by Beth Keating
Lifestyle
DisneyBizJournal.com
May 15, 2023
I have a popcorn bucket problem… and my family knows it.
For the past few years, I’ve been collecting Disney popcorn buckets, ever since the original Millennium Falcon version came out. And please, don’t ever actually put the popcorn in the vessel, because as anyone knows, that popcorn grease (and the popcorn smell!) will never come out of the plastic. You’ll never catch me taking advantage of the $2.25 popcorn bucket refill prices, either, because the bucket must remain pristine. (The little round plastic refillable buckets are a different story, though. Have at it and refill to your heart’s content. They aren’t quite as “special” as the limited time premium souvenir buckets… and not nearly as pricey!)
I have been enamored of the Cinderella Coach popcorn bucket since it arrived (in a different color) a number of years ago at Disneyland (maybe in 2015 or so?). But, being an East Coast family, and Cinderella’s carriage being a West Coast promotion, I sadly didn’t end up with the bucket in my collection.
Fast forward to this year’s 100th anniversary celebration, and the splendid carriage reappeared – at Disneyland again! - as a 100th anniversary platinum-colored edition with a special 100th anniversary shoulder strap. And once again I was envious.
Lo, and behold, weeks later, with very little advertising or fanfare, it was announced that Cindy’s wheels would be arriving in Florida’s Magic Kingdom as well. My son, knowing how much I wanted that carriage, went over to the Kingdom and sacrificially stood in a verrry long line to get a Cinderella coach for me just in time for Mother’s Day. (And while the line was indeed long, it didn’t approach the six hour “Figment Bucket” line craziness.)
The Cinderella popcorn bucket runs $28.00 at Disney World, and is available at various popcorn carts throughout the park. We got ours (or rather, he got ours) at the popcorn cart in front of Cinderella Castle. And while these beauties are selling quickly (there were only nine left at the cart when my son got to the front of the line), the cast members did say they would be restocking for the next day. Unlike the Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride Popcorn Bucket mobile order process (which was very efficiently run, by the way), this popcorn bucket is not available through mobile order.
Now the only decision you’ll have to make is whether to grab this bucket earlier in the day to ensure you have it in case of a run on sales, or to wait until later in the day so you don’t have to carefully tote your treasure around on rides for eight or ten hours. Because, be forewarned, the wheels on the bucket go ‘round and ‘round… and are pretty easily broken. So, the dilemma is whether to acquire the target early and baby it all day so it doesn’t get broken, or risk grabbing it later in the day and maybe missing out. Cast members did say they expected this bucket to be around for a little while because of the 100th anniversary celebration, but they didn’t have a firm expectation of the timeline. While the buckets were selling quickly, they also seemed to be restocking frequently. They are billed, however, as “while supplies last.”
As for me, it was a happy Mother’s Day…. I finally got my fancy carriage, many years in the waiting!
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
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