Tag: Star Wars
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 141 – Donald Duck in Carbonite
At the end of a busy day today, I swung by Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the third time in two days after realizing that despite the fact that I was just there yesterday to cover the grand opening of Star Tours, I completely forgot to check out the merchandise tent. I also wanted to see this year’s Hyperspace Hoopla, which I was too tired to stay for at the end of the day yesterday. The new bigger stage is amazing and Dance-Off with the Star Wars Stars 2011 is one of the best yet (full video here).
In the merchandise tent (which is also bigger than ever), Michelle took a photo of me with this life-sized Donald Duck in Carbonite. Boba Fett seemed uninterested.
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 140 – Me and the real C-3PO
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the updated Star Tours ride officially opened today with a grand dedication ceremony. You can catch up on everything Star Tours here, including videos, audio, photos, reviews, interviews, and more.
And speaking of interviews… after the grand opening today, I had a chance to interview Anthony Daniels, better known as the guy who played C-3PO (in the suit and as the voice) for all of the Star Wars movies. He’s an incredibly nice guy with a great passion for what he does. You can watch my interview with him here.
And don’t ask why I wore a Muppets shirt to the Star Tours opening today. I was on less than 5 hours of sleep and somehow it made sense when I got dressed this morning. I suppose it’s not too much of a stretch…
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 139 – Star Tours flight 1401 now boarding
The new version of Disney’s Star Tours ride officially opens tomorrow morning but tonight, at midnight, Disney held a special meet-up for up to 500 people to preview the ride early. There were Star Wars characters dancing around, a Q&A with Imagineers who developed the ride, and of course plenty of chances to ride the new Star Tours as well. And it all began with a backstage walk along a red carpet!
After tonight, Star Wars fans will descent upon the Hollywood Studios theme park for Star Wars Weekends and lines for the new Star Tours will be extremely long. I’m glad I’ve ridden it plenty of times already. It was a fun night and a great special event.
365 Adventures in 2011: Day 134 – The Adventures Continue at Star Tours!
After two days of running around all four Walt Disney World theme parks, I was looking forward to simply sitting in a convention hall of Disney’s Contemporary Resort all weekend and enjoying the presentations from Destination D. But… today I received word midday that Star Tours 2 was going to open for the first time to guests. And that was too exciting to pass up.
So I hurried back to Hollywood Studios, arriving at nearly the same time I did yesterday for the final leg of the Great Disney Scavenger Hunt. But this time, I only had one attraction on my mind. A crowd had already gathered in front of Star Tours, but rain scattered everyone for a few minutes. A little while after it stopped, Cast Members finally dropped the rope and let everyone in. And it was glorious.
This ride has needed an update for many years and it is now once again incredibly fun. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, so I’ve posted a spoiler-free review.
And my first ride turned out to be extra special, as I ended up in the same cabin as Imagineers and Hollywood Studios VP Rilous Carter, who were riding in the back row.
After riding 4 times, I wanted to get back to Destination D in time for Imagineer Tony Baxter’s presentation, so I left the park and snapped the photo below on the way out. It was still raining off and on, so I didn’t get my own picture in front of the ride, but there will be plenty of time for that in the future. For now, I had a blast being one of the first guests to ride the updated Star Tours.
Highlights and photos from Toy Fair 2011 – The Walking Dead, Terminator, Duke Nukem, Pirates LEGOs, BioShock, Ghostbusters, and more
I visited Toy Fair 2011 today in New York from the comfort of my office in Florida by way of coverage of the annual event from Collider.com and ActionFigs.com.
I wish I had been there in person, but since I wasn’t, sifting through photo galleries was the next best thing. And I pulled out pictures of the toys, action figures, and other fun things that I’ll most likely be buying when they hit the market soon.
So here’s my vicarious photo report from Toy Fair 2011 of what I’m most looking forward to…
Terminator
I have quite the collection of Terminator 2 figures already, so I’m quite happy to see NECA coming out with a couple of Arnold from the original Terminator as well. Plus more fun sculpts of the T-1000 are always fun too:
