Darlington girl thrilled after Disney World Florida return teddy lost 4,000miles away

Michael Robinson
·3-min read
Leilani with her Jofli bear Credit: Lynne Cullen <i>(Image: Lynne Cullen)</i>
Leilani with her Jofli bear Credit: Lynne Cullen (Image: Lynne Cullen)

A young Darlington girl was reunited with her beloved teddy bear after losing the toy 4,000 miles away in Disney World, Florida.

Leilani Hatton, five, from Middleton St George, near Darlington, was left devastated after her Jofli (journey of life) bear was misplaced during her family’s trip to the Magic Kingdom.

Her grandmother, Lynne Cullen, 63, from Darlington, said her granddaughter would often take the bear with her when out on trips with herself and Leilani’s grandfather, David Cullen.​

(Image: Lynne Cullen)

 

She said the stuffed animal comes with an online journal where owners can document their journey with it, and her granddaughter had become inseparable with the toy.

She said: “We took it to Disney with us when we went to Florida, she carried it everywhere with her, she was collecting all the Disney Princesses’ signatures, we’ve got photographs of her with this bear and all the Disney princesses.

“One day, we got back to the hotel and thought ‘where’s the bear?’ We thought that her parents had it, and they thought we had it. We didn’t get together to realise it had been gone for a day or so.

(Image: Lynne Cullen)

“We just didn’t know where we’d lost this blessed thing. We were trying to piece it together from the various photographs as to where it might have been."

She added they speculatively narrowed the bear’s location down to either Epcot or the Magic Kingdom resorts, after retracing their steps through buses and hotels.

But they had to return home to Darlington without the teddy when their holiday was over.

After losing hope, they were left “over the moon” to receive an update from Disney confirming they had found the bear.

(Image: Lynne Cullen)

Disney bosses sent the bear on a transatlantic trip free of charge back to Darlington.

“The number of people that go in and out of there, we had no idea. We could have left it on one of the buses, it could have been anywhere in the park, there’s so many shows and so many rides he’d been on with her,” she added.

“She was over the moon when we got him back. We got her to come over and open the parcel.”

“He’s called a journey of life bear, and he’s come back all the way from America. He is now recovered and ready for new adventures.

She added Lelani is now writing a letter to thank Mickey Mouse for his help in locating her bear.

Mrs Cullen noted the bear was sent back free of charge, and Leilani’s father, David Hatton, 38, praised the park’s customer service and handling of the ordeal.

Mr Hatton said his daughter is delighted to have her bear back, and has even taken the stuffed animal into school for a show and tell presentation.

He said: “She always takes it everywhere whenever we go anywhere with her grandma and she had it through this entire Disney trip, and then the second-to-last day we were there, we discovered that we’d lost it.

(Image: Lynne Cullen)

“Obviously, she wasn’t very happy about it. We never found it before we were due to leave.

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“We never thought in a million years that we’d get it back, because Disney is massive, it’s like five parks. There’s no way anyone’s going to find it, hand it in, and know whose it is.

“We kept it a secret from Lani, and when we got it back, we surprised her with it and said that Mickey Mouse found it for her. She was very excited.

“She loves that thing, she takes it everywhere she goes with her grandma and she spends a lot of time with her grandma. It’s always been important to her.”

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