Monday, July 25, 2016

Do You Wanna Build A Castle?

I am a fan of a lot of different things. Pop music from the 60s & 70s; game shows; The New York Yankees; the popular sit-com, The Big Bang Theory; and the US Apollo space program just to name a few. 

But this post is about, what are, without a doubt, my top two favorite things. Through, what I presume is an expansion of an already existing licensing agreement they are creating, for the second time this year, something I find very exciting. Let me explain. 

Cinderella's Castle in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park is one of the most photographed places in America. 

The emotion you feel when seeing it in the distance from the far end of Main Street USA as you start your day at Disney World's most popular park in the quintessential experience for any Disney fan. 

To put it simply, other than Mickey Mouse, Cinderella's Castle is the ultimate Disney icon. 

Millions of dollars in merchandise with some type of representation of the castle on it is sold every year.

Later this summer (Sept 1) what could very well be the ultimate take-home representation of Cinderella's Castle will be released to the public. But you won't find it in a Disney Park. You'll find it at your local Lego Store. 
This is the Lego Disney's Cinderella's Castle Set #71040. It has 4080 pieces and is 29 inches high, 17 inches wide, and 12 inches deep. It is amazing in it's detail. Here is a picture of it in front of the real thing. 
As you can see it is awesome. You can read all the details about this set by searching for it on Lego.com. 

To be honest, when I first saw this set announced in my news feed online, I thought it was a fan built model. But when I found out it would be available to the public, I lost my mind. 

There is only one thing about this set that has me second guessing my "I want it yesterday" reaction. That's the price. 

If you want to have this amazing Disney World icon in your collection you will have to part with $350. 

As a Lego fan and collector that price has me back on my heels a bit. My initial reaction to it was "no thanks, too much for me". 

In the past couple of years I have passed on Lego sets based on the TV show, The Simpsons, because they were priced at $200. 

But then I did some research. I discovered that Lego has a tendency to price exclusive sets at a higher price. In addition to the Simpsons sets, I have seen sets in the Star Wars, Super Heroes, Lego Movie, Technic, Architecture and Creator brands priced between $200 & $400. 

To the right fan these sets might very well be worth the price. Not for me though. I'm either not a fan or they're too high priced.  

While this Castle set seems to be at the upper end of the price range for Lego, it looks like a great set and promises to be very popular. 

In addition, I have found out that when this set becomes available, Lego will reissue their Series 1 Disney Mini-Figures first marketed earlier this year. So not only will you get the 5 mini-figs with the Castle set (the Tinkerbell is an exclusive) but you can get 16 others as well. 

While Lego has produced sets with castles based on a licensed Disney IP before; they were all in their Disney Princesses line. 

With the creation of Cinderella's Castle, Lego veers off the path of making sets based on Disney characters and stories and ventures into the world of Disney Parks.

I can't help but wonder if this is a one time thing or are there going to be other Lego kits based on other Disney Park attractions?

Think of the possibilities. What truly dedicated Disney Park fan wouldn't want a Lego model of the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain or even a Fantasmic set with a replica of the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater?

You have my permission to dream up your own set idea but don't get too excited about it. I haven't heard or read about plans for any Park based sets other than this one. That's just me wishing upon a star.  

Now back to the price point for the Cinderella's Castle set. I had to do a little research to possibly justify the purchase for me. I looked on the Shop Disney app for Castle models or figurines available in Disney World or Disney Stores for comparison. I found this figurine.

It is about half the size of the Lego set but is also $395. So there you have a comparison. 

Because of all the comments and reactions I've seen on social media, I know that this set is going to sell fast. I have an advantage in regard to this. 

As I mentioned earlier, the kit will become available to the public on September 1. But as a Lego VIP rewards club member I can buy it at the Lego Store on August 17. That's a big advantage as far as I'm concerned. 

So after much debate and consideration I believe I am going to invest in this special Lego Disney set. I know it's expensive but I think it will be worth the price. 

More than likely, I will be in front of the Lego store in Nashville at 10AM on August 17 to be one of the first to buy the Castle set. 

I am excited about this decision for a couple of reasons. I look forward to having it on display in my home to remind me of the Magic Kingdom all the time. But most of all I look forward to building the castle with my wife. We like to assemble kits together. Putting one that represents a place where we've made so many memories by ourselves and with our families will be a special experience. 

So what do you think? Are you excited about this Lego kit? Are you going to buy one? Let me know.  





Wednesday, July 20, 2016

A Unique WDW Opportunity

Like most "over the top" Disney fans I am always looking for information to help me plan my next trip to Walt Disney World.

There are thousands of online websites and hundreds of podcasts, and lots of books available. It's just a matter of sorting them out to compose your "toolkit" that helps you with each trip to "The Vacation Kingdom."

The Touring Plans website (touringplans.com) is one of my favorites. Len Testa and his staff provide information that's very detailed. Being able to access a picture of the view from every hotel room on Walt Disney World property is just one example. You can subscribe for less than $15 a year. 

My favorite feature is the Crowd Calendar. It uses a formula (explained on the website) to estimate, on a scale of 1-10, how crowded each of the WDW parks will be on each and every day of the year. The higher the number the more people there will be in the parks that day. This is an important factor in planning and enjoyment of a Walt Disney World vacation. 

Back in the Spring, I learned that the estimate for September 9, my birthday, this year is a "1". This is very rare. In fact, that level is predicted only one other time in the next 365 days.  

A day in the Magic Kingdom with a relatively small crowd would be the ultimate in access to attractions and getting around. The fact that it would be on my birthday, to me, is more than a coincidence; its an opportunity. 

One of the things on my Walt Disney World bucket list is going a park by myself. Not that I don't enjoy going with my wife or my kids. But being in the Magic Kingdom with the option of doing only I want, at my pace, is very appealing to me.     

If it were not for such a compelling low crowd level forecast I wouldn't even think about going. But spending my birthday in a Disney Park for the second time (thanks to the generosity of my wife, in 2010, I got to spend my 50th birthday in the Magic Kingdom) would be something special. Crossing "solo trip" off my list would be cool too. 

If I do go it will be my 3rd visit to Walt Disney World in less than a year. This will mean that I've used up my bank of trips to Disney for at least a few years. 

What am I going to do? Keep checking back with this blog. I'll let you know very soon.