tyson.
Tyler is always coming up with fun and unique pressed coin designs and in this post he inquired with other collector’s to see if anyone was interested in a National Donut Day design. He had hand drawn a concept of his design and I really thought he did a great job with it. I sent him a note to put my name on the list if he did decide to proceed with creating the design.
Before we proceed I wanted to give a little information on National Donut Day since I honestly didn’t know much about it. This special day is celebrated on the first Friday in June each year and the tradition dates back to the first World War. The Salvation Army volunteers cooked up donuts to cheer up army troops and we’ve been celebrating ever since.
Tyler had received enough interest in his design to proceed with creating the die. He created this one by hand which really gives the finished design a fun and truly custom look to it. Then he pressed enough coins for the orders and then cancelled the die which means it won’t be used every again.
It didn’t take too long for my penny to arrive in the mail and I absolutely love it. Tyler really did a great job with this, and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with in the future. With this new addition to my collection I feel like celebrating, maybe with some more donuts from Everglazed? Sounds like a good idea to me.
I’ve mentioned this numerous times in the past but I absolutely love visiting aquariums and zoos. If I’m out traveling around and there is one nearby I’ll go out of my way to check them out. Some are huge, and others are much smaller but it just doesn’t matter. I enjoy the different exhibits, animals and of course they more often than not have a pressed penny machine somewhere on the property.
A few years ago I found out about the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford which is about an hour north of Orlando. Above some further research they also were listed on pennycollector.com as having a penny press so I packed up my kids and headed out to visit. Unfortunately at that time the zoo was under some pretty heavy renovations and many of the exhibits were unavailable. An even further travesty was that the penny press was no where to be found. We finished up our day and headed home a little disappointed.
Fast forward a few years and I get a message from a fellow collector that was visiting the Orlando area and checked out the Central Florida Zoo. His report back mentioned the construction was all done and the penny machine was back and fully operational. That was all I needed to hear to know what we were doing that following weekend. I packed up my family on a Saturday morning and we headed back to Sanford to check out the new and improved zoo.
The front part of the zoo was pretty much the same, and most of the elevated wooden boardwalk paths throughout the zoo were also unchanged but had received some much needed repairs. But as we headed further back into the zoo we found many of the new exhibits and all of it’s residents seemed to be enjoying their new surroundings.
I also found there was a nice flow to the park. Nothing bugs me more than having to retrace my steps in a park when a certain area just kind of dead ends.
Inside the reptile house were many Florida local creatures which always scares me a little bit. I’m definitely not a snake person but always feel I should make sure I know as much about them incase I find one on my lanai at home.
Lemurs are one of my favorite animals to visit, they always look so interested in everything that is going on. Most of the zoos I’ve visited seem to prefer the white and black ring-tailed lemur, but here they had a beautiful red and black friend that was really amazing.
Located right about in the middle of the property is a petting zoo. This was pretty standard and had the usual animals to visit with like goats and sheep, but we also found an alpaca in the back. He didn’t come close enough for us to visit with, but he was showing off his pretty cute haircut from a distance.
In the same area as the petting zoo was the ZOOfari Outpost, basically the zoo gift shop. Outside under that covered awning was a mold-o-rama machine which I’ve seen more and more around the Central Florida area. Even Universal Studios now has a few of these inside their parks.
The gift shop was pretty small inside and didn’t have a huge selection of items for sale. Plenty of t-shirts and photo frames but a far cry what what we are used to seeing at the larger theme parks. As you walk in through the main door the penny press machine was located straight back.
This machine immediately caught my eye when I walked inside. It has a nice bright paint job and the animal artwork on the cabinet was really beautiful.
The pennies rolled out really nicely, only one ended up rolling a bit long with a tail but the images were all nicely pressed. I always really like when they have the zoo location listed in the design as opposed to just generic animal designs. The River Otter, Rhino, Giraffe and Alligator designs were fairly standard and I’m sure we have seen similar at other locations but I was still happy to finally have this set for my personal collection.
The Central Florida Zoo has come a long way from that first time I visited and we had a really fantastic day. This is not a huge zoo, but you can definitely spend a good portion of your day here if you really take your time exploring all the exhibits and different activities available throughout the day. They do also have a few places to purchase food so you can really make a day of it. Don’t forget to visit the Outpost and press a set of these pennies for your own collection and as always be sure to Keep on Pressing!
I hate to be “that” person, but I do feel that I’m a connoisseurs of pizza. Living in New Jersey we had some really great pizza, including the locally known Tomato Pie, plus I visited New York City many many times for a lot of pizza. I’ve even visited Chicago for authentic deep dish pizza and I honestly love it all. Sometimes I’m in the mood for thin crust and other times deep dish is what’s calling my name. The long and the short of it is that I just really love pizza as I think so many of you do as well. Now some of you may be asking now this pertains to pressed coins. If you have been following my adventures on this blog I’m sure you have noticed that we have pretty much collected all the pressed coins available in the Orlando area and most central Florida locations. When that happens it’s just time to start expanding our collecting boundaries and venture a little further away from home. One of these cities on my to do list was Gainesville Florida. I’ve already documented a couple places we visited on previous trips but I was saving the best for last, a place called Satchel’s Pizza.
I’ll get the pizza review in a little bit, but first I just wanted to mention that this is probably the most unique pizza joint I have ever visited. Satchel’s pizza opened on March 7th, 2003 by Satchel Raye the founder and owner of the restaurant. Their mission was to make great food in a beautiful atmosphere. Basically this entire place is a collection of unique and one of a kind works of art. Just wait and I’ll show you what I mean.
The front of the building has a fun garden area with tables that you can sit and wait for your table. This place gets so busy that there can be wait times of up to and over an hour if you don’t get their early. Also, see that van on the left? There is a table inside and you can actually sit and eat your meal inside that van. This could be a bit hot in the summertime, but still seems like an interesting table option for those adventurous types.
Just around the one side of the front door area are some of their outdoor tables. They all have pretty mosaic designs on top, and even the walls have wonderful art work and designs on them.
Along the other main side of the building where the parking lot is located the art work continues. This one wall was covered in all different kinds of sports trophies.
There was a bit of a pass through walkway between the restaurants two buildings and the exterior design continued everywhere. This wall had all sorts of different items mounted directly on it.
That second building I mentioned towards the back is called Lightnin Salvage Enterprises and has a pretty large bar inside that is also surrounded with some additional tables. I think this is used as kind of overflow seating for the main dining room and you do have access to the full food menu in addition to the bar offerings. The above picture was taken in the parking lot area and you can see some interesting looking items all the way in the back of the lot. Let’s take a closer look.
This covered area was like an open air greenhouse and we will step inside shortly, but what first caught my eye was the airplane mounted up on top.
Underneath the airplane were plenty of potted plants and some additional seating. It was raining when we visited so no one was outside other than myself trying to take these pictures. But I can see this being a fun place to eat your pizza.
We then came across another section with some larger picnic tables and cement tables for diners.
Here are the few seating areas inside the greenhouse. There is no glass along the walls so this is an open air place to eat. I would think it could get pretty hot inside here if you are eating during the middle of the summer, plus the tables are not very large so this could be a tough seat to get if you really wanted to eat here.
Along the back wall of the building I found a section that was covered in a mosaic style patter of cell phone cases in every different color you can imaging.
The last little area outside was a “kids play area”. I put that in quotes as I’m not sure any kids would actually want to play here, and it reminds me of something you may find at an abandoned school in some horror movie. My daughters just kind of walked through this area and didn’t seem interested in actually playing here. Maybe that was due to the rain, or maybe some other reason.
I mentioned earlier that this place can have really long wait times to get a table, so I made sure we arrived before it even opened which is why we took our tour of the grounds first. Once we had finished outside it was perfect timing and the restaurant was just opening, but even at this time in the morning it filled up pretty quickly. The interesting decorations continued on the inside as you can see from the things hanging from the ceiling and all along the walls.
Above is a picture I took of the menu just to show there disclaimer that it could take a while for your food to be prepared if they are busy. Also during our visit they were cash only but they did have an ATM machine inside to use but there is a service fee to use so you may want to plan ahead. I have seen online that they are now accepting credit cards and digital payments probably due to increase demand for touch-less payment options which is nice.
On our visit the pizza didn’t take too long and it was delivered to our table within 20 minutes. By this time we were starving and we couldn’t wait to dive in. My daughters wanted just plain cheese and I opted for pepperoni and green peppers. This pizza was fantastic! As you can see it’s not really a thin crust pizza, but definitely not a deep dish is kind of in between. The crust exterior was crunch, but soft and garlicky on the outside. There was so much cheese on top which I love and the tops on my side were fresh and flavorful.
The pizza was definitely filling, but when offered dessert we just had to see what was available. Instead of a regular paper dessert menu, they brought over an old school view master with a photo disc inside of all the sweet offerings.
I tried to take a picture of the view master menu above.
It’s a bit small and the 3D obviously doesn’t work, but this was still a cool way for guests to see the menu. My kids really got a kick out of the view master and couldn’t believe this was a toy I had when I was young. A far cry from all the fancy tech they have now.
After our lunch we headed back outside and walked towards the back building Lightnin Salvage which as I mentioned before is a bar and additional seating for the main restaurant but also has a small gift shop.
The tile work on these walls was very eye catching. For some reason the area to the right of the door just reminded me of a bunch of post-it notes covering the wall.
Here is a picture of the inside where the bar could be found. You can see some small trinkets in the lower right corner that I’m sure kids would enjoy.
This is just a sample of some items they had for sale in the gift shop. They had plenty of things with Satchel’s Pizza on it like mugs, t-shirts, sweaters and even their salad dressing for sale.
But of course other than the pizza I was here to find their pressed penny machine and this is where you can find it. I actually thought it would have been in the main restaurant area, but when I couldn’t find it my very kind server said it was back near the bar. I really liked that they had a van model on the top of the machine. It didn’t quite match the one they have outside to eat in, but still a fun addition to their machine.
This machine style is one I’ve used quite a few times in the past, and I always find they seem to roll the designs a bit short. However I was pleasantly surprised to see that my pressed coins came out very nicely and I really loved these designs. If you saw these on eBay or somewhere out of context you probably would have no idea what they were all about, but once you have visited Satchel’s you instantly recognize each of the designs.
All I can say is that this was definitely a unique place and I cannot wait to go back. I only wish it was a bit closer to our home so I could get back there more often. It will be on my list of places to visit again anytime we are in that area, or even just passing through. Be sure to get their early, or just have some patience when waiting for your table and food. It will be well worth the wait, make sure you get your pressed pennies, and don’t forget to check out all the artwork. Though as you can see from the pictures above it’s pretty hard to miss since the restaurant itself is the art work. Keep on Pressing!
A few months ago I posted about the first 3-design electronic penny machine I came across at Disney’s Magic Kingdom that had been converted over to $1. In case you haven’t read that article I’ve got it linked here. When that machine was changed over we all knew it was inevitable that the rest would soon follow. This is not a quick process as the vendor and I’m sure Disney don’t want to have all the machines removed at once so they take a few at a time. I’ve been documenting the changes and all the machines at Magic Kingdom have finally been swapped. I will state right here at the beginning that none of the penny designs have changed, they are all exactly the same as they were before this conversion so we won’t spend much time on those. I will include pictures of the new coins since for the most part the machines are pre-loaded with shiny new zinc pennies. We have seen reports from fellow collectors that sometimes they luck out and get a machine with some older copper pennies inside, but it seems to be a mix bag at this point. So without any further delay let’s hop on the monorail and get inside the Magic Kingdom.
The parks have recently been relaxing some of their heath requirements and the crowds have definitely started to return.
Once inside the Magic Kingdom we are going to take a quick trip through the entire park showcasing all the newly replaced machines without much sightseeing in between locations. First up we head into the Main Street Fire Station. This has recently got through a bit of a change inside.
This use to be where you could sign up to play the Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom interactive game, but that has been removed and inside has now returned to looking just like a turn of the century firehouse.
The next machine was quite a ways away, we skipped down Main Street USA, cut through Adventureland and ended up in Frontierland back near Splash Mountain. There is a penny machine hidden near the exit to Splash Mountain, but you do NOT need to actually ride the attraction to access this machine. You can just walk back here and use the machine and stay completely dry.
This machine received a nice makeover during it’s removal. The old cabinet was pretty beat up and now it’s been nice and refurbished and repainted.
Next we headed past the Peco’s Bill quick service restaurant, past the Country Bears Jamboree and just off to the side of the main pathway is the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade.
This location has two machines and both have been converted over. The first one is located on the right side of the shootin’ arcade.
On the left side of the arcade is the second machine. This one has also received a nice new pain job and looks ready to press some coins.
Leaving Frontierland we next find ourselves in Liberty Square. If you head in the direction towards Cinderella Castle there is a pathway that goes past the exit to the Hall of Presidents attraction.
In this little alcove is where our next stop was to check on this 3-design pressed penny machine. The designs haven’t changed, but I always really liked this set and they definitely seem popular among guests.
Above is a close up of the new payment system. These machines no longer accept quarters and pennies, instead due to the higher cost the machine will accept $1 bills through the scanner towards the bottom. Please note that the machine does not give change so you will need the correct denomination to use. This is also the only way to press just individual designs. If you want to use the electronic payment system with either a credit card or digital wallet like ApplePay or Google Wallet you will automatically be charged the full $3 and will get all 3 designs.
Continuing our tour around the park we skipped through New Fantastyland and Tomorrowland since there were no 3-design machines in these areas. We found ourselves heading back down Main Street USA towards the front of the park and headed inside Tony’s Town Square Restaurant.
The machine is just past the check-in desk for the restaurant but not actually inside the area with all the dining tables.
This was another machine that was overdue for a bit of a facelift and it back looking much nicer than before. I do find that this machine still presses it’s designs a little short and more often than not they get cut off on the one side.
Sorry for the whirlwind tour of the park, but we have visited each of these machines in detail previously and I didn’t want to dwell on them too much this time around. But since they have been changed over to the new payment system and higher cost I did want to document them and share these changes with everyone so you can be prepared for your upcoming trips and squishin’ missions.
What do you think of the increased cost? Will this change how you collect or make you more selective of the designs you press. Be sure to let me know down in the comments below and we can discuss. Have a fantastic week and as always be sure to Keep on Pressing!
Most collectors at one time or another have used a pressed coin booklet for their collection. When I first started getting into pressed coin collecting I used these booklets exclusively, but my collection quickly outgrew those booklets.
These booklets can be found pretty much wherever a pressed coin machine is located. Some have custom cover designs for the location you are visiting, or some are more generic. But they are all similar in design, usually a trifold little plastic booklet with plastic pockets inside where you can just slid your pressed coins into.
Even thought I don’t use these booklets anymore to actually house my collection, I still find myself picking these up whenever I come across a unique one. It’s basically become a collection in and of itself at my home.
Not too long ago I came across a post online for a new type of penny booklet that I thought was definitely unique and had some interesting features that I wanted to check out. I headed over to our friends at Pennybandz.com who produced this item and ordered one so I could look at it in person and in much more detail.
This is called their Penny Adventure Journal and it’s pretty amazing. It’s wrapped in a nice Vegan Leather cover that comes in quite a few different colors like Crimson Red, Sunset Orange, Tie Dye, and many others. I opted for the Ocean Turquoise version.
As you can see from the above picture, this journal is pretty thick but there is a reason for that and we will get into it shortly. But this is really well made and has some fun features inside.
When you first open the journal there is a band on the cover that you would want to remove, but it does give a bit of an overview of what is included inside.
The first thing we come across is a clear pocket with a zip top. This can be used for your loose change, maybe your park tickets, some cash, or even a pen which you may need when we get a little further into the journal.
The next few pages are for your pressed coins to be stored. This is a similar design to those other booklets we spoke about at the beginning. Once nice feature of this version is the cut out at the top of each pocket that makes it much easier to insert or extract your coins from these pockets. The pennybandz website advertises this booklet as being able to store 146 coins which at first I thought I may be missing some of these pocket pages. But I believe what they were doing to get to this overall number would be having two coins in each pocket back to back and the math worked out by doing that. So just be aware if you prefer not to store your coins that way, then the number of coins you can store in this journal will be half of the advertised number.
Now we come to the actual Journal part which I really think is a fun additional.
I wish I had come up with this statement. Live the adventure…press on! This also has a spot at the bottom for the collector’s name. Just in case you have more than one collector in your family you can keep your journals separated.
The journal then has pages with cool tables where you can list the date, location and design for each of your newly pressed coins.
Then the next page is where you can really document the details of your trip, favorite moment, info on the machine, or basically whatever you would like.
There are quite a lot of these journal pages that should keep your busy on all your squishing’ missions. Or even for existing coins you’ve already collected.
After all the journal pages there are a few more of the plastic coin storage pages that are the same as the ones at the front of the booklet.
The very last plastic page has some slightly larger sized pockets so you can store your pressed quarters, or maybe other larger sized coins you may have pressed or acquired on your travels.
I think this is really a cool new all inclusive way to store your pressed coins. Personally it would not work for the way I collect and store my coins, plus this blog is really how I document and share my “journal” thoughts and details. But I am absolutely going to give one of these to each of my daughters on our next family vacation so they can use it for their own collections and just writing about our vacation together and not just about the coins but what we did, things we saw and maybe even the fun things we ate along the way. This is definitely a unique press coin booklet that I think a lot of casual collectors will enjoy using. I left a link above for the pennybandz website in case you want to check it out and maybe pick up one for yourself. This is not a sponsored advertisement, I did pay for the above booklet myself but thought it was so fun that I wanted to share it with all of you.
On many of my travels hunting down pressed coins I’ve stopped at more than my share of roadside rest areas or truck stops to take a break from the long hours behind the wheel. Most of these places are quickly forgotten, and left behind after a quick fuel fill-up or fast food meal. However there is a chain of interstate gas stations and convenient stores that have garnered quite a following. Buc-ee’s opened their first location in Lake Jackson, Texas back in 1982 and since then has grown to over 39 locations. Originally they were only found throughout Texas but have in more recent years started to expand into some other southern states like Alabama, Georgia and just within the past couple months here in Florida.
On February 22, 2021 their first Florida location officially opened in St. Augustine. There was plenty of media attention here locally in Orlando, and I was able to see some of the interior but wasn’t quite sure exactly what all the fuss was about. I checked out some YouTube videos of this new location and my interested was piqued. But then in one of the videos I saw what appeared to be a penny press machine inside and that sealed the deal. It took some time but I eventually picked a date not too long ago and made the almost 2 hour trip up I-4 and then onto I-95 towards St. Augustine so I could visit my very first Buc-ee’s.
The first thing I noticed when getting off the interstate and into the parking lot were the signed that advertised Big Rig Trucks were not allowed at their location. This seemed strange, but after some further research apparently this is something they have implemented at all their locations. Also they have an incredible number of Gas Pumps to fill up your vehicle. I believe this location along had over 100 pumps. After I parked my car and headed towards the entrance I was met by their Mascot Bucky keeping safe and wearing his facial covering.
Inside the store is kind of split in half, part of it is a big convenient store with coffee stations, soda fountains, coolers with bottled drinks, snacks, a deli, plenty of jerky and even fresh barbecue. I was a bit overwhelmed when I first walked in and figured I would just start with the Buc-ee’s brand merchandise first before checking out the food.
They had everything you could need from T-shirts and sweaters to swimsuits and home decor. My daughters would have loved all the plush animals they had there as well.
The smell of food was intoxicating and I quickly found myself gravitating towards this area of the store. In the middle is where they have an area with pre-made sandwiches, tacos, burritos, beaver chips, and even sausage on a stick. I witnessed a fresh brisket being placed on the cutting board while I was examining all the options and the staff broke out in a loud chant about the “brisket on the board”.
On the reverse side of the barbecue counter was where they made fresh fudge and among other sweet treats even various kinds of candy coated nuts. I grabbed myself a basket and quickly started to load up on food. Before I knew it my basket was almost full and I hadn’t even checked out the deli but I figured that would need to wait for another day.
With my basket full of food I was about to check out and go indulge in my car, but then remembered there was a pressed penny machine inside that I had completely overlooked. Thankfully it wasn’t too far away, just look for the old Bucky pickup truck near the merchandise section.
The cabinet on this machine was fantastic. I loved seeing Bucky on the front, and that red color fit right in. I have used this style machine in the past at some other locations and actually really like them. They pressed really well for the most part, and are really quiet when you use them. I know that standard “cranking” sound we are all used to is part of the experience but it’s nice to take a break from that every so often.
The designed available in this machine were all created specifically for this location and stated St. Augustine, FL on each of them. The first has an image of Peace Heart Buc-ee’s, the second was a Luck-ee Penny, the third said Belongs to Buc-ee’s, and the last said Smile if you love Buc-ee’s. These designs were really cute and I do really like that they had the location listed on each coin. This makes for a fun little sub-set to collect along your travels.
Reluctantly I headed out of the store and back into my car. I enjoyed all the food I picked up and after being back home have actually felt cravings to go back for some of those breakfast brisket tacos. After visiting I completely get the obsession and have caught the fever myself. I do wish it was a little closer to home so I could visit more often, 2 hours up the coast is a bit of a hike. Thankfully they have also just opened their second Florida location in Daytona Beach which is a little closer and I’ll be heading there pretty soon. Keep on Pressing!
As with so many of the other theme parks around Central Florida, SeaWorld’s pressed penny machines have now been completely changed over to $1 per design. The machine does supply the penny for you, and initially I found them to be all nice new shiny zinc coins. However over time it seems that the machines are being loaded with circulated pennies that may be more tarnished or dirty making for a not so great final pressing. With that said most can be easily cleaned back at your home.
This conversion of their machines took a couple months and I think in total I made about 4 trips to finally document all of them. In this post I’ll review all the machines, their new locations since some were moved from their previous spots. Quick side note, this park has a bit of a unique layout so some of the locations are a bit hard to explain, in case you aren’t familiar I have put together a map of all the penny machine locations which is updated quite frequently for your visits to this park and may others in Central Florida, you can check them out here.
Following the State’s health guidelines there was a mandatory temperature check for all guests prior to entering the park.
I was able to initially visit the park on one of their very first days of reopening and it was so nice to see all the team members welcoming the guests into the park. They seemed to happy to be back to work and doing what they enjoy.
Every gift shop had plenty of “Welcome Back” merchandise which was definitely popular among guests and it was going fast.
Now let’s get down to business and start reviewing all the pressed penny machines. The first machine is in the SeaWorld Store right at the front of the park after you scan in with your park ticket.
I’ll get this out of the way now so I don’t need to revisit with each machine. There was only one machine that returned with new designs and we will get to that one shortly. But all other machines had no changes other than to their payment system and the price increase.
Around the back of this main SeaWorld Store was the second machine. This machine did return with the only set of new designs available.
Just across the courtyard is the SeaWorld Rescue store with the next machine.
I always find there are quite a few machines found right around this front area of the park. But then as you head a little further back they start to be spread out a little more.
Just to the left of the SeaWorld Rescue store is the Strollers Rental & Gift Shop. Like many other stores in this park there will be a bunch of items for sales outside as well and inside which I guess is to try and draw you in.
All they need to drawn me in is a pressed penny machine and this Strollers rental does have one just outside the gift shop door.
Now it was time to head a little further into the park, and just near the Aquarium by the Manta Coaster they had placed two penny machines together.
Here is a close up of the two machines, as I’ve mentioned the designs are the same but these were previously located in different areas of the park before this change.
Walking past the entrance to the Manta Coaster I found another penny machine which was outside the Manta Soft Service ice cream booth.
This was a fun machine to use because the Manta coaster initial lift goes right over top of you can even though that’s not my type of ride, I’m always fascinated to watch others riding it.
Before heading too far back into the park past Manta, I back tracked a bit towards the Key West section.
Outside of the Sand Castle Toys-n-Treats store was Penny Machine #23. It was also located right beside a Dippin’ dots cart so I figured it was a perfect time for a cold snack before continuing on.
Back near the Stingray Lagoon in the past you could find multiple machines, but now currently there is only one a available and you just see it to the far right side of the covered area.
Just note that this area does get very busy as touching stingrays always draws a crowd, and during feeding times it can get pretty packed. The machine is a bit off to the side so it shouldn’t be an issue accessing the machine during those busy times.
After spending some time with the Stingrays I headed back to the Dolphin viewing area and was surprised to see that the two penny machines usually found near the underwater area were both gone. I continued to the Manatee Rehabilitation area.
This machine had returned and was in the exact same spot as before the conversion.
Near the Manatee Rehabilitation area and the Turtle Trek exhibits is the Trek Treasures gift shop. I always thought this would be a perfect place for a machine, but in all my visits there has never been one here.
On this visit there still wasn’t a machine inside the shop, but right across the walkway was a newly relocated machine.
I do believe that this was one of the machine previously found at the Dolphin underwater viewing area, so it wasn’t completely removed just changed locations within the park.
By this time we were maybe about halfway through the park, it’s really amazing how large it is but we still had lots more machines to try and find.
Near the Journey to Atlantis water flume ride is where the next machine was found. Now usually the water splash from the ride won’t make it this far over the wall and I’m sure they don’t want to damage the machine by having it constantly soaked with water. But with that all said, I would still be on the lookout just in case. You never know when a rogue wave may hit.
Beyond the Journey to Atlantis ride and near the Kraken coaster we found the High seas Market which sells some grab and go drinks and small snacks like pretzels and popcorn.
You can see that there was a machine placed just to the left side of this small market, which is perfect for it with some of the designs being themed for the Kraken coaster.
This is also the area of the park where you get to enter Antarctica.
My daughters love this area just with all the fake ice and snow decorations around, plus they love penguins. The above machine is located just at the exit from the Penguin exhibit, but you don’t actually have to go through it to find the machine if you prefer to not get too cold. It’s freezing inside there. But instead you can just access the machine in this outside area near the lockers.
This was a good time of day to stop for some lunch. I always recommend trying to eat at off peak times like 11am or after 2pm to try and avoid some of the longer times and crazier crowds. I’d never eaten at the Expedition Cafe and figured it would be nice to try something a bit different.
We headed inside and there were a couple different stations with some Asian cuisine, American burgers and hot dogs, and a third with some lighter faire like salads. After ordering and picking up our food we sat outside since there was a nice breeze and it wasn’t too humid yet. Once I was done eating I headed over to get a better look at the two penny presses found just outside the Expedition Cafe’s front entrance.
After eating we were in the home stretch of finding these last few machines, and were energized after a nice lunch. We exited the Antartica section, past the Pacific wharf area and found a machine in a unique location.
If you have visited some of the Central Florida parks you may have encountered people coming up and asking if you want information on Vacation experiences or packages. I always just assume these are for a Time Share style sale, but I’ve never taken them up on this so I don’t really have much info. I will be honest, I’m always at the parks just to relax and enjoy a nice day out and don’t really want to be bothered with this type of interaction. But they have always been very nice and again in my experience when you say you aren’t interested they just leave you alone and move on. With this penny press right near their booth seems like a bit of an inconvenience when you just want to press some coins, but I wanted to mention it just so you were aware you do not need to buy or signup for anything to use the machine.
Another favorite area of ours is the Shark experience. Plus since most of it is indoors you get a nice Air Conditioning break.
After visiting with all the amazing sharks inside you exit near the Underwater Grill restaurant which has some pretty good food, and you get to eat right next to the shark tank. Outside you can see some little tanks with smaller sharks swimming around that you can feed at certain times throughout the day. This is also where two more machines are found.
Machine #10 is on the right side with some interesting shark designs.
Then machine #18 is on the left side and has a one of my favorite designs in all of SeaWorld which is of a Sea Dragon. If you have ever seen a Sea Dragon in person they are amazing to watch and I find them just simply mezmerizing.
No too far from the Shark experience are a set of restrooms and they also placed a penny machine back in this area.
If you aren’t paying attention for it you may pass right on by. I have a feeling this machine may be relocated in the future just because it’s kind of out of the way from people passing by.
Not too far from the “hidden” machine is the gift shop for the Mako coaster called Reef Treasures.
Previously this machine was found across the walkway and a little easier to spot. I was surprised to find it closer to the gift shop on this trip but probably makes it easier for the shop employees to help should someone have a problem with the machine.
I was so surprised to find that there was a large section of the park without any machines. We haded past the new Infinity Falls water rapids ride that still has no machines, through the Sesame Street area that has no machines, Shamu Stadium no machines, and even the Wild Arctic exhibit no longer has machines available. I walked across the big main lagoon kind of in the center of the park and back towards the Dolphin Nursery. Since our visit was almost over we stopped for some (more) ice cream.
With our treats in hand we sat outside to enjoy them and found another penny machine.
Looking across the walkway I could see the Seaside Restrooms and two more machines. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but I really dislike when they put machines near restrooms.
I guess they are definitely high traffic areas and kids use them while they are waiting for the rest of their family. To be it just seems like a strange place to put them.
On my checklist of machines, there was just one last one remaining to find and it was not too far from the above restroom location. Tucked away in the corner near the restrooms was a room with lockers for rent was the last machine.
We always have a great time visiting SeaWorld and I really think their food options are above and beyond better than a lot of the other theme parks. I was hoping to see more new designs released, or even one of those new 8 or 12 design touch screen machines would be awesome here. At least we still got the same 25 total machines returned and that’s huge for any collector to try and acquire in one day.
I do apologize for this being one really long post, but as I mentioned since most of the designs hadn’t changed I didn’t want to spread this out over multiple posts. This was really more just to document the new cabinets and price increase to the machines throughout the park. Thank you as alway for visiting, and if you are in the Orlando area be sure to check out SeaWorld it really is a great place to visit. Just remember, you don’t need to bring any quarters ore pennies anymore, just you dollar bills or credit card.
A few years ago I had read a post on the TEC Facebook group from fellow member Tyler Tyson about a short documentary film he was being featured in. The film was created by Strawhouse Pictures based in Rock Hill South Carolina who have been making features and short films for over 10 years. This documentary was filmed over a few days at Tyler’s home, and was showcasing his passion for pressed coins, how he got into the hobby and shows off his impressive collection of coin press machines.
The film was released and shown in numerous independent film festivals around the United States. I wasn’t able to see it in a theatre near my home, but it was eventually released online and I will admit I’ve watched it at least a half dozen times by now.
To held promote this special film and occasion, Tyler created the above pressed penny design which I just received as part of my TEC Membership. Another perk of membership with TEC are the unique and very limited pressed coins you received each quarter with your newsletter. This was designed by Tyler Tyson (current TEC Vice President and soon to be President) and Paul Conner. It was engraved by John Gusmano and rolled on US cents by Tyler.
If you would like to watch this short film you can do so by clicking here. It’s only about 5 minutes long and was really well put together. Any time we can help share stories about our hobby is a plus and I’m always happy to share these with you. Have a great week and Keep on Pressing!
A wonderful perk of posting all my travels and pressed penny adventures here on our Blog and videos on Youtube is that I get to chat with so many of you, my penny pals. We get to share tips or tricks about our collections, or even just give me all the juicy details about their own personal squishing’ missions. I’m so obsessed with pressed coins that even though I collect quite a few on my own, I love to live vicariously through all of you and your experiences as well. We have such a fantastic community here of collectors it’s just a lot of fun to share our passion with each other.
As part of our community I’m a member of quite a few different Facebook groups about pressed coins, and find that’s another fantastic resource. I hear from a fellow collector Amy looking for some coins that I was able to help acquire for her and since then I think we have become pretty good friends. During one of our conversations she let me know about a Facebook group she was running called Pressed Penny Mafia and that name immediately intrigued me and I joined right away. As with most of the other groups there is plenty of posts about coin trips, new machines and plenty of trading and selling coins. Then one day I saw a post from Amy about a new penny design she had created and when I signed up to buy / trader for one she let me know about all her other designs and there are quire a few. That’s what I wanted to showcase today are the amazing Pressed Penny Mafia designs.
The first set of four designs were released back in 2019. These designs are so cool and really fit in with the theme of the Facebook group. Penny In Penny Out, Group Image, Lucky Loot and Hit by the Pressed Penny Mafia.
Then in 2020 the next few of designs were released throughout the year. Squishin’ Mission, Lady Luck, You’ll Never Get My Coppers and The Only Group That Makes Cents.
Amy also released special Member Designs in 2020 which were available on a penny and nickel. I’m crossing my fingers that these become an annual release as I’m all about limited dated designs. They make for such a fun and unique mini-collection.
The latest design in this collection is pictures above and was made available in April 2021. Boss Lady is another great addition to this set. The style of these designs are really beautiful and thought out.
Amy has designed all of these herself. She works with John Gusmano who etches the dies and Paul Connor rolls the coins for her. In case you are interested in picking up any of these designs (or all of them) I did check with Amy and they are all still available for purchase. The easiest way is to join the Pressed Penny Mafia PPM Facebook group which I have linked here, it’s completely free to join. There is plenty of trading and selling of pressed coins in the group, plus you’ll be among the first to hear about all of Amy’s new group specific designs. As a little sneak peak Amy shared that there are two more designs already scheduled for release later in 2021, and she is currently working on at least another 8 designs for future production.
I also put together a fun Film Noir style video about these coins that is available on our YouTube channel that you can check out here. This was a lot of fun to put together and hopefully you enjoy it.
Thank you for stopping by and checking out more Privately Design and Pressed coins. I think all to often we as collectors spend plenty of time collecting designs from Disney, Six Flags or many other large companies but we overlook that there is a huge market of privately designs coins out there and I’m going to try my best to showcase as many of them as I can. I hope to see you on the Pressed Penny Mafia Facebook group soon, and make sure to pick up these coins for your collection. You won’t be disappointed. Until next time, Keep on Pressing!
It’s that wonderful time of the year once again when the TEC club releases its annual Member coin pressed on a Nickel. I’ve mentioned in the past that this is definitely one of the coins I look forward to each year and this new design does not disappoint.
It was designed by Tyler Tyson and Paul Conner both TEC members. Then it was engraved by John Gusmano and rolled on nickels by Tyler Tyson. This year’s design has some nice block lettering, a more realistic Owl image, and also celebrates the Clubs 55th Anniversary.
If your interested in learning more about TEC please check out the website www.tecnews.org. You can even fill out a membership form directly on the website. Feel free to list that you were referred by TEC Member #4237 (that’s Me!). Once you are a member you can look forward to these annual member coins. Happy Collecting!
David's Coin Travels 