So, If you are like me you know have added Sorcerer Mickey to your lot of characters today (unless you were lucky enough to get one at D23).  I think of the characters to come out, Mickey has been the most anticipated character to be released. I know when we were at our local Wal-Mart there were only 3 left. So we picked up 2. One to play with and one for keeping. 

Every time we get a new character, the first thing we do is play with them under my account so their statue ends up in the Hall of Heroes. So while exploring things the last time we got a new character, I noticed the following but forgot to take pictures and discuss it then. But now that we have Mickey I remembered it and here we are. 

The first picture here is a terrace area behind the HOH. There are six empty pedestals. Now the front two don't look like much but the middle two look very similar to those that the crystal characters have been placed. Could these be future characters? Could they be future special characters like the crystal ones? 

Now, the reason I ask such questions is for reasons like the next picture. The Crystal character pedestals were not always there. These were placed about the same time I originally noticed the above pictured area. The crystal character pedestals are not like the regular pedestals. They are not as tall and as of right now do not give you any information as to who the character is that goes along with the empty position. We have two empty spots left. Crystal Buzz (who is out, we just haven't picked him up yet) and Crystal Sorcerer Mickey. 


Now one thing we have noticed about the Crystal area is the spacing. I don't have the full area in the picture but it will serve for what is needed. As you can see, there are two empty spaces next to crystal Lone Ranger. These spots do not have pedestals in them either. Now if the crystal characters we are aware of were going to be the only crystal characters released, one would believe they would create this area to be equal. As you may notice when you play (as you can't tell in this picture), there is one pedestal to the left of Lightning McQueen.  That pedestal is for Buzz and the empty pedestal you see in the picture i believe is for Crystal Mickey. To the left of that pedestal for Buzz is one open area unlike next to Lone Ranger where there are two. 

So could this mean more crystal characters are in the works? More characters of any sort? I think now that Disney owns Lucas films and Marvel, there is a lot of opportunity for future characters. Star Wars and Avengers characters would sell like crazy. I don't think anyone knows what Disney has planned, but everyone has their own thoughts and hopes. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments. 

With 2013 Drawing to a close I thought we could look at some of the upcoming items coming out for Disney Infinity for the coming months. 


Upcoming Characters

Rapunzel 1/7 (Out at Walmart NOW)
Wreck it Ralph 1/7 (out at Best Buy NOW)
Vanellope 1/7 (Out at Target NOW)
Wreck it Ralph Pack with Ralph, Vanellope and 2 textures our 3/11
Sorcerer Mickey 2/9 (1/26 at Walmart)
Frozen Elsa and Anna (Individual release 3/11) Frozen set with texture discs out now at Target, Gamestop and Walmart
Phineas, Agent P, and 2 Danville Texture disc set 4/1
Phineas 4/29
Agent P 4/29



Series 3 Power Discs 
Showing to release Feb 9th @ TRU

According to Disney Infinity Wiki These are the next group to be released.

• Disc 1 (Ability): Mickey's Sorcerer Hat
• Disc 2 (Ability): Violet's Force Field
• Disc 3 (Ability): Rapunzel's Healing
• Disc 4 (Ability): Chernabogs Power
• Disc 5 (Toys): Wall-E's Fire Extinguisher
• Disc 6 (Toys): Toy Story Mania Blaster
• Disc 7 (Toys): Dragon Firework Cannon
• Disc 8 (Toys): Tantor the Elephant
• Disc 9 (Toys): Phillipe
• Disc 10 (Toys): Angus
• Disc 11 (Toys): Calico Helicopter
• Disc 12 (Toys): Cruella De Vil's Car
• Disc 13 (Customization): Wall-E's Collection
• Disc 14 (Customization): Buy N Large Atmosphere
• Disc 15 (Rare): Disney Parks Parking Lot Tram

Now the question is where do the Danville textures come in. As shown above they will be released with Phineas and Agent P yet they are not listed in the disc set and according to the Disney Infinity site there is only going to be 15 discs released in Series 3. 

What are your thoughts? 
Let us know..........

As you all know, Disney Infinity is everywhere and there is a lot of speculation as to what is next. Well per the Toys R Us facebook page..

"Disney Infinity Mr. Incredible and Sulley Infinite Crystal Series figures, plus Emperor Zurg's Wrath power disc, available 10/13 ONLY at #Toysrus"

So on Sunday 10/13 Toys R Us will have Crystal Sully, Crystal Mr. Incredible and a Zurg Disc pack available for purchase.

Do you plan to get them all or wait. Let us know. 

So if you are like me, you have now purchase most of the characters and power discs (Darn you Toys R Us, I still need Mike's Car). Also if you are like me you may be wondering what is next. Well if you go to the Hero's Stadium you will notice that there are more discs then what you can currently buy and more statues then you can purchase. So I went through and clicked on each one. I will have the list below. 

Now going through the discs and characters in the Hall of Heroes and various sources on the internet, I have been able to figure out the Next Group of characters coming out. 
They are as follow:

Characters
Woody - You can already pre=order for delivery October 1st via Walmart
Jack Skellington - You can pre-order Jack from Game Stop or October 5th delivery
Buzz Lightyear
Jessie - From Toy Story
Ralph
Venellope Von Schweetz
Phineas Flynn
Agent P
Anna - From Frozen
Elsa (The Snow Queen) - From Frozen
Mickey Mouse Sorcerer*
Rapunzel

Jessie and Buzz are rumored to be released in an adventure pack (Adventure has been rumored Toy Story in space)
Anna and Elsa are rumored to be released in a double pack that comes with power discs. 
There is also rumor of a 'Girls Power Pack' that will include Venllope, Rapunzel and Violet. 
* Mickey has already been released at D23 last month but was a limited release of 5000. They are available on eBay for around $125. The regular release of Sorcerer Mickey will be in early 2014.

POWER DISCS
Looking through the Hall of Heroes, I have compiled a list of discs that are currently listed. Comparing the Disney Infinity Website listing of discs vs the number in the Hall, they do not match. The Disney Infinity site lists 34 Discs for series 2 and 3 while the Hall of Heroes only shows 33. This does not include the Toys R us exclusive discs that are coming out. 

A theory I have on the disc count difference is, it may be possible that there is one final disc that will be placed in the center of the fountain of the hall of Heroes.  Now this is just a guess but it is the only spot available that i see for another disc. 

The list of Discs as seen in the Hall of Heroes is below.
(Discs marked with a † are Toys R Us Exclusive disc)

Toys to ride
Electric Mayhem Bus
Cruella De Vil's Car
Pizza Planet Delivery Truck
Disney Parks Parking Lot Tram
Calico Helicopter - From Bolt
Maximus the Horse - From Tangled
Angus the Horse - From Brave
Headless Horseman's Horse
Phillipe the Horse - From Beauty and the Beast
Tantor the Elephant - From Tarzan
Captain Hook's Ship†

Other Toys
Dragon Firework Cannon - Mulan
Toy Story Mania Blaster
Flamingo Croquet Mallet - From Alice in Wonderland
Condor Wing Glider - From Condorman
WALL-E's Fire Extinguisher
Hangin' Ten Stitch with Surfboard†

Toybox Terrains
WALL-E's Collection
Victor's Experiments - From Frankenweenie
Jack's Scary Decorations
Frozen Flourish - From Frozen
Tri-State Area Terrain - Phineas and Ferb
On the Grid - From Tron†

Toybox Skies
Buy N Large Atmosphere - From WALL-E
New Holland Skyline - From Frankenweenie
Halloween Town Sky
Chill in the Air - Frozen
Danville Sky - Phineas and Ferb
Tron Interface†

ABILITIES POWER DISCS

Ralph's Power of Destruction
Chernabog's Power - Fantasia
Dr. Doofenshmirtz's Damage-inator
Electro-Charge - Frankenweenie
Rapunzel's Healing
Star Command Shield
Violets Force Field
Mickey's Sorcerer Hat
Emperor Zurg's Wrath†
Merlin's Summon†
C.H.R.O.M.E. Damage Increaser†
Scrooge McDuck's Lucky Dime†
User Control - Tron†

It is interesting that Disney would show both series 2 and 3 of the power discs already. Usually Disney tries to keep things under wraps until right before release. Going back to the numbers though, from the DI website, the discs are in 3 categories, Toys, Customization and Abilities. Going by their count we can guess at what the 'Rare' discs will be. 

The website has a total of 14 toys listed and the Hall of Heroes has 15. So one 'Rare' disc will be a toy. The DI website has 8 customization discs listed and the Hall of Heroes has 10, so there are 2 more 'Rare' Discs. Lastly, the website has 9 ability discs listed and the Hall of Heroes has only 8. Here is where the difference in numbers shows up. Being there is once 'Rare' unaccounted for, it is possible that this is the group that it will be in. According to the DI website it shows it will either be a customization or toy disc though. With the disc count not matching, it leaves us with some questions. Why are the numbers different? Why did Disney show both series 2 and 3 in the Hall of Heroes  but only series 2 for the characters? Are they trying to throw us off for some reason? Will there be more discs in the end than what they have listed? 

Stemming from the last question, as i have said in my previous blog post, could there be more? Hopes and thoughts tell us yes there could be more. A lot more. This could be a huge cash cow for Disney. The possibilities are endless. Especially now that they own Lucas films and Marvel (granted the Marvel issues is still touchy being that Universal still has some rights to some of the Marvel stuff). Is there a future for Starwars, or Marvel related worlds? One would hope they would go on from series 3 into series 4+. The possibilities are endless and could go into many releases into many years from now. 

From what i understand, the Toys R Us exclusive discs are to be released randomly and I haven't found a definite timeline for them. However, from what I am reading, if you didn't get a Mike's New Car disc or Crystal Mcqueen you may be looking at a trade or eBay to get these. It sounds like they are sold out and the next packs coming out from TRU will be the next in their series. For the Power Disc it will be Tron - User Control and I am unsure as to which will be the next crystal character released from Toys R Us. If you need to make trades and have extras you can try infinitrader.net. This site was created specifically to make trades for your infinity discs and already has a lot of members ready to trade. 

One last note. On Sept. 7th there will be a trading event at all Toy's R Us stores nationwide. It will begin at 12pm and only go until 2pm. This will be another opportunity to trade your power discs if you have any to trade or to get ones you still need or want. It is rumored that this will be the day that the next TRU exclusives will be released. There is also talk that the buy one pack get one pack for $1.00 deal for power discs will be back also. 

So Let us know your thoughts. What do you think of DI so far and what are your thoughts or hopes for the future? 

We were among the early-adopters, going out the Sunday morning of release to pick up our copy of Disney’s newest gaming venture – Disney INFINITY. I was a bit worried because we didn't go very early, and I’d seen reports of some stores being sold out in other areas. We went to Target (my wife’s other obsession, besides our shared Walt Disney World obsession). We rushed to the electronics department in the back of the store, and there it was: A half-aisle with starter packs, extra character figures, power discs and multi-character packs. All were fully stocked and waiting. Currently, Disney INFINITY is available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Free, online, iPad and PC versions that will allow you to load elements from your console copy of the game have been announced for late August and October, 2013 releases respectively.

We bought the Xbox starter pack, which includes: the game disc, a Disney INFINITY powerbase (where you put your figures, power discs, and gadgets), Sully, Captain Jack Sparrow and Mr. Incredible characters, the gadgets for Incredibles, Pirates, and Monsters U, and one power disc. We also bought a few more power discs (they come in packs of two), and finally we purchased the Lone Ranger play set which included the Lone Ranger, Tonto and the Lone Ranger gadgets.

Power discs are game pieces that allow your character to have the special item or power on that disc or to change the look of your toy box. Round ones can be used with your character throughout, and the hexagon ones can be used in the toy box. Then there are special and rare ones. Currently, it looks like there are 3 Series of power discs coming out. Series one is out and has 20 discs. They are for sale in blind packs of 2 in per package, so you cannot see what you are getting. Like blind pin packs and Vinylmations, you WILL end up with doubles. Disney knows this, and they encourage you to trade them.

There are currently 17 characters in Series 1, and it looks like there is a Series 2 ready to go soon. The designs are actually pretty good, and the figures have some weight to them. However, I can see them breaking easily (some more so than others). It looks as if they are just glued to the base. Without breaking one, I’m not sure yet. Why do I say yet? Did I mention I have to boys?

These figures and the power discs will likely end up pulling double duty. In addition to being game pieces, they will be collected, displayed and traded – probably even by people that have no intention of ever playing the game. Trading locations, dates, and times are already cropping up at Walt Disney World, Disneyland and even at video game stores. A collectible Disney INFINITY market has already cropped up on eBay. An early, limited release figure of Sorcerer Mickey was available at D23 and is already commanding auction prices of over $120. Rare power discs sold with a Sorcerer Mickey boost the asking price to close to $250. Those prices may come down when the Sorcerer Mickey figure becomes available to the general public, though it is unclear whether the figure released to the public will have all of the same in-game features as the special edition version.

The game starts you off “? With just a spark of inspiration ?.” You travel around as a spark and collect other sparks as you begin to transform into a spark character. This beginning spark scene is the intro to the tutorial and when you are done with the tutorial you will be in your toy box. The ending of the tutorial is really awesome. You will see a lot of the characters that are available for use in the game or that will be available in the near future.

Game play in the toy box basically involves world building. As you work through the adventures, you earn spin tokens that you can use to unlock build pieces. Once you have a collection of build pieces, you can go nuts and build whatever you can imagine! One thing I have been disappointed in so far is that you are supposed to be able to play with up to four people in your toy box. So far, I have not been able to connect to any friends online, so I don’t know whether four-player mode is working. If you are not skilled at crafting your own world, there are several worlds available to download, and you can play in those. This mode is very reminiscent of Minecraft. If you have seen some of the worlds people have created there, I can only imagine the possibilities within the Disney universe.

Game play in the play sets is pretty good. There could be a bit more to them. They are essentially scavenger hunts, with a few bad guys here and there. You can take to in-game characters to get mini tasks within the larger task you are working toward completing.

Our release-day purchase decision was pretty last minute, so we didn't do much research before heading to the store. Having looked at others’ purchase experiences as well as mine, here are a few things I wish I had known/done before buying:

Compare Prices
When we purchased the game Target had the Lone Ranger and Cars play sets at half price. Toys-R-Us had characters at buy one get one 50% off and power discs at buy one pack get a pack for $1. I don't know if these prices are still being offered but again keep checking. We just found the Cars playset at Walmart for $19.95 this weekend. 

Playing two characters together in regular game mode requires two characters from the same universe.
You can mix-and-match characters from different universes in the Toy Box. But in regular game mode, if you want to play in the Monsters U universe, you will need two characters from that movie. (Mike and Sully will work). You will not be able to play with Jack Sparrow in Monsters U, and you will not be able to have Mike sail a ship in the Pirates adventure. (I was very disappointed by this).

Toys-R-Us has exclusive power discs and characters.
Toys-R-Us exclusives are not available anywhere else. It does not appear that they will ever be made available other than at Toys-R-Us.

Overall Review
I give it a B. My children love it. I like certain aspects of it. In my opinion it left a lot to be desired, but it still gets a B because:
1. It can be played across many platforms. As long as you have characters from the same Disney universe, you can play with friends, even if they use a different gaming system. If you have an XBox 360 and your friend has a PS3, but you both have Monsters U figures, you can bring your Sully figure over to his house and play your Sully with his Mike, even though you use different game systems.
2. The potential of the toy box worlds yet to be built, especially due to the cross-platform nature of the game. The possibilities are immense. The potential for a huge online community sharing designs and elements is amazing.
3. The expandability and flexibility of this system makes it open to the addition of other Disney properties. The rumors have already begun about Star Wars and Marvel figures, worlds and power chips. I can definitely see this getting expensive for me!

What would it need to earn an A?
1. More in-depth game play in the adventures.
2. Allow all characters in all parts of the game. (I kind of get why they didn't. I mean It would be weird to try to get Mater to sail a ship and row a boat and such. But there’s no real reason why it’s not possible).
3. Allow friends to help and assist in Adventure game play online.

What do you think of Disney INFINITY? Are you playing already? Do you plan on playing soon? Tell us about it, and about your Disney INFINITY gaming experiences in the comments

Ok, so a bit of a rant toward Woman's Day. For all of you that get this magazine (if any of you do) I would like to suggest canceling. They have posted an article that has stirred up a lot of Travel Agents and Agencies. I will provide a link to their article in this post. 

First I would like to say, to those who have been my client and to those who may be my future clients, I thank you. 

Now Woman's Day has posted an article originally named 10 things a travel agent will not tell you. Because of the uproar from agents and agencies they have removed one of the points but still left 9 erroneous and misleading facts up. 

To summarize the points the article makes about travel agents.
1) We make commission and will push you to get things you don't want to make more money or get big bonuses.
2) We cannot book all airlines and some we can only book as a package
3) We lie about our experiences to close a sale and tell a client that we have been somewhere we have not.
4) We lie and mislead you to only book your trip during certain days so we can get more commission.
5) We force travel insurance when it isn't necessary.
6) Travel agents are only good (sometimes) for big trips. (Oh and it is going to cost you big)
7) TA's will lie about refunding from online booking systems to get you to book through us instead.
8) A travel Agent may not find you the best price
9) Get a travel rewards card. Your agent doesn't like those and don't want you to use them.

Click here for the Woman's Day article 

Ok Now to argue the points. (In general all of WD's points are based on Agents drive for commission and airfare)

1) A lot of agents anymore are home based and are not in this to get rich. It is a side job or something they do because they like to help others explore. Are there bonuses? Yes. But they are not easily attained and most of your home based agents will not see these bonuses or may only qualify for a few of them. So we are not driven by them. 

2) Ok this one is a bit of a mash. Can we book airlines? Yes, but most of the time we are not doing anything different than you would do, as most airlines do not pay commission anymore so there is not a booking engine for us to work through. Not to mention you will usually get a better deal booking it directly with the airline anyways. Whether you book it or we book it the price will generally be the same unless an agent adds a fee for their time.  Some agents will book air for you and they will receive nothing for it. 
Also, sites like Expedia and Travelocity don't always have all airlines listed. If you do a search you will notice that Southwest, American Airlines, and Frontier are not listed. Those can be great airlines to fly and I know for a fact Southwest runs some awesome promos from time to time. 

3) I know that I have not been everywhere. I wish I had, as I would be able to give you the full details on every resort. But time and cost are just two things that prevent this from being attainable. So like most agents if we are unfamiliar with something we will do one of a few things. We will research places. Look up reviews, contact other agents or clients that have been there and get their opinions and give you the best choices we find out of the places we have found that seem to fit your preferences the best. The other option is to guide you to an agent that has more experience in the destination you are looking for. 

4) All agents that I know of will look at what you are looking for; dates you want to go and will let you know if there is a cheaper day to go if they find something. In general the only thing that will change as far as moving your vacation a day or three will be the cost of air.  Usually resort fees have broader fee schedules and usually unless you move your dates by weeks you will not see a price difference or if you do it will be a small one.  

5) We do not force travel insurance. In fact it has become law that we do not automatically give you insurance. We must have your approval in order to add insurance. If we add it and you didn't agree to it we can get into major trouble.  In the end it is your choice. Whether you want it or not, the decision is up to you. Now I will say this. While there may be times where your own insurances will cover all of your possible issues there are some things your insurances may not cover and the insurances we offer will usually be built specifically for traveling.  We can't force you into it. But for around $100 to have a guarantee that if your bags are lost or a hurricane comes or you need emergency evacuation you have that piece of mind knowing you will have the help you need not only from the travel insurance but usually the travel agent will be there to help also.

6) Travel agents can be a help to you whether it is just a hotel reservation or a 2 week safari in Africa. If you book with an agent, they are there to help you through any issues you may have. Now I am not saying we will be able to fix everything 100% every time. But if you have been working with an agent, they know you. You are comfortable talking with them and they can contact the hotel/resort/destination for you and I can guarantee that they will try their hardest and will do everything they can to resolve whatever the issue may have been.  I had one client who was on their family vacation. In the process of getting to their resort they got lost and they couldn't get their GPS to work. They contacted me at almost 10pm at night. I helped figure out where they were and got them to where they needed to be. I wasn't mad about it. It is what I do and why I am here for you. 

7) This one I can't say much about other than we don't lie about it. There is no reason for us to. In the past getting refunds for cancellation or getting changes were not easy to do with online booking engines. Those processes may have changed but I still hear a lot of complaints about online booking engines when assistance is needed.  Call a number, hope to get a person you can understand and get your issue resolved. If you book through an agent, your agent is there to help you. They will be the one you call and we will take it from there. They are the one doing the leg work to assist you and to help make everything goes smooth and easy. If you are not happy about something your agent will not be happy. As said before, we are not here for just commissions. We are here to help. We want you to have a good trip. We enjoy hearing of the great time our clients had about the things they experienced. If you have a bad trip that reflects on us so our goal is to keep you happy. That can't be said so much for someone who is working for an online call service. If you don't like their service it isn't much to them. You will hang up and they will move on; they don't get to know you and your family like an agent will.

8) This one I will be honest with. I may not find you the best deal or cheapest room rate. No agent will know every deal that every hotel, supplier or vendor may offer. We have a good idea on most but will never be able to keep track of them all. So yes, you may find a better deal or a cheaper room. But if you do find a deal and you contact your agent they will work with you to get that deal. 
Now for an example: Say you work with an agent and book a trip to Walt Disney World©. Now, say an offer comes out for this vacation you booked months ago. That agent will be on the phone trying to apply that offer to save you money. And I can attest to this because when these offers come out, it is not uncommon to be on hold for several hours just to apply one discount. The last discount came out I was on hold for roughly 3 hours and 30 minutes. There were other agents that were on hold for 4 - 5+ hours. Why? To ensure their clients got a better price. And yes it does cut our commissions down but as said before, that isn't the only reason we do this and that example shows it right there.   

9) I don't know what the point is to this point they were trying to make. If you have a rewards card we should be able to use it. Disney© has a rewards Visa and points earned can be used for your Disney vacation and any agent will assist you with this. Again, this one I believe is in reference mostly to airfare as that is what most rewards points are good for. Some can be used for hotels (the Disney rewards Visa) but most often they are for air. But since we don't get commission on most airfare this doesn't affect us. So if you have one, don't be afraid to mention it to your agent. They will look into it and apply them when applicable. (Unless you have points for air and book yourself)


So if you read their article and then referenced my points against theirs, you can see that their article is full of misinformation and untruths. Then if you look through the replies from all of the agents about the article you will just see more validation to the points I made here. 


Now some have looked into this article and those whom have been quoted in it. 
Here is what was found: 
Donna Cambridge, owner of Chesterfield Cruise & Travel is out of business.

After searching for Wendy Stone, Home Based Agent we were unable to find any reference at all of her whereabouts or if she is still in business.

Author - Anne Rodreique-Jones now works for XO Group Media. However, she worked for an online travel agency prior to that. Her information in this article would be deemed as biased.


Here is their lame apology. 


"Thank you to all the hard-working travel agents who provided feedback on this story. The goal of this article was to inform consumers on how they can get the best prices on travel. Helping readers find value is Woman’s Day’s main objective, and we recognize that travel agents provide valuable services that help women’s vacation dreams come true. We’re very sorry if that didn’t come through with this article. We’re happy to say we will be highlighting these services in the October issue of Woman’s Day magazine and in a story in December on WomansDay.com. We’ve thoroughly reviewed this article and have removed point 9 (about airline commission) based on information you provided. We thank you again for sharing your expertise and doing the great work that you do. We’re looking forward to working with some of you closely on our December online feature story."


Now as was said, WD has looked over the article and removed one of the points and offered the above lame apology. But for me that isn't good enough. A lot of people read WD and this misinformation does us agents no justice. I ask that this article be removed completely.  And if you agree please let them know. If you receive a subscription from them I ask you to cancel it. From what I am gathering we are not the first group that they have written an article about like this and if that is their practice then none of their articles do anyone any good.