The Orange Bird sat in the Sunshine Tree Terrace every day; watching the lines form, watching the Cast Members serve the guests, watching the ice cream.
For a long time, twenty-five years, he was in storage at the Walt Disney Archives and didn't get to do that.
Being at the Walt Disney Archives was long and boring. Sure there were other animatronics and figures to hang out with. Ones that had fallen into disuse and disrepair.
Some had changed because their ride had changed - been refurbished or changed altogether.
Others had been damaged due to a lack of upkeep in the Eisner/Pressler years.
The rest were like the Orange Bird - forgotten. Orange Bird himself faded into obscurity when Disney cut ties with the Florida Citrus Commission.
But Orange Bird hadn't been truly forgotten. And thanks to his Japanese fans, he was back on his perch. And he was thankful.
A/N:
Orange Bird was created as a mascot for the Florida Citrus Commission. When they cut ties in 1987, Orange Bird went into Storage. But his popularity in Tokyo Disneyland persuaded Disney to bring him back - and they did, in 2012.