Well, I guess I have put this off long enough. Some tales need to be told. So it is with the longest 24 hours of my life. This is the story of the adventures of the TCD gang at the Disney Channel Games Concert on Saturday, May 3, 2008.
For those of you following along, the Disney Channel Games are events which have been taped for the past two years, for broadcast on the Disney Channel during the summer. The events are taped at the Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World. The teams are composed of the stars from the Disney Channel TV shows, such as Hannah Montana, Cory in the House, Suite Life with Zach and Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place, etc. The games are filmed during the week, and then a concert is held on Saturday night to close things out.
This year, the talent line up for the concert included the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, The Cheetah Girls, Demi Lovato, and Jordan Pruitt. The concert is FREE! Tickets must be applied for in advance. This year, tickets were offered to WDW annual passholders. Passholders were required to send a request via e-mail, and e-mails were then sent back confirming ticket availability. We applied early, and received an e-mail telling us that we would have to pick our tickets up in person at the Wide World of Sports Complex during the week of April 27th. We could choose between field seats (opportunity to be close to stage, but standing and general admission) or assigned seats in the stands. The TCD girls chose field tickets, and that is what we got. The ticket pick-up process was painless.
Since the Jonas Brothers would be performing at this concert, it was imperative to the TCD DDs to be as close to the stage as possible. Thus, when we picked up our tickets, the DDs interrogated the ticket agent about when ticket holders would be allowed to begin lining up. A letter was included in the envelope with the tickets telling us that the parking lot to the Wide World of Sports Complex would not open until 4 pm, and that the doors would not open until 7 pm for the concert. The concert was scheduled to begin at 8 pm. That sounded reasonable to me. There had been talk amongst the girls of arriving at 6 am to line up for the concert. I was glad to hear that was not going to be necessary.
But, all was not as it appeared. The DDs networked during the week with other members of Team Jonas. There were girls planning to line up in cars to get into the parking lot, sleeping in cars if necessary. There was another rumor that WDW Resort Guests would be allowed into the complex early to line up. There was more information still that suggested that he Wide World of Sports Complex was going to be open for business as usual all day on Saturday, and that the parking lot would not be closed at all. What to do?
We went back to the Wide World of Sports ticket window. There was a castmember there who seemed knowledgeable. He said that people with their own transportation could be dropped off at the complex to begin lining up for the concert before 4 pm. How much before? He was cagey about that answer, but he said that the previous year, girls were lined up by 6 am. He did mention that they were contemplating giving out color coded wrist bands to people arriving for the concert, so they would not have to wait in line all day. He wasnt sure about that, though. So, the girls did more networking, and heard that some girls were planning to arrive as early as 5 am.
This all sounded kind of sketchy to me. Why line up at 5 am for an 8 pm concert? It had been hot and sunny all week. The place where the girls were going to wait was right out in the elements. How could they sit out in the sun all day? But, the girls insisted that this is what they wanted to do. This was their chance to see the Jonas Brothers up close! They could be in the front row. But, someone had to be the parent here. I said I didnt think it was a good idea. They insisted. They were persistent. They were relentless. They wore me down. I agreed- we would go early to get in line. But, lets be reasonable. We talked about it. They wanted to be there by 4 am. I said no way. Same routine. I caved.
So, at 3:15, on May 3 the alarm on my watch went off. I had not slept well, because I was afraid that I would sleep through the alarm. I announce that it is time to go. The girls get ready in record time, and we are in the car and heading out of the Fort by 3:30. It is pretty quiet around the Fort at 3:30. As we drove out, we saw lots of deer, armadillos, and rabbits. No other people were up. It was dead quiet.
We started driving in to the Wide World of Sports Complex at about 3:45. There were portable signs installed which said Sports Complex Closed! There was a Security truck parked next to one of the signs. I was on a mission. I kept driving. The security truck began to follow. He did not put on his lights or anything. He just followed. I kept going. We made it all the way to the drop of area at the sports complex. The guard pulled up next to me, and motioned for me to roll down my window. I contemplated telling the girls to jump out and make a run for it, but I resisted that urge. The guard asks what Im doing there (as if he didnt already know). I tell him that we want to get in line for the concert. He says sorry, but the complex is closed until 6 am, and we must leave. Bummer. We got up at 3:15 for nothing! So we drive away. As we traverse the complexs big parking lot, we see some cars parked. The guard is nowhere to be seen. We pull in next to those cars, and kill the lights. Maybe we can be the first ones here when the complex opens? We sit for a few minutes. It seems like a good plan (although it is now 4 am, and we are looking at maybe waiting 2 hours in the car).
Then we see him. Another guard is patrolling the parking lot. He is heading toward us. I yell duck! and we all crouch down. The guard drives by. We all decide that we need to stay down. This is not real comfortable. After about 10 minutes, the complaining starts. Some DDs want to leave. Others insist that we must stay. I have to make a decision. I say that we need to go back to the Fort and try to go back to sleep. We will come back at 6 am. This is not a popular decision, but there was no way we were going to make it for two hours in the car. So we head out.
When we are almost back to the Fort, my oldest DDs phone rings. It is not quite 5 am! One of her new-found peeps is calling with the 411. They had just left the Wide World of Sports Complex, and had been issued wristbands! Impossible! I said. How could that possibly be true-we had just left there? These girls must be playing some cruel prank. I made the girls go back to the camper, and told them that we would go back to sleep until 6 am. We all lay down. Then I heard it. One DD was softly crying. She was so disappointed. She thought other girls were getting wristbands, and that we were missing out. So, I caved again.
It is a little after 5 am. Back in the car. Back to the Wide World of Sports Complex. Same signs. No Guards! We drive up to the same spot. The girls get out, and walk up the sidewalk a little. There are people seated at a table off in the distance. They run! At the table, we find two friendly castmembers with a pile of wristbands. They say that they have been here since 4 am. They dont know why the guards were turning folks away, but that they heard they were. So, they saved us some wristbands to be in the front of the line. These were the red wristbands. You also needed a gold wristband to be on the field. Right next to the table, there were areas roped off with signs indicating the color wristband needed to wait in that area. Red was first, then yellow, purple, and so on. The red area was the smallest. Only 100 red wristbands would be distributed. Each successive group would be bigger. There were going to be about 3700 people on the field. We were going to be in the group of the first 100 admitted!
So, yours truly was now a hero! The girls were beyond ecstatic! And, the best part was that we didnt have to start waiting on line. We could arrive any time before 7, and enter the red waiting area!
It couldnt be that easy, could it?
No, of course not. Even at that early hour. (It wasnt even 6 yet), there were girls beginning to line up in the red wristband area. They were going to wait there all day, so they could be the first into the stadium, and be on the rail to see the Jo Bros! My DDs wanted to do that to. I said, no way. Why wait for 13 hours when you are already going to be in the first 100 admitted? The girls agreed that maybe it would be a little boring sitting there all day, so we headed back to the Fort. The sun was just coming up.
We couldnt go back to bed now. It was morning Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. Should we? Of course, we did. That was a bit unexpected, because it is pretty much impossible to get teenage girls to an Extra Magic Hour. We made it by 8, rode RNR a few times, and then tried to hit TOT. It was temporarily closed. The park was starting to get busy. So, we headed back to the Fort.
We hung out at the Fort for most of the day. I suggested that the girls nap, but that didnt go over so well. They wanted to go get in line. I said wait. By 2 pm, I couldnt hold them off any longer, so we headed out to the Wide World of Sports Complex. Got a great parking space. I packed a cooler full of water, and we brought a blanket and a couple big umbrellas. The girls got in the red waiting area. It was about 3 pm when we got situated. Four hours to go! The girls from 6 am were not looking so good. They were sunburned. They didnt look so happy or full of life. But they were on the front of the line. The minutes passed by slowly. It was hot. It was sunny. But, you never heard so much chit chat. The girls in the red area were all pumped! They were the top dogs, and they were loving it!
The time passed real slowly. The girls went and grabbed a bite to eat in shifts. By about 6, the red area was getting crowded. Girls were not respecting each others personal space. The blanket and umbrellas had to go back to the car. There was a lot of speculation about when and how this group would be let in. There was definitely going to be an extensive bag search. No cameras or recording devices of any kind allowed. The girls decided to send all of their purses to the car. Now, they would not have to stop for a bag search. Maybe they could get in sooner.
We waited. All the way up until 7 pm. The crowd behind us was huge! We were in the front of the line, baby. Some security types came out, and started walking small groups from the red area up to the stadium. There was a little pushing, and a lot of jostling. We ended up in the third of fourth group of about 10 to go up through security and into the stadium. We were placed in two separate areas (stage right and stage left) to wait a little more. The excitement was palpable.
And then it was time! A little before 8, the line began to move. No running! Yeah, right. It was a stampede! Move or get stomped. We moved. We had to walk down stairs to get to the field. A castmember passed out glow sticks. We grabbed them and went. . . . . to . . . the front rail! Two DDs grabbed the rail at the left corner of the stage. There were already folks on the rail up to that point (with black wristbands-where did they come from?). My older DD, and her friend, and I went to center stage. There was a row of young children up front, and then their parents, and then us. These black wristband folks were obviously Disney executives, and they got in before us lowlifes. But, we were three people back from the rail, and maybe 15 feet from the stage. We had arrived! We held our ground as throngs of people packed in beside and behind us. It was bedlam. There were no security guards to be seen. There was more pushing and jostling, but we held our ground.
The concert was about to begin!
But, did anyone notice that huge black cloud? The one directly overhead? Are you kidding me? It hadnt rained all week. No rain was forecast today. But there it was, big, black and ominous. Directly above the stage!
The festivities began. The show began with the actor Brian Stepanek as the M.C. He plays Arwin on the Suite Life of Zach and Cody. No sooner did he come out and start talking, that the rain started. Slow at first, and then harder. Crew members were scrambling up on stage to cover equipment. We started to get wet. What if it began to lightning? Would we have to evacuate? There was no way that we would get our places back. Then it slowed down and stopped. They mopped the stage, and the show went on. Phew, that was close.
This whole production was being recorded for broadcast. So, the first thing they did was record each of the four teams accepting the fans choice trophy. I guess there will be a fans choice contest over the summer, and one team will be awarded the fans choice award. No one knows who that will be yet, so all four teams got filmed accepting it. Interesting.
As stated, cameras were not allowed. They announced this many times. But, for some reason camera phones were OK, and they did not stop people from using them. Here is a photo of Brian Stepanek that my DD took with her iphone. You can see the teams behind him. This is how close we were.
There were four teams. The teams were identified with a color, and a team name. Blue was the Lightning, Red the Inferno, Yellow the Comets and Green the Cyclones. Blue was the only team without a Jonas. Poor blue team.
After the filming of the award acceptances, the concert is about to begin. Brian tells the crowd who will be performing. When he announces the JBs, there is screaming like you have never heard before. Deafening! I have three DDs, and I have heard a lot of screaming. But, not like this. I have never heard anything so loud. Anywhere. Anyplace.
And there was pushing! We kept getting pushed. A lot. Girls were being pulled over the front rail by security. My DDs friend started to not look so good. She said she felt like she was going to faint. No. Not now. She started to shake a little. I told her to calm down and breathe. She said she was going to pass out. If it was my DD I might have told her to suck it up, but I didnt want to have this girl pass out on me. So, I raised my hand. A guy the size of a small tank came over to the rail and asked what the problem was. I told him that this young lady felt like she was going to faint. Before I knew what happened, he pulled her over the rail. My DD went with her. He started to grab me. I told him that I would come around to where they were going to bring the girls.
Did you ever wonder where they take people who get pulled out of the front of a concert? Maybe to a nice back stage area to sit with the performers and eat the buffet? No, not quite. After wading through a sea of people, I found the girls on metal folding chairs off to the side of the field. There was one paramedic there. About 30 girls had been pulled from the audience already, and the concert had not yet really begun. Luckily, my DDs friend felt better right away. What now? The seats in the stands were full, and we were at the back of the field.
I asked a castmember what we should do. She said, we could stay standing on the field, in the back of the crowd, or go to the upper deck where we might find some seats.
We went to the upper deck. We found some seats. We also found a concession stand. They were selling beer! Not so bad after all. The older girls ended up enjoying the concert from afar. They texted back and forth with the younger girls, who held their ground on the rail, and enjoyed the concert. Especially when Kevin Jonas jumped right in front of them, and gave them the thumbs-up.
Had we remained in place, I would have some good photos to share. But, since we were evacuated, I have nothing but this story.
Here are some photos someone else took:
So, what we learned is that sitting in the stands wasnt so bad, and that there is a high price to pay to be in the front of a Jonas Broth
ers concert.
The concert itself was great. What a talented bunch of kids.
We got back to the campsite around midnight. No one had trouble sleeping that night.
And by caving in for about 24 hours, I am now the best dad in the universe. Just ask my girls.
TCD
)
Too bad they got rid of that, it used to be nice to sit and listen to the music while enjoying a drink from Crockett's...lol
