The Infinite Galaxy Episode V: Journey From Dark to Light

    Welcome to the fifth  blog in my series of blogs discussing pretty much anything Star Wars! You may have noticed I have changed the name of the series from Star Wars Fun to The Infinite Galaxy. It just sounded better to me, so I went with it. Today we will be moving away from the Star Wars movies and focusing on a game that has quite the story, Star Wars Battlefront II. So sit back, relax, and enjoy reading about a game managed to turn from the dark side of the force, to the light.

    The year is 2017 and Star Wars Battlefront II released to an incredible wave of hate, boycotts, and legal questions due to it's lootbox system. For those unfamiliar with the situation, many popular games of late such as this, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and more reward players with boxes on in game loot that can range from cosmetic to new characters and weapons. When Battlefront II released, these loot boxes were pretty difficult to come by and it was not at all uncommon to hear players stating that they had to grind for over forty hours to just get one hero character (like Darth Vader or Han Solo) to play as. That was fine. Many games with loot chests follow the same strategy with characters being pretty rare, however EA (the game's publisher) failed to realize that this game is not like Heroes of the Storm and other MOBAS. No Battlefront II is a shooter and as such a hero character has way more impact. 

    EA allowed players to spend real money on loot chests. Suddenly the game became a casino. You could spend as much money as you wanted on loot chests, but you were still not guaranteed to get what you wanted. Heroes could be bought with in game credits, but it would take and incredible amount of time to accumulate those. The faster way was to pay and pray. Just days before the game launched the loot chest controversy hit a fever pitch. Due to massive fan backlash, EA temporarily disabled all micro transactions in the game. Meanwhile in Belgium both Battlefront II and Blizzard/Activision's Overwatch were put under investigation for their loot boxes on the pretense that they were a form of unlicensed gambling. Due to the removal of micro transactions, Battlefront II was found to not be in violation of any gambling laws, but the problem remained. Eventually EA brought back loot boxes, but they were greatly changed. Now they only contain in game credits and no longer contain any form of characters or skins. All of these are now able to be purchased with in game credits and all heroes are unlocked by default for all players.

    When the game came out in 2017, it quickly seemed like it was dead in the water. While it was nominated for many awards, it's reputation as a big casino and just a disaster preceded it. With the game seemingly dead in the water, Dice (the game's developer) and EA changed course and a journey to the light began. EA announced that rather than have a season pass the game would go through various seasons that would bring free downloadable content to all. The scale of that downloadable content though, nobody could have expected. Since the game launched in 2017, it has gone through twenty five free content updates. These updates have brought new games modes, heroes, cosmetics, and more into the game. Some of the highlights (but certainly not all the content) of these updates are as follows and really shows the teams dedication to the fanbase after a complete disaster of a beta and launch.

The Last Jedi Season: This update featured an additional single player campaign  that shows the struggle between the Resistance and the fledgling First Order from the main character's view. Finn and Captain Phasma were added to the Resistance and First Order as playable heroes. The battle of Crait also was added to the game.

The Night on Endor: Ewok Hunt mode added to the game. Enough said.

The Han Solo Season: Jabba's Palace is added as a map and the Heroes vs Villains game mode is added to the game. In addition, Starfighter Custom Arcade is added as a game mode. The second part of the Han Solo Season featured Lando's Millennium Falcon entering the fray as well as a new game mode, Extraction (similar to capture the flag). Kessel is also added in as a map.

The Clone Wars Season: The Clone Wars hit Battlefront II in a big way with new units, heroes, and maps such as the Battle of Geonosis. For the first time since the original Battlefront II (2003), players could enter the Clone Wars and play as either the Republic or the CIS. Along with this came a slew of new heroes and game modes including Coop and Instant Action.

The Rise of Skywalker Season: From here on out the game finally reached it's pinnacle. Coop was expanded to include all eras of the films, new heroes for the Resistance and the First Order, Scariff is the last map added to the game, new weapons, costumes, and so much more were also added.

    Thus the turn from the dark side of the gaming force to the light was complete. It is now 2020 and  Battlefront II went from a game that was constantly trashed, called a blatant cash grab, a game that failed to come even anywhere near the original Battlefront II from 2003, a game that helped start the ongoing loot box controversy, to something so much more. Twenty five free content updates were put into this single game to make it one of, in my opinion, the best Star Wars games out there. Does it ultimately live up to the original Battlefront II? For me, it's so hard to compare the two. They are two truly different and separate games and at this point I feel like both have their own unique advantages.

    At the end of the day the only that really matters here is that this game went from being a disaster to a game where fans are so happy with what it has become that they are now willing and asking for additional paid content. That is something I have never heard of before, fans clamoring for more content and not for free. Dice and EA did something that no enough video game companies do and listened. Yes their hand was certainly pushed by the legal issues with the loot boxes, but look at it this way. They didn't have to release the Clone Wars content for free. They could have charged who knows how much for it. They didn't need to continue to add in game modes like Coop. It's a multiplayer shooter, it doesn't NEED a versus AI option. They didn't need to add a second campaign, the first was plenty good in its own right.

    They did all of that for free. I cannot put emphasis on that word. When you take a hard look at so many other games you see paid content everywhere. Heck, even Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, and The Legend of Zelda now have paid content, but this game doesn't. Dice and EA could have taken the greedy way out, but for whatever reason they didn't. Rumors swirled after the game launched that Disney was considering pulling the license from EA after all the craziness surrounding the launch, but the company made up for it in the best way possible.

    Thank you for reading about this game's journey from the dark side of the gaming force to the light. I will certainly be talking more about Battlefront II in the near future so stand by for that as this game has so much to talk about, especially in its campaign that bridges the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. I'll leave this blog with the trailer for the Rise of Skywalker update. If it doesn't get you hyped, I'm not sure what will. Stay tuned because the next blog will be coming real soon!          

Walt Disney World Reopening Plans Confirmed!

    Hello everyone, exciting news today! The Walt Disney World Resort will be hopefully be reopening on July 11th. The reopening plans have been submitted and endorsed by the Orange County mayor, they now go to the Governor for final approval. Disney Springs continues to be open with more and more shops and restaurants returning with proper social distancing measures. Today marked the return of the World of Disney store which was greeted with a three to four hour wait to get in. Craziness and certainly a Disney thing. I'd assume it has to do with some limited edition merchandise launching. I cannot imagine that is how it's going to be as we go forward here. Anyway, onto more exciting news.

    The Walt Disney World Resort Hotels also appear to be ready to go for July 11th. The current plan for dates looks to be hotels, the Magic Kingdom, and Disney's Animal Kingdom opening on July 11th. EPCOT and Hollywood Studios hope to open on July 15th. New information is still coming out on the various park procedures, new policies, and temporary changes that are going on. My biggest suggestion is to keep watch on a reputable Disney news site such as Walt Disney World News Today and Disney's official blog, Disney Parks Blog. 

   The parks will be reopening, but not all features and entertainment will be available at first and the parks will operate at limited capacity. This has been done already in Shanghai and overall has been successful. Masks are going to be required, but Disney states that there will be dedicated rest areas where you'll be able to take the mask off for a bit. The biggest things entertainment wise to be aware of is that there will be virtually no additional major entertainment when the parks first open. There will be no parades, no character meet and greets, and no fireworks. Children play areas will also be closed. To get into the parks you will need a reservation and you currently cannot purchase tickets. Reservation are booked online and from what I hear, the system in Shanghai worked much better than Six Flag's system that completely crashed within five minutes earlier today. 

    Overall it sounds to me like the parks are going to follow Shanghai's lead. That's fine with me. It's a fair way for the parks to get going, for people to get back to work, for Disney to figure out all the kinks, and for guests to still be able to get back to the parks. In time all of the missing entertainment will return and it's Disney so we have no idea what surprises they have up their sleeves. For example, in Disney Springs today there were First Order storm troopers acting as social distancing ambassadors. In Shanghai characters have been appearing at safe distances, so just because there are no meet and greets doesn't mean there is no Mickey. As we get closer to July 11th I'm sure more and more information will come out. Chances are high I won't be covering all of it here, but if anything major comes up I'm sure I'll have something to say, so please keep a watch on those two links I posted earlier. 

    Excitement is abound, but let us not forget the challenges that cast members are going to face. If you go to the parks, please be patient with them. They are still there to make sure that you are not only having a magical time, but to make sure you are safe as well. From working throughout this pandemic I can safely say they are going to feel the stress. Yes, they're there for a paycheck, but the vast majority of them are also going to be there for you, so please, be kind and be patient. Expect bumps in the road as things get started again and remember you are lucky enough to be in one of the most magical places in the world. Do not lose sight of the fact that tons of people lost their opportunity to be there this year due to this pandemic. 

    Thank you for reading that little public service announcement on being nice to cast members. Thank you also for reading  this blog! I'm super excited to see that the return of our beloved four parks is hopefully not far off. That also will mean a return to more park content here as well which I cannot wait for because I have really missed blogging about  current park events that are exciting and not just depressing. Thank you all for reading and stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!    

Six Flags Great Adventure's Safari Reopening Date Announced! Preview Blog!

    Hello everyone and welcome back. I know I'm a little late with this news, but just a couple days ago, Six Flags Great Adventure announced that the return of the drive thru safari will officially begin on May 30th! In addition, members and season pass holders will be allowed to visit for a sneak peak on May 29th (basically a soft opening). There is a lot of excitement around the area here about this, so lets preview what you can see on your safari. If you want to skip over this section and land where I'll go over the rules skip ahead until you see a line of asterisks (******) and you'll find where you want to be.

    If you have never been on the old safari or Safari Off Road Adventure, you may be surprised to know that you will be seeing over 1,200 animals from six different continents! I'm not exactly sure where they are currently being kept, but it is possible that one of the first animals you will see is the infamous Six Flags safari baboons. These animals are no longer free roaming, so your car will not be damaged by them anymore! Note: Safari Off Road Adventure starts off in the Americas section of the park. The baboons are not a part of that tour which makes me suspect that they are located closer to the old entrance or possibly (more probable) the exit.

    The first area you will probably enter is the Americas. Here you will see animals from both North and South America. The most impressive of these are certainly (in my opinion) the bison and Roosevelt elk. There is also a few species of deer, a large bird species known as the rhea, and several other species to observe. From there you really hit the safari hard as you enter the Afrikka section. This massive section is divided into a few different areas. The first, simply known as Afrikka features incredibly impressive animals such as elephants, zebra, ostriches, and more (not too many spoilers)!

    Next up is the Wild Plains. Here you will come in contact with giraffes, red ankole cattle, the dama gazelle, and many other species of hoof stock. You will also (in theory) pass by Camp Adventura. When the park is open Camp Adventura is the mid way stop point where guests can get off the truck, feed giraffes, and learn about even more animals. Unfortunately due to the park being closed and the safari being a drive thru, Camp Adventura will not be a part of the experience. Next up is the Serengeti Grassland where you will see even more African animals including the animal that gave birth to the myth of the unicorn. You'll also see more ostriches since they travel through the different African areas pretty commonly. Finally you will come to your final African area in the form of Kingsland. Here you see a pride of lions! Keep an eye out for younger ones!

    As you continue along you will enter Black Bear Ridge. Here you will see black bears, which fun fact, are not always black! Keep an eye on both sides of the road as these bears are free roaming. If you do see any in a fenced off area, there's a good chance there are cubs as well! Sticking with the bear theme, next is Terra Urus. Here you will encounter, larger brown bears. These bears are a bit more aggressive by nature, so there is a barrier between you can them in the form of wire fencing. The fence is pretty well hidden though. There are bears on both sides of the road and tunnels that go under the road allow the bears to freely pass from one side to the other. Keep an eye out for brown bears in the water. They often times can be seen playing in there. Again, also keep an eye out for cubs. These bears can climb so you may need to look up to find the little ones (if there are any).

    Next you'll take a break from safariing and pass  through the New Jersey conservation area. This is an area that the park has agreed to leave untouched. Here you can potentially see turtles, deer, foxes, and other animals you can commonly see here in New Jersey. Six Flags also states on their website that you can potentially see a bald eagle in this area too (though I've never heard of anyone actually seeing one). You are now nearing the end of your tour, but there are still many incredible animals to see. The next area is Didgeradoo Pass where you will see several areas from Australia. Yes, this does include kangaroos! It also happens to house one of my favorite ratites, the emu! Finally you will pass through Tigris Asiana. Here you will see both Bengal and Siberian tigers (along with some more hoof stock). From there normally the tour would end, I'd think that would still be the case unless the baboons are located at the end of the tour.

*********************************************************************************

    So now that your hype level is hopefully up, what are the rules? They're pretty self explanatory, so I'll list them out for you to save you a click to Six Flags's website.

* Speed limit: 5mph
* Maintain a safe distance between vehicles
* Animals have the right of way. DO NOT FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING TRY TO SNEAK BY AN ANIMAL THAT IS TRYING TO CROSS THE ROAD. They are used to the safari trucks stopping for them.
* Stay on paved road with windows, sun rooms, and tops closed.
* Do not feed or touch the animals
* Do not stop unless stopping for an animal to cross the road. Again..... Please please please do not try to get around one.
* No smoking or littering
* No items in open truck beds, no open trunks.
* All vehicles subject to security screening.
* Online reservations (available as of May 27th) are required.

    Six Flags also lists the attraction as enter at your own risk. In addition, there is nowhere to stop to use the restroom on safari. There are outhouses at the entrance and exit, but Six Flags highly recommends that you take care of that sort of thing prior to your arrival. There is also no food available, so make sure you have eaten. The whole experience is estimated to be about an hour (which is how long Safari Off Road Adventure lasts when not stopping at Camp Adventura).

    So there you have it! I hope you are as excited as I am to get to experience this safari adventure! As mentioned above, reservations open up on May 27th at https://www.sixflags.com/reserve . For more information, including pricing for non members or non season pass holders, visit the safari page here. As always thank you for reading! This is the most exciting blog I have been able to do in a while! To keep the hype train going I'll leave you with a little preview video of the safari! Stay tuned as the next blog will be coming real soon! 

Blog Update

    Hello everyone and welcome back. It's been a while since I sort of checked in here so I wanted to take the time to do so now. Actually from what I can see my last blog update was back in January where I laid out the road map for what I would be blogging about through the year. This blog will be a bit of a check in on that and a bit of a preview of some more bigger blogs that I am looking at taking on.

    First off I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read even one of these blogs. I do not do this for any kind of profit, I do not do it to get responses in comment sections, I do not do it to gain more Instagram followers. I do this blog because to me it is fun, it is an escape, and it is a place where I am able to get my thoughts out there on all things Disney. Living in New Jersey, I cannot say that I have run into many Disney fans that are as passionate as the ones that I've encountered both online and in person living closer to the parks. Everyone has an opinion on everything and I'm just glad that I have this blog to get mine out there, otherwise it'd all just bottle up and explode in a mass of churros, Dole whips, and Mickey ice cream bars. So thank you all again for your time in reading these blogs!

    Back in January I had made mention that I was going to start dividing larger blogs into multi part blogs. I've really liked doing longer blogs this way, so I am going to keep that format. I cannot imagine doing that entire Fantasmic marathon I did back in February to early March in one massive blog. I cannot imagine anyone actually looking at the screen that long to read such a massive blog either. I am going to try to continue to put out the multi part blogs back to back with the exception being any big news coming from Disney or Six Flags Great Adventure pertaining to what I blog about (for example, a Disney movie being pushed back doesn't qualify, but an opening date for Jersey Devil at Six Flags Great Adventure would potentially qualify). Ongoing series like the Star Wars Fun series and the Disney Gaming Flashback series will continue to be spaced out to keep content diverse.

    Speaking of parks, COVID-19 has certainly had an impact on them and as a result it has had an impact here. April presented a month where I did not one blog on a Disney park. With some news recently coming out and Disney celebrating the half way to Halloween mark park blogs have returned to the blog. Until they open though I'm not sure just how much I'll have to react to. The Solo Time at EPCOT blog I did back in March was actually the start of a series that I've put on hold since the parks closed. The purpose of that series was and is to give those who are nervous about going to Walt Disney World solo some encouragement and confidence. I look forward to returning to that series once the parks reopen as my solo experiences in the park were so much better than I could have ever dreamed they would be.

    So what are the bigger projects. Well one of them I already did in the Fantasmic marathon. I have other ideas for things like that again in the future that take similar things from different parks and compare them to each other. I am also tossing around the idea of more Disney Villainous blogs with some character strategies and fun plays to make with them. I'd want to do something like that as a marathon of sorts to kind of keep them all together.

    Going forward my plan is to keep going as it's been lately. I'll be doing some more countdown blogs, major park updates as they come, and continuing to touch on a variety of different things Disney. Once the parks reopen I'll be focusing more on them once again, but in the mean time my focus is largely going to be on non park related blogs. I hope you all continue to check back and read along as things go. Also, thank you all for reading this little update/recap on what's been going on here since January. Stay tuned because the next blog will be coming real soon! 

Top 5 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Memories

    Hello everyone and welcome to another countdown blog. Today Disney is celebrating the half way to Halloween mark. On their social media channels they are posting all kinds of special goodies which will culminate in the posting of the Not-So-Spooky Spectacular Fireworks. With the celebration going on I thought this would be the perfect time for me to reflect back on my three Not So Scary Halloween parties I've been to and share my favorite moments.

5.) Trick or Treat 

    Honestly the biggest surprise to me in terms of fun at the Halloween parties was trick or treating. The trick or treat locations are scattered throughout The Magic Kingdom. Many of the locations though are places I had either never been into or tucked away in an almost hidden area. The cast members were always friendly and were always excited to see the Floatsam and Jetsam arm length puppets I had on during my first Halloween party. My favorite memory of trick or treating came when a lady dressed as Ursula noticed the puppets and had to get a picture with them. What made the moment cooler was the backdrop of Pirates of the Caribbean, so the picture had the perfect theme to go with it. I also took way too much candy back to the resort that night. I had brought a standard sized shopping bag with me and when I say that thing plus the tiny bag they give you to trick or treat with was full. I mean it was FULL.

4.) Boo To You!

    Coming in at number four is an experience from my last Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Compared to the other two parties I had been to, including one on Halloween night, this September evening was very very crowded. The weather wasn't the best either as the fireworks show was even affected by a torrential downpour. Still though the night neared its end with an awesome view of the Boo To You Parade. If you have never watched a parade from the start point near Splash Mountain you really are missing out. The sheer amount of energy the cast of the parade has is at its absolute peak and, it could just be me, but the characters seem to interact with the guests more as the parade just starts moving. Having a front row view of this was awesome and sharing it with friends made it even better.

3.) A Pirate's Life for Me 

    When Disney announced that they would be adding live actors to Pirates of the Caribbean during Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, I was beyond excited. Both in the queue and on the ride there were several actors playing as different pirates in the ride. One was stuck in a jail cell, another on the fort firing cannons at Barbosa's ship, and a couple more scattered throughout. These actors really brought a whole new level of fun to the ride as their job was literally to interact with guests. One or two of them even blended in so well with the animatronics that it was a surprise when they suddenly turned and started threatening the boat. I highly recommend experiencing this as it takes a classic ride and sprinkles some new life into it.

2.) Welcome Foolish Mortals 

    In my opinion, the best way to kick off Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is a ride on the Haunted Mansion. While there are no added features on the ride, time it right and the following can happen. You get into the mansion and the park is pretty much normal. The crowd of the day is still there, the happy go lucky music plays throughout the park (except near the mansion itself). You enter the mansion and take the tour. Upon exiting the park has changed. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party has started. Having that happen last time with friends was so exciting. Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides and exiting it into a Halloween party only added to the experience.

1.) Happy Hallowishes 

    The best memory I have of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween is the classic fireworks show, Happy Hallowishes. While the show lacked the advanced projection effects on the castle that we see with the new show, there was just something incredible about Hallowishes. The show celebrated Halloween with the various villains as well as the closest thing to a cross between the Haunted Mansion and The Nightmare Before Christmas that Walt Disney World will probably ever see. The show's finale culminated in fireworks surrounding the entire central hub as a mix of Gim Grinning Ghosts and This is Halloween blared throughout the park. To date it is still one of my favorite nighttime shows and it is the video that I will end this blog on. Thank you all for reading and Happy Halfway to Halloween to all! Stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!

 

Six Flags Great Adventure Safari to Reopen Soon and Reservation Details!

    Hello everyone and welcome to another quick update blog! News broke today that Six Flags Great Adventure will be reopening it's safari as New Jersey is now allowing drive through attractions as long as social distancing rules are followed. What this means is a massive throwback for safari fans! This is the first part of the park to open, but it will no be reopening in a way that we have become familiar with over the past few years.

    Six Flags Wild Safari closed in 2012 to make way for the current Six Flags Safari Off Road Adventure which opened in 2013. Wild Safari saw guests driving their own cars through a safari where they would encounter a wide variety of animals from various countries and continents. The most infamous of these animals were always the baboons which caused damage to many a car. Fortunately the baboons were put behind fences a couple years before Wild Safari closed, so should a drive through safari return to Six Flags they wouldn't be an issue. It's kind of crazy to think though that nowadays Six Flags would go back to that after seven years of Off Road Adventure right? Off Road Adventure is an incredible experience. You board a truck and are taken through the safari with a tour guide that gives you facts on a variety of the over 1,200 animals in the park. Fast forward to today and the past is new again.

    Due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, Six Flags Great Adventure announced today the return of the drive through safari! In classic Six Flags fashion, the old entrance to Wild Safari was never demolished and one would think will be used as it was from 1974 to 2012. In order to prevent overcrowding, you will need to make a reservation to visit the safari at https://www.sixflags.com/reserve . Six Flags has not announced an opening date for the safari, but I suspect that they are going to want to get the ball rolling on this as soon as possible. From what it sounds like the park is currently implementing new safety measures and protocols to ensure the safety of guests, employees, and animals on the safari.

   More details have also surfaced on what making those online reservations will look like. When you visit the reservation website you will need the following information and to do the following things.

1.) Your season pass, membership, or individual day pass ticket number.

2.) Pay for parking (if your pass does not include parking already)

3.) Watch a video reviewing the new social distancing protocols for the park.

4.) Select the date and approximate time you wish to go to the park.

5.) Acknowledge the parks health policy.
*These requirements can be seen at sixflags.com/reserve

    So needless to say I am hyped about all of this. My last blog talked about hope that the Disney Parks can give to Disney fans and now we have a big sign of hope on a more local level for me personally. While both the theme park and Hurricane Harbor remain closed, both the establishment of this reservation system in what it will look like and the fact that the safari is returning are huge morale boosters. Currently New Jersey is still far from open, so while I do not expect the main theme park to be able to open in the very near future, I am still very hopeful that there will be a 2020 season full of fun rides and fun times! Tonight I'll leave you all with a video of El Toro, one of the highest rated wooden roller coasters in the world which calls Six Flags Great Adventure its home! Thanks as always for reading and stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!

 

Disney Parks and Six Flags Great Adventure Update

    Hello everyone and welcome to a quick update blog on the Disney Parks. It's been a while since I've done an update on the ongoing status of the parks and at this point there is some stuff to talk about. So sit back, relax, and enjoy some signs of hope in a time where more and more people are struggling to find some positives in these very strange and frankly depressing times.

 Disneyland Shanghai

    Lets start with the best news shall we? Disneyland Shanghai reopened to guests two days ago (May 11th,  2020). While the park is now open, it is far from operating at a normal schedule or capacity. The park is currently accepting 24,000 people a day. Sounds like a good number, but in reality it is under a third of what the park normally accepts and is actually less than the limit that the Chinese government put on the park. Disney further limited the capacity in order to allow its employees to have an easier time enforcing new park procedures. These new procedures include temperature scanning of guests entering the park, queue line social distancing, and social distancing measures for parties by the castle. Currently, there are taped boxes on the ground in various areas of the park designed for parties to stand in. The next box is located six feet away for the next party. With the park operating at such a low capacity, it is easy for park employees to help guests maintain that ever so important distance.

    Other new procedures include limited ride capacity, wearing face masks, and distanced character experiences. Again, with the limited capacity all of these procedures are much easier to maintain. For example, despite limited capacity, Tron Light Cycle Power Run has had around a ten minute wait time. That ride is normally over an hour wait every day. Both guests and cast members are required to wear masks at this time and there are mask disposal bins all over the park to assist in keeping the park clean. Currently there are no parades, no stage shows and no fireworks, however there is a nighttime castle show that is currently running nightly.

    The bottom line though is that the park is open. There is hope. Both parades and fireworks are being tested and rehearsed, so one would suspect that before too long these would be returning to the park as well. As time rolls on and there is no significant spike in COVID-19 cases, I expect the park to slowly creep closer to a state of semi-normalcy. Will it ever be the same, that is certainly a topic for hot debate, but the fact of the matter is that for the first time in way too long, a Disney park is open!

Walt Disney World Resort

    The Disney Springs area of the Walt Disney World Resort will be opening on May 20th. That being said, not all the stores and restaurants are reopening at one time. Much like pretty much everything else, this reopening is going to take place in phases. Some locations are opening March 20th. Disney owned shops and restaurants will begin to reopen on May 27th. Much like Disneyland Shanghai, temp scans for guests will be required as well as face masks. Plexiglass dividers will also separate guests from cashiers (which has become a pretty common sight around here anyway). Once again, this is a sign of life and the start of a move back to a more normal Walt Disney World.

    Currently there is no reopening date for the theme parks, but more and more rumors and reports have been coming out hinting that a return date may not be too far off. Until anything is official though I'm not going to talk about it here to avoid creating false hope and hype or on the opposite end of the scale, more disappointment. If you would like to keep up with all of these reports, please check out Walt Disney World News Today

Disneyland Paris

    While there is still no reopening date, Disneyland Paris has reportedly been given guidance that would allow them to reopen sometime in mid July. Again, as of now there is no reopening date set, but it is encouraging that a time frame now exists for the park.

Hong Kong Disneyland 

    While the park has no reopening date, the Hong Kong Disneyland hotels are all now accepting reservations for as early as next week. With the hotels reopening one would think that an announcement on the park opening will come soon.

The Rest 
 
    As of now there is no further news on any of the Disney Parks reopening that I feel is worth touching on here. Disneyland California and California Adventure have no reopening date, though rumors of new park procedures such as guests and cast members wearing masks and social distancing measures are abound. Again, no date exists for the park to reopen. Tokyo Disneyland and Disney's Tokyo Sea remain closed indefinitely as Japan has extended its national emergency. 

Six Flags Great Adventure 

    As of now, the park has no reopening date. That being said it has been confirmed that upon reopening guests will need to reserve a spot in the park online prior to getting to the park. This is being done as a part of the ongoing efforts around the country to allow for as much social distancing as possible. I've seen rumors that masks will also be required though I find it hard to imagine guests riding El Toro or Nitro with face masks on.

    So that is where things stand as of now. The bottom line of this blog is that there is hope. We have one Disney Park open and several others well on their way to reopening. In a time where everything can seem so bleak it is so encouraging to see some positive things popping up as we all try to move forward. Thank you all as always for reading and stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!

Star Wars Fun Episode IV: The Controversy Awakens (The Sequels) Part 2

    This blog is a continuation of a blog discussing my feelings on the new trilogy of Star Wars movies. I highly recommend reading that blog first. Spoilers ahead.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

    After The Last Jedi came out, the Star Wars fandom was torn apart. There were and still are fans supporting the movie constantly fighting with fans who are against it. There are the casual fans that take issue with it, but accept it for what it is (in my opinion a movie trying to start a trilogy) caught in the middle. Whatever side you are on, I'm going to guess that when Disney announced the final installment would be called The Rise of Skywalker you probably groaned. Fortunately a title does not make the movie and The Rise of Skywalker would attempt to close out the Skywalker saga by using a lot of the same strategies as The Force Awakens used to kick things off.

    Much like The Force Awakens, Rise of Skywalker is not afraid to prey on your nostalgia. We see all kinds of returns here. We have the heartbreaking death of Leia, Han Solo appearing to Kylo Ren, Lando Calrissian returning, Luke Skywalker walking out of the flaming wreckage of a TIE Fighter, much more involvement from C-3PO, and of course the big return, Emperor Palpatine. All of these characters along with the new crew (largely minus Rose) work to try and piece together two movies that had nothing really to do with each other and wrap up the entire Skywalker Saga. It was a massive task, and I think the movie did the best it could with what was left for it. There are quite a few questions answered that were left from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, while many concepts from The Last Jedi, such as fuel, vanished. While many of those concepts vanished the force powers stuck around and even expanded more as Kylo Ren and Rey end up having a duel basically through the force.

    I love all the callbacks in this movie to things that came before it. Very early on we have Emperor Palpatine giving the exact same speech to Kylo Ren that he gave to Anakin Skywalker. Luke Skywalker raise the X-Wing, Red Five, from the depths. While he is doing so the same music plays that plays when Yoda raises the same ship out of the swamp on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back. Apparently Red Five is waterproof. There's an Easter egg with a battle droid from Episode I being visible in a trashed ship. There's so many little things like that that touch on the history of this saga, which makes the ending feel so much bigger. Speaking of big, Rey and Kylo end up fighting on the remains of the second Death Star. We even get to see the Emperor's old chair where he forced Luke to watch the Rebel fleet struggle against the Imperial forces.

    We continued to see the expansion of the force. This time around we see force healing. Rey heals Kylo Ren after he was again distracted in a fight. In the end Ren, now as Ben Solo, gives his life so Rey can live. We also see that Palpatine has certainly gained significant power as he is able to now use his force lightning to shut down the systems of the Resistance forces. Speaking of force lightning, we also see Rey use the power in a struggle with Ren as they battle for control over a flying transport ship. As mentioned Luke raises Red Five from the depths in what I believe is the first time we see a force ghost move objects with the force. We also see objects transferred through the force as Rey hands off her lightsaber to Ben Solo.

    I'm also a fan of Rey being a Palpatine. After The Last Jedi established that Rey's parents were really nobody even remotely important, it was a good recovery as The Force Awakens left it as such a mystery. It was obvious by the end of The Last Jedi that Rey had no blood relation with the Skywalkers, so having her be a Palpatine was the next best option. Though I have to say that another question that The Force Awakens left, but The Last Jedi didn't answer involved the Knights of Ren. We see them in this movie multiple times, but we still have no idea who they are or where they came from. Following The Force Awakens coming out, people theorized all kinds of ideas, even using the art book for the movie to compare them to characters from Rouge One: A Star Wars Story. Apparently the Knights of Ren appear in comics and other media, so there story is more known than the movies show.

    We also learned that Snoke was basically just a science experiment that Palpatine created as we see massive test tubes filled with multiple Snokes early in the movie. Hey I guess if The Last Jedi killed him off without ever explaining who he was, at least we got something right?

     So what didn't I like about it? Honestly I think it feels kind of rushed. I feel like they tried to jam as much as possible in, but at times it felt rush. Instances of that include General Hux being the Resistance spy. He announces it and is dead moments later. It would have been interesting to see more with that. While I understand the whole space horse force landing on the massive capital Star Destroyer on Exogal, I always cant help but think that though the Star Destroyers aren't exactly launched, they're not grounded either. Couldn't it have just pivoted or rotated a bit?

    While I find the final showdown between Rey and Palpatine to be a bit cheesy with the whole I am all the Jedi stuff, I have to wonder why didn't Palpatine just stop using the lightning? That's the second time he's allowed himself to be either disfigured or killed by that. The first being when Mace Windu reflects his lightning back at him in the same fashion in Episode III which caused Palpatine to become disfigured. Speaking of Palpatine, the movie doesn't actually tell us how he survived or really anything about him other than he is able to gain enough life force from Ben and Rey to be made whole once more. It wasn't until well after the movie was released that the book confirmed that the Palpatine in the movie is actually a clone that then ended up restoring the original. Or something along those lines. Palpatine was brought back as a clone in the original extended universe, so it's not at all surprising that he'd be a clone, but it would have been nice for the movie to explain it a little bit.

    The last little issue I want to bring up is the moment that was all over the trailers. We see Kylo Ren's TIE Fighter screaming along just off the ground. Rey draws her lightsaber and waits. Eventually she runs, jumps, and cuts one of the wings off the TIE. The TIE crashes with the cockpit literally bouncing along the ground until it explodes. Kylo Ren emerges from the wreckage completely unharmed. I don't know why that bothers me as we have seen stuff similar to this before, but man does that cockpit roll for a while before crashing and burning.

    The Rise of Skywalker made the most of what it had to work with given how much the previous two films really clashed with one another. Could it have been better? Absolutely. Could it have been worse, oh yes it could have. I think this movie did enough to salvage the trilogy. It wasn't enough to bring the trilogy up to the level of the original though as the disjointedness between the first two movies made it nearly impossible for the trilogy to ever be considered one of the greatest. The Rise of Skywalker is able to close out the Skywalker Saga with Rey taking up the name of Skywalker, forging her own lightsaber and one could assume eventually starting a Jedi school of her own. The ending closes out in an incredible way with Rey and BB-8 burying Luke and Leia's lightsabers where the entire Star Wars story franchise began, at the now abandoned house of Luke and Leia's aunt and uncle on the desert planet of Tatooine. We see the two suns setting with Rey and BB-8 in a very similar fashion we saw to when Luke dreamed of leaving the planet. It was a perfect ending that I think could have only been more perfect if it had been C-3PO and R2-D2 returning to the planet as opposed to BB-8.

    So where do I put the new trilogy. Well I certainly cannot put it above the original for a multitude of reasons. I just don't know if I can put it above the prequels and hear me out on why. While the prequels were not the greatest of movies (mostly looking at Episode I and II with that), they told a very cohesive story of the rise of Darth Vader, the fall of the Republic, and the rise of Emperor Palpatine to power. This culminated in Episode III where everything that was good in the galaxy seemingly failed and darkness took over. The new trilogy saw the rise of Rey from a nobody to a Jedi, the Resistance fighting back against the First Order that apparently the New Republic was not able to get a handle on before Starkiller Base wiped them out, Kylo Ren becoming the leader of the First Order, and the revelation that Palpatine had returned in the last movie. It's so all over the place.

    The original three movies and prequels I can sum up in just a couple sentences, but I just can't find myself able to do that with the new trilogy. So where do I rank the new trilogy? I think the three movies are better overall. Even The Last Jedi I think is a much much better movie than Attack of the Clones. The Force Awakens cannot even be compared to The Phantom Menace in my opinion. That said if you asked me if I prefer The Rise of Skywalker to Revenge of the Sith, I'd have a real hard time. That said since the other two in the new trilogy I prefer to the prequels I'll give it the nod over the prequels despite the prequels clearly having the more defined story.

    So what comes next for Star Wars? Is the franchise finally washed up, done, over with, left to die? Absolutely not. I expect that we will continue to see more and more Star Wars content come out on Disney + and other forms of media. Will we see another Star Wars film in theaters. I'm sure, but I think it's going to take time and honestly I think it's going to take time for the fan base to heal from the ongoing rupture that The Last Jedi caused. I do believe that Disney has it in them to right the ship again. We've seen signs of it already in the Star Wars Stories movies that came out and The Mandalorian has done incredibly well on Disney +. With The Rise of Skywalker launching on Disney + today we will see what happens from here on when it comes to Star Wars. All I know is that the franchise has been a part of my life for so long and will continue to be that, so I'm going to buckle up and enjoy the ups, the downs, and everything in-between. As always thank you for reading. This series does not end here as the next installment to this series will be looking at both Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story. I leave you with a video of Star Tours: The Adventure Continues from Disney's Hollywood Studios featuring the new scenes added in from The Rise of Skywalker. Stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!

   
     

Star Wars Fun Episode IV: The Controversy Awakens (The Sequels) Part 1

    Hello everyone and welcome to another blog from a galaxy far far away. It's been a few months since the third installment of this blog series and with May 4th being right around the corner, I figured now is as good a time as ever for me to look back at the sequel trilogy that closed out the Skywalker saga. These are my thoughts on these movies, so expect lots of spoilers, as well as things I liked and things I did not like throughout episodes VII, VIII, and IX.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

    With the exception of Jurassic World, I cannot think of a movie that I was more hyped to see as soon as I could when it came out in theaters. The hype about the Star Wars franchise was running rampant. Promotions were literally everywhere, people who had never watched the movies suddenly had interest, and most of all among the die hard Star Wars fans, there was a sense of nervousness. What was this movie going to be? Was Disney going to drive their beloved franchise into the ground, or were they going to be able to capture that magic that made the prior three movies so incredible? We all held our collective breaths and watched as a new trilogy was born.

    I have to say that I really do enjoy The Force Awakens. I'll spoil it right now, but out of the three sequel movies, it is my favorite. Story wise it is very similar to that of Episode IV, but with the series making a comeback, I am totally okay with it. Many, many people praise movies like Jurassic World for playing to people's nostalgia and continuing a series by starting with something people are able to relate to, yet The Force Awakens seems to get a fair amount of flack for it. Yes, Starkiller Base is basically a Death Star on steroids. Yes the First Order is a weaker version of the Empire. Yes we once again have a hero coming from a desert planet who will eventually rise and help take down said roided out Death Star. We even have one guy who is strong in the dark side of the force pulling the strings in the First Order. It's a lot of what we know already, but we get to see a lot more.

    We get to see new force powers that are down right scary. We never saw Darth Vader stop a blaster shot and then carry on a conversation while it just hovers there, yet we see Kylo Ren do just that at the beginning of the movie. We get two storm troopers with actual personality. Finn of course ends up escaping, but Captain Phasma quickly establishes herself as cold and unforgiving. We see a return of classic lightsaber combat. There are no crazy flips and tricks going on like in the prequels. It's back to basics here and it's great. We also see the return of a few fan favorites in Han Solo, Princess Leia, C-3PO, Chewbacca, and at the end, R2-D2.

    When it comes to the more controversial parts of the movie, I have mixed feelings. The biggest things that I hear about is Han Solo being killed off and Finn and Rey both being able to not just get slaughtered while facing Kylo Ren on Star Killer Base. I'll throw my opinion on the second one out there first. Yes, both Finn and Rey (especially) were able to hold there own for a bit against Kylo Ren. Rey even manages to hit him in the face and potentially even defeat him, but I believe there is a good reason for it. For that we touch on the first issue. Moments before Kylo Ren kills Han Solo he appears incredibly troubled by what he has to do. He wants so desperately to be the new Darth Vader, but he has so many mental hesitations. Snoke preys on this and sends him to kill his father. Once he kills him it is clear that Kylo is bothered. Chewbacca manages to get a gut shot on Kylo with his bowcaster. Think back to the beginning of the movie. When Poe shoots at Ren, he immediately turns around and stops the blast. He knew it was coming, could probably sense it, and acted. Here though, despite Chewbacca roaring prior to shooting he just gets hit.

    So my point is, I think it makes sense that Kylo didn't have a huge success against Rey and Finn despite neither of them really having any experience with a lightsaber. He got shot in the gut by a bowcaster, so he was certainly injured, and he was still dealing with his own internal battle in addition to having to fight off Rey and Finn. As far as Han dying goes. It had to happen. There was literally no other way other than killing Leia, that would have made Kylo Ren seem like any kind of a threat. People say they hate Kylo Ren because he killed Han Solo. Perfect. That is what you are supposed to feel. Were there better weays they could have done it, probably, but I think what they went with works as well.

    The Force Awakens, I felt, set up the series with a million directions it could have gone. One thing was clear, Star Wars was back and the way the movie ended with Rey finally finding a secluded Luke Skywalker, our hype level was on the rise once again. At the time, I don't think a single person would have expected that the next Star Wars movie would have split the fandom and sent the trilogy into a state of disorder and uncertainty.

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

    This is the section I've been dreading. This is the section of this blog that had me put the series on hold for a few months. What are my feelings on The Last Jedi? It's a loaded question. I saw the movie in theaters and by the end of it my thoughts were along the lines of "Not really sure what just happened, but it wasn't terrible". Subsequent viewing have had me thinking along the lines of "This isn't a bad movie, but it makes a hard turn as opposed to just following the road that The Force Awakens left". There are moments in the movie that downright frustrated me. There are moments in the movie that I love. There are several moments in the movie where I think they just crammed it in there for filler or something. I suppose I will start with what I liked.

    I really like the dynamic and relationship building between Rey and Kylo Ren. Despite it all being put on by Snoke I found it interesting and had some what if questions pop into my head. What if Kylo turned? It's only the second movie afterall, so how would Snoke deal with that? What if Rey turned? Would Luke Skywalker return and save the day? It was an interesting back and forth that of course ended up in Kylo killing Snoke. The fight scene that takes place right after with Rey and Kylo teaming up I have to admit I was really excited to see. The two fought well together and really the fight ended up being a precursor for the final movie.

    We see more and more of the force. Last movie, we learned that people's minds can be read and information could be pulled out of a person. We also learned that laser blasts can be stopped by using the force, but other than that we saw a lot of what we already knew from previous movies. In this movie the force is expanded upon greatly. Snoke forces Rey and Kylo to see each other despite being on completely different planets erm... Rey on a planet, Kylo on a ship. Luke Skywalker is able to have a lightsaber duel with Kylo Ren through a force projection, again from a completely different planet. Yoda's force ghost is able to call down a lightning bolt that sets an ancient tree on fire. We have always heard that the force is all powerful and really limitless so it was cool to see more of it as opposed to the usual lifting, mind trick, choking we have seen to this point.

    Not so little known fact about me is that I love porgs. The little alien birds are far and away my favorite creatures in the Star Wars franchise. The fact that the island the team was filming on had too many puffins so they turned them into porgs as opposed to editing all of them out I thought was great. They also provide a good amount of comedy in a movie where I feel comedy of any kind is lacking.

    Lastly, I really like the final battle scene. The ice foxes are a little ridiculous in that they help the Resistance escape, but otherwise I really like it. It's not the Battle of Hoth, though it appears that's what they were sort of trying to emulate, but it's good and the standoff with Kylo Ren and hologram Luke Skywalker is actually really good.

    So that's what I like about the movie. Here are the things that frustrated me and things I didn't like. I will try to be as brief as I can with it. Right off the bat, Poe is ordered by Leia to stand down from attacking a Dreadnought. Poe continues his attack, even turning off the radio, but then the entire Resistance fleet continues to attack. All of them ignored the order to stand down? Continuing on, the bombers the Resistance had seemed to use gravity to drop bombs as we saw there was nothing propelling the bombs downwards. The problem I have here is, they're in space... How are the bombs continuing to rapidly drop once they enter space? Speaking of bombers, the First Order has no problem taking out all but one of the bombers... Then all of a sudden what looked like a completely dominant win ends up being a loss as the final bomber is able to drop its bombs at the last second. Insert issue I have with Princess Leia being blown out of a ship, surviving, then force flying through space back onto the ship. Was it cool to see Leia using the force? Yes. Was it ridiculous? Yes.

    The Force Awakens set up Luke and Rey meeting as Rey held out Luke's lightsaber to close out the film. This movie takes all that build up and literally throws it just as Luke throws the lightsaber. Speaking of The Force Awakens... One of the big points in the movie was finding the map that Luke Skywalker left behind to find him. In this movie he multiple times says he didn't want to be found. So what was the purpose of the map then? Again, the movie taking a big turn from the set up road that The Force Awakens left for it. Okay okay. Some of this stuff so far is a little nit picky. Fine, it's Star Wars let the sci-fi fantasy be there, but lets add fuel. This is the first time to my knowledge in any Star Wars media where fuel is mentioned. To my knowledge, when it comes to Star Wars, there is no fuel in any movie, T.V. series, or video game. So why all of a sudden is fuel an issue? This is even further irritating to me with the fact that the next movie sees TIE Fighters jumping through light speed, yet the Resistance fleet cant because of fuel? The only good thing that came out of the whole fuel topic was Admiral Holdo slamming the cruiser through Snoke's ship. That was epic.

    So now I come to the thing I dislike most about this movie, the entirety of Rose and Finn's mission to find the code breaker to sneak onto Snoke's ship. Everything about this from the casino, to the space horse chase, to the code breaker himself eats up so much time and has literally no pay off. By the time Finn and Rose get onto the ship, Holdo is about to shred the thing with her suicide run which rendered the entirety of their mission pointless to begin with. Really all the mission ends up achieving is Finn killing Captain Phasma whom personally I would have loved to have seen way more from. She's literally in this movie for all of a couple minutes whereas she was much more prominent in The Force Awakens. Guess we needed more time for the forced Finn and Rose love story that developed over the movie. I admit it. Rose is not my favorite character.

    One final issue I have involved the Battle of Crait. While I overall really enjoy the fight, there is one part that literally made me put my hands up in the theater and ask "what the Hell"?  The First Order has this mini Death Star gun that they are going to crack open the old rebel base with. Finn is going to sacrifice himself from the beam burning through by crashing into it and destroying it. Two issues. One. The gun is firing. While Finn is approaching we see his speeder literally melting away around him. That is metal melting. Meanwhile, with an open cockpit, Finn is merely breaking a sweat and his clothing is fine. Also, just before impact, Rose slams her speeder into Finn's, saving his life, but if not for Luke showing up, killing the entire Resistance. I still cannot wrap my head around this part of the scene.

    I guess my feelings are that The Last Jedi is a movie that tried to reboot a series while being the second in a trilogy. It's not a bad movie as a standalone movie. It wouldn't be a bad movie with some changes as a first in a trilogy. It is really hard for me to love it as the second in a Star Wars series where we have had so many different things established over the course of seven previous movies. It tries to establish so much, only for a lot of it to be undone in the final movie. I can watch this movie and enjoy it by itself, but if I link it to all my memories of this series it seems so out of place. Now let me make this clear. I give the movie credit for being different. I give it credit for trying to establish new things and set up a story. My problem remains is that it is the second movie in a trilogy while trying to be the first.

    Wow that was a lot to type for the first two movies in the new trilogy, or the sequel trilogy, or whatever you want to call it. I'm going to divide this blog into two parts due to the unexpected length of this blog. I apologize about the long rant about The Last Jedi, but again, that's what kept me from doing this blog earlier. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for part 2 coming real soon!