Why I Oughta...

One of the kids pieced together this collection of Disney Tsum Tsum trading pins that I found when digging out some of our Disney stuff.  You have 'Disney Parks stuff', don't you?   As for these pins....I don't think Tsum Tsums are 'a thing' any more, are they?  I never really *got* them - they were stackable - that was the appeal.  But, they're mostly hamster-looking Disney characters.  Not for me, but that's ok.  Same with Funko Pops.  Not drawn to them.  These Tsum Tsums *do* have cute faces, though.  This collection of pins will join some other Tsum Tsum pins on our big boards in the garage .    There are a few interesting ones in this group - Obi Won from Star Wars, Baloo from Jungle Book and the pair of birds that are from an Adventureland Booster set.  Juan the Barker Bird from the outside pre-show at the Tiki Room is pretty awesome.   And, so is one of the Showgirl Birds - the cockatoos who come down fr...

One of the trends that I'm really enjoying in Disney Parks is the additional of some restaurant-specific Disney Parks ephemera in the shape of custom coasters.  I've documented a few of these over the years here on the blog as part of the Coaster Collection .   The last Disney one that I posted was back in 2019 when I shared one from Aulani .   This post is about some coasters from Oga's Cantina in the Black Spire Outpost on the Out Rim planet of Batuu.  Or, you could say it is located in the Star Wars Land inside of Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida.  Either way, you'd be right.  And, if you're interested, check out the full story on the place here on the Wookiepedia .   As for the rest of the Disney-related coasters in the collection, here's the rundown of the (now) 13 kinds 1 . The full Disney list includes: 1. The standard one you see in your rooms @ Walt Disney World resort hotels . 2. This black and white one from the original...

There's a well-established pattern of a spouse using their social media presence to wish birthday greetings on their partner.  It is a nice little experience - in that one gets to express their birthday wishes and (typically), the partners share parts of the social graph, so the community of friends and contacts get to weigh in. And while, I *have* social media profiles, I actually don't use them to post.  But, like any child-of-the-Web-who-came-of-age-online-in-the-early-aughts, I have a blog.  And, I can use that to crow about our family MVP Natalie. I'm posting this on July 11th - which isn't her birthday.  But, like some of you, she gets the daily email that gets sent out with my posts on the following day.  So, when she reads this (or you are reading this), it will be her birthday. Nat is the glue that keeps us together.  But, she's also leading by example for our three kids in every facet of her life.  She's the leading voice in their ...

Not a better place to see the last one of these Star Wars movies than in the Tivoli - which I am guessing hosted all nine of them.  There are plenty of people out there that are saying the movie was bad, but I liked it.  And...I stayed awake the whole time.  These days, the theatres around us are all putting in this luxury lean-back seats.  Everytime I get into one of those, the movie has a hard time competing with my next nap. 

I was sitting at the gate in my American Airlines plane waiting to back away when this ANA plane taxi'ed by our gate.  A NA is a Japanese carrier that is doing a "Star Wars Project" as they call it.  I've flown a few times to Japan (Narita), but I've only flown either United or JAL.  This BB-8 livery is one of three in the Star Wars fleet:  they also have a R2-D2 and C-3PO versions . If you're interested in seeing it, the fine folks at Flight Radar 24 have provided this tracking link :  Follow the BB-8 777-300ER with registration JA789A . For you #AvGeeks, t he BB-8 livery is on a Boeing 767-300 .  This plane is awfully cute - but I think it is pretty clear: the C-3PO livery is the *best* one of the three, right?  Check out the release on the ANA Star Wars site here for full details including the cabin details that match the livery: From ANA's Star wars microsite - showing the cups, aprons and seat headrests all C-3PO-themed. This ...

Back in April of 2018, I posted this photo of one of our kids celebrating the upcoming Star Wars land at Hollywood Studios .  Go check it out here .  That land is currently open to cast members and will be opened to the public before the end of the month.  But, being "Disney People" (with air quotes), we couldn't wait for that and had to squeeze in a visit to the California version of Galaxy's Edge/Black Spire Outpost/Batuu/Star Wars Land 1 during our recent trip to the park.    And we really liked it.  There's only one ride open (The Falcon) and yes...everything is expensive. But, the imagineers really did an amazing job on the land.  It certainly feels *immersive* and that seems to be all the rage these days.  Now, we haven't been to Universal Studios to see any of the Harry Potter land(s), but what I've read about it, that word (immersive) comes up over and over.  And, between Pandora in Animal Kingdom and now SWGE, I think that...

Documenting this here on the blog as part of my Disney Parks ephemera collection.  This is the Disneyland Park Map from July 2019 when they opened Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and features a couple of people piloting the Millenium Falcon.  A little bit over a month ago, I posted the map for Disneyland Park and Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris .  This Spring, I posted a photo the map and guide celebrating the 35th anniversary of Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea . At the beginning of 2019, I posted the Holiday park map for Disney's California Adventure . And one with snowflakes from Disneyland in Anaheim .  In 2017, I posted the special Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party guide and map from the Magic Kingdom.  The first Disney Parks maps that I shared were back in the Spring of 2017 with both guides/maps from Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea .  

Back in March of 2017, I posted a photo of a Storm Trooper Easter Egg-shaped Disney pin that one of the kids traded for on a trip down to WDW.  In that post , I mentioned that the Storm Trooper was one of six pins in the set.  Welp, recently, I was cleaning out my office closet and came across a little bag of Disney pins that included these two:  Darth Vader and Chewie egg-shaped pins.  That puts us at 50% of the set and gives us some new targets on our next trips:  find the rest of these: 1.  R2-D2 2.  C-3PO 3.  Boba Fett If you look closely, I'm pretty sure you can figure out that the Vader one is a scrapper .  The enamel is a little low in spots and that silver post on the left side of his mouth (our right) is standing out from the pin.  For now, I'll put these two on the pin board in the garage and keep a mental reminder of the other three. 

Took us a couple of weekends, but we finally went to see Solo as a family recently.  And, I liked it.  I think we all did?   The only part that I have strong feelings about is the Darth Maul part at the end.  Why wasn't that Jabba?  We went to the York Theater in Elmhurst, which is one of our favorite theaters and part of the Classic Cinemas chain.  Here's a trip to another Classic Cinemas theater in Fox Lake . 

We stopped by the entrance to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge on a recent trip and the Babe was - understandably - excited about the new land.  Can't wait until 2019 when we'll have to make a trip back to take it all in as a family.

On a recent Saturday, we packed the kids in the minivan and took them down to see a White Sox game.  When we arrived - which was early - we were surprised by the crowds waiting to get into the park and the noticeable buzz around the gates.    There were huge lines waiting to get in even before Comiskey Park opens.  Strange, right?  I mean....it *is* the White Sox, right?  They're terrible.  In last place.  ( In Hahn, we trust , btw)  The place should be empty.  I guess it was a Saturday night, so there are the fireworks, but in today's world, that seems like a stretch to think that people would be willing to go to a Sox game just for fireworks like we used to when I was a kid?  (Maybe the whole Disney fireworks thing has jaded me for fireworks now?) But then we saw the t-shirts.  And the costumes.  There was a lady with Princess Leia buns.  A dude with a wookie hoodie.  And the buzz?  It was because it ...

Back in April, I posted a photo of the Jedi Training badge that the Bird was given after participating in the Jedi Training session at Disney's Hollywood Studios earlier this year.  This was the first time that we were able to do the training, but wasn't our first time trying.  The timing just worked out.  But, since it is May the Fourth, I figured it was time to show off some of those Jedi photos. She donned her robe, grabbed her lightsaber and listened to the master trainers.  "Sabers up!" She even took on the Seventh Sister .   For those keeping track at home, this is the 2nd time I've posted on May the Fourth.   Last time was when the Big Ten shop came out with a bunch of Star Wars-themed gear, but the Illini got left out .  Checking that campaign today, and the Illini still don't have any Star Wars gear .

The Bird scored this "Future of the Force" badge after she went through Jedi Training.  Her older sister?   Not interested.  Well...that's not true.  She *was* interested.  If it was a private exercise with no one looking.  And on her own terms.  If that was the case?  She'd be all over it. But this should not come as a surprise if you've been following along.  This is the same exercise we went through when I posted about our visit to Raglan Road at Disney Springs .  The Bird danced on stage.  The Babe?  Not so much.

This is - what I think will be - the final pin post for a bit as I settle back in.  But this one might be the best?  I mean....who doesn't love the Millennium Falcon and a bit of 'space-age' iconography? One of the girls traded for this but it might not end up on their board.  Let's leave it at that.

The Bird traded for this Stormtrooper Disney "Easter Egg" pin.  Turns out it is part of a six pin set that includes the usual crew that you'd expect in a Star Wars starter set . The retail price is $34.95 for the six pin set. Available early March 2016. Below is a closer look at the six different character pins featured.   1. Darth Vader 2. Stormtrooper 3. Boba Fett 4. R2-D2 5. C-3PO 6. Chewbacca And here's a photo ( from the Disney Pins Blog ) showing all six of them below.  That Chewy one is pretty awesome, isn't it? Via Disney Pins Blog

Just as we were entering the park, these guys came along and marched right in front of us.  Lead by Captain Phasma, I think they went all the way to the hub/center of Hollywood Studios with the good Darth Vader music blasting.  The kids loved it.  And this gives just a small/little glance of what the future of this park will look like in just a few years when Star Wars land opens.

That is both girls all doll'd up in their Rey costumes using bubble wands as faux-light sabers down in Florida a few weeks back.  Since The Force Awakens movie came out and we went to see it, but girls have been asking for Rey costumes.  So...at Easter, the Easter Bunny delivered!  There were arm wraps and boot covers, but because we were in Florida, it just didn't make any sense to wear them at that point.  More importantly...check out the hair-do's that Nat put on both The Babe and The Bird?!?  Pretty rad, right?  They couldn't have been more excited to wear the costumes.  Well...at least until they started to get A LOT of attention and that's when The Babe - the older one - started to wear out a bit.  She doesn't adore the spotlight that's for sure.   The costumes have been a novelty ever since and have been making appearances pretty reguarly around the house.  Here, below, is The Babe along with one of her friend's little broth...

And, in with the new?  Yeah.   But we're not talking about it. Those four above were from a trip we took last year.  They each have a cover from MyFantasyBands.com which I really like adding to our bands.  Mine was Chewie on the left.  The Babe had R2D2, The Bird had Belle and Nat rolled with the blue Cindy one.     We've bought a bunch of these covers over the years and each time we get new bands, we change them up. There's a bunch of folks who, I think, keep these bands.  And while my nature is to hold on to stuff, after I took this photo, these went in the trash.  Can't become a horder in my sister's house, amirite?!?

I was going through the girls' pin lanyards from our most recent trip to the parks and noticed that The Babe picked up a cute Yoda Valentine's Day one.   According to this post on the Disney Pins Blog , it is a new one that came out in November of 2015.  I know it is a few days past Valentine's Day, but I figured it was still worth sharing.  At some point when we get our place settled, we'll take these off the various lanyards (necklaces as the girls call them) and put them on a real pin board of sorts.  Oh...a guy can dream, right?!?  

"Dad...I wanna be on the Dark Side!" The Bird here was the only one to be brave enough to confront Darth Vader on our visit.  He was VERY tall and VERY imposing.  He startled us when we arrived.  The queue is set up so you don't really see him until he kind of jumps out at you.  I jumped back a bit.  The Babe wouldn't come out from behind Nat's leg.  Totally different reaction from when we all met Chewy. They have Vader and Chewy (and now I think Kylo Ren??) set up in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in a place called the Star Wars Launch Bay that has various artifacts from the seven movies (helmets, sabers, vehicles, etc).  It is a nice little way to bring Star Wars into the Park at Disneyland while they're busy building the new Star Wars land.  Which...can't get done soon enough.  Pandora (Avatarland) is coming online sometime in 2017 and unlike some folks, that has me really excited. I'm a big Joe Rohde fan (even follow him on Instagram...