Theme Park Connection to open new store in Winter Garden
Collector crams warehouse with Disney goods for sale
By Dewayne Bevil
11:54 AM EST, December 2, 2011
Orlando Sentinel
Marc Pianko is up to his eyeballs in mouse ears.
After more than a decade of gathering Disney-related memorabilia, souvenirs, clothing and theme-park props, the Windermere man's expansive collection spilled from his house and filled five storage sheds.
"The craziest stuff was in there, but no one could see it," Pianko said.
The former Walt Disney World employee has changed that, expanding his online-auction business called Theme Park Connection to include a new 4,000-square-foot store in Winter Garden, about 15 miles north of Disney World. It contains an estimated 250,000 items for sale.
The place is packed, floor to ceiling, with items mundane (phone books) and magical (a Snow White costume).
"We specialize in the stuff that's no longer at Disney," said Pianko, 34. That includes not only discontinued merchandise but also Walt Disney World signage, costumes, bedding, carpeting, strollers and building materials such as stained glass, tile and bricks.
In the warehouse this week were a sign from Epcot's Journey to the Imagination attraction, parking signs from Disney-MGM Studios, Mickey Mouse-inspired carpet remnants from Bay Lake Towers vacation-club resort and benches from Mickey's Toontown Fair, a Magic Kingdom area that was closed this year.
Prices range from 10 cents for a souvenir button to more than $1,000, which was the price tag on an old Haunted Mansion sign prompting guests to have their premium E tickets ready.
Pianko would not reveal all his methods for gathering the goods, but he said they are purchased at auctions, garage sales, Walt Disney Co. liquidation sales, from Disney fans and through sources developed during his 15 years of collecting and selling. He also buys from store customers.
Donna Hargraves, who has stocked homes in Maine and Anna Maria Island with Disney memorabilia, was shopping at the store Wednesday.
After being outbid for in an online auction for a carved-wood photo album, she was hunting for another way to display her Disney pins.
"I want something different and unique," she said while browsing through rows of snow globes, Mickey Mouse telephones, salt-and-pepper shakers and alarm clocks. She settled for a handful of items, including a magnet touting her favorite Magic Kingdom attraction, Mickey's PhilharMagic.
Disney collectors will enjoy getting up close to the merchandise, said Scott Nadeau, founder and co-owner of the Collect the Mouse website.
"It's one thing to see a picture of it, but it's a whole other thing to actually go in and touch things and be able to see it in person," he said. "If I could see a Dumbo ride vehicle in someone's house, I might freak out."
Pianko, the store owner, started buying Disney goods while attending college in Pennsylvania. He moved to Florida in 1999 and worked for Disney World at the Casting Center and at Disney Institute. He left the company in 2005 to concentrate on his Theme Park Connection auctions.
His decision to add a storefront might buck national trends.
"The direction is probably more from to bricks and mortar to cyberspace, but I think both can co-exist," said Sean Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida. Not all businesses are best served online, he said.
"The online grocery mini-boom ultimately fizzled. It really came down to a situation where people really do want to squeeze the Charmin," he said. "This may be a case of something along those lines where you want to hold a statuette of Minnie Mouse and take a look at her."
Theme Park Connection's location in the mecca of theme parks is also an important factor, Snaith said. "If you tried to open this up in Des Moines, Iowa, it's probably not as successful."
Current and former cast members here can be both buyers and sellers, creating a flow of new stock, Pianko said. He recently purchased a sketch of Jiminy Cricket drawn and signed by the late Ward Kimball, one of Walt Disney Studios' famed animators.
There are non-Disney items in the shop. In the warehouse this week were statues from FAO Schwarz, a toy store formerly in Pointe Orlando on International Drive.
"We do prop stuff from Universal. Its merchandise isn't as highly sought-after," Pianko said. "It is really the brand of Disney that really is collectible."
Theme Park Connection has sources across the country, he said. Next week, store manager Bryan Ramsey will transport 1,600 Disney Classics figurines and one "doom buggy," a Haunted Mansion ride vehicle, from the Northeast to Winter Garden.
Nadeau, of the Collect the Mouse site, said he admires other collectors' goods but has restraint when it comes to major pieces.
"But, you know, it's one of those things," he said. "If I had an opportunity to get a Peter Pan [ride] pirate ship, I might change my mind. I might have to redecorate the house to have that."
dbevil@tribune.com or 407-420-5477
Theme Park Connection
Where: 1307 Green Forest Court, Unit 110, Winter Garden
When: Grand opening is 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3. Regular hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays-Fridays.
Phone: 407-284-1934
Online: ThemeParkConnection.com
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-...e-disney-collectibles-20111202,0,179428.story
Collector crams warehouse with Disney goods for sale
By Dewayne Bevil
11:54 AM EST, December 2, 2011
Orlando Sentinel
Marc Pianko is up to his eyeballs in mouse ears.
After more than a decade of gathering Disney-related memorabilia, souvenirs, clothing and theme-park props, the Windermere man's expansive collection spilled from his house and filled five storage sheds.
"The craziest stuff was in there, but no one could see it," Pianko said.
The former Walt Disney World employee has changed that, expanding his online-auction business called Theme Park Connection to include a new 4,000-square-foot store in Winter Garden, about 15 miles north of Disney World. It contains an estimated 250,000 items for sale.
The place is packed, floor to ceiling, with items mundane (phone books) and magical (a Snow White costume).
"We specialize in the stuff that's no longer at Disney," said Pianko, 34. That includes not only discontinued merchandise but also Walt Disney World signage, costumes, bedding, carpeting, strollers and building materials such as stained glass, tile and bricks.
In the warehouse this week were a sign from Epcot's Journey to the Imagination attraction, parking signs from Disney-MGM Studios, Mickey Mouse-inspired carpet remnants from Bay Lake Towers vacation-club resort and benches from Mickey's Toontown Fair, a Magic Kingdom area that was closed this year.
Prices range from 10 cents for a souvenir button to more than $1,000, which was the price tag on an old Haunted Mansion sign prompting guests to have their premium E tickets ready.
Pianko would not reveal all his methods for gathering the goods, but he said they are purchased at auctions, garage sales, Walt Disney Co. liquidation sales, from Disney fans and through sources developed during his 15 years of collecting and selling. He also buys from store customers.
Donna Hargraves, who has stocked homes in Maine and Anna Maria Island with Disney memorabilia, was shopping at the store Wednesday.
After being outbid for in an online auction for a carved-wood photo album, she was hunting for another way to display her Disney pins.
"I want something different and unique," she said while browsing through rows of snow globes, Mickey Mouse telephones, salt-and-pepper shakers and alarm clocks. She settled for a handful of items, including a magnet touting her favorite Magic Kingdom attraction, Mickey's PhilharMagic.
Disney collectors will enjoy getting up close to the merchandise, said Scott Nadeau, founder and co-owner of the Collect the Mouse website.
"It's one thing to see a picture of it, but it's a whole other thing to actually go in and touch things and be able to see it in person," he said. "If I could see a Dumbo ride vehicle in someone's house, I might freak out."
Pianko, the store owner, started buying Disney goods while attending college in Pennsylvania. He moved to Florida in 1999 and worked for Disney World at the Casting Center and at Disney Institute. He left the company in 2005 to concentrate on his Theme Park Connection auctions.
His decision to add a storefront might buck national trends.
"The direction is probably more from to bricks and mortar to cyberspace, but I think both can co-exist," said Sean Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida. Not all businesses are best served online, he said.
"The online grocery mini-boom ultimately fizzled. It really came down to a situation where people really do want to squeeze the Charmin," he said. "This may be a case of something along those lines where you want to hold a statuette of Minnie Mouse and take a look at her."
Theme Park Connection's location in the mecca of theme parks is also an important factor, Snaith said. "If you tried to open this up in Des Moines, Iowa, it's probably not as successful."
Current and former cast members here can be both buyers and sellers, creating a flow of new stock, Pianko said. He recently purchased a sketch of Jiminy Cricket drawn and signed by the late Ward Kimball, one of Walt Disney Studios' famed animators.
There are non-Disney items in the shop. In the warehouse this week were statues from FAO Schwarz, a toy store formerly in Pointe Orlando on International Drive.
"We do prop stuff from Universal. Its merchandise isn't as highly sought-after," Pianko said. "It is really the brand of Disney that really is collectible."
Theme Park Connection has sources across the country, he said. Next week, store manager Bryan Ramsey will transport 1,600 Disney Classics figurines and one "doom buggy," a Haunted Mansion ride vehicle, from the Northeast to Winter Garden.
Nadeau, of the Collect the Mouse site, said he admires other collectors' goods but has restraint when it comes to major pieces.
"But, you know, it's one of those things," he said. "If I had an opportunity to get a Peter Pan [ride] pirate ship, I might change my mind. I might have to redecorate the house to have that."
dbevil@tribune.com or 407-420-5477
Theme Park Connection
Where: 1307 Green Forest Court, Unit 110, Winter Garden
When: Grand opening is 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3. Regular hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays-Fridays.
Phone: 407-284-1934
Online: ThemeParkConnection.com
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-...e-disney-collectibles-20111202,0,179428.story
