Fun, Sun, and Mickey Mouse! An August 2009 TR...new 11/19 p. 34

[xoktenox]

Wow I still can't believe how insane it gets over by TSM in the mornings even though I've experienced it myself. Its nuts! Thats such an amazing ride though so its worth it!

3 major attractions in 1 hour is great!

I love One Mans Dream! So many people just walk past it but everyone should try it.

We missed the Backlot Tour last time because I didn't realize it closed earlier than the rest of the park so thats definitely on our list of must do's this time

 

[wdwgirl03]

I had to laugh when I read your post about the temperature on the bus- it's like they try to freeze everyone into a state of hypothermia to get us all to be on our best behavior.

LOL, yeah, that bus was just waaaaay too cold. I honestly don't think I've ever been on a bus like that. It would've been nice if I had my mittens and winter coat.

nice update!

I love how you guys tour the parks - just easy going and you take things as they come - it's so refreshing compared to commando style!

Can't wait to hear what you guys did next

Yeah, since we've been so many times now we always get to our favorites (sometimes more than once) and then just whatever else we feel like. If we don't get to do something there's always the next trip.

Great update Sarah!!! I can't believe how crowded it looked entering the park!!! We are so excited that Devon is finally tall enough to ride RNRC!!! I haven't been able to ride it in the last few visits b/c of it!!!

Thanks! Oooh, Devon is brave! I was such a chicken when I was younger, there is no way I would've gotten on it. But I love it now. Hope you guys have fun!

Great pictures at DHS!!

Ahh..we love TSM. It's one of our favorites too!!

Can't wait to hear about American Idol!!!

I think TSM is one of the best attractions ever along with Soarin.

American Idol was SO much fun. I can't wait to tell you guys all about it.

a recording??!!!! There is still a driver I take it? Man, I was excited to ride it since I moved before they had reopened the ride but now I don't know if it's worth it. We were all expecting some grand change to the ride but I guess it's the same old thing!

What was your opinion of it???

Yeah, it's a recording now! And there is still a driver. Other than the Catastrophe Canyon change (which I didn't really care for) it was pretty much the same.

Wow you did really well on TSM!! The fastpass line was the same for us too! The fastpass line was out to The Little Mermaid and the standbye line was an hour long! It was crazy!!

It's amazing how popular TSM is. We love it but not enough to wait more than an hour.

I love that American Idol billboard!

Woo! You're at DHS!

I love the TSM line..I never noticed Wisconsin though! I'll look for it next trip.

I'm SO glad you did One Man's Dream. Isn't it so neat?! I get chills everytime I look at the display of Walt's office.

The billboard was cute. There were also AIE commercials on TV which were neat too. Ahh I love all those Disney commercials for the attractions!

There's a giant map on the last wall, right before you get the 3D glasses.

One Man's Dream was really neat. We went in it on our trip a couple years ago but didn't spend a whole lot of time in there. I still don't think we saw everything in there!

Wow I still can't believe how insane it gets over by TSM in the mornings even though I've experienced it myself. Its nuts! Thats such an amazing ride though so its worth it!

3 major attractions in 1 hour is great!

I love One Mans Dream! So many people just walk past it but everyone should try it.

We missed the Backlot Tour last time because I didn't realize it closed earlier than the rest of the park so thats definitely on our list of must do's this time

I know, it's just so funny how the park crowds have changed since TSM opened. It was nice to get it out of the way and get over to the other 2 headliners before they got too busy.

I agree, it's such a great history! Really makes you appreciate Walt Disney.

It's strange how the Backlot Tour has different hours than the rest of the park. I guess I can understand it closing early if it's dark though.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Love you Hollywood Studios pictures!!!! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your day there. That is the one park that we did not spend enough time in when we were there in May. DD10 cannot wait to ride Tower of Terror and RocknRollercoaster on our next trip!!! I would like to get to HS on our first day there and go straight to those rides, just because we did not get to them last time. DD10 is very impatiently waiting.

 

[ibedancin824]

Great update!! Can't believe you were able to ride all three rides in an hour!! We were one of the crazy's on the FP line but I have to tell you that it went REALLY fast!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love you Hollywood Studios pictures!!!! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your day there. That is the one park that we did not spend enough time in when we were there in May. DD10 cannot wait to ride Tower of Terror and RocknRollercoaster on our next trip!!! I would like to get to HS on our first day there and go straight to those rides, just because we did not get to them last time. DD10 is very impatiently waiting.

Glad you liked the pictures! That sounds like a good plan to go there your first day. You should be able to do TOT and RNRC with pretty short waits!

Great update!! Can't believe you were able to ride all three rides in an hour!! We were one of the crazy's on the FP line but I have to tell you that it went REALLY fast!

I know, it was nice that we were able to do those 3 things so quickly. Those were all must-dos for us and then anything else was just extra.

 

[tinkgurl]

There's a giant map on the last wall, right before you get the 3D glasses.

Okay, thanks!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wow, I can't believe it's been 8 years since the events of 9/11. I still remember that day very clearly. It was my junior year of high school and picture day too. I remember hearing about it in my study hall because the teacher told us she had her phone on, waiting to hear from her son who lived not too far from the WTC. Still can't believe such a thing ever happened and I hope something like that never happens again! In honor of the anniversary, here's a pic I took of the memorial when we visited NYC in March:

Sorry for that bit of randomness...now let's get back to the trip report!

August 21, 2009 (part 2)

When the backlot tour was over we made our way over to the American Idol Experience. If you read my PTR you probably already know that my sister and I are big AI fans. We were really looking forward to seeing what the show was like. We arrived about half an hour early and went into the holding area. They have a bunch of TVs that show various Idol clips and then a pretend TV show hosted by Justin Guarini (season 1 runner-up).

David Archuleta...he was one of my favorites from season 7.

We got a kick out of seeing some of those old clips. Who remembers William Hung?! Haha! That kept us entertained for a while. Then about 10-15 minutes before the show started a couple of guys came out to film the crowd. They wanted to film a fan video for one of the contestants:

Sorry for the bad videography skills here...I pressed the wrong button to stop recording so I got a nice view of some people's feet at the end.


Kind of sounds like they're cheering for me doesn't it?! They also had a little kid say “Sarah, you’re my American Idol!” which was really cute. The strange part was they said they were going to show the video before she sang but never did. Oh well. Once we were done filming it was time to go into the theater. They made the standard announcement telling you to move all the way across your row but of course some people think they can just do whatever they want and we ended up having to crawl over some people. Ugh! Honestly, the theater is not that big and you could see well from any seat.

The stage looks just like the one from the show!

Before the show started, Mark, one of the guys who did the filming, came out to get everyone pumped up.

He has us clapping and dancing. It was a lot of fun and he did a great job. Then they did a quick trivia question: Who is the current American Idol? The choices were Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, or Barack Obama. Correct answer is Kris Allen, just in case you didn’t know but more people voted for Barack Obama than Adam Lambert. Ha!

Soon it was time to go live and Ryan Seacrest provided the usual AI drama:

Jeanette was the host for the show and explained that the contestants were competing for a chance to sing in the finale show, where they’d ultimately have the chance to win the Dream Ticket (which gets you front of the line access at an actual AI audition).

After a quick introduction of the judges it was time to meet the contestants!

I don’t know why but I thought they had more than 3 people performing. Anyway, up first was Michelle. She sang “No One” by Alicia Keys. She was pretty good and for the most part the judges were pretty positive. The “Simon” judge of course had to add some humor with some negative comments to which everyone booed. David Cook also gave her some advice.

Next up was Jim. They played his “Journey to Idol” video which I thought was hilarious. He sang “Go the Distance” from Hercules. I think singing a Disney song, in Disney World, is the way to go. Everyone seemed to really like his performance. He had a good voice too—in a way I thought it almost sounded like the original. And finally, it was Sarah’s turn to sing. She did “All American Girl” by Carrie Underwood. Again, she was good but didn’t quite do it justice. Maybe the song was just too big for her?! Can you tell I watch too much Idol? They did a quick recap before it was time to vote. There was also a fun music video featuring Jordin Sparks, season 6 winner, going all around the Studios.

And then Jeanette revealed the winner, doing here best Seacrest impersonation, trying to drag it out. "Let's dim the lights."

But in the end, Jim was the winner! So he’d be competing in the finale. Overall, we LOVED the American Idol Experience. It really is amazing how they make it like the real show, right down to the judges and the “Jim sucks!” comment I heard someone say on the way out! The contestants were also really good and could actually sing. It’s also worth going early to see them do the crowd filming—that was one of the best parts. Even if you are not an American Idol junkie it’s worth checking out. Great show!

At the exit there's a gift shop with AI themed merchandise. Emma and I enjoyed the various t-shirts they had, such as this one:

We also spotted a pin that we knew we'd have to get to add to our collections. By that time we were getting hungry so it was off to grab some lunch! Good-bye, American Idol!

(gotta love Kris' face here...haha!)

 

[wdwgirl03]

Okay, thanks!

No problem!

 

[tinkgurl]

Woo! Loved the American Idol pics. I definately miss that one! The video you watch before going in is hilarious.

Wow, you guys got good seats! I think we had the same judges one time or another.

I wonder how Jim did in the Finale?!

Aw, I love that Kris video outside. It's so cute!

***My 6,000th post!***

 

[Angies1274]

Great pics and video of AI!!!

I am such an AI junkieI was so disappointed that I wasn't able to make it last trip. It looks so cool!!! It's definitely a must-do for next time!!

Love the AI shirt w/Goofy!! How cute is that??

 

[shordiebecka]

I love american idol! I want to do the AI experience, but I don't know who would sit through it with me..hahaha! Side Note: what do you think of Ellen as the new judge? I think it's a good choice. Paula was on drugs...i found humor in the show just watching her try to be coherent! FUn update!

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Love the AI pictures! They did such a great job w/ that set. I wish I could've convinced Aaron to go in there. He absolutely refused. I plan on dragging my nephews in there in January. I'm sure they will just *love* it. ::evil laugh::

 

[ibedancin824]

Great Pics! Sad we didnt make it to american idol when we were there

 

[wdwgirl03]

Woo! Loved the American Idol pics. I definately miss that one! The video you watch before going in is hilarious.

Wow, you guys got good seats! I think we had the same judges one time or another.

I wonder how Jim did in the Finale?!

Aw, I love that Kris video outside. It's so cute!

***My 6,000th post!***

Yeah, we were only a few rows back but even though we were on the very end we could still see just fine.

We were wondering how he did in the finale too!

I agree, the Kris video is really cute (so was the David one they did last year for that matter). I kind of wish they would release a single of that! hehe

YAY FOR 6000 POSTS!!!

Great pics and video of AI!!!

I am such an AI junkieI was so disappointed that I wasn't able to make it last trip. It looks so cool!!! It's definitely a must-do for next time!!

Love the AI shirt w/Goofy!! How cute is that??

Aww, that stinks you didn't get to see it! It was so much fun. You would love it, especially if you're an AI fan! So who is your favorite AI contestant?

There were a bunch more too that my sister took pictures of...I'll post those later on in the TR!

I love american idol! I want to do the AI experience, but I don't know who would sit through it with me..hahaha! Side Note: what do you think of Ellen as the new judge? I think it's a good choice. Paula was on drugs...i found humor in the show just watching her try to be coherent! FUn update!

Hopefully you can find someone to go with you. It's really not that long of a show, maybe 25 minutes.

As for Ellen being the judge, when I first saw it I thought is it April because this kind of sounds like some sort of April Fools joke! I think it's sort of a random pick but I like Ellen so it should definitely make for an interesting show. My sister, on the other hand, thinks FOX is out of their minds and claims she will not be watching. She was a HUGE Paula fan.

Love the AI pictures! They did such a great job w/ that set. I wish I could've convinced Aaron to go in there. He absolutely refused. I plan on dragging my nephews in there in January. I'm sure they will just *love* it. ::evil laugh::

Aww, come on Aaron! He's no fun. lol The set really was amazing.

Great Pics! Sad we didnt make it to american idol when we were there

Thanks! Hopefully you can make it on your next trip.

 

[Upanova01]

Sorry, I'm a bit late, but...subscribing.

Love the TR, BTW!

Mlle Upanova

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Hi Sarah!!! Enjoyed the update!!! I too can not believe that it has been 8 years since 9/11!!! Like you I will never forget where I was or what I was doing when I found out what was going on, even though I wish I could... I was at a good friends funeral

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'm glad you liked AI!!! With Ellen being the new judge do you think they will change the show around and get ride of the "paula" lookalike?

I too was in Jr year when 9/11 happened. I was in gov't class when the news broke and I remember we weren't allowed to walk outside to change classes and when school let out I remember how blue the sky looked that day and now the plane crashed 1.5 hours away in PA and flew right by..scary. Thanks for the tribute pic. Have you been to the Flight 93 site? If you ever get a chance you should go.

Can't wait for more!

 

[Goofy22]

HI! I was MIA a fews days life kinda got in the way with the kids going back to school and DD's 15th Birthday is tommorrow! So I'm catching up now! We haven't even started ours were uploading pics still! I loved the American Idol Experience it was great and even better kinda knowing someone participating ZERTOHEROS BF Lou was in it! It was really cool! BTW love the lil pic of the commerative wall from 9/11 my DD was 1 day shy of 7yrs old then! Crazy how time passes by!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm really late, but I'm here! Now I gotta read...

 

[brookelizabeth]

All caught up now -thank you for the handy links!

I'm enjoying every bit of it!! Great review on AI, it was the first one I read where the 3rd person didn't win--there was talk on the DIS of it being "rigged" and the 3rd person always winning, so I'm glad to read that is not the case!