A Wonderful Week

Well I am back from my favorite place (and the happiest place) in the world. It sucks. Wish I was still there. Oh well back to work.

It really was a great week. I was with Kelly, my family, the Behrenshausen's, and the Yost's. Most of the time the "kids" stuck together - Kelly, Brent, Corinne, and me. I use "kids" because we are all at least 20 years old. Anyway, I did everything I wanted to in all the parks. We actually got on Rock 'N' Roller Coaster 5 times and Space Mountain 4 times! I would have liked to do Thunder Mountain and maybe Splash Mountain again but I did them once. Dinners weren't as good as I had hoped. We tried some new places this time. I can't say I'd go rushing back to all of them. The first night (Sunday, May 11th) was Cinderella's Enchanted Table in Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom. This was the second best meal of the new places we tried. The beef was great and we got a group picture taken. I'd go back there but it isn't a "we must do this every trip" kind of place. Monday was Hollywood & Vine at Hollywood Studios. It is a buffet (which we did a lot of). Meh. Nothing stood out. The pork was great, though. Tuesday was Cape May Cafe, which is a buffet in the Beach Club Resort. Same ol', same ol'; we do it every time we go. Most people enjoy it because it is all-you-can-eat seafood. Since I don't like seafood I could care less. We won't be doing it the next time we go, not because it was bad, just for a change of pace. Wednesday was our third straight buffet. We tried Boma at the Animal kingdom Lodge. My cousin raved about it but I didn't find it above and beyond anything else (especially since we replaced Le Cellier with it). I wouldn't rush to go back. Thursday was Raglan Road. This was the best of the new places. The Shepherd's Pie was delicious and the bread and dipping sauce was top notch. Very good. I'd definitely go back. Friday was Teppan Edo, the Japanese restaurant in EPCOT. This is my second favorite place to eat in Disney World behind only Shula's Steakhouse in the Dolphin Hotel. The food is always amazing and the experience doesn't get old.

Enough with food. On with the souvenirs! Of course everything I bought was Star Wars related. I believe everything I purchased is only available in the Disney Parks. First up is the Starspeeder 3000.


The Starspeeder 3000 is the "vehicle" used in the Star Tours ride. It takes you through your journey past the Endor moon. This particular toy is electronic and speaks a few lines when your navigator, R2-D2, is depressed.

Up next is the first wave of Disney/Star Wars crossover figures.

Aren't they beautiful? I wasn't going to get the complete set but I just liked them so much. I normally focus solely on troopers (as you probably know) but if I find a set or line I like I may complete it. The Disney lines qualify (as do the McQuarrie concepts). Sorry about the blurry pictures!

Mickey Mouse as Luke Skywalker

Minnie Mouse as Princess Leia

Donald Duck as Han Solo

Goofy as Darth Vader

Stitch as the Emperor

Of course the day after I leave wave 2 is released. Head on over to Endor Express to see some images of Mickey Mouse as Anakin Skywalker, Minnie Mouse as Queen Amidala, Goofy as Jar Jar Binks, Donald Duck as Darth Maul, and Stitch as Yoda. Plus they have images of the Star Wars Weekends box set (R2-D2, C-3PO, RX-24 a.k.a. Captain Rex, WEG-1618 and, DL-X2) as well as the first ever Muppets/Star Wars cross over PVC figures (Kermit as Luke Skywalker, Miss Piggy as Princess Leia, Beaker as C-3PO, Fozzie as Chewbacca, Rizzo as Yoda, and Gonzo as Darth Vader). Wish they would have been out a few days sooner!!!

Up next are two pins I purchased while on vacation. Pin trading has become a staple of Disney areas and we met a gentleman who told us that over the last 75+ years (Disney pins began in the early 1930s) there have been over 60,000 official Disney related pins. WOW. Talk about a massive collection! One of the coolest lines of Disney pins is the A Piece of Disney History editions. This is the third year of the collection and the pin for May 2008 was Star Tours!


The pins in this collection actually contain a piece of something from the ride. In the case of Star Tours it is a part of Captain Rex! You can see the pieces in the bubble to the left of the Starspeeder 3000. The pins in the A Piece of Disney History series are limited editions and once they are gone they are gone.

The second pin I snatched was a simple clone trooper. But it looked cool!


One of the other Disney exclusives are the Racers. These are basically matchbox cars in the form of a race car but designed as a park ride or, in the case of Star Wars, helmets from the saga. There are currently 10 in the collection and wave two just hit in the past month. Part of the first wave was the Stromtrooper racer.

One of my surprise finds was the Collector Packs of mini characters. Series 4 is the Star Wars wave and includes 18 Disney/Star Wars figures. The figures come blind packed, with three figures per pack. The packs run $5. Yikes! It took A LOT of packs to complete a set. I actually was two away from completing the set when a wonderful Disney cast member at the Once Upon a Toy store in Downtown Disney said I could trade some of my duplicates for ones I needed. Thankfully the shoe box she brought out from under the counter had the two I needed: Starspeeder 3000 and Yoda. I picked those up and an additional Starspeeder for Brent. Below are a few pictures of the mini figures...






A complete set includes: Boba Fett, C-3PO, Chewbacca, Darth Maul, Darth Vader, Ewok, Jabba the Hutt, Jar Jar Binks, Jedi Mickey, Mickey Mouse as Luke Skywalker, Millennium Falcon, Minnie Mouse as Princess Leia, R2-D2, Rex, Star Tours Starspeeder 3000, Stormtrooper, Yoda, X-wing fighter. If you want to try and complete a set it will take between 8-12 packs...and some luck!

Below are a few pictures of a majority of the loot from Disney.




I also bought this sweet shirt (which I am wearing now). TK 421, why aren't you at your post?


And I picked these up for me and Kelly. Pretty sweet, yes? I love the reflective glow.


So that's all I've got for now. Disney 2008 was a blast. I hope to update my Star Wars collection images, the Star Tours Expose, and add all of the Disney 2008 photos this week. As always, stay tuned!