Yes, there’s a global pandemic. Yes, I have a kid with an underlying condition. And yes, I went to Walt Disney World. Before you judge me (or anyone else) for going to Disney World instead of staying quarantined at home, let me explain why I went to Disney World during a pandemic.
Safety Precautions
Disney is doing everything they can to not only follow but go above and beyond the CDC and WHO guidelines. I had heard from other people that it’s safer than going to the grocery store. After going myself, I can absolutely agree. Here is a list of some of the things they are doing:
You must get a reservation before showing up because they are only allowing the parks to get up to a maximum of a 25% capacity. I can’t say the same for other theme parks.
Nobody with a fever or showing symptoms of COVID-19 is allowed to enter — and yes, they do temperature checks (administered by Advent Health professionals) before going in.
To avoid cross-contamination, they stopped doing bag checks and instead require everyone to go through metal detectors. This also makes getting in quicker.
In addition to sanitizing high touch points like rails and ride vehicles often, they also offer hand-washing stations and plenty of sanitizer throughout the parks.
Masks are required at all times (even outside and even while having your photo taken), with the exception of when you are actively eating or drinking while stationary and not near other guests.
There are neither parades nor fireworks, which would typically mean guests are crowded near each other in close proximity. You cannot meet and greet with characters either. They do, however, have sporadic character cavalcades.
Signs are displayed throughout the park with frequent announcements over the loudspeakers to remind guests of the rules.
Markers along each queue indicate where to stand to ensure physical distancing of at least six feet between parties.
Physical Health
Because my son has a rare liver disease called biliary atresia, it was of upmost importance to me to talk with his doctor before we made any decisions about visiting the parks. And when I say that we talked with his doctor, I mean that we spoke with his transplant doctor — not just his pediatrician.
My son went through several blood tests, an ultrasound of his liver and a COVID-19 test. This is routine; I didn’t do it just because I wanted to go to Disney World. But the test results came back indicating that his liver functions are currently at practically normal levels, and his COVID-19 test came back negative. All of this was in our favor. And after talking it over with his doctor, he said it would be absolutely fine to take our son to Disney World as long as we remained socially distant and washed our hands often, which we of course did.
Additionally, I do have grandparents in their 80s, so after leaving the parks, it’s my intent to remain quarantined at home for at least two weeks before I see them again. While I still maintain that Disney is safer than the grocery store, it just seems like the right thing to do. My family’s health and wellbeing remain my top priority.
Empty Park
And the final reason I decided to go to Disney World was because of the nearly non-existent crowds. Even just driving up to the Magic Kingdom, my husband and I remarked to each other how almost eerie it was to see the empty road leading into the parking lot. I had never seen crowds that sparse — certainly not in broad daylight.
The only line that was at all a hassle to wait in was “it’s a small world,” and that was mostly because we had to wait for them to do the deep clean to sanitize all of the ride vehicles. I’m absolutely OK with waiting a little longer if it meant that it was going to be safer to ride.
Was it fun wearing a mask outside in the Florida heat and humidity? Nope. But we stayed in air conditioning as much as we could and didn’t find the masks to be as much of a nuisance as we were expecting — probably because we were too focused on enjoying our time.
We pretty much walked right onto Peter Pan’s Flight, which is typically at least a 90-minute wait on a normal day. And when we were done riding the Winnie the Pooh ride, nobody else was in line, so the cast members asked if we just wanted to ride it again. Given the fact it seemed like the ride our youngest son enjoyed the most, we were all for it.
Seeing the happiness on my sons’ faces after months of being locked up was priceless to me. My younger son had never even seen the outside world in his entire life before this. Hearing the giggles of my two boys made the trip absolutely worth it.
In the end, you have to assess what’s right for you and your family. But given the safety precautions Disney has taken, the fact our son’s transplant doctor gave us the green light, and for the sake of my own mental health, visiting Disney World was the right choice for our family. The allure of an empty park was just the cherry on top.
Everyone in our family (my husband, son and I) is born within ten days of each other. So, when we were planning our birthday celebrations for this year, I wanted to stay somewhere on property that I had never stayed at before. I had actually never stayed at a moderate resort before, only either value (because I’m just there to have somewhere to rest my head and to take advantage of extra magic hours) or deluxe resorts (because I planned to spend the majority of my time relaxing at and enjoying the resort).
This time, because I was about eight months pregnant, I wanted to stay somewhere nice because I didn’t think I’d be able to handle walking at the parks for too long, but I also didn’t want to spend a crazy amount of money. For about the same price, I was considering either a princess room at Port Orleans Riverside Resort or one of the water view rooms at the new Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. I knew with a baby boy and another boy on the way, my chances of getting a princess room in the future would be pretty low. They’re probably going to be more interested in getting a pirate room when they’re old enough to voice their own opinions. However, I also liked the idea of staying at the newest resort on property (it was about a week before the Riviera Resort opened). Ultimately, I opted for the Gran Destino Tower because of the appeal of staying somewhere brand new, and I’m very glad I did.
The Lobby
Immediately upon parking and walking into the lobby, it took my breath away. It was Christmastime, so there was a huge Christmas tree in the middle, and the walls were glowing with red and green lights. The atmosphere and everything about this resort was gorgeous. I absolutely loved the décor. It reminded me a lot of when my husband and I traveled across Spain with touches inspired by Spanish artists Antoni Gaudí and Salvador Dalí.
In fact, Dalí and Walt Disney were actually good friends and started collaborating on a film together, Destino. This film wasn’t actually finished until 2003, but it served as inspiration for the name of this tower, and it could be found playing on screens by the check-in and concierge desks.
Side note: They also had infused water available for free next to the concierge desks, which was yummy and refreshing after coming in from walking around the parks all morning.
The Room
We had a water view on the ninth floor, and it was gorgeous. Not only could we see the lake and pool of the resort, but we also had a pretty good view of Expedition Everest, Pandora: The World of Avatar, and the Tree of Life from Animal Kingdom.
The room itself was just as nice as any deluxe resort room I had stayed in before (except maybe the three-bedroom treehouse I stayed in at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House). There was plenty of storage space for our luggage, and I appreciated the complimentary tea and coffee with the little Keurig and condiments. It was roomy, the beds were comfortable, and the linens and pillows were very soft. Plus, I loved the Mickey head made out of towels that Mousekeeping left on one of our two queen beds.
The room also featured a smart TV that welcomed us with our family name on it. We could not only watch regular TV and Disney+, but we could also use the TV to check the weather, look at our PhotoPass pictures, see what the resort and parks had to offer, and even connect our phones.
The bathroom was really nice as well with a waterfall shower, two sinks and a separate little room for the toilet. The theming overall was beautiful. It’s absolutely worth the price — I think our annual passholder discount brought it down to about $190/night, which is hundreds of dollars less than what we would pay for a similar room at a “deluxe” resort and not that much more than what we had paid to stay at All Star Movies just a couple months earlier. I would say our room was significantly nicer than an All Star resort and honestly not any worse than rooms I’ve stayed in at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort (with a Magic Kingdom view) or Wilderness Lodge Resort. I’ll still give Animal Kingdom Lodge the edge when it comes to views overall if you can get a Savannah View.
Dining at Toledo: Tapas, Steak & Seafood
We had 9 p.m. reservations at Toledo on the top floor of Gran Destino Tower, and we showed up about 20 minutes early to request a fireworks view. Because we were so early, we stopped into Dahlia Lounge to hang out while we waited for our table. My husband ordered a beer, but before he even got it, our table was ready. I didn’t get to see a lot of Dahlia lounge, but what I did see looked very nice. I was pregnant at the time, so I unfortunately didn’t get to taste any of the drinks.
The restaurant itself was beautiful with a stained glass arched ceiling and filled with trees down the center and bottles of wine along one side. We were seated on the window side and were treated to a fantastic view of the Hollywood Studios fireworks. We saw both Fantasmic and the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular fireworks. This view alone was worth coming to the restaurant. I’m sure it would be beautiful to go during the day too, but I didn’t get to see it while it was light outside.
For an appetizer, we ordered the Tronchón Cheese Gratinado off the tapas menu, which was cheese melted over crunchy bread topped with nuts, tupelo honey and lavender. I absolutely loved it — definitely the star of our meal.
My husband ordered the Hangar Steak because he was told it had more meat than the Manhatten Filet. To be honest, while it did taste good, it wasn’t enough food for him and was still pretty small. I’d hate to see how small the filet was. At least we had ordered some Bravas Potatoes on the side, and those were very yummy.
I ordered the scallops, which were plenty for me, and I liked it a lot. My favorite part was the harissa vinaigrette. If you’re trying to decide between the steak and the scallops, I thought the scallops were certainly more flavorful, but if you’re really hungry, you’re going to need to get a side or appetizer in addition to either of these entrees.
Because it was our birthdays, they brought us a complimentary chocolate-peppermint bark for dessert. Again, if you’re hungry, you’re probably going to want to order another dessert because it was pretty small. But the cheesy appetizer and potatoes on the side were enough to help fill our bellies, so we didn’t get any extra desserts. It was tasty, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best Disney sweet treat I’ve ever had by any means. Now that Christmas is over, I’m sure there’s a different dessert that they offer anyway.
Overall, I’d say Toledo was a bit overpriced for the small portions, but I loved the view of the fireworks, and the food (especially that appetizer) was delicious. I’d like to go back to Dahlia Lounge after I have the baby to taste some of the drinks and maybe order a different dessert too.
Warning: The below review contains spoilers. But if you just want my non-spoiler review, here it is — meh. It was OK. It wasn’t my favorite Star Wars movie (that award still goes to its predecessor, The Last Jedi), and it wasn’t the worst (which I would consider The Phantom Menace). However, it probably ranks closer to TPM than TLJ in my opinion. There were parts I liked, parts I didn’t like, parts I LOVED and parts I HATED. If you’re ready to read my full-spoiler review of The Rise of Skywalker and find out which parts I would categorize where, how I think it should have ended, and what I think the future holds, continue on.
What I Liked
Let’s start out with the real star of this movie, Babu Frik. Out of all the new characters, his was the one I enjoyed the most. He’s adorable, he makes me laugh, and his character was actually relevant to the storyline.
Speaking of Babu Frik’s storyline, let’s talk about C-3PO. He was great in this movie. I cried when he had his memory wiped, laughed when he was reintroducing himself to everyone and cheered when R2D2 restored his memories. Chewbacca was another one I cried when I thought he died.
The legacy characters in general made me smile. Was Princess Leia (excuse me, General Organa) perfect in this movie? No, but I think they did the best they could reusing old footage of Carrie Fisher. Seeing her train Rey and reach out to her son were two of my favorite scenes. Luke’s force ghost catching the lightsaber and raising the X-wing was certainly fan service, but I still enjoyed it. And Lando will always be the smoothest guy in the galaxy. It was nice to see him reunite with his true love, L3-37 aka the Millennium Falcon.
It wasn’t all the legacy characters though. I liked seeing Zorri and Poe’s dynamic. While Poe didn’t turn out to be the Gaston/Wickham bad guy like I predicted, we did find out that he used to be a spice runner, and I liked seeing him flirt Zorri as she turned him down. Hux being the spy was also a good twist, but I wish we got more of him. Rey’s yellow lightsaber was pretty cool too — like a Rey of sunlight haha.
Another thing I thought was cool was all the flips because they were done much better than the prequels. Rey’s flip over Kylo’s ship was beautiful, and seeing their flips during fights like Ben vs. the Knights of Ren was awesome.
What I Didn’t Like
Right from the beginning, the crawl was not my favorite. “The dead speak!” So, Palpatine is back, and we don’t really care how or why? This had to be my least favorite crawl in all nine episodes, and it led into a completely unnecessary montage of Kylo Ren going from here to there that could have just been a mention in the crawl instead. As much as I love Adam Driver as an actor and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is my favorite character in all of Star Wars, we could have cut out the whole montage and just started on Exogol with Palpatine. This was indicative of another problem this movie has — pacing.
Another reviewer compared this movie to a video game, and I totally agree. It’s just a series of missions slapped together instead of one cohesive storyline. The reason The Last Jedi is my favorite Star Wars movie is because it relies less on heavy action (though there are certainly some excellent action sequences) and more on character development and storyline. The action in that movie, such as the throne room scene, is in direct response to where the story and characters are going. The Rise of Skywalker seems to just have action for action’s sake.
All of this seems to be because the writers were trying to please everyone from the internet. I wish they didn’t feel the need to feed the Twitter trolls. The slow chase between the First Order and the Resistance in the last movie was too boring? We’ve got extra jam-packed action in TRoS! Wanted to see Rey end up with Finn, Poe or Kylo? There is sexual tension with all three! Didn’t like seeing Hux as a comedic device? He goes out like a punk! Saw the sequel trilogy as Pride and Prejudice in space? Ben is getting redeemed AND a kiss from his lady love! (Note: OK, I did like that part.) Didn’t think the guy who killed Han Solo deserved a happy ending? We’re killing off that jerk! Thought Rose Tico was an SJW? We cut her screen time to less than two minutes!
Poor Rose … they didn’t even acknowledge her kiss with Finn or saying that how they would win would be by saving what they love. As an Asian American woman who doesn’t get to see much (if any) representation in Hollywood, this felt like a particular slap in the face. It seems like she loses the guy who chases the white girl and then gets paired up with another woman who apparently has more in common with him as a former stormtrooper. (By the way, it was confirmed that Finn was not, in fact, trying to tell Rey that he loves her. Instead, he was trying to tell her that he was force sensitive. I guess that’s cool?)
Jannah’s introduction, along with her group of friends, really seemed to humanize stormtroopers. Plus, in the deleted scenes from TLJ, we see that Finn had stormtrooper friends who recognized him when he snuck onboard Snoke’s ship disguised as a First Order officer. In fact, I thought they were setting up some kind of stormtrooper rebellion. Instead, let’s watch these former stormtroopers kill their old colleagues who are really kidnapped children who were taken from their families. That was really disturbing to me.
Speaking of disturbing, who procreated with Palpatine? Yuck! The majority of introductions (other than the adorable Babu Frik of course), seemed completely unnecessary. They really played up the new characters in the marketing — Knights of Ren, Zorri, Klaud, D-O, Allegiant General Pryde, and Dominic Monaghan’s new character. (Wait, Dominic Monaghan was in this movie? I don’t even know what his name was.)
Rian Johnson created the praetorian guards so that he didn’t have to kill off the Knights of Ren, saving them for a bigger part in episode IX. However, they were killed off even easier in this movie than the praetorian guards in TLJ. They didn’t bring anything to the story after being so hyped. Instead, we learn through a comic (that most fans won’t read) that the Knights have been around a long time and were not, in fact, Luke’s former students (whom, by the way, Ben Solo never killed, nor did he burn down the Jedi temple).
It felt like Zorri was there to prove Poe was straight since the internet seemed to think Poe and Finn were going to wind up together. I thought Klaud and D-O were there just to sell toys and added nothing to the storyline. Allegiant General Pryde’s storyline could have been Hux’s. There was no need to bring in yet another First Order officer. Domhnall Gleeson played such an excellent villain in The Force Awakens. I don’t know why they didn’t bring Hux back to his space Nazi self in this movie. Snap Wexley was also brought back just to be killed off immediately.
While we’re on the subject of deaths, there were so many fake-out deaths. Palpatine died three movies ago? Nope, he’s here and in the flesh. You thought Chewbacca was dead? Sike! He was on another transport apparently. C-3PO sacrificed himself for the mission? Just kidding — R2 had backed up his memory. Rey literally stabbed Kylo through the chest? Only a flesh wound!
What I Loved
In a word, Reylo. The one thing I said I wanted out of this movie was a romance between Ben Solo and Rey, and I got it. (But at what cost?) The two of them are a dyad in the force — two as one. In other words, they are soulmates. Two halves of one whole. They are the literal representation of balance in the force.
The scenes between Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver were easily the best in the movie. “You wanted to take my hand. Why didn’t you?” Kylo asks. Rey finally answers several scenes later, “I did want to take your hand. Ben’s hand.” That was so emotional, and I loved it. When she healed him, Kylo/Ben didn’t say a word, but his eyes spoke VOLUMES.
Say what you will about this movie, but the acting was phenomenal. I don’t think the actors were given the best scripts in the world (but hey, at least the dialogue was better than the prequels), but the actors really managed to convey so much emotion in every scene. I don’t just mean Adam and Daisy either. Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, and even Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. His mourning over Leia’s death really choked me up and is the most genuine mourning scene I’ve ever seen in Star Wars.
When Ben’s memory of Han showed up, I nearly lost it. It was Ben playing the scene from TFA in his head how he knew it should have happened. How he wished had happened. “Dad,” Ben whispers. Han responds, “I know,” which of course in Han talk means, “I love you.” It was such a meaningful moment, and from then on, we saw no more of Kylo Ren, only Ben Solo.
I do wish Ben had his turn earlier in this movie so we could see more Ben Solo and less Kylo Ren. (Side note: Bringing the mask back was just to sell toys, right? Because it served no other purpose.) What we did see of Ben Solo was magical. Running to save Rey, getting the blue saber from Rey via the force bond, climbing out of the pit to get to Rey, saving the woman he loves … Ben Solo deserved so much happiness. And I thought we got it. I’ve never been happier watching Star Wars than I was when I saw Rey come back to life, smile and say Ben’s name. She finally gave Ben her hand when she placed it on top of his after he healed her. When they looked lovingly into each other’s eyes and kissed, I thought this is it. This is my space Darcy getting his happy ending. Ben finished what Anakin started. He saved the one he loved from dying. It was the most emotional I have ever felt during a Star Wars movie. And that’s where my happiness ended.
What I Hated
I’ll give you two words for this: the ending.
Ben Solo was thrown into a seemingly bottomless pit and pulled himself out to save the woman he loves. He didn’t get any help from his own mother, uncle, grandfather or any other force ghosts urging him to rise like they did with Rey. And if they are the dyad (which apparently only comes once a millennium), why did Rey defeat Palpatine on her own while poor Ben was at the bottom of the pit? And didn’t Palpatine WANT Rey to strike him down? Didn’t he just get what he wanted?
This about it … what kind of light does this paint Leia in as a mother? Sure, she named him after her only hope, but then she abandoned him as a child. She used the last bit of her energy to distract him so Rey could stab him. And when he was in his most desperate hour, she went to Rey (who is by blood a Palpatine) instead. Luke confirms that both he and Leia knew Rey was a Palpatine. So, what does that mean? They saw the good in Rey and were willing to help her out, but they completely wrote off Ben Solo, their own flesh and blood? Luke is ready to kill him in his sleep, and Leia gave up on him in TLJ, saying she knows her son is gone. As soon as her son dies, Leia is finally at peace and disappears into the force while Maz smiles. What is that? “Yay! My son is dead. I can fade into the force happily now.” This is a horrible ending for our princess of Alderaan.
Let’s address all the reasons people think Ben doesn’t deserve a happy ending and why they are wrong.
“He’s responsible for the destruction of the Hosnian System because of Starkiller Base!” Nope, actually, that award goes to General Hux. Kylo Ren was against it and tried to stop it. He was also not on Starkiller Base and watched the lasers go by from a ship, so he had no chance to stop Hux from doing it.
“He killed Han Solo!” Yet even Han would tell you that he forgives Ben and blames himself for being an absent father. It’s canon. Look it up in the novelization of The Force Awakens. It also split Kylo’s spirit to the bone, and he was wracked with guilt immediately and forever. As Snoke says, he has too much of his father’s heart in him.
“He killed half of Luke’s students, burned down the temple and turned the rest into the Knights of Ren!” No, according to the comics, Ben did not kill any students and the temple burst into flames without any help from Ben, seemingly by itself. Actually, the students chased after and tried to kill Ben, which drove him right into the arms of Snoke, his manipulator and abuser. Ben and Luke even fought the Knights of Ren together while on a field trip before Luke’s betrayal.
“Nobody from the Resistance is going to accept him. They would execute him.” He’s Leia’s son. If she accepts him, who would dare tell her he’s not welcome? When Hux, the guy who was actually responsible for the destruction of the Hosnian System and the kidnapping of thousands of children to turn them into stormtroopers, reveals that he’s the spy, the biggest reaction we got was Poe saying, “I knew it!” That reminded me of Thor saying the same line after seeing Captain America wield Mjolnir. If they were cool with Hux after all he has done (including being happy about killing his own father unlike Ben), they would have been cool with a redeemed Ben Solo.
“He’s abusive to Rey!” Rewatch the movies. You’ll see that Rey, in fact, is the aggressor in all their interactions. On Takodana, she sees him and shoots, no questions asked — doesn’t even know who he is. In the interrogation room, he calls her his guest and is actually pretty gentle with her. In the novelization, he removes the restraints and says he will go as easy on her as possible. Sure, he force-throws her against a tree on Starkiller Base, but that’s only AFTER she openly attacked him; he was simply defending himself. He tries to tell her he can teach her the ways of the force, and she slices his face open. In their first force bond, she shoots at him again with no questions asked while he tries to figure out what’s going on. “Can you see my surroundings? I can’t see yours, just you,” he says. When she is lonely on Ahch-To, he’s the one she reaches out to and imagines touching his hair and face. (I’m not making this up. Look it up in the novelization for TLJ.) And he insists that she isn’t alone. How is any of that manipulative or abusive? He tells her that she’s nobody but not to him. He’s not saying she’s worthless without him, which is what some people would like you to believe. Instead, I think he’s saying that while the rest of the world may think she’s nothing, she’s everything to him. It’s very reminiscent of Darcy’s first proposal to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. “Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections — to congratulate myself on the hope of relations, whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?” Of course, Elizabeth rejects his proposal saying that he should have behaved in a more gentleman-like manner. Both Darcy and Kylo mean well, but they need help in articulating those feelings. Luckily, Elizabeth and Rey wind up coming back around and taking their hands in the long run. Kylo could have easily shot Rey from his ship and killed her on Pasaana, but he didn’t because he was chasing after her to talk to her, not kill her. Instead, she cuts off one of the wings of his ship and sends him spiraling into a ball of fire. And let’s not forget that Rey took advantage of him being distracted by his mother’s death to run him through with his own saber. Now which one would you consider the abuser?
Does poor Ben deserve to die? No. He deserves to live. “Kylo Ren is dead,” Han says. “My son is alive.” What? For five minutes before he disappears into the force? That is not a satisfying ending, sorry. Ben Solo went through too much to be given an ending like that. There is a big difference between Darth Vader (who killed younglings, spent decades on the dark side, and lived to be an old man dying as part of his redemption arc) and Ben Solo who was manipulated, abused, misunderstood and abandoned throughout his entire life (most of which was spent in the light, despite all of this, until he caught his uncle trying to kill him). Leia even admits that when she was pregnant, Palpatine was there the whole time, manipulating poor baby Ben. If my parents shipped me off to boarding school with my uncle and then I saw him standing over me with a gun or knife or something while I slept, I don’t think I’d have fond feelings for him or be totally fine mentally either.
OK, so Ben Solo gave his life for his soulmate. Got it. Fine. I can live with it. But then Rey doesn’t seem to mourn for even a minute? She was more torn up about Chewie (who it turns out wasn’t even dead) than her other half who died in her arms. Then she flies off to meet up with her buddies for a big celebratory group hug? I’m sorry. That’s just unacceptable. Just when I thought I was getting a Beauty and the Beast ending with the prince coming back and living happily ever after, they kill him off. Could you imagine if Disney did that to Belle and then she goes and celebrates with her friends? Or if Flynn was never healed by Rapunzel’s tear at the end of Tangled? Or if in Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth confesses that she loves Darcy after he saves Lydia, he just dies? Absolutely not!
OK, here it is, the final scene that’s supposed to wrap up not only this movie and this trilogy, but the entire Skywalker saga. All the Skywalkers are now dead once Ben passes into the force, leaving only a Palpatine. Rey can call herself a Skywalker if she wants, but it’s in blatant opposition to JJ’s original stance in TFA. The sequel trilogy starts out with Lor San Tekka saying, “You cannot deny the truth that is your family” and ends with Rey denying the truth that is her family.
Why was she on Tattooine anyway? She had no connection to that planet. She had Anakin’s (not Luke’s — remember that his was green) and Leia’s lightsabers. Anakin hated sand, so let’s bury his lightsaber in it right next to his dead mother! Leia was enslaved and put in a gold bikini by Jabba the Hutt on Tattooine, so she’ll definitely want her saber buried there too! Even if you wanted to argue that it’s where Luke grew up, the last time he was there, he saw the burnt bodies of his aunt and uncle and said there was nothing there for him now. If we’re going anywhere from a previous movie, it would make more sense for Rey to go to Naboo. That’s where Palpatine and Padme were from, so it connects both her lineage and Ben’s. It’s where Padme wanted to run off to with Anakin to raise their children. I want to know why were Luke and Leia’s force ghosts there at the end and not Ben’s? Why was BB-8 there? Why did Rey get absolutely no change from where she started, alone on a desert planet with her loved ones dead? I have a theory for why this ending makes no sense.
How It Should Have Ended
My theory for why we didn’t see Ben’s force ghost and why Rey ended seemingly alone on a desert planet (AGAIN) is because that wasn’t the originally planned ending for this movie.
The music on Tattooine is literally called “A New Home.” Either JJ has a sick sense of what George Lucas called “poetry, it rhymes,” leaving Rey alone on a desert planet again, or she was supposed to build a new home there with someone else. And that someone else is Ben Solo. For all you who think that Ben can’t come back from everything he did as Kylo Ren, there is another option other than just walking into the Resistance base and expecting them to welcome him with open arms. He can choose to live in self-exile.
There were many leaks leading up to the release of The Rise of Skywalker, and all of them (sadly) turned out to be true except one (even more sadly). The one scene that was supposedly filmed but never made it to the final cut was Ben Solo flying his father’s ship, the Millennium Falcon. It makes perfect sense for him to fly that ship (with Rey as his copilot) to Tattooine to live out their days in his family home. How would Rey have even heard of the Lars family homestead? Leia was never there. Luke ignored her for the majority of TLJ. It makes far more sense that Ben would have heard of it from his Uncle Luke growing up and chose to exile himself there. And if Ben had lived, his force ghost wouldn’t show up at the end. That would explain why we only had Luke and Leia’s force ghosts.
We know for a fact that there were some last-minute reshoots. I think Ben’s death was a reshoot, and this shoddy ending on Tattooine was a half-reshoot. I believe, if anything, he was supposed to pass out and you were going to think he was dead (yet another fake-out death), see Rey meet up with the Resistance, and then see her fly to Tattooine where (surprise!) Ben was alive and waiting for her. If the old woman at the end asked who they were, they could call themselves Ben and Rey Skywalker. Think that’s not a very good disguise? It works just as well as Obi Wan Kenobi changing his name to Old Ben Kenobi.
They could then look out into the twin sunset together with Rey standing in the lighter sun and Ben standing in the darker sun — a literal representation of the dyad, showing true balance in the force. Instead, we get…BB-8. Why? There is zero reason for BB-8 to be on Tattooine other than to be a stand-in for Ben. He’s not even Rey’s droid; he’s Poe’s.
I had someone try to argue with me on Instagram that Rey and Poe share custody of BB-8. Excuse me? Since when? Are they a divorced couple, and Rey has visitation rights on weekends? That makes no sense to me. The reason he was with her on Jakku in TFA was because Poe got captured, and then they thought he was dead. As soon as Poe was back, BB-8 was done with Rey. He spent the rest of TFA with Poe and was still with him during TLJ when they attacked the dreadnaught, and as soon as BB-8 is back from the mission with Finn and Rose, Poe asks where his droid is and BB-8 races to him. BB-8 spends no alone time with Rey without Poe in TLJ and TRoS outside of this time on Tattooine, and the only explanation is that they had to replace Ben with someone and nobody else made sense. BB-8 was the lesser of evils because it would have been even worse to show her with Finn or Poe or literally anyone else at the end.
What the Future Holds
So, what’s next? I love The Mandalorian, and I love Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World. But if Disney and Lucasfilm want to make big money in the future, they’re going to need more than Disney+ TV shows and a theme park land. I enjoyed Solo, but it didn’t do well. Rogue One, in my opinion, was the most boring Star Wars movie. Therefore, the non-saga films aren’t going to be the future of Star Wars either. They need more of the Skywalker saga, and I’m sorry, but Rey can call herself whatever she wants, but she’s not a Skywalker; she’s a Palpatine. She could have married into the Skywalker family, but unfortunately, Ben’s not around anymore. She can, however, still carry on the Skywalker bloodline. How? The next trilogy can explain that when Ben gave his life force to Rey (with his hand on her belly), he also got her pregnant at the same time. And that’s how Disney and Lucasfilm will continue the Skywalker saga.
An alternative way they can bring the Skywalker bloodline back is by bringing Ben back. We didn’t see his force ghost at the end. In addition to the fact I don’t think he died in the original ending and the ending we got was a cobbled together version at the last minute, I think another reason we didn’t see Ben Solo’s force ghost could be because Disney and Lucasfilm want to keep the door open to the possibility that Ben didn’t die at all. He could be in the “world between worlds.” The official Star Wars databank defines it as, “a collection of pathways and doors between time and space.” In the Star Wars Rebels cartoon, it was assumed Ahsoka Tano had been killed by Darth Vader. However, we later saw Ezra save Ahsoka from certain death by pulling her through a portal in the world between worlds. In a future episode film, we could see Rey try to find the world between worlds to save her other half, Ben Solo. And that could explain why he disappeared but didn’t become a force ghost; he was pulled through the world between worlds.
One last theory — if force ghosts are “more powerful than you can possibly imagine” as Obi Wan told Vader in A New Hope, then it’s possible for Rey and Ben to continue their force bond even in death. It reminds me of that scene in The Princess Bride when Wesley tells Buttercup, “Death cannot stop true love.” Heck, we saw Yoda hit Luke on the head as a force ghost in TLJ, and we saw Luke catch a lightsaber as a force ghost in TRoS. If those things are possible, it’s also possible for Ben and Rey to … consummate their union.
I didn’t believe when they first said it, and I don’t believe it now — I don’t believe that they will actually end the Skywalker saga for good and leave all that potential money on the table. I’m sure there are many more options they can come up with, but the fact of the matter is the Skywalker saga has to continue (and Ben and Rey have to procreate for that to be possible) if for no other reason than for Disney to make money. They didn’t spend billions of dollars to purchase Lucasfilm for it to not be as profitable as possible. We had about twenty years between the originals and the prequels and about another twenty years between the prequels and the sequels. I think Disney will get antsy in about twenty years from now and continue the saga with Ben and Rey’s kids. It’s the only logical future path for Star Wars.
This is honestly starting to be a Star Wars blog as much as a Disney blog — between my review of The Last Jedi, my Dapper Day outfit as Rey, and Disney bounding as female Kylo Ren at Star Wars Galactic Nights. So for Disney to pull together two of my favorite things (going to the parks and Star Wars), I was extremely excited for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It almost felt like this was happening just for me. As soon as they announced the opening date at Walt Disney World, I booked a hotel room to take advantage of the Extra Extra Magic Hours.
But just a few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant … again. I was literally just pregnant last year, and it stopped me from doing a lot of the things I wanted to do at Disneyland (e.g., Matterhorn and Mission: Breakout). I was worried this was going to impede my first Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge experience too.
I didn’t want to be there for opening day because I knew it was going to be crazy, so I booked a hotel room for a couple days later. Little did I know at the time that it would coincide with Hurricane Dorian. I was so worried that we were going to have to cancel our trip completely. Thankfully, the storm took a turn and didn’t wind up impacting Orlando much at all. However, it did scare away a lot of the crowds.
I had planned to only go for the Extra Extra Magic Hours at 6 a.m. after our hotel stay to avoid the crowds during the day. But while we were at Magic Kingdom and saw the smallest crowds I’ve ever seen (no wait for Peter Pan, hello?), I figured we could check out Galaxy’s Edge that first day after all. So we hopped over to Hollywood Studios for my first-ever trip to Batuu. It was a truly magical experience. The land absolutely blew me away with all the details. It put Toy Story Land (which had recently opened just next to this land) to absolute shame. Seeing the Millennium Falcon in person for the first time nearly brought tears to my eyes.
The cast members were all in character. Even when we said something about the hurricane, the cast members asked us what that was and if that was something from our planet. Or when my husband asked if there were any hidden Mickeys on the Millennium Falcon, the cast member asked what a hidden Mickey was. In Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, I asked if they had Rey’s double-bladed saber (from the recent Rise of Skywalker promo), and they acted like they had never heard of it before. To be clear, I’m 100% sure all of the cast members actually know what a hurricane, a hidden Mickey and Rey’s double-bladed are. They were just in character, acting their parts.
We explored all of the shops and took a peek inside Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo but opted for the Ronto Wrap at Ronto Roasters instead. It was pretty good. I’m not sure it was worth $13/each, but it was good. My aunt got the Fried Endorian Tip Yip at Docking Bay 7, and that seemed like it would be a better bang for your buck and yummy too. It wasn’t horribly crowded at all, which was amazing. I think we have Dorian to thank for that. We then went back to the room to rest up before our early morning with the Extra Extra Magic Hours.
We woke up at 5 a.m. to make it to the park for rope drop for those staying on property at 6 a.m. Immediately upon letting us into the land, we (and everyone else) queued up for Millennium Falcoln: Smugglers Run. I wasn’t sure I could ride it, but because I had gone on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland last year, my husband thought maybe I could do this one too. So when we got to the entrance to the ride, we asked for Rider Swap. My husband waited in line while the baby and I went to Oga’s Cantina for a non-alcoholic drink.
I asked what time they opened because nobody else was there, and they said that they were open now. I couldn’t believe it. There was absolutely nobody in the cantina because they were all in line for Smugglers Run. I hung out at the bar, ordered a Cliff Dweller (citrus juices, coconut, hibiscus-grenadine and ginger ale) and listened to DJ R-3X (pronounced REX) spinning the best hits in the galaxy. DJ-R3X was the original droid on the Star Tours ride before they refurbished it. It was pretty cool to see him there. The Cliff Dweller would typically be $6, but because I wanted the adorable porg mug that it came in, it wound up being about $30. A bit steep, but look how cute it is!
The baby had spit up on my shoulder, but thankfully I wasn’t wearing sleeves. Nonetheless, a cast member handed me a free T-shirt that said “Black Spire Outpost” on it. She said it was in case I wanted to change into something clean after the baby spit up on me. I thought that was incredibly generous and nice. Even though this was supposed to be on another planet, there is no denying the magic that a Disney cast member can bring.
When my husband had finished his ride on Smugglers Run, he assured me it wasn’t that bad, so we traded spots. I went to the ride, and he took the baby and hung out in the cantina. Because we did rider swap, I got to go straight to the front of the line, but it also meant that I lost out on seeing the queue. I’ve heard the Hondo Ohnaka animatronic is amazing, but going to the front of the line was pretty sweet too. I got to be the right pilot. When my husband went, he was the left pilot. That meant that he got to control the ship side-to-side, and I got to control it up-and-down. I also got to blast us into hyper speed, which was thrilling. The left pilot seems like the most crucial role, but the right pilot was certainly fun too. I would definitely rather be a pilot than a gunner or engineer.
I agreed that the ride is absolutely doable while pregnant, though Disney advises against it. Definitely check with your doctor and don’t just take my word for it. I probably wouldn’t do it if I were further along, but it seemed just fine for about halfway through my pregnancy.
Speaking of being pregnant, I also brought a blue “It’s a Jedi” sign as my gender reveal because I’m having another boy. I got some hate from trolls on Facebook because girls can be Jedi too. But if I was having a girl, I think I could just as easily say “It’s a Jedi” but with a pink sign, so I don’t think it was sexist at all. Or perhaps I could have said “It’s a Rebel” or “It’s a Princess,” but I don’t think it matters that much. Besides, my friend made it last year for my Star Wars-themed baby shower, and I thought the sign was cute enough to keep. I’m glad it could come in handy here.
Before ending our time in Black Spire Outpost (at least on this trip), we did a little shopping. The baby loved the porg stuffed animal from the Creature Stall. We checked out the Droid Depot as well, and my husband couldn’t believe you could build an actual working BB-8. I decided we should wait on that until the boys are older. The Den of Antiquities was by far the coolest shop we saw. I picked up a new lanyard to start my pin collection. My husband has been pin collecting for a while and wanted me to start collecting with him, and we figured this was a good excuse to start.
The last thing we did before heading back to our own planet was get a 360º photo in front of Kylo Ren’s ship. It turned out so much cooler than I was expecting. The three hours of Extra Extra Magic Hours before they let everyone else into the park were incredible. I’m not sure if it was because of the Extra Extra Magic Hours or because the hurricane frightened everyone away, but either way, I’m so grateful to be able to experience the land like that. We got to do everything we wanted to do without crowds and got out at a decent hour. It was absolutely worth getting the hotel room even though I live in Florida, just to get the Extra Extra Magic Hours.
Have you experienced Batuu yet? What was your favorite park? If not, what are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!
It’s no secret that I love Star Wars, especially the sequel trilogy. I had even Disney bounded as Dapper Rey for Dapper Day. So when Disney announced a Star Wars: Galactic Nights event at Hollywood Studios, I had to go.
Before the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land opened at Hollywood Studios, the most Star Wars we could get in the parks was the simple meet-and-greet area in Star Wars Launch Bay. To be honest, as much as I loved meeting Chewbacca and Kylo Ren, this was pretty weak. I was so stoked at the prospect of getting some Star Wars in the parks.
The first thing I had to do was plan out my outfit. My favorite Star Wars character is Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren, but he’s a boy character, and I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off. Then again, I successfully Disney bounded as Donald Duck just fine, so I figured I could pass as female Kylo Ren.
I found a Kylo Ren mask at a local flea market for super cheap, so I figured that was a sign. I then found a leather dress at Nordstrom Rack, and the outfit was starting to come together. I had knee-high black boots with heels, but I opted for my Tory Burch thigh-high riding boots because I figured it would be easier to walk around the park in flats, even if the knee-high heels looked better. I got a plastic toy Kylo light saber and inexpensive elbow-length leather gloves from eBay, and I finished the look with some messy hair and red lipstick.
Because I was pregnant, I couldn’t go on any rides, so I spent most of my time going around, taking photos and admiring everyone else’s outfits. My husband and my friend Joy went on the rides with practically no wait though. That’s the nice thing about going to Disney’s After Hours events or parties like this one. We also got to see a panel hosted by Warwick Davis, who is known for his several appearances in multiple Star Wars movies, starting with his role as Wicket in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. We even watched a live interview with Joonas Suotamo, aka the new Chewbacca.
The whole event was so much fun and totally worth the price. It wasn’t any more expensive than a regular After Hours event, and it had so much more to offer, especially for a Star Wars fan — between the panels, interviews, special photo areas, extra character meet-and-greets (like Rey and Darth Vader), and more. I would highly recommend it if they ever offer this again. And it would be even better now that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is open. But if they don’t offer it again, then maybe I’ll try out either the holiday or the Halloween parties at Magic Kingdom next time.
As you might already know, I’m a huge Star Wars fan, and when The Last Jedicame out, I was obsessed with the idea of Reylo. Unlike my Donald Duck Dapper Day outfit where I picked the dress first and then the character, this time I knew exactly who I wanted to Disney bound as: Rey from the sequel trilogy of Star Wars.
I already had this Banana Republic dress in my closet for work, and I thought it would work perfectly as the base of my dapper Rey outfit because the shoulders reminded me so much of Rey’s vest while she’s on Ahch-To during The Last Jedi.
My Dapper Day outfit wound up being a bit of a combination of this outfit and her outfit during the throne room scene. When Rey and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo fight the praetorian guards, that is probably my favorite lightsaber battle in the entire Star Wars saga.
To accessorize, I went with a grey fascinator that I thought went well with the shoulder detail, Rey’s signature fingerless grey gloves, and two criss-crossed grey scarves tied together with a brown belt. I was pregnant at the time, so the scarves helped to hide my growing bump.
I also weilded Kylo Ren’s red cross lightsaber, just like Rey did in the throne room scene when she tried to attack Snoke. And my red high heels and red lips were my finishing touches. Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince my husband to dress up as Kylo Ren / Ben Solo. But I get it. Dressing in all black from head to toe in the hot Florida sun isn’t exactly fun. So he went for a cruise ship Mickey look instead. I think he pulled it off. Technically, Rey and DCL Mickey both captain ships, right?
Now that our little one has arrived, we need to start brainstorming ideas for Disney bounding at the next Dapper Day (April 27 in Magic Kingdom and April 28 in Epcot). Let us know in the comments how you think the three of us should dress!
If you’ve never heard of Dapper Day, it’s really more like two different dapper weekends—two days in the spring and two days in the fall—in which people dress up in retro outfits like in the time of Walt. You see outfits from about the 1920s to about the 1950s, and they’re mostly fancy Disney bounds. Not sure what a Disney bound is? Check out this post.
While a lot of people like to pick out their characters that they want to Disney bound as ahead of time, I did things a little backward. I went to Nordstrom Rack to find a dress I thought could pass off as retro that would also be affordable but good quality. I figured I would find something that looked good on me and then decide which character I could Disney bound as after picking out the dress. After trying on several outfits, I found this beautiful Eliza J blue neoprene dress with bows on the shoulders.
I immediately thought of Disney bounding as Donald Duck, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it because he’s a boy character. I thought maybe village Belle or Dory or Sadness. But then my friend Suzy told me, “It’s definitely Donald. Stop trying to make it anything other than Donald.” And she was right. This dress definitely screamed Donald Duck.
Because I was going for a retro look, I wanted to get a fascinator or a pillbox hat to go with the dress, but my husband convinced me to go with a beret to make my Dapper Day outfit look more like Donald Duck.
To put the finish touches on my Donald Duck Disney bound for Dapper Day, I added white gloves, a red bow tie, a yellow belt, and red high heels. I would have worn yellow high heels if I owned them, but I didn’t and didn’t want to spend the money on them either. I bought a white feather boa (feathers because he’s a duck of course), but I unfortunately forgot to bring it with me to Disney World. I accessorized with white cat-eye sunglasses and a white parasol.
I must have done a good job with my outfit because the official Dapper Day Facebook page actually featured me. I was so excited! I couldn’t convince my hubby to dress as Daisy Duck, so he went for more of a Dapper Dan look with a pale blue pinstripe suit and a boater hat.
I wish that I got a photo with classic Donald, but we were at the Magic Kingdom Dapper Day, and classic Donald is at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I did get a photo with Donald in his circus attire though, and he loved my outfit.
Probably the most exciting part of the day was telling Mickey Mouse that we were expecting a baby! This was when Mickey could still talk. It was great to be able to hear him tell us congratulations, and it makes me a little sad that Mickey can’t talk anymore.
So what do you think of my Donald Duck Dapper Day Disney bound? Who do you think I should Disney bound as at Dapper Day this year? Let me know in the comments! And be sure to follow me on Instagram for more Disney fun.
Over the years, I’ve been to Walt Disney World in Florida more times than I can count. However, I had never been to the o.g. park: Disneyland in California. When my husband and I decided to go for our three-year wedding anniversary, I was so excited to ride the Matterhorn, see the differences with their Space Mountain, and so much more. But just a couple months before our anticipated trip, we found out that we were expecting a little Mouseketeer. That meant no Matterhorn, no Space Mountain, and no Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. While I was overjoyed about our upcoming bundle of joy, I was disappointed that I wouldn’t get to do many of the things I was looking forward to.
Being pregnant at Disney didn’t stop me from having a blast anyway. I was about 12 weeks along at the time. Definitely check with your doctor before going on some of these rides. Here is a list of rides that I went on but probably wouldn’t if I were further along:
Indiana Jones Adventure
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Radiator Springs Racers
Grizzly River Run
I also went on the following rides, which I think would be fine no matter how far along you were (but again, check with your doctor first):
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
It’s a Small World
Disneyland Railroad
Lucky for my husband, we spent the $10 each to be able to choose fast passes from our app and get all of our photos included. It was absolutely worth it, especially considering we only had one day to go to both of the California parks. I let him have my fast passes while I went around looking for characters to take photos with. Here’s a list of photos he did without me because I would not recommend doing any of them while pregnant:
Now let’s talk about food because that’s honestly the best part about going to any Disney park while pregnant: eating whatever you want without guilt. Of course you’re eating for two, but there’s so much walking (we lost count of how many times we hopped between the parks) that you’re burning so many calories that you shouldn’t feel guilty anyway.
We had lunch at Carnation Cafe because one thing you can’t do at Walt Disney World is eat right there on Main Street USA and watch the people passing by. Not only is it great people watching, but the food is pretty good too. I specifically wanted to get a bowl of Walt’s Chili because Walt Disney himself was a creature of habit—he had the same lunch every single day. What lunch was that? Chili and crackers of course! He took two cans of chili from two different brands (one with more beans than meat and one with more meat than beans) and mixed them together. The chefs at Carnation Cafe I think probably put more thought into their chili recipe, but I still felt like I was walking in Walt’s footsteps as I ate lunch.
For dessert, we walked next door to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. Michael got a scoop of mint chocolate chip and a scoop of strawberry in a waffle cone, and I got a scoop of cookies ‘n’ cream in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone with sprinkles. I don’t know what Disney does to their ice cream to make it so good, but that was some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. And I love the smell of the fresh waffle cones.
We went to dinner at Carthay Circle in Disney’s California Adventure, and this was by far the nicest meal I’ve had inside of any Disney park. The Brown Derby Cafe at Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Le Cellier in the Canada pavilion at Epcot are pretty good too, but they still aren’t as opulent as Carthay Circle. In fact, while I’ve never personally been inside of Club 33, I’ve seen pictures and still think that Carthay Circle is nicer. The only nicer Disney restaurant I can think of is Victoria & Albert’s inside of the Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World, but of course that’s a hotel and not a park. The service at Carthay Circle was excellent, and my only disappointment was that I couldn’t enjoy one of those yummy-looking mixed drinks. Both Michael and I got steaks for dinner, and we shared the warm citrus upside-down cake for dessert. Everything was mouth-watering and delicious. I highly recommend Carthay Circle for an anniversary dinner or any other special dining experience. It is a bit pricey though, so don’t make reservations if you’re on a budget.
How about you? Have you gone to Disneyland while pregnant before? What would you recommend? Let me know in the comments!
Warning! This post contains spoilers, so if you haven’t seen The Last Jedi yet, I suggest you read no further.
Cool?
OK, let’s proceed.
When Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise, I was stoked at the prospect of a Star Wars land, but I was a little apprehensive about sequels. After all, the prequels (episodes 1–3) didn’t exactly live up to the hype in my opinion. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how well done The Force Awakens was, and I was even more thrilled with The Last Jedi.
If you watched The Force Awakens and you saw the trailers for The Last Jedi, you probably had some preconceived notion as to how it was going to go. I know I did. You were probably expecting some grand moment when Luke took his lightsaber back from Rey followed by an epic training montage. Because Carrie Fisher passed away, you were expecting a way for them to write her out, such as killing off Princess General Leia Organa. You likely thought we were going to find out Rey’s parents were either of Skywalker or Kenobi blood, and you probably thought she was going to wind up with Finn. But as Luke said, “This is not going to go the way you think.”
Instead, we saw Luke lackadaisically toss the lightsaber over his shoulder so he can go find some weird creature to milk. (That scene was probably not necessary.) Kylo chose not to kill his mother, and even though his lackeys blast her out of her ship, she magically flies back and lives. We found out Rey’s parents are nobodies. Finn and Rose seem to strike up a romance. And if you’re like me…you are now fully on the Reylo train. What’s Reylo? It’s the combination name of Rey and Kylo Ren (aka Ben Solo—either way, the name works).
Credit to Halo Ren on Deviant Art
Wait…but isn’t Kylo Ren the bad guy? Yeah. Kylo is. But Ben is not. And I still have hope that Ben will be redeemed in Episode IX.
Before I go off about why Reylo is the answer, let me address one other potential suitor for Rey…Poe Dameron. Some people seem to think that just because when Rey introduced herself to him and he said, “I know,” like Han Solo says when Leia professes her love for him, that means they will wind up together. Why would Rey wind up with someone they waited two movies to even introduce her to? That’s just silly. Plus, I have a theory that Poe is actually going to wind up being the bad guy after all, not Ben.
Poe cares about power…a lot. We’re all supposed to believe he’s the good guy, but there’s something about him that just seems off to me. What did Poe Dameron do basically the entire movie? He screwed things up for the Resistance. The very first scene sees him going against General Organa’s orders and being the reason the Resistance loses many of its pilots and all of its bombardiers. Leia smacks him right in the face (literally) and tells him he’s demoted. If he didn’t send Finn and Rose off, they would have never brought the code breaker back with them, and he wouldn’t have sold their secret about the cloaked transporters to Captain Phasma and the First Order. He holds Vice Admiral Holdo at gunpoint to get his way. Leia contrasts them by saying, “She was more interested in protecting the light than being a hero.” And then there’s this:
Why is Poe on the dark side if he’s a good guy? I’m not buying his nice guy charm. Disney would not put him on the side of Hux and Phasma by accident. There has to be a reason for it. And my bet is that he’s going to turn out to be the bad guy with Rey and Ben on the other side by the end of the next movie.
Like many of you, when I saw The Force Awakens, I thought Rey had a striking resemblance to Padme (Ben’s maternal grandmother), which could mean that maybe they’re related. However, Rey blurts out that she knows her parents were nobodies, and Kylo confirms that they sold her for drinking money and are now dead in pauper’s graves. I actually believe Kylo when he says that her parents are nobodies even though some people think he’s lying. He’s always told her the truth, even when she didn’t want to hear it. Maybe her parents were literally nobody, the same way Anakin’s dad was nobody. His mother says there was no father. She couldn’t explain it; he was just born. Maybe Rey was just born of the Force with no mother and no father. And the people who sold her were just the random people who found her.
Credit to The Real McGee
When Kylo tells Rey that her family is nothing and that she’s nothing—but not to him—I couldn’t help but be reminded of Darcy’s first proposal to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. And it basically had about the same reaction. (Come to think of it, Rey looks even more like Padme’s double, who is played by Keira Knightly aka Elizabeth Bennett in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice.) I wanted Rey to say, “You are the last man in the galaxy I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.” While we know that Rey and Ben are not related, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t still some kind of connection between Rey and Padme. Kylo is supposed to be the new Vader. So couldn’t Rey be the new Padme? When Kylo asks Rey to rule the galaxy with him, she pleads with him to not go that way. It’s just like when Padme tells Anakin that he’s going down a path she can’t follow.
Credit to The Real McGee
The story of Rey and Ben seems to be the story of Padme and Anakin in reverse. Rey starts out hating Kylo and thinking that he’s a monster, but I think she is already starting to fall in love with Ben. You could see it when he tells her that she’s not alone, and she says, “Neither are you.” They both see a future with the other standing by their side. Rey thinks she’s going to turn Ben to the light, and he thinks he’s going to turn her to the dark. I think they had the same vision but with different interpretations. And I don’t think either is 100% accurate. Rey is not all light, and Ben is not all dark. Luke points out that she goes directly to the dark, and Ben confesses that he feels the call to the light.
Credit to Eliza Kitty
I think the problem with all of these movies so far is that they’re trying to get balance in the Force. But like…why? Why in the prequels would they even think they need balance? Everything seemed pretty good with the Jedi as-is. So why do they need someone to bring balance to the Force if everything is hunky dory? Maybe (stay with me here) just maybe it was too much light. And in the days of Vader and now Snoke, it’s too much dark. Maybe Kylo/Ben and Rey are meant to be together to finally bring true balance to the Force. There’s no way Disney is going to let the Star Wars saga end after Episode IX because it is a huge cash cow—plus, they’re building an entire extension of Hollywood Studios dedicated to the franchise. And we’ve been told that the whole saga will always be about the Skywalker family. With Luke becoming one with the Force (and Leia likely getting killed off in the next movie), that leaves only one Skywalker descendant left—Ben. That means Ben needs to procreate. And I don’t see any better (or any other at all) candidates to be Ben Solo’s baby mama other than Rey.
If Luke hadn’t busted in on their Force Skype and broken up the hand touching, Rey probably would have already turned Kylo back into Ben, and she might be carrying a couple Force babies around. After all, they say twins skip a generation. I think episodes 10–12 will focus on Reylo’s children. We saw her reaction to him shirtless. She hopped in a box and shipped herself to him. If that doesn’t say she wants to have his babies, I don’t know what does.
I have probably more mouse ears than the average person (OK, I definitely do). And I didn’t want to just throw all my ears in a drawer; I wanted to prominently display them. Over oatmeal one morning, it hit me. Make a mouse ears holder out of an oatmeal container! Want to make your own mouse ears holder? Follow these simple steps.
What You’ll Need
Empty oatmeal container
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Pretty fabric
Scissors
Two (2) pieces of wood
How to Make Your Own Mouse Ears Holder
Hot glue the end of your fabric to the oatmeal container and wrap around a couple times. Cut the fabric when you’re satisfied how it looks and hot glue the end. Then fold in the sides and hot glue those down too.
Turn the container until the seam is facing down. Attach a piece of wood to one end with hot glue. Make sure the second piece of wood is level with the first and hot glue that end on.
And that’s it! You’re done, and you have a gorgeous, cheap display for your ears.
I've been going to Disney World consistently since I was a little girl in the mid-'80s, yet it never gets old. Ask me anything about Disney, from Walt's personal life to the latest rides and attractions. I'm sure I know the answer.
