BenSpark Family Adventures

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00691 This pandemic certainly has put a damper on my toy collecting. Sure I still collect some toys but I am not in the stores nearly enough to catch things when they come out. I was lucky enough to be in Walmart the other day and I caught these awesome new Marvel Themed Hot Wheels. These are not character cars but rather cars with a MArvel theme and the theme is Maximum Venom. This theme takes Marvel super heroes and “venomizes” them. So we have Spider-Man, Iron Man, Groot, Captain America and Doctor Strange. I love it when I am there and all of the series is available. It drives me nuts when I miss out on one from a set. So, while I was able to get each of these I am having a hard time completing the Disney character cars that came out recently. There are actually two sets in this photo, There are two cars from Series 6 and four from Series 7. So I figure that series 6 got released early on in the pandemic and series 7 was released recently. I’m missing 4 cars ...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00591 Funko Games provided me with two free samples of their new card game: Something Wild. Opinions are my own. Funko games has a new card game hit on their hands. With Something Wild you and your family can have a fun night of cards and enjoy adorable Disney characters in the Funko Pop style on the cards. The game has a bunch of fun ways to play and each Something Wild pack can be combined with the other ones. So there are six Something Wild decks: a Classic Mickey Mouse one, an Aladdin, A Little Mermaid, A Toy Story, A Nightmare Before Christmas and a Disney Villains one. Each game comes with a mini Pop Figurine that is part of the game. We received Toy Story and Aladdin. Toy Story comes with a Woody Figure and the Aladdin one comes with The Genie. Gameplay starts off a tad tricky but you quickly figure out some strategies to really work the game. Andy and I played our first round together using the Toy Story Something Wild deck. Each player gets 3 character c...

We received a digital download code for the game Gigantosaurus The Game from Outright Games as part of my participation in a Twitter Party today at 11am. Opinions are my own. I am always on the lookout for new fun games for my kids. Andy and Eva has been playing more video games lately and that’s great. I love that they are bonding over several games. I was able to get chosen to participate in a Twitter party for Gigantosaurus The Game and with it came a download code of the whole game that the kids could play on the Nintendo Switch. The game has two major parts to it. There is the adventure portion of the game and there is the racing portion of the game. The racing game has pretty simple controls but a fun experience. AS you zip along the track you have to collect objects and avoid obstacles. Meanwhile much larger dinos are walking around and through the course. You have to be quick as you steer aredound their giant feet. In the adventure portion of the game you can switch between the...

The other day Disney released a new Toy Story 4 poster and trailer. More details of the upcoming movie are revealed. There is a road trip aspect to the movie, Woody reunites with Bo Peep, a bunch of new characters are introduced and there is even some danger going on. The movie has even added some new big names as voices in the movie including Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks and Ally Maki. 

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00080 I realized today that I built this set one year ago. The LEGO Ultron Edition Hulkbuster has been residing on my desk ever since. I enjoy having it here on my desk and like looking at it because it is such an interesting piece. It is huge and it took a long time to build. I did record myself building it for over two hours a year ago and you can see that video below. At the same time as this piece came in so did all the Avengers Infinity War sets. With Avengers: Endgame right around the corner I have been on the lookout for all the new sets for that movie. I think there are at least five sets but they are not out in stores and can’t be ordered at this time. When they come in I will make sure I do some builds on video.

I cannot wait to see Marvel Studios' Avengers: Endgame but I don’t want to see any more trailers. This one was great but revealed a couple of things that, while we obviously know that some people are going to escape their awful predicament just leave us wondering a it longer. I’m talking about Tony Stark. In the first trailer he is on the Benatar (Star Lord’s Ship) and he’s near death. Leave it at that until the movie. If you are watching closely then when the team is assembled in their new uniforms heading, presumably into the new Super Quinjet which is probably fitted for space travel. Those new uniforms look like they are space suits. Walking out to it is Tony Stark and Nebula. He’s on Earth. He’s back. Why did they have to reveal that in the trailer! I mean, we know that he has to survive being stuck in space but come on, let the movie reveal that not the trailer. I also noticed that the trailer showed a lot of Hawkeye who will probably go as Ronin in the film, maybe. He looks ...

The first full trailer for Aladdin has been released and it looks really good. I am going to give Will Smith’s genie a chance because I am a fan of his and I thin he’ll bring his own spin to the character. Robin Williams was a genius and can never be replaced. I think it is okay that there is a new interpretation of the character. So I a going in with an open mind knowing that this is something different. Take a look at the trailer. A thrilling and vibrant live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic, “Aladdin” is the exciting tale of the charming street rat Aladdin, the courageous and self-determined Princess Jasmine and the Genie who may be the key to their future. Directed by Guy Ritchie, who brings his singular flair for fast-paced, visceral action to the fictitious port city of Agrabah, “Aladdin” is written by John August and Ritchie based on Disney’s “Aladdin.” The film stars Will Smith as the Genie; Mena Massoud as Aladdin; Naomi Scott as Jasmine; Marwan Kenzari as Jafar;...

If you have been playing Disney Infinity 3.0 and using the Star Wars characters who have Lightsabers, haven’t you thought to yourself, “I wish these lit up.”? Well, the wait is over but the search is on because Disney Infinity 3.0 has just released six Limited Edition characters with Light FX. The six characters are Kanan Jarrus, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. Each character can be found at a different retailer. I am not sure if later they will be available in all stores but since these are Limited Edition they might be more difficult to gather in one single trip. However, for a true fan these are going to be very sought after. If I end up getting some they are definitely not going to be left out for Andrew to break. He’s already snapped the lightsaber off of Vader and broken Chewy’s crossbow. I think that I initially heard about these at D23 and was very excited about them. I’m really excited to see that they are finally being released. Happy s...

THIS CONTEST IS OVER Marvel’s ANT-MAN is coming out on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and On-Demand on Tuesday, December 8th. To celebrate I have a fantastic giveaway for the Digital HD version. I received my own code as part of this giveaway and promotion and am very excited to add ANT-MAN to my movie collection. Even more excited to add him to the DIGITAL movie collection. This is the way I want to have my movies from now on. I enjoy DVDs but being able to pull up my entire Disney movie collection on so many digital platforms is incredible. With ANT-MAN, big things come in small packages so it makes sense to me that ANT-MAN would help me shrink the amount of things I have in the home and digital movies take up no room at all. MARVEL’S ANT-MAN GET IT EARLY ON DIGITAL 3D, DIGITAL HD AND DISNEY MOVIES ANYWHERE November 17, 2015 AVAILABLE ON 3D BLU-RAY™ COMBO PACK, BLU-RAY, DVD, DIGITAL SD AND ON-DEMAND December 8, 2015 Includes Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes, Making-of Featurette...

Here are some images that were taken during the in-line skating marathon. In MGM At the Finish Line All done, got my medal.

Here I am coming into the Boardwalk area. My final race results. Place First Name Age Gender State Clock Time Chip Time Pace 259 ANDREW 31 M MA 2:16:32 1:27:04 6:38.7

Photo-A-Day #361 04/04/06 We returned home from Disney today. This morning we packed up and then took some pictures around the hotel, this was the centerpiece of the pool. Disney’s Magical Express was everything it promised to be. We checked in to our flight at the hotel and that included checking of our bags. Everything worked out very well, I would reccommend this to anyone. Neil picked us up from the airport and we took Neil and Andrea to Box Seats for dinner. Thanks so much for the ride Neil. We are now home and looking for Oliver, he and Duncan pushed open the door between our apartment and the main house and they both got out. Duncan turned up and was put back in the apartment by my mom but Oliver is somewhere in the house but he’s not coming out yet.

Photo-A-Day #360 04/03/06 Today we hit every park and Downtown Disney except for MGM Studios. We saw so many animals at Animal Kingdom this morning and we got stuck in the Carousel of Progress, irony thy name is my vacation. We had a great dinner in China and got a nice memory book to scrapbook our Disney trips, past, present and future.

Photo-A-Day #359 04/02/06 I finished the Disney 1/2 Marathon in 1 hour and 28 minutes. What a fun morning. I met a Disney cast member and skated with her for about 4 miles. She is a training leader for new cast members. I asked about becoming a photographer for Disney, my dream job. More skaters need to come with us next year. The Disney In-line 1/2 Marathon was a blast. What is needed for the next trip would be a pace car so I can leave when I’m finished rather than wait for the buses to arrive 2 hours later. The official time in which I finished was 1:27:04, much better than I had anticipated. The new equipment was perfect, I’ve never felt better skating, I can imagine how good I would have felt had I trained. I caught up with Allison in Epcot. We called it and early night and got pizza delivery to the room.

Photo-A-Day #358 04/01/06 Today we hit the Disney MGM Studios first thing then over to Wide World of Sports to register for tomorrow’s inline marathon. We each got free wrist and knee pad sets from K2. We had lunch at All Star Sports Cafe and then back to MGM to hit a few more rides. Then off to Animal kingdom to go on safari and to Expedition Everest.

Photo-A-Day #357 03/31/06 We are staying at the All-Star Movies resort. Our hotel theme is the Mighty Ducks. Our trip down was fantastic. Making use of Magical Destinations made everything so easy.

Last night Allison and I took a quick run to the store to get dinner. I don’t know what it is about the holiday’s but this whole week we have not had a thing in the house and have either gone out to dinner or picked up something and brought it home. So, last night we decided to go to the store to pick up something to cook for dinner. We were going to pick up something to make for tonight’s dessert for Christmas Eve with my parents and Tara, Erik and Shelby. We decided on Chocolate cake and we had all the ingredients for it at the house, a fact we realized again while we were at the store. So we picked up two Stuffies.  Stuffies are stuffed clams or quahogs for those outside of New England. Then we hit Benny’s to clear out the rest of their stock of 4X6 frames. (The best prices around for 4X6 frames, under $2 each, sweet!) What with all the pictures we’ve been printing lately it is a good thing. Have a wedding you’ll have great pictures to give all your friends and family for a whil...

I saw the Walt Disney World Inline Marathon about a year ago and wanted to do it then. However the timing was not right so I didn’t participate, however this year I am going to do it. I booked the vacation yesterday. Allison and I are flying down on Song Airlines and are going to stay at the All-Star Movies Resort at Walt Disney World. We are very excited about this. Not that we don’t have plenty of other things to be excited about at the moment. I mean with a wedding coming up and a honeymoon in Aruba how can we not be excited. Despite all the other things to be excited about we are very excited about the Walt Disney World Inline Marathon because Disney holds a special place in our hearts. We have been to Disneyland in California and just this past January we were in Walt Disney World for the Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon (I’m gonna finish this time. Hydrate properly without 15 thousand pee breaks and I will make it.) So training will have to take place before this event. Not like my...

Photo-A-Day #129 08/15/05 Mickey Mouse. Just a random shot today.

I am the Disney Railroad. Not sure how I got that one but there you are. This was submitted by Mo, who is the Parking Lot Tram, she is, I verified it. The Disneyland Railroad: A real steam powered train, like the old mighty Santa Fe, on a picturesque route like no other! You take people from the turn of the century to Frontier-era New Orleans, to the bonafide hometown of Mickey Mouse, and into then into the world of the Future, passing through the Grand Canyon, Jungles, Forrests, Fantasyland, and the ancient world of the Dinosaurs along the way. Always on time, you are steady, reliable, orderly, and a practical form of transportation for your passengers in the park. You greet visitors as they enter and say goodbye to them as they leave tonight. You have an eye for old world detail and craftsmanship, even as you represent the industrial age and the spirit of American ingenuity. An old icon of progress, you may not be the fastest ride or as sleek as your Monorail cousin, but you can rest...