Star Wars: Who is Rey?

WARNING THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS... READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Who is Rey?


After seeing Star Wars The Force Awakens, one compelling question we are left with is Who is Rey? Who is her family? How is she that strong in the force without any training? In my opinion she is a Skywalker and the clues are left there in the movie for us to figure out. When we first me Rey we only know that she was left there by her parents and she lives her life as a scavenger of old ship parts. We quickly learn that she is very skilled at fixing things and eventually we find out she is a great pilot. She learns to fly the Millennium Falcon on the go and is really good at it, something I feel only a strong Jedi could do.

When she meets Maz Kanata, we hear the line "Dear child, the longing you seek is not behind you, it is in front of you". There are probably many ways this line can be taken, but I think it means the path to her father is in front of her. At this point she finds Luke's old lightsaber and see's possibly repressed memories or she is sensing the history of the lightsaber.

At this point she is captured by Kylo Ren and taken to be interrogated. We see Kylo Ren trying to read her mind and he can only get so far before either Rey or Luke have put a block in place. She then very quickly learns to control minds and even use telekinesis without any previous Jedi training.\

After the final battles, she joins the alliance and as soon as she gets in the base R2-D2 wakes up from low power mode and show the rest of the map to reach Luke. Only Rey and Chewbacca take the path on the map to find Luke, where eventually after searching the islands finds Luke Skywalker. The look on Luke's face to me is the look of a father seeing his child after a long time.

The most compelling argument for me is, if Luke disappeared why create a map of your location to be found. We know that R2-D2 has majority of the map and there is one key important section missing, which just so happens the one key piece missing is on Jakku being held by Max von Sydow`s character. I believe Luke hid Rey on Jakku after Kylo Ren and The First Order killed all of his students. This also explains why Kylo Ren always gets upset in the movie when Rey escapes, and not just minor upset but he destroys whatever is in front of him, because he knows his sister will be his demise.

Yes you read that right, I am speculating that Kylo Ren is Rey`s older brother and are both children of Luke.

More to come on this theory in the future, stay tuned....

May The Force Be With You
-The Pin Boys

Star Wars: The Force Awakens The Real New Hope

December 18th 2015 seemed like a date that was taking forever to come around. For all the Star Wars fans out there (and yes there are a lot even if they wont admit it) were eagerly and cautiously awaiting Star Wars Episode VII. Since waiting 10 years since the last Star Wars movie came out, or 32 years since the last really good Star Wars movie has come out, finally thanks to Disney and J.J. Abrams there was optimism and even HOPE for the future of Star Wars movies! I had only watched the trailers for The Force Awakens and tried to stay away from spoiling the movie for me. I rushed to the theater for 10 am to see the first showing for Star Wars on December 18th, I was not disappointed. Upon leaving the theater my first thought was I wish I didn't have to work today, cause I would go and buy another ticket for the next showing. But without giving away any spoilers I would like to give my two points as to why this movie has breathed new life into Star Wars after the disaster of the prequel trilogies.

Point number 1:  A well written story and great a cast of characters!

The story for The Force Awakens is so well written and brings out a lot of emotion in the movie. Defiantly a big reason for that is bringing back writer Lawrence Kasden who wrote Episode V and Episode VI. Lawrence along with J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) have been able to put together a wonderful and compelling story that, in my opinion has revitalized the Star Wars world. Even with a well written story, you need to have actors that make you believe and root for their characters. Daisy Ridley (Rey) and John Boyega (Finn) defiantly deliver on their characters, and for all of their criticism that they faced for having the lead roles, their critics should be silenced after seeing the movie. Of course another great aspect with the characters is having Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher back for the film. The new energy and the nostalgia has you on the edge of your seat.

Point number 2: Practical Effects vs Visual Effects

In Star Wars The Force Awakens they return to using practical effects more the way the original trilogy used them. For those who don't know the difference practical effects are created physically without the use of computer editing, where as in the prequel trilogy they used mostly visual effects. Switching back to using practical effects in my opinion has made the movie more realistic and especially when you watch it in IMAX 3D you feel apart of the movie. Effects are a big part of movies and practical effects make the movie feel that much more real. It was great to see actual Stormtroopers as opposed to visually edited in Stormtroopers.

Overall this is a must see in theaters movie. It is worth the $10-$15 to see it on the big screen. I look forward to seeing it a few more times in theater.

May The Force Be With You
-The Pin Boys

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Pin

Hey everyone,

A pin Alice managed to get for me over the last year that I absolutely cherish is the exclusive Disney Store Star Wars The Force Awakens pin! It was one I had to add to the collection!

 

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

My Year Long Hiatus

Hey everyone,

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog here! It has been a somewhat stressful year, went through some job changes and completely ran myself ragged between work and volunteering, so much that my health was compromised. I took a step back from many things in life, unfortunately this was one of them. I have since made things more stable and am progressing back into the things I am passionate about, and Disney is one thing I am very passionate about.

Together my wife and I have teamed up and started a blog together! We have started Exploring The Kingdom and our blog can be found at explorethekingdom.blogspot.ca! We have started an Instagram account posting pictures from our three previous Walt Disney World trips! (instagram.com/exploringthekingdom). Please check them out and share our love of Disney!

2015 was a pretty up and down year, I really missed Disney World as we did not get there this year. I really missed the pin trading. But throughout the year both myself and Alice have worked really hard and we are happy to be returning to Disney World in January 2016! I have dusted off the pin collection and ordered some more for trading. I look forward to escaping the cold Canadian winter again and head to sunny Florida!

So please join us as we are driving this year to Disney and will be videoing our travels and time at Disney World.

Stay tuned for more!
Happy Trading
-The Pin Boys

Walt Disney Presents...

This is one of my favorite pins, it's from the Disney Store when they sold pins. It's #7 of the 100 Years of Dreams series.

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

Two Worlds: Tarzan & Jane

My wife is a big fan of Tarzan, so when we managed to come across this two worlds Tarzan & Jane pin, we had to get it. It is from a Disney Store Magical Moments series. It's to bad the Disney Store doesn't sell pins anymore.

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

Disney Movie Rewards Pin

You heard that right, even the Disney Movie Rewards has pins you can get with your reward points. I can't believe I forgot to post this pin when I got it a month ago. It is a jumbo pin featuring Mickey Mouse, and is exclusive to only Disney Movie Rewards and has the movie rewards logo in the bottom left corner. It even comes with a stand.

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

Pin Feature: My 1st Visit

Today I am showing you the pin I got on my first visit to Walt Disney World, and is one of the pins that got me started on my collection. It is from 2012 and is the 1st visit pin they had for sale in the pin store at Downtown Disney.

 

I have some special exclusive pins in the mail from the Disney Movie Club, so stay tuned for those as I will post pictures of them when I get them.

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

Disney Studio Store June 2014 Pin Release/Event

Here are the pins coming out for June at the Disney Studio Store in Hollywood. Information about the event can be found here: Disney Studio Store Facebook Page

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

March Flower & Garden Pin Release

Here are a set of 5 pins that have been released for the Flower & Garden festival at Walt Disney World.

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

Found this $15 Pin Trading

In my trading at Walt Disney World, I managed to find this pin, which is a $15 retail priced pin at Disney World. And yes it is real!

It opens up and has some classic pictures of Mickey Mouse and a great picture of Walt and Mickey in the middle.

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

Pin Trading Is Everywhere!

On my recent trip to Walt Disney World, I wrote down some of the lesser known places to pin trade. One of the most common ones, but easily forgotten is that all 4 parks have a pin trading book at guest relations. Along with guest relations at all of the parks, you can go to the stroller and wheel chair rental area and each park has a pin trading stroller.

Here is the breakdown of some of the lesser known places:

Hotels

Pop Century - At the Pop Century resort, in the Everything Pop store at the main counter, there is a pin board that is open at certain times in the day.

Coronado Springs - At Coronado Springs resort, in the Panchitos Gifts store, at the main counter in the center they occasionally have a pin trading rubik's cube.

In the back of Panchitos Gifts, there is a wall of pins for sale, at the counter next to that, they have a pin trading Pinata.

Contemporary Resort - At the Contemporary Resort, when you enter or leave Chef Mickey's, there is a pin trading board at the host stand.

In the Fantasia store, at the counter they have a pin trading board in a drawer.

Parks

Magic Kingdom - At the host stand in Tony's Town Square, there is a pin book to trade with.

In Frontierland, at the Frontierland Trading Post, there is a pin board available anytime to trade with.

At Big Top Souvenirs, in New Fantasyland, they have fake popcorn with pins on them you can trade with.

Epcot - At the host stand in Coral Reef, there is a pin board to trade with.

In Norway, at the Puffins Roost there is a pin board to trade with.

At the Traders store, in what would have been the Africa section of The World's Showcase, there is a pin book to trade with.

Hollywood Studios - In the store at Rockin' Roller Coaster, where you can purchase a photo of yourself on the ride, they have a drum with pins you can trade with.

At the entrance of Muppet Vision 3D, if you ask the person working, they have a pin board they can bring out for you.

Animal Kingdom - The gift store outside of the park, right beside Rainforrest Cafe, they have a pin trading board and a pin trading vest.

The first cart on your left, just past the Oasis at Animal Kingdom, on the other side of the bridge, they have a pin book you can trade with.

These are just some of the places I found on my trip, I'm sure there is lot's more. If you know of a place I did not mention, feel free to leave a comment below. Remember also, Disney likes to change things, so some of these places might change.

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

4 Parks 1 Day!

My wife and I equally love Disney World and one thing we always wanted to accomplish is doing all 4 parks in 1 day. This trip we finally planned to accomplish this goal. We started in Animal Kingdom and rode Expedition Everest. We then made our way to Hollywood Studios and rode Rockin' Roller Coaster, we had a 80 minute wait for that one. Then after Hollywood Studios, we walked over to Epcot and rode Test Track. It was another long wait, but it was totally worth it. The speed of Test Track is amazing and when you whip around the corner at 65 mph, there is no better feeling.

Once through Test Track, we hoped on the monorail and headed for our finishing point in the Magic Kingdom. Once in Magic Kingdom, we made our way to Space Mountain. What better way to finish the day with one of the most iconic rides at Disney! It was a tiring day, but a very exciting one. We made sure to get our picture taken at every park that day.

I guess the next goal to set our sights on is all 6 parks in 1 day, well that wont happen for awhile. Also, yes, there was plenty of successful pin trades that day!

Happy Trading

-The Pin Boys

I got the Scoop!

It's my last day of my Walt Disney World vacation, and I was finally able to meet Scoop Sanderson. I was lucky enough to trade with Scoop and I was even more fortunate to receive his special pin trading pin.

He personalized it directly to me with his autograph. It was a fantastic pin trading trip and more pictures will come, but I am in dreamland now with receiving that pin.

Happy trading

-the Pin Boys