Harry Potter Pressed Pennies – Universal Studios Florida

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Click here to watch our video on these new machines.
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Ok, I’ll admit it, I’m a Harry Potter fan.  Not a super fan, but I do really enjoy that whole world that surrounds Harry.  I remember watching the first movie and just needing to know what happens next so I ran out and brought books 2 and 3.  Read those, then went back to read book 1 because the book is always so much better than the movie.  Then the waiting started, for each new book in the series to be released every couple of years.  I would pre-order my book and get to the start for the midnight release.  Dressing up in character was not my thing, but I just wanted my hands on that new book and would have it completed in a few days.  That was me trying to take my time.

Eventually, the entire story came to an end, but with Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Diagon Alley, I could experience it in a whole new way.  Now I have visited every nook and crannies of both Harry Potter areas of the parks, drank my share of Butterbeer (Hot is my preferred version, followed by Frozen, and then Cold) drinks, ice cream, and fudge.  I’ve ridden all the rides except Dueling Dragons which is now closed.  All sorts of merchandise adorn our house, oh and by the way, my wife and I are both Ravenclaws in case you were wondering.  Basically, I’ve done almost everything there is to do here around Harry Potter.  But one thing I never thought I would be able to do is Press some special Harry Potter-themed pennies!

Years ago I remember asking someone about pressed pennies in these areas of the park but was always told it was something J.K. Rowling didn’t want in the parks.  I have nothing to back that up with other than just internet rumors.  But it did seem to hold true for a long time and I had pretty much given up on ever seeing them.

Then all of a sudden a few weeks ago I received a message on Facebook from a fellow collector Les G. who told me that new Harry Potter penny machines were being released at Universal.  I thanked him for the info, and immediately started checking other resources for confirmation but couldn’t find anything.  Then I received a message on Youtube from Kimmy M stating the same thing.  Now my interest was really piqued and decided what the heck, let’s go to Universal and check it out first hand.  I started over at Universal Studios and immediately went back to Diagon Alley.  Walking everywhere I could think of, in every store, around every corner, in the Leaky Cauldron but couldn’t find the machine.  Then I had a crazy idea that maybe the machine wasn’t in this area of the park due to that long ago rumor of J.K. Rowling not wanting them here, but maybe the workaround was to have the machines nearby.

I checked all the usual places and eventually headed into the main Universal Studios Store up near the front of the park.  Inside the store are different areas for all the different merchandise like The Simpsons, Trolls or The Secret Life of Pets and of course there is a big area of Harry Potter items.

Everything was pretty standard stuff, but I didn’t see a penny machine right away but after weaving in and out of the aisles I found it.

Thankfully I had come to the park pretty early so this store wasn’t too busy, and I was able to really take in this moment.

The machine had a nice wood cabinet that fits this area of the store, but in my mind just wasn’t quite as Harry Potter-esque as I would have thought/liked.  It would have been fun to see this slanted to one side as all the buildings in Diagon Alley or may be covered in wands or the Hogwart’s House Shields.  But that wasn’t going to stop me from getting these coins.

The designs in this set include each of the Hogwart’s House Shields (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin), a Snitch, the Nimbus 2000, a Dementor, and Fluffy the 3-headed  dog.

Some of the information I had gathered prior to visiting was that there were to be three penny machines in total, one at Universal, one in Islands of Adventure, and the third in CityWalk.  What better way to get from Universal to Islands than to enjoy the Hogwart’s Express.

After departing the train, I entered the Wizarding World of Harry Potter but knew in my mind that the machine wouldn’t be back here.

However, that didn’t deter me from walking through anyway just to enjoy this place.  It’s really amazing and so much fun just like you are walking into the movies.

The machine was eventually found up at the front of the park in the main gift shop called the Trading Company.

Head inside and just make your way to the Harry Potter section.

The machine is situated near the School Robes up along one of the walls.

This second set of pennies has designs of the Nimbus 2001 Broom, The Tri-Wizard Cup, a Phoenix, a couple Dragons, the Golden Egg, and the Mirror of Erised.  These are definitely images that you would need to be quite the fan to recognize.  While I was pressing my pennies one of the team members came up and asked if I worked for the machine company because of all the pictures and video I was taking.  I said no just a collector and she was very nice to let me know about the other machines.

I mentioned I had the Universal set already and was heading to CityWalk next but she informed me that the third machine wasn’t available yet.  I thanked her and headed out but wanted to double-check CityWalk just to make sure, and she was absolutely correct.

Skip forward a week or so and I come across a post on Facebook in a Universal Passholder’s group mentioning the Harry Potter pennies.  In the comments someone mentioned that only 2 machines were available, but as the comments kept rolling in suddenly someone posted that the third machine was just released that day.  Well, that’s all I needed to hear and headed over after work.  Once I passed through security I headed directly to the Universal Store.

The Harry Potter section of this store kind of takes over about half of it.

Near the check out register area is a wall of Wizard Wands and the penny machine was just tucked away in that area.

As you might have guessed the wands are a hot item and this little area of the store got quite crowded shortly after I started using the machine.  This machine had the same cabinet design as the other two but in a lighter color.

As much as I liked the pennies with the Hogwart’s School Shields on them, this set overall was my favorite.  It just had a great selection of designs including Harry’s Glasses and Scar, the 9 3/4 Platform, the Deathly Hallows, the Sorting Hat, a Wand, the Firebolt Broom and of course Dobby the (Free) Elf.

I truely never thought I would see the day when Harry Potter pressed pennies would be released, and not just one set but three intotal.  That’s huge!  Of course I wish the machines were a little more themed, I would have loved to use my wand to active the machine, but I really don’t want to complain.  I’m so happy they were able to get these released and I know collectors and just casual park guests are going to love these.  Hopefully if they are as popular as I’m assuming they will be, we may see more in the future.

Have a great week and Keep on Pressing!

Happy Thanksgiving 2020!

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This has been quite a year we have all experienced together.  But now more than ever I feel it’s very important to take some time and count our Blessings and be Thankful for everything we do have.  First off please know that I truly appreciate every one of you that stops by here week after week to check-in on my pressed penny obsession.  Whether you have been a long-time follower or have just recently come across these crazy stories I cannot express how much I feel blessed to know that you actually take a few minutes out of your day to read about my collection.  We do have a fantastic community here of collectors that I have enjoyed getting to know over the years.  I read all of your comments and appreciate you taking the time to reach out.

The above features pressed penny was shared by followed TEC Member Cindy Calhoun on The Elongated Collector’s Facebook page and I thought it was a great design to share.  It was designed by Elmer Anderson and is marked as design EA-10 for those of your collecting some private roller designs.

It’s about time to pop the turkey in the oven over here and enjoy some family togetherness.  This year we have been able to do that more often due to the limited time we head outside, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the work.  My family is truly the most important thing in my life but pressed pennies to come in pretty close behind.  Have a fantastic Thanksgiving and let’s hope we can get through the rest of 2020 as quickly as possible.  I’m definitely looking forward to more Penny Travels in the New Year!

Disney Junior NEW 8-Design Pressed Penny Set – Hollywood Studios

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This past week we had some friends in town.  They are Disney Vacation Club members so this is an annual trip they look forward to each year and gives us a chance to visit and catch up while they are here.  I had asked for their schedule of which parks they would be visiting each day so I could try and book off from work and jumped on the day they were going to Hollywood Studios.  I knew they would be trying to get on the new Star Wars Rise of the Resistance ride and any chance I can get to go on that I’m there.

Disney had tested out a new process for getting a virtual queue spot to ride the attraction and you can now book it the same day in advance from anywhere.  In the past, I had to get to the park hours in advance to try and get one of those coveted queue spots and it just made for a very long day.  This time around we got the queue when it opened at 7am and I was able to more calmly head over to the park.

I had arrived a little early and decided to wander around while I waited to hear from our friends so we could meet up.  My first stop was back in the animation courtyard because I had heard from a friendly follower of this blog that a new penny machine had been spotted.

As soon as I walked through the Hollywood Studios archway into the courtyard I was greeted by Ariel and The Little Mermaid stage which is not currently open.  However, if you look closely in the above picture you can see a penny machine.

Unfortunately, when I walked closer I noticed that this was the 12-penny Heroines machine that has been available here for a few years.  To the right of this machine, you can see some security gates that are housing the In Character Shop.  Previously this machine was inside this shop and unavailable since the shop has been closed.  It was nice to see Disney decided to move this machine outside those gates so guests can pick up a set.

I was a little discouraged as I thought this may have been the machine thought to be new, but my penny machine senses were in high gear and I kept investigating the area.  Sure enough on the opposite side of the (Closed) In Character Shop, I saw another penny machine tucked away in the corner.

It turned out to be an 8-penny design touch screen machine.  The cabinet had a nice wood finish to it but other than that no special theme to it.  I feel this was a bit of a lost opportunity, can’t you see this themed after Doc McStuffins, wrapped in pink and covered in large band-aids.

The set of pennies are all themed around Disney Junion television characters like Mickey, Minnie, Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  I do wish they had included Vampirina she’s currently one of my daughter’s favorites or even the new Princess Mira.

With the pennies all pressed I headed back out in front of the Chinese Theater to meet up with our friends.  It was perfect timing as I was able to watch the Disney Junior cavalcade and I’m pretty sure Doc McStuffins waved directly at me.  We did eventually get on Rise of the Resistance and it was as fantastic as ever.  We had a great day and with our friends and of course finding new pennies to press just tops things off.

Keep on Pressing!

Aladdin NEW Pressed Penny Set – Magic Kingdom

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Earlier this week I made a quick trip over to the Magic Kingdom so I could press some pennies for a friend of mine.  Other than getting these pennies I didn’t have much of an agenda which was supposed to make for a nice leisurely trip to the park.  All too often I’m rushing around the park, and you kind of forget about what a magical place you are in.  It is nice to every so often take your time and enjoy where you are.

On Main Street USA I stopped into the Starbucks for a coffee and then headed towards Adventureland.  I’m not sure why this is my preferred path, but I do find this is the direction I head more often than not.

There are quite a few great attractions in Adventureland, but one that holds a bit of sentimental value for me is The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.  This was the first ride we had taken our oldest daughter Hanna on when we first took her to the parks when she was small.  We don’t go on it very often anymore but I always look fondly on this ride every time I pass by.

Even though I was taking it easy on this visit, I still find myself visiting each penny machine just to make sure they are still there, or if any changes have been made.  In between the Swiss Family Tree House and the Magic Carpet ride is a machine that can be easily missed due to its location at the Island Supply Breezeway (restroom area).

This is a high traffic area most of the time since there are restrooms here and it’s a shortcut from Adventureland over to the Liberty Square area of the park.  But about halfway through this breezeway is where the penny machine is located.  When I walked into this area I immediately noticed the machine had been changed.  Previously this was a 3-design electronic machine with a change machine attached all in one cabinet.  That is no longer here (even the change machine is gone) and now a new 8-design machine is available.

The machine cabinet is just plain white and nothing overly special about the design or theme.  It is the newer touch screen versions we have come to know so well and are definitely becoming the new normal in the parks.

The designs on the pennies are all themed around one of my favorite animated movies Aladdin.  The images include Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, Genie, Iago, Abu, and more.  This is a really great set and I’m so glad it was released.  I think this will be a very popular machine.

After pressing the pennies I made the executive decision to jump in line and take a spin on a magic carpet.  It would have been more fun if my daughter was with me, but that’s okay it was still fun and I’ll be sure to take her on the next time we are in the parks.  Happy Collecting and Keep on Pressing!

Island Market & Export NEW Pressed Pennies – Universal’s Islands of Adventure

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October over at Universal Studios Florida is full of spooky decorations and amazing haunted mazes with plenty of scare zones.  Unfortunately in 2020 with everything going on their usual Halloween Horror Nights events were not happening as usual.  But as a nice surprise, they did open two of the Mazes to regular day guests without a separate ticket required.

Throughout the month of October, I headed over to visit these mazes as often as I could and really enjoyed them.  Even though there were only two houses, no scare zones, and took place during the day.  But they still had plenty of amazing design work and scares throughout.  The first house was Revenge of the Tooth Fairy.

The second maze was The Bride of Frankenstein Lives.  One perk from this year was that the wait times were never more than 10 minutes when I visited mid-week and I was able to basically walk right into the mazes throughout the day and I loved it.

During one of these trips, I took a break from the Halloween fun and headed over to the Islands of Adventure park just to see what was going on.

After scanning my ticket and heading into the park I always cut through the Island Market & Export store just to get some cool air plus they have a couple pressed penny machines inside.  But on this trip, something about one of the machines caught my eye.

Last year you may remember I wrote about a whole bunch of machines that had stickers places on the advertising that certain penny designs were going to be retired.  Then over the next few months, the machines were updated with new designs.  One of these machines was in this store, but the strange thing was that it originally got one of those stickers.  Then after all the other machines were changed, this machine was kept the same and the retired sticker was removed.

That has finally changed.  When I walked by the machine the designs immediately stuck out to me and I was shocked to see they were new.  The cabinet of the machine is the same, and unlike the Disney machines, it still costs just 50 cents plus you can use your own penny (collectors rejoice).

Thankfully I always carry around extra pennies and quarters for just this situation.  You never know when you may come across a new machine and need to press a new set.  The designs at this machine include Kong, E.T., and a cute Hello Kitty.

I’m surprised it took this long to update, and assume that it was scheduled to change last year but maybe there was a licensing issue that delayed these from being released.  But whatever the situation was it’s done and we have a fun new set of pennies.  After collecting this set I did check on all the other machines in this park to verify if there were any other new penny designs, and it appeared this was the only new set for now.  Hopefully, we will see some more new ones in the future, but for now, it seems that Universal is done swapping out their penny designs.  Happy Collecting!

Main Street Emporium NEW 2020 Medallions – Magic Kingdom

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I know a few years ago when Disney first released a collectible Medallion machine that I was at first intrigued enough to get a set but tried to convince myself I wouldn’t keep getting them.  But as time has gone on, and more and more of these machines are released I have found my medallion collection growing a bit out of control.  The Festival medallions over at Epcot are probably my favorite and I have been keeping an eye on that machine, but then out of the blue, we got a report about a new set not too far away at the Magic Kingdom.

After work, I took a quick trip over to the park to try and find these new medallions.  I always enjoy walking under the Railroad station and having Main Street USA just reveals itself.  In my mind, it’s always a fun way to be welcomed into the park.

I continued up Main Street towards the Emporium.  Just a quick note on this store, with the current situation in the park they are trying to keep everyone moving in one direction so many of the doorways here are listed as “Exit Only”.  To get into the store you do need to head about halfway up Main Street and enter near the Disney Clothiers store.

Brace yourself when you enter this store as it can be quite chaotic.  It gets worse later on when the park is closing down for the night, with people trying to get their last-minute souvenirs.  The medallion machine is tucked away near the area of the store that has a big selection of Plush toys (sorry it’s hard to be more specific).  Just around the side of one of the checkout counters.

The machine is in a pretty plain cabinet but does actually blend in well with the aesthetics of the Emporium.

The cost is the same as the other machines around the property.  $5 per medallion or you can get all 4 for $15.  This is a slight change from before, where if you were paying with a credit card it would only allow you to get 3 of the coins for $10, and then you had to come up with cash for the 4th design which was pretty inconvenient.  Now they let you get all 4 at once which is much nicer.

The designs on each medallion include Mickey & Minnie holding hands, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy.  On the front of the coin with each character are the words Magic Kingdom, and Walt Disney World.  On the back of each coin is the 2020 Cinderella Castle logo they have been using this year.

This is another great set of medallions, but wow they get expensive.  Especially since pressed pennies are now increasing to $1 each, and medallions at $5 each I may need to get a second job to keep up with my collection.  I did find it a little strange that it’s October and they are releasing another set of dated 2020 medallions but figured these were probably already in the pipeline to be released earlier this summer but got delayed due to all the shutdowns.  Guess in a few months we can look forward to seeing what 2021 designs we get.

Happy Collecting!

The Jungle Book NEW Pressed Penny Set – Animal Kingdom

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It’s been a little while since we were over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park, so we had scheduled a reservation to visit this past weekend.  It seems that it was just meant to be as I was informed on the drive over to the park that there were reports of a new pressed penny machine sighting.

We did have a whole day planned at the park, but it didn’t take too long for us to find the new machine.  Just over the bridge when you first see the Tree of Life there is a pretty large gift shop on the left called the Island Mercantile.

I usually cut through these stores just for some quick Air Conditioning, but this time we were on the hunt.

The inside of the store is really beautiful with all sorts of theming and unique carvings on the walls and up in the ceiling.  Plus there is a ton of merch, but we will revisit this shortly.

After wandering around the entire inside of the store more than a couple times I headed outside, and sure enough, there was the machine.

The cabinet of this new machine was gorgeous, with some cool wood carved creatures on the front and both sides.  Plus I really liked the blue color.

I pressed a set of the new pennies and was a bit surprised to notice that they were all themed around the Disney classic animated movie The Jungle Book.  There are designs of Mowgli, Baloo, Shere Khan, Kaa, Bagheera, and more.

Now just a quick note, after getting these pennies I headed back into the store and was just curious to see what type of merchandise they would have for The Jungle Book.  I checked every shelf and display I could and the only items I found were a couple collectible pins.  It is a bit sad to know that this movie doesn’t have much available, but at least we have a nice new pressed penny set.  Keep on Pressing!

Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Pressed Penny

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Joan Ruth Bader was born on March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn New York.

She earned her bachelor’s degree at Cornell University and married Martin Ginsburg in 1954.  She became a mother before starting law school at Harvard, where she was one of the few women in her class.  She transferred to Columbia Law School where she graduated join first in her class.  During the 1960s she worked with the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure, where she learned Swedish.  Her work in Sweden influenced her thinking about gender equality.  She then became a professor at Rutgers Law School and Columbia Law School teaching civil procedure as one of the few women in her field.

She spent much of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women’s rights, winning many arguments before the Supreme Court.  In the 1970s she was one of the general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.  In 1980 President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she serviced until her appointment to the Supreme Court in 1993.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in her home in Washington, D.C. on September 18th, 2020 at the age of 87 from complications of pancreatic cancer.  She was a true pioneer and trailblazer within the United States Judicial System.

To commemorate her life fellow TEC (The Elongated Collectors) member Tyler Tyson created the special pressed penny design.  The designs were made available to fellow club members as either just a single penny as pictured at the top of this article, or as a full denomination set which included the image pressed on a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and dollar.

 

Pressed Penny Pins

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A few times a year I scour the internet for anything new or unique concerning Pressed Pennies.  In the past, this has let to retired online games with pressed penny machines in them, jewelry, unique art, a porcelain statue, and on more than one occasion my searches bring me to Etsy.  Just recently I did this same search and did come across something new (which doesn’t always happen) and it then sparked a similar topic I had wanted to write about in the past but never got around to it.  So here is my attempt at merging those two together.

Many of the different Disney parks have released pressed pennies with designs celebrating their very popular Pin Trading program.  Recently my daughters have become avid pin collectors and really got into pin trading primarily with the Disney Cast members.  In one of the pin stores, one of my daughters asked if there was a pressed penny pin we could get and I told her I didn’t think those existing.

Now skip forward to my recent random search on the internet for Penny related things and came across an Etsy store: Wonderful World of Pins Co.  This really cute store had a few different pin designs available but one of them really caught my eye.  It’s a pressed penny design of Cinderella’s Castle with some fireworks, and also has 1971 at the top which is the year the Magic Kingdom opened in Florida.  The colors were really pretty and I just really liked this so I immediately purchased one.  I will also say it looks amazing in person and it now has a special spot in our pin collection, but I’ll have to make sure no one in my family tries to trade it away.

After the Castle pin had shown up it sparked a memory I had of some other pins that had been released in Disneyland California years ago.  These were a pressed penny style pin set that was envisioned by WDI (Walt Disney Imagineering).  The pins were available to Cast Members (employees) exclusively at the Mickey’s of Glendale store which is for Cast Members only.  You can find these pins on eBay but the resale cost is pretty high.  I keep an eye out for deals whenever possible, and was able to get the above set for a reasonable price.  This is actually the second group of WDI Pressed Penny Pins and was released on November 6th, 2010.

I hunted through my Disneyland pressed penny collection and found the matching pressed pennies to that pin set.  It really was a fantastic idea to recreate these penny designs in pin form and I wish they did this in Florida (and not just for Cast Members).

As of right now, there are 21 sets of these pins for a total of 74 pressed penny pins.  They range from sets of the Haunted Mansion to Wreck-It Ralph and they are all based on pressed penny designs.  The last set (#21) was released around September 10th, 2014.  That is also quite a while ago so these may not be coming back anytime soon.  I was going to add pictures of the other sets but my resource for most of these details was from the fantastic Disneyland Pressed Penny resource http://www.ParkPennies.com.  Here is a link to their page all about the WDI Pressed Penny Pins with pictures of all the sets should you be interested in more information.

Thanks for checking in and be sure to let me know in the comments if you ever come across any unique items themed around Pressed Pennies or their machines and I’ll be sure to check it out.  I’m still waiting for Lego to create a Pressed Penny machine in Lego form but so far nada.  Happy Pressing!

WDW Converting Older 3-Design Electric Penny Machines to $1

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Over the past year or so we have reviewed how Walt Disney World (and some other theme parks around Central Florida) have begun converting their penny machines over to $1.  The machines being convered were the 4-design hand crank models and we were hoping it would stop there.

But unfortunately on a recent visit to the Magic Kingdom I found what a lot of collectors had been worried about.

I didn’t even make it very far into the park before noticing the very first machine over near the Newsstand looked different.

 
Old Machine                                   New Machine

Above on the left is how the machine looked only a few weeks before.  The picture on the right is how it looked after coming back.  When I noticed the credit card payment system I knew what had happened.

The marquee at the top is a bit different as well, with added information on the new increased cost and they also announce proudly that “We provide the penny”.

Here is a close up of the payment system and information on how it works.  Please note that if you chose to use a credit card or digital payment like ApplePay you will automatically be charge the full $3 and will get all 3 pennies.  You cannot use this type of payment for only one design.  For that you need to use cash and it must be exact the machine does not give change.  So make sure you have your dollar bills ready.  After you insert your dollar, the button will light up and you can chose your design to press.

Here is a picture of the penny set.  They are exactly the same as before the machine was converted.  No variances that I can see like the Frontierland Railroad Station machine we reviewed last week.  The pennies the machine supplied were not great and I’ve definitely seen better with other machines.  But I’ll try cleaning them up a bit and hopefully that will help.

I’ve mentioned this numerous times in the past that many collectors aren’t happy about not being able to use their own preferred pennies.  I do like to use my own whenever possible, but I just enjoy this hobby too much for this small detail to deter me from collecting.  It’s more about the adventure and just simple enjoyment of watching a penny get squished into a fun souvenir.

We are anticipating that since this machine has been changed over the rest of the 3-design electronic machines will soon follow.  On this most recent visit to Magic Kingdom I did check on the other machines but no others had been convered as of yet.  As always we will keep you up to date on the changes.  I don’t think I’ll review each machine individually as they are converted and may instead wait for all of them to be done and write one large article about all of them.  Let me know what you think.  Will you continue to collect these pressed pennies?

Stay safe and Keep on Pressing!