Sonny Eclipse - visibly 'spaced out' ( but now repaired! )

Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So a friend of mine is currently at the Magic Kingdom, and brought something to my attention that I thought might be of interest to others here.

Much like myself, he is a big fan of Animatronics and makes it a point to visit all the related Attractions and Shows with impressive figures.
Part of his visit this afternoon involved stopping by Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe to enjoy a show or two performed by Sonny Eclipse.
For those not familiar with Sonny, this is a Animatronic 'galactic lounge lizard' alien character that performs a series of musical show skits onstage in the main dining area of Comic Ray's counter service location in Tomorrowland.

So my friend is there to grab a bite and see one of Sonny's skits....when he discovers this -
A totally 'dead' figure right out in Guest view onstage.
No skits running, no figure moving...at all.

Here is a photo he snapped and sent to me just now :

image_zpsgfjjjwij.jpeg




As a Parks fan in general, and a major AA fan, I found this to be 'bad show' and a little surprising.
Is Sonny simply 'spacing out' and some Cast Member forgot to start him up this morning, or is Sonny 'broken' and non-operational?
I recall all the talk over the last few years about WDW maintenance cut backs really having a effect on the overall quality of the 'Show'....is this just one such example..?

This must be freaky as heck to see.....Sonny is just leaning forward with his arms down, starting into space ( no pun intended ).

I am hoping this was just a little slip up...and someone forgot to turn on the Show.
Does anyone have any further info into Sonny's current state of functionality..?
This is a great little 'side show' that is a neat hidden treasure for Guests to find when passing through and it would be a shame to lose this guy!

-
 
Otterhead

Otterhead

Well-Known Member
Supposedly, in terms of sheer volume of guests, Cosmic Ray's is one of the busiest restaurants in the world. It seems completely bizarre to me for Sunny to be "dead" during business hours in such a popular spot. I can only guess it has something to do with the current construction work going on.
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Sonny's wife just left him, and he's been hitting the bottle... hard. His AA sponsor won't return his calls -- not after what happened last time -- and he's not getting a good night's sleep since he really doesn't fit that well in the back seat of his car and it's giving him chronic back pain. That's why he's self-medicating the opioid prescription he's gotten from five different doctors.
 
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Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ajrwdwgirl said:
Hopefully it is just a glitch for the day. I love Sonny! I'll have to check it out this weekend.
Click to expand...

If you do, I would like to hear if he is back to performing or still in his 'down' mode.
Thanks in advance !
:)

I'm also hoping it was just a mishap for the day.
Seems to me that if Sonny was out of commission for the day he would have been lowered below the stage and hidden from Guest view.
Perhaps it was just bad timing and my friend witnessed a mishap that had just taken place and nothing had been noticed or done yet.

Here's hoping Sonny is okay!

-
 
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Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
hakunamatata said:
Or maybe he wasnt working for the 15 minutes that the other party was there.
Click to expand...

Possible, yes.
My friend was there for a while...25 to 30 minutes total.

Things happen and Cast is not always aware of or in a position to react right away.
What makes me question it however is the 'dead' pose Sonny was in shown above.
The figures' appearance makes it look like something was a bit out of the norm.

I am aware of most AAs having a 'down time' pose, but in this case it does not appear to be so.
The positioning does not look 'natural' for such, as I have seen him previously in 'off' mode and he was sitting upright with his hands at his keyboard.
In the picture I posted above, he literally looks like someone just pulled the plug on him the way he is slumped forward behind his keyboard.
Something was definitely a bit 'off' there...


Just curious about what his problem may have been, and what his recent play status has been.
I'm hoping this was just a spur of the moment mishap.

-
 
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maxgoof

maxgoof

Active Member
I am that friend, and I hate to say it, but noone eating even seemed to notice him sitting there dead. Only 1 little boy ran up, looked and ran back. I guess it really is TV screens people want to watch.
 
K

Kingtut

Well-Known Member
Figments Friend said:
So a friend of mine is currently at the Magic Kingdom, and brought something to my attention that I thought might be of interest to others here.

Much like myself, he is a big fan of Animatronics and makes it a point to visit all the related Attractions and Shows with impressive figures.
Part of his visit this afternoon involved stopping by Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe to enjoy a show or two performed by Sonny Eclipse.
For those not familiar with Sonny, this is a Animatronic 'galactic lounge lizard' alien character that performs a series of musical show skits onstage in the main dining area of Comic Ray's counter service location in Tomorrowland.

So my friend is there to grab a bite and see one of Sonny's skits....when he discovers this -
A totally 'dead' figure right out in Guest view onstage.
No skits running, no figure moving...at all.

Here is a photo he snapped and sent to me just now :

image_zpsgfjjjwij.jpeg




As a Parks fan in general, and a major AA fan, I found this to be 'bad show' and a little surprising.
Is Sonny simply 'spacing out' and some Cast Member forgot to start him up this morning, or is Sonny 'broken' and non-operational?
I recall all the talk over the last few years about WDW maintenance cut backs really having a effect on the overall quality of the 'Show'....is this just one such example..?

This must be freaky as heck to see.....Sonny is just leaning forward with his arms down, starting into space ( no pun intended ).

I am hoping this was just a little slip up...and someone forgot to turn on the Show.
Does anyone have any further info into Sonny's current state of functionality..?
This is a great little 'side show' that is a neat hidden treasure for Guests to find when passing through and it would be a shame to lose this guy!

-
Click to expand...

Sonny was just informed that he will be replaced by an H1B Visa holder from Ganymede and that he will have to train him? her? it? on how to do the job.
 
Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just now seeing that other thread that was posted today....and pleased to hear he was getting some service done on the spot!

Sonny was indeed 'down' and my friend just happened to walk in on him before he was lifted into the ceiling.
It is good to know a tech was indeed trying to get him operational again, and that Sonny was 'hidden' from Guest sight when it came to a point where he needed more work done at a later time.


Glad to hear there was someone noticing, and this was just a fluke and not a case of maintenance issues.

Hoping Sonny will be back in action soon.
Anyone visiting the Park anytime soon, check in on him and let us know!
:)

-
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Figments Friend said:
Just now seeing that other thread that was posted today....and pleased to hear he was getting some service done on the spot!

Sonny was indeed 'down' and my friend just happened to walk in on him before he was lifted into the ceiling.
It is good to know a tech was indeed trying to get him operational again, and that Sonny was 'hidden' from Guest sight when it came to a point where he needed more work done at a later time.


Glad to hear there was someone noticing, and this was just a fluke and not a case of maintenance issues.

Hoping Sonny will be back in action soon.
Anyone visiting the Park anytime soon, check in on him and let us know!
:)

-
Click to expand...

I'll check on him this weekend. I just told my husband about that task, and he said "cool and then we can get some chicken nuggets too!" :)
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
It was just a minor stroke from eating the food in there everyday.

If I may rant slightly for a minute though, it gets really tiring how people are so determined to believe that they don't do the maintenance on all the stuff at Disney. If one were to just picture the number of mechanical thing in the four parks alone at WDW. Mechanical things that can and do break down occasionally and get a grasp of what is or may be involved with fixing stuff like that it would be helpful. Also might be helpful if people were to realize that you cannot hire a person to be on standby for every single piece of equipment, AA or otherwise that may break down at any given time. It is an completely unreasonable demand that dictates that things should be repaired right now. That no time is required to diagnose the problem, decide what is needed to make the repair, gather the tools, parts and whatever needed to do that repair. It's almost like people really think that the place runs on Pixie Dust. Anyplace that runs it's equipment 15-7-365* and never have anything break down. I challenge anyone to run their automobiles that long and do the required maintenance and not have something unexpected break. Rant over.

*Average
 

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