Pal Mickey is sick

[ksc]

I bought a pal mickey 2 yrs ago and loved him. Last year I tried to use him and he malfunctioned. I would like to loan him to a friend for her trip in May but would like for him to actually work - PROPERLY.

Is there a way to get him reset or repaired? Where? What's the cost? If the repairs are expensive, are there any cheaper ways of getting one?

thanks!
ksc

 

[dolbyman]

what exactly was his error ? there used to be boxes where pal mickey could be reset inside the stores ... maybe his batteries just died .. change them :shrug:

 

[BrerMichael]

This happened to my sister last year. She was able to bring him into one of the stores at the parks because just stopped working and his volume was getting lower and lower. They replaced him on the spot.

Michael

 

[ckvin]

Any store that sells him should be able to try a reset at one of the registers. If that does not work, they will most likely replace him!

One of our Mickey's was 'sick' on our last trip...and yup, they replaced him after trying a reset. The whole exchange took about three minutes...it was no problem!

V.

 

[lpet11984]

They'll replace him even if he's a previous version? Cool...

 

[WDWFigment]

I had always heard Pal Mickey was annoying and not worth buying or even using. Is this not the case?...it looks like several of you use him.

 

[Craig & Lisa]

For 2 years my wife wanted one and when she finally got him, he really was not annoying. You learn some things whenever your in certain parts of the park. and he still tells BAD jokes when you get home. :lol:

 

[ErickainPA]

Ours was not telling us about the MK, it was telling us about Epcot (we hadn't even been there yet) we took him into the shop on Main Street and they tried resetting him, took him on the street and still wasn't right so they took him back in, replaced his batteries, reset him again and tried and he was good to go.

 

[hrcollectibles]

He is Home sick and needs to go home to recharge :ROFLOL:

 

[Yoop33]

How exactly does he work? What triggers him to say certain things at certain times?

 

[goofyfamily]

In October we were in Epcot when one of our Pals was not working. I went into on of the gift shops and they changed the batteries for me. He was working fine. They also told me if he stopped working bring him back and they would give me a new one. Hope that helps.

 

[StarWolf]

How exactly does he work? What triggers him to say certain things at certain times?

I think he's got several triggers. It's definetly not just time. I think he picks up infra-red signals around the parks. He knows when you enter the park and will normally say something. When you leave the park, various rides, etc. And will also, occasionally, tell you about short lines on various rides. That didn't happen often for me. Don't know if it was the fact that there were no short lines or that he doesn't know about many rides.

I find him pretty good. We bought him last year. He'll be going back in two weeks with us. :sohappy:

 

[MissM]

How exactly does he work? What triggers him to say certain things at certain times?

There are hundreds of sensors in each of the four parks. When Pal passes one of the sensors, it triggers him to say something. It's either location based - coming off of Big Thunder, he comments that he has gold dust in his nose - or something generic like a joke. Pal will also "remember" when he's been past a sensor before and give say something different almost each time. (For example, there's a trigger at the old Fantasyland Skyway station and each time you go past, he'll tell you something different. It's normally a joke, or in the newer versions, a sing-a-long or game.) Additionally, if he goes by a sensor around the time that a parade or fireworks show is coming up, he'll tell you about it and advise you to get a spot to watch. Occasionally, if it's a low-crowd day, he'll even let you know of short wait times on rides.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

The unofficial Pal Mickey expert,
-m

 

[ksc]

I have replaced the batteries. No luck. (here at home) He starts a joke and will not finish it. When a friend borrowed him last year, he didn't work for them either.

I'm hoping my friend can get him reset or replaced with little to no cost.

It's a shame. We really liked him but he only worked on our first trip 2 yrs ago.

I'll let you know how it gets resolved.

Thanks for your input.

 

[unkadug]

It sounds like he has alzheimer's.

The only cure is another trip to the parks.

 

[ckvin]

I've got two daughters....9 and 5...both of them love their Pal Mickeys while at Disney and at home. As stated earlier...I always ask them if Mickey is feeling a bit home sick and needs to take a trip back to the Castle!!

 

[Clotho]

We loved loved loved our Pal Mickey. He was a highlight of our trip in 2004. We plan to buy a newest version on our trip this year.

In reference toy our question about his problems, we actually had to go through 3 before we got one that worked. Our first one didn't work out of the box, so I chose a second. He seemed to work for a while, but then malfunctioned in various small ways. They tried to reset him, and had us go out and test him, and he wasn't working, so they gave me my third, which was great and worked the rest of the time.

I still remember the first moment I was complete awed by the technology this little "stuffed animal" possessed. We had already been using him for a day, and was enjoying him immensely (and got to meet some very neat people who walked up to ask us about him and chat us up because of him), when we took him to Epcot. We were walking from World Showcase to Future World, and when we were nearing the end of the lake, Mickey chuckled (letting us know he wanted to tell us something). He pointed out a walkway which cut at an angle to the regular walkway, which we hadn't noticed (and may never have). He told us it was a beautiful rose-lined walkway we could try instead of the usual walkway. Sure enough, there it was, and we made a discovery we would probably never have found on our own.

Pal Mickey is a gem!

 

[the-reason14]

I had always heard Pal Mickey was annoying and not worth buying or even using. Is this not the case?...it looks like several of you use him.

I bought two out of the now three versions of PM that they have, and while it is a nice little handy type "toy" that most likely kids will get a kick out of, got a little irritating afterwhile esp. for a 15 to 16 year old boy. Although someone my age probably shouldnt have purchased such a toy that its obviously not marketed toward, I am an avid WDW fan so I bought the first version I think in 04. It was nice, new and great. Then, in 05 they introduced the HCOE version that was supposedly "new." But I heard that you could either update the original or exchange it for a new one, neither was the case, so idiotically I bought the newer version. The newer one with the exception of a louder speaking voice and a removable suit and probably 3 more games, it didnt mention anything new about the parks like the new rides or anything about the celebration(even though it was a special celebration version) So basically I wasted my money.

With that said, I have no intention of buying the newer version unless I could make an easy trade in, I really dont use my PM anymore, maybe I can sale it. :shrug:

 

[dolbyman]

But I heard that you could either update the original or exchange it for a new one

dunno about exchanging it ... but you can't update PM for sure .. we have tons of threads about it