Disney in a Minute: Who is Sonny Eclipse?

We’re here with a series of quick posts, “Disney in a Minute,” bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic. Enjoy!

Sonny Eclipse is a beloved Walt Disney World character. Rather than appearing in films or TV shows, audio-animatronic Sonny entertains guests in the dining room at a Magic Kingdom quick service restaurant in Tomorrowland – Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.

Sonny’s backstory is that he is lounge singer from the planet Zork, particularly the city of Yew Nork. “Cosmic Ray” has hired him to be the in-house entertainment at the first earth location of his restaurant franchise. None of this is particularly evident while you’re in the restaurant, however. What you will see is a bulb-snouted alien doing a classic Borscht-Belt cabaret routine featuring corny jokes and comic song stylings. Some typical patter:

“Actually folks, Ray pays me weekly … very weakly.”

“I’d like to dedicate the next song to my girlfriend. She has the most beautiful purple eyes, all six of them. And she has almost perfect eyesight 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 19.”

Little kids will be oblivious, but if you’re traveling with older adults Sonny can be a real hoot. Even if you’re not having a full meal at Cosmic Ray’s, having a soda in the air-conditioning with some galactic entertainment can be a fun way to recharge.

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