1
Theme Park Connection is holding its grand opening this Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, officially opening the doors of its physical store to the public, showcasing thousands of Disney and theme park collectibles, props, costumes, signs, trading pins, and much more. All are invited to stop by to browse through the store and warehouse, enjoy free food, and even bring Disney items to sell for a little extra cash this Christmas season.
The grand opening only marks the official start of this location. Theme Park Connection has already been selling items via eBay while their warehouse has been in a “soft opening” phase for weeks, somewhat of a hidden secret in the Orlando area. They both buy and sell the rarest of theme park items from benches from Toontown to windows from Main Street to Disney Store statues and even screen-used Pirates of the Caribbean movie props – and those are just some of the valuables currently in their Disney treasure chest that’s opening to the public this coming weekend.
The grand opening will be held at their 4000 square foot warehouse from 10am – 2pm on Dec. 3, located in Winter Garden, FL, 15 minutes due north of the Magic Kingdom. The celebration will include:
Here at Inside the Magic, we also welcome Theme Park Connection as a new sponsor, beginning this week with Show 347 of our podcast. (And I will personally be at their grand opening on Saturday, so stop by and say hi.)
Theme Park Connection owner Marc Pianko refers to his company as “essentially the world’s largest Theme Park/Disney pawn shop” to explain how they not only sell Disney collectibles, but also offer a chance to make money on items that have been sitting around in collections.
“What many people in Central Florida don’t realize is they could be sitting on a goldmine in park items that can be turned into cash,” said Pianko. “Well that’s what we do. We buy sell and trade theme park items from collectibles, props, figures, to just about anything that a typical pawn shop would never buy. So with all the parks in our back yard it’s really been a hidden secret that when people find us, they come back not just once, but weekly either to sell us their items or buy stuff. We take these items we buy from them and then connect them with people all over the world which even includes celebrity clients.”
Theme Park Connection items will soon be in an upcoming Profiles in History auction, with rare items including a Casey’s Corner piano from Magic Kingdom’s Main Street, a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride attraction vehicle, and a turret from atop Cinderella Castle.
Though Theme Park Connection is holding its grand opening on Dec. 3, Pianko has been in the business of selling Disney items for 15 years. He began at flea markets selling Disney collectibles in the summer to pay for college, eventually starting an eBay business in 1999 selling Disney pins under the username uhappycollecting, eventually changing the name to sellandship, which ultimately became Theme Park Connection.
More information about Theme Park Connection, including directions, can be found on their web site at ThemeParkConnection.com. And for those who can’t visit their warehouse in person, their online store provides a regularly-updated inventory of Disney items for sale.