DisLove Podcast with Vanessa and Kris

DisLove E74 Candy and Cassie's Classic Creations

• Vanessa Ferguson and Kris Johns with guest Cassie Atkinson • Season 3 • Episode 74

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In this episode, Kris and Vanessa talk about all of the candy shops at Walt Disney World.  Then later in the episode, they are joined by Cassie from Cassie's Classic Creations.  Her shop features bags, zipper pouches, sling backpacks, infinity scarves, keychains, masks and much more. 

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Vanessa Ferguson:

Welcome The DisLove podcast with Vanessa and Kris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson, and I'm Kris Johns. We would like to welcome you to show number 74 and for any listeners joining us for the first time, our show features things we love at Disney. And in each episode, we have a guest who creates Disney magic for our listeners at home or on their Disney vacations. From vacation planners to product producers, our guests can bring Disney magic into your life. And as a reminder to our listeners, we appreciate if you can take time to leave us a review on Apple podcasts or any other platform where you listen, we always give listeners a shout out on future episodes of the[inaudible] podcast. We appreciate everyone who's taken time to already leave reviews and customer ratings. All of those are greatly appreciated and on today's show, we are going to be joined by Cassie from Cassie's classic creations. Her shop features bags, zipper, pouches, sling backpacks, key chains, mass eye masks. She just has some really great stuff, and we are excited to have her on with us later today. And Kris, what did she do for

Kris Johns:

Again, listen closely because she has a special promo code for you to save 10% off your next order. And again, listen closer to in her segment to get that promo code.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Now, before we get to Cassie's interview, we talk a lot about what is a main theme of our topics. Oh yes. So we talk a lot about food and I was going back through some past episodes and I noticed we've talked about a lot of snacks. We've talked about cupcakes and popcorn, and Chris's favorite. We've talked about ice cream. And what, one thing that was left out out of the snacks is candy. So yeah, so today we are going to be talking about the different candy shops on property, and I'm going to break them down into the ones that are at the theme parks. Also looking at there's quite a few great ones at Disney spring. So if you're a candy lover, that is even a great place to start. There are a few that are closed right now, but we're gonna try to focus on what is available is as of May, 2020, when this is really coming out to all of you. So the first place we are going to start on our journey is going to be in magic kingdom. Now, typically you would go to the main street confectionery. Now that is temporarily closed. And as of right now, Disney says that it will be reopening in early June of 2021. So we are hoping that that will be the case. Um, but right now you can still find a lot of these items at the Emporium and also at the main street cinema. So you still should be able to get your candy fixed at magic kingdom. And we've bought quite a few things at the confectionery over the years, right, right. On main street. Yeah. So they have everything from the big caramel apples and peanut brittle. And they have a lot of fudge. I like to get Disney fudge. We live in Michigan, which Michigan is known for Mackinac Island fudge. Um, and we also live near a small German town that has a lot of fudge, but Disney fudge is really good. And all of their ones at the main street confectionary are made right on site. So that's a really great thing. Um, one of the things is that they have a lot of pre-packaged things that you can get as to if your kids like some of the like Goofy's candy shop candies. There's a lot of those. They have a lot of the different M and M packages. So that's kind of a nice thing. So main street confectionary, you've got to get your candy fix. If you were at magic kingdom, that's definitely the place to go between the mix of what they have is packaged and then what they have that they make right there. Now, hopefully it does open the newly remodeled one does open an early June because one of the things Kris said, I think we will have to check out on our next trip is that they said, they're going to have things where you can customize your own treats, which I think, yeah. So I think that sounds pretty awesome. And we will definitely let report back on that later this year and let you know how that is. If we are able to test that out. So main street confectionary, and then as you move over to Epcot, you have a couple of different options. One is not one specific shop. And I don't know, Kris, we've heard people talk about that drinking around the world, having you at the wheelchair. Yes. And we're not drinkers ourself, but we might want to try this out one time. It's not one particular shop, but a lot of families will do a candy around the world tour, which sounds pretty fun. That's nice. Yeah. So you can take your, I think as our daughter gets a little older, this would be fun to do with her because she does have a sweet tooth. Um, you go to each of the different pavilions and you find a candy that is there in a lot of families will do all share. There's some great, um, ideas and articles out there about what you could do, but essentially you go to each pavilion and you find a candy that is from that particular country. Some will be harder to find something than others, but this is even something you could get as a gift to bring home for friends or family, or maybe you have an adult only trip and you're bringing it back for your kids. But candy around the world would be a really fun thing to do. And I will make sure to share a couple of articles that people have shared, like on the Disney food blog and that about doing the candy around the world. Now, Kris and I have talked about this one shop in Germany quite a few times, many times, and we have talked about it with popcorn. And I think with baked goods, we always butcher the name. Even though Kris took German in college, is that a, gentleman's be mine. I think it's caramel Kusha and this is where they have the caramel shop in Germany. And one of the things that is really awesome is they have so many treats and you can watch them make some of them. Kris always gets something at the caramel. You always get some sort of chocolate caramel, like a turtle. Yeah. I, and I don't know why this sticks with me, but like a couple of years ago we were there and I got a dark chocolate covered caramel and it was so delicious. I one bite and I tripped over one of the curves. They dropped it classic Vanessa. Yeah. You, but there's no five-second rule at a theme park. There's too many people that have walked on that ground. So, um, they have all kinds of really amazing things from the traditional caramels, with the chocolate. They also do have some, they'll have, um, different types of fruit covered in it, caramel apples, really so many different things they have of course were their sponsors, this. So they have an array of the Werther's caramels. So really a lot of great stuff. I think if you like chocolate or caramel or both, you will definitely find something here. I think this is somewhere where we usually always stop. We sure do. Yep. So that's definitely one of our favorites at Epcot. So that kind of rounds out what you would find at Epcot. Now, when you move over to animal kingdom, and this is a more recent addition, it's kind of mixed in, it's also part of the Starbucks location. There is Zuri sweet shops, and this is a fun place. I was there when I went with a friend recently and they have all kinds of fun candies. They also have a case that we'll have freshly made candies. Like I got a Dole whip fudge there. That was quite delicious. Yeah. It was very, I brought it home, but I didn't share. Um, so, um, it is really, really good. They also have cookies and brownies and, and cupcakes and that sort of thing they have where you can get the Starbucks coffees. And one of the things, of course, if you're looking for candy, you probably wouldn't care, but they have a lot of healthy snacks too. They have like almonds and granola and that sort of thing. But really I love the Dole with fudge and they have a lot of fun. Like they had seasonal treats when I was there. It was right before Easter. And they had like caramel apples that were like bunny rabbits and so fun things. So Zuri sweet shops. It is in the back. It is an Africa. You'll find it kind of, it's not too far from the Safari. We had went on the Safari and I came out and that's where I went into it. It does also have a lot of those pre-packaged candy. So if you're wanting to get something to grab on the go really great stop along the way. Now the second place that we're going to look at no more in animal kingdom. But when you go over to Hollywood studios, unfortunately this candy shop is temporarily closed and this is the Beverly sunset boutique. And they have, it's a mix of the Pixar merchandise. And then they have a lot of the candies. They're mostly, it is the pre-packaged candies that you would buy to take home. There's not usually freshly made ones. They used to have some, but recently they had not had a lot of, um, fresh ones there, but that unfortunately is temporarily closed. Hopefully as things begin to reopen again, you'll be able to get candy fix at Hollywood studios. But as of right now, that shop is closed, but we've bought candies there in the past. And I would assume that Disney will definitely keep candy there. When that shop re owned bins. Now I will say probably the candy would paradise be the right word to use. If you're talking about like a candy Wonderland, I don't know, Disney Springs has the best candy options. If you are a big candy person, I just liked gummies. Well, there's lots of gummies here. So this one you'll remember Goofy's candy shop and we've gone there quite a few times. You can get like the custom Oreos where you can have it dipped with and then sprinkled with like different types of candies. I remember I got a giant Oreo and then it was drizzled with dark chocolate. And I had like butter finger crumbles on there. I think you've had the giant Oreos from there too. Haven't you at? Goofy's candy. Yeah, those are good. And you can't eat those in one setting. You definitely, probably want to take part of that first snack later, it's over by the Christmas shop and it really is great. You can select a different treat, not just the giant Oreos, they have marshmallows and other things. And then they allow you to pick the tapping and the drizzle. And when the dining plan is available, it's usually a snack item. So it was just a really great option and it's fun to be, and they have lots of other candies in there. So they had Goofy's candy brand that you see throughout the park, save a lot of those options as well. But I highly suggest going to the counter and creating your own, not too far from there, the Ghirardelli soda fountain also allows you to come by. They have a Ray of the Ghirardelli chocolates in there. So you can go in there if you love the different squares and you need that fix. That's definitely a place that you might want to stop, but moving a little further down towards the West side section, um, you'll see. Disney's candy cauldron. I've been in here a few times. They have lots of great cases where they have rice crispy treats covered in chocolate and fudge and lollipops and all kinds of different candy novelties. Um, they are really great to work with. We were doing some stuff for our Valerie Newell and I worked with them. They're just a really great shop. So if you're down towards the West side, the candy Calderon is a great stop that you'd like to take moving further in the landing section. Now I've not been to this. The good Nasseri ha is supposed to be so good. Um, their homemade ganache is very rich. I love rich chocolate, so I know I'm definitely going to want to do this. They have all kinds of really great meat. They have made to order ones. They're supposed to have a really good smore, Kris, that we'll have to check out that it's a Disney smore. That's supposed to be really awesome. They toast the marshmallow, like listen to this, Kris, they take a blow torch. They toast the marshmallow, and then they have 16 different flavors of chocolate that you can pick to have on it. So it just sounds really awesome if you love smores or any kind of chocolate sweet tree, I would definitely go to the[inaudible] and they have, they, even for those of you who do like alcohol, they have wine and chocolate pairings that you can get it with some of the, with the fruit, fruit candy. So just really lots of great options there. And one of the newest additions to Disney Springs, and this is down by Splitsville, which we like. Splitsville a lot. We've been there quite a few times, done some events there. They have a new M and M store. Now we haven't been to the M and M store at Disney Springs, but we've been to the big one in Vegas. So the M and M store it Disney looks really fun. They have the signature m&ms wall of chocolate, where you with all the colorful wall or colorful M and M's that you can get pictures by. They have some really cool, just they've made it social media friendly, I guess. Would that be the right term? They have cool. Life-size M and M characters for you to get your pictures with. They have exclusive Mickey, a mini M, and M designs. They have just some really fun things and great photo ops there. So if you love MnMs, you love Disney. You're just going to really have a great experience. There it is. The world's tallest M and M's chocolate wall, which that would have been a good trivia for you, Kris, but okay. How this is the world chocolate tallest M& M wall. So remember like in Vegas they had with all the different colored tubes, how tall do you think this one

Kris Johns:

And is 50 feet? No,

Vanessa Ferguson:

It's only 17 feet, but how many tubes of the chocolate do you think there are that make up that wall? I'll give you a ballpark, like, okay.

Kris Johns:

Over, under, or under way, whatever you want to pick. Well, you're the one who fixed the number for an over-under. Oh, well,

Vanessa Ferguson:

Give me a number. I think it's

Kris Johns:

Over or under 5,030

Vanessa Ferguson:

Tubes of chocolate was right? Yes, that's right. I know those kind of analogies. So anyways, check out the M and M store at Disney Springs to it to get not only your M and M fix, but they have some really cool Disney options. It's a fun gift that you can bring home for people as well. So that rounds out the different candy shops that are at Disney Springs. So again, whether you're at the parks or at Disney Springs, if you have a sweet tooth, or if you just, if in particular, if you love candy, check out the shops, a lot of them are also going to have some baked goods. Some might have popcorn, different things like that. So there's usually something for everyone, but these are some of the best candy places on property. So definitely check them out. Next time you are at Walt Disney world, and we are going to get up our interview with Cassie. We are really looking forward to sharing all about her business with you. We would like to welcome Cassie to the show, her business Cassie's classic creations offers all kinds of key chains, bags I masked, And we are super excited to have Cassie on the show. Well,

Cassie Atkinson:

Well, thank you. Thank you for having me

Vanessa Ferguson:

Now. Of course, before we get started, we always want to hear what you like about Disney. And right now we've been asking people, what is your favorite ride at any of the parks?

Cassie Atkinson:

Oh my gosh. Well, my love for Disney I've had for my whole life. Um, but I gained a lot of love for it when I actually participated in the college program. Way, way, way back in the day. Um, I believe we're talking almost 14 years ago now. Um, so I came right out of culinary school. My one of my previous careers was a pastry chef and I worked in the Canadian pavilion at Epcot, and I actually ended up working at a food and wine the year I went, which is an amazing experience. And I work with some amazing chefs and I love Disney, and I love Disney's a business perspective about the client and making sure that the client or the customer or, or, or the person experiencing the parks has a great experience. So I kind of, I integrate that into what I do full time as well as in my shop every day. So yeah, for sure. And then, Oh, my favorite, I'm a California girl through intro. No, I live in Washington right now. Um, but I love radiator Springs racers. I know it's my favorite favorite, right?

Vanessa Ferguson:

Yeah. We love cars. Land is fun out there. It's so immersive.

Cassie Atkinson:

Well, they did an amazing job theming it just for that. I mean, you walk in and you do it and it's the same with star Wars land right now, too. You walk in and you're immersed in the experience, so, yeah, it's great.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Well, now of course, we want to hear all about your business. I know you're a small business owner, you do bookkeeping, but what about, tell us about your Disney business and the products that you offer connected to Disney travel and everything like that?

Cassie Atkinson:

Yeah, well, I do a bunch of things I mainly got into when I first started, I got into scarves and making infinity scarves, and I offer those in the winter fall winter season, but now that we're coming into spring, we're moving more into bags and pouches and zipper pouches. And I kind of gear a lot of, to a lot of what I release in my shop to everyday use as well as park use. So my whole focus is, is, is integrating Disney magic in your everyday life. Cause that's key. I think that's one thing that kind of makes us all a little happier is being able to enjoy not only our passion for Disney, but our passion for supporting small businesses as well. So I do zipper pouches. We do scarves in the fall winter. Um, I'm kind of known for by park sling bags, which is a nice size for the parks where you've got lots of pockets and it's fairly easy to kind of carry everything. You carry a water bottle and a small jacket, and let's see, I've done everything from eye masks. Like you had mentioned to box boxes, zipper, pal bags for packing. And my biggest kind of thing that I switched to last year was face masks. And I've been doing face masks ever since March of last year. And that kind of, you know, it was a PA it was something that I took a lot of time and effort to think about before I did it, but we all need a little Disney magic through this last year and a half. And, uh, anything I can do to help the community and the people out there that was what was key. So yeah.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Well, you know, you've talked about your passion, but to take a step back, what was the Genesis of you creating a business to share Disney magic?

Cassie Atkinson:

I have been crafting for 25 years now. So I've done everything from sewing to crocheting, to beading deep work, stuff like that. So I wanted to find something that I knew people would enjoy and love, and that's not only in my day to day job, but in my small business, I want to make people happy and making sure it and Disney was one area that I could find that the product that I offered made people happy and excited and encouraged me to continue to grow and develop as a crafter and kind of gear everything that I introduced in to the store or into the shop based off of a Disney experience and what would make the Disney experience better.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Wow. That's really great. Now I know we've already talked a little bit about how your products can add kind of that Disney magic to your everyday life or when you're at the parks. Now, if I were wanting to get one of your products, I know you have quite a few things in stock in your Etsy shop, but do you do any custom orders or how does some of that work for the ordering?

Cassie Atkinson:

Yeah, absolutely. A majority of what's in the shop is ready to ship. I love to have somebody order something and then turn around and get a shipping notification. I think that for me has always been a goal of mine, um, because I know I struggle with that where I might order something and I really, really want it. And I've spent my hard earned money on it and to get that shipping notification a day later, or a few days later, if I happen to order on a Friday, it kind of, it makes me happy. Um, so that's why a majority of the stuff that's in my shop is ready to ship, but I'm always open for custom orders. Um, you know, a lot of the backpacks that I sell, they are custom order. So if you happen to be on my Instagram at Cassie's creations Northwest, and you see that I've made a backpack, or if there's a particular fabric that you like, that is not in a backpack form or in a style bag that you want, feel free to reach out the, um, Facebook email, no matter what, reach out and let's talk.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Now, if I were to reach out to you about a custom order, let's say I wanted one of the pack packs. And what kind of turnaround do you look at? So if I was planning a trip, how soon in advance should I get ahold of you?

Cassie Atkinson:

Um, it depends. So if it's a fabric that I have in stock, um, I try and keep my turnaround time to about seven business days. Um, if it's a fabric that you happen to see and you're, and I don't have it in stock, it can be up to three months cause I'm waiting. I mean, it takes time for this fabric to be printed for my resources. Um, so I've had people wait up to four months for a product, but I never take payment until the fabric is in hand and the product is produced and that's something that I really strive to keep, because again, it goes back to that joy of, Hey, the product, you know, the fabrics here, your products done, you know, let's take payment, let's get it shipped out to you right away

Vanessa Ferguson:

For sure. Now, do you have a favorite either one of your fabrics or one of your products or maybe both that you would like to talk about?

Cassie Atkinson:

It's a love, hate relationship with some of my products. I love all of them. I love all of them. Um, I think we all go through those days where we're just struggling a little bit to make stuff or be motivated. So that's why I'm like, I have a love, hate relationship with some of my products, but, um, I enjoy sewing and I think that's the big thing. So I really enjoy seeing a backpack come together where you've got 30 pieces cut out and ready to go. And in literally an hour and a half, you got a full backpack ready to go and ready to be shipped. So it's a really awesome experience and, um, transition to see that pack being made and turned into something. And I take a lot of pride in the backpacks just because they are a labor of love. So, yeah, sure.

Vanessa Ferguson:

And I think it's nice that that's something you could use at the parks, or you can use that at home or both. It really is something that you get to share throughout your life, for sure.

Cassie Atkinson:

Absolutely. Well, and they're great. They're just great. Like I have a client that has ordered probably 15 to 20 backpacks from me in various fabrics and she uses them every single day. Right. So that's what I strive for. That's what I want to see. I want people to buy product and use it and love it.

Kris Johns:

Well, you know, you just mentioned about people buying the product and using it and loving it. Where can they go to buy a product from you?

Cassie Atkinson:

Um, I'm on all, uh, I'm on the main social media pages. So I'm on Instagram as Cassie's creations Northwest and w uh, I'm on Etsy, of course. Uh, and that's also Cassie's creations NW, and then I'm on Facebook is Cassie's classic creations. Um, and you can actually reach out to me on all three of those platforms. Uh, so we can discuss custom pieces or if there's, you know, a particular fabric that you've seen or something like that, or, Hey, I'm thinking about, I, I thought about this idea, is this something you can do? So, yeah.

Kris Johns:

Wonderful. And then with that, you mentioned that you may have a promo code for our audience.

Cassie Atkinson:

Oh, yes, I do. Um, so if you guys visit the shop and you see something you like, you can always use the, um, the promo code does love 10. So capital D and then lowercase, I S L O V 10. And I think the, the code will be here in the podcast as well. Um, and you'll save 10%.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Awesome. Well, we really appreciate that and I will make sure to put that in the show notes, along with the link to your Etsy shop, because we want our audience to be able to go check out your awesome bags and other products. And I know some, we live in Michigan, so it's cold here too, during the fall and winter, I'll have to remember to check out your scarves to later this year.

Cassie Atkinson:

Yes, absolutely. They also have hidden pockets in the sky.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Cassie. We really appreciate it.

Cassie Atkinson:

Yes. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Kris Johns:

Thank you again to Cassie for joining us today. And don't forget to use the promo code does love 10 for 10% off your next order. And remember, go to Cassie shop, find something for yourself, reward yourself, treat yourself and get 10% off. Use. The code does love 10 for 10% off.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Awesome. And of course we are going to round out today's show with our two minute trivia and our wisdom from Walt quotes. So Kris, you are up with trivia,

Kris Johns:

Okay. This is a true or false true or false Disney world made animal poop, shaped candy and sold it to the public ed Disney.

Vanessa Ferguson:

It seems like something that's possible for animal kingdom, but it doesn't seem very Disney life. So I'm going to say

Kris Johns:

That is incorrect. That is true. This is a little old. This is from the New York daily news. This was back in summer of 2015 Disney announced that they sold elephant chocolate, peanut butter and fudge with coconut flakes, hippo, fudge caramel brownie with oats and peanut butter giraffe in cotton tap Tameron shaped pool.

Vanessa Ferguson:

And that says Zuri sweet shops, which we talked about today.

Kris Johns:

Um, it was a coroner, the article said, but the promotion was no crap. It was, it sold out. No doubt because it's so unique at Disney. Um, and again, I think w we, we don't go in the summertime. So we don't, this would've been something that we could have partaken in, but if you had the chance to eat poop, shaped Disney produced candy chocolate, would you take a bite? Yes, I would. Hmm. Interesting.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Hey, I've eaten candy that has like the insects in it, where you have like, where they put like the scorpions and all that kind of stuff. Have you ever had that kind of candy

Kris Johns:

On a side note? When I grew up, when I was younger, there was a thing called the book of lists. And if you drink coffee, you ingest of minuscule amount of Pooh because of all the animals, like in the food chain. I mean, there's, there's a fair number of foods that just because of their interaction, you just can't. Yeah, but you drink, chew, consume. So

Vanessa Ferguson:

At least eat something that isn't that, but looks like it. Correct.

Kris Johns:

So again, this was a couple of years, 2015 now, so it's been a number of years, but Disney animal kingdom did sell animal shaped poo candy.

Vanessa Ferguson:

Wow. Very interesting. And very good top relation to this topic. All right. Well, now we have to end at our wisdom from Walco, which kind of brings us full circle. Um, so one of the things that I thought is neat is just like what Kris is trivia was, is Disney takes something that is kind of common and they make it extraordinary. Um, so that's what this quote goes, plays into. There are many ways that you can use those certain basic things and give them a new decor, a new treatment. I've been doing that with Disneyland. And that's what Disney has been doing for so many years since Walt started his vision with his brother, Roy, when you look at everything they do, they take something that other people might have done in other ways, but they just add that wow factor. They add that great customer service and just make it that much better. So thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the club podcast with Vanessa and Kris I'm Vanessa, and I'm Kris

Speaker 6:

[inaudible].

Kris Johns:

This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney company or its holdings, and it is intended for entertainment purposes only.