My previous posting told a slight lie. I did in fact purchase another souvenir item during our time at Disneyland - I finally succumbed to temptation and invested in the Black Spire outpost version of a Coke. Hmmm...I wonder how much it costs Disney to have the Coca-Cola Company manufacture a custom product which is presumably only for sale at two refreshment carts on opposite sides of the United States?
- Sid
No light sabers this trip, no helmets (although I noticed that there was now an alternate version of the X-Wing pilot's helmet that I purchased on our last Disneyland visit for sale) - my only souvenir shopping was the impulse buy of an Ahsoka t-shirt from a vendor located in one of the underpass tunnels that lead to Galaxy's Edge.
I hate to say it, but after watching the Ahsoka series on Disney+ that provided the graphics for the t-shirt, I found myself siding with Team Ashley regarding the casting for the titular character.
No offense to Rosario Dawson's performance, but after you've painted someone orange, stencilled marks on their face, and covered their hair with montrals and striped lekku*, their voice suddenly becomes a strong point in the character's presentation. In this case, Ashley Eckstein's extended run as Ahsoka's voice in the Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels series would have cemented the connection in the character's transition to live action, much as with Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy's move from the animated Batman series to video games.
And who knows, she might not have been so grim all the time - I know that Ahsoka's history weighs her down, but I also think of the adult version of the character in Rebels as having achieved some emotional balance, although perhaps through the Force rather than weekly counselling sessions.
- Sid
* In case you'd been wondering what the horns and fleshy head-tails were called. (Never forget, in the Star Wars Universe, EVERYTHING has a name.)
The first time that we visited Avengers CAMPUS at Disney's California Adventure in 2022, I found that it didn't quite meet with the expectations that had been established by Galaxy's Edge - or even its next door neighbour, Radiator Springs. Whereas both of those attractions had created consistently evocative environments that immersed the visitor in that world, Avengers CAMPUS somehow fell flat - it just didn't pull me in the same way.
However, this time I was fortunate enough to see more of the MCU Avengers-related character performances, which very much redeemed my opinion of the CAMPUS.
Disneyland has done some very effective casting, particularly in the case of characters like Loki, Thor, Doctor Strange and the Black Widow, who can't rely on masks to define their look. I was particularly impressed by the Peter Quill stand-in, who delivered a deadly accurate imitation of Chris Pratt in the Guardians of the Galaxy dance-off show, and also did an excellent job of interacting with the audience.
The Doctor Strange Mysteries of the Mystic Arts performance was equally impressive. The magic was simple but effective, there were some clever ad-libs by the Stephen Strange cast member during his conversations with the crowd, and the brief Captain Marvel cameo was a nice touch.
The dramatic Wakandan Dora Milaje Warrior Workout also captured the attention of the crowd, as did the Avengers Assemble encounter, which features members of the Avengers fighting off an array of thugs, including the Taskmaster.
In addition to the scripted performances, Marvel-costumed cast members roam the CAMPUS, chat with guests, and pose for photos, much as Mickey Mouse et al. in the Disneyland park.
In spite of the high quality of the tribute performances done by these Disney cast members, I'd like to encourage the original actors to step up and make some unscheduled personal appearances. After all, Johnny Depp used to show up at Pirates of the Caribbean in his full Jack Sparrow regalia - imagine how excited my wife would have been to have her picture taken with Tom Hiddleston's Loki?
- Sid
