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The American Idol Experience

Disney Press Release - Largest-Ever Gathering of American Idol Winners Joins in Premiere of Attraction at Walt Disney World
Feb 12, 2009

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Feb. 12, 2009) – With the largest-ever gathering of “American Idol” winners joining in the celebration, Walt Disney World Resort Thursday night raised the curtain on “The American Idol Experience,” a new attraction capturing the energy and excitement of the hit TV show.

Thursday’s grand premiere, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, was attended by all seven winners of the series, from season-one winner Kelly Clarkson to season-seven champion David Cook. Joining Cook and Clarkson were Jordin Sparks (season six), Taylor Hicks (five), Carrie Underwood (four), Fantasia Barrino (three) and Ruben Studdard (two).

More than two dozen Idol stars – winners and finalists from the first seven seasons – plus judge Paula Abdul and TV show host Ryan Seacrest arrived by celebrity motorcade, rolling down Hollywood Boulevard to the cheers, applause and snapping cameras of Disney’s Hollywood Studios guests. Thursday’s gala had all the glamour of a Hollywood opening. Cook treated the supercharged audience with a performance of his popular hit, “Light On,” and after Underwood performed her hit, “All-American Girl,” the pair brought down the house by teaming up for a first-ever duet, singing “Go Your Own Way,” the Fleetwood Mac hit. The premiere even had a “red carpet” -- except the carpet was appropriately blue in celebration of the “American Idol” color scheme.

That color scheme and, in fact, the look of the attraction is similar to the actual TV show set. “The American Idol Experience” was developed by Walt Disney Imagineering in conjunction with FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and 19 TV Ltd. and is based on the smash-hit television show “American Idol.” The 1,000-seat indoor theater features twirling neon signs and a multi-layered backdrop inspired by the actual “American Idol” set in California.
The attraction is designed to immerse park guests in the authentic feel of a live television production, with some guests 14 or older auditioning to take the spotlight onstage, while fellow guests cheer them on from the audience and vote for their favorite singer with instant results. Audition slots are limited and interested guests are encouraged to arrive early.

Performers with the highest votes during preliminary shows return for a high-energy grand finale show that same evening. After their encore performances, one is voted the day’s top singer.

In addition to their new-found theme park fame, the top vote-getter at the finale show receives “The American Idol Experience” Dream Ticket, which allows an eligible holder to schedule a front-of-the-line audition to a future regional audition for the “American Idol” television show. Feb. 14 is the grand opening of the attraction.

Got lots of pictures I need to go through and get posted on the main site. Check tomorrow evening for TONS of pictures.
 
After you get the pics up on the main site, you should email Lance at screamscape with a link. he will post a link that may steer a lot of traffic this way.
 
I'll post this one for now to give you a preview of what's to come...

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Love that dude.
 
Yep, D60 here. I LOVE it. But I haven't really taken it out for a good run yet. It has been very cold, and this time of year my state is naked. I'll wait until she puts on her Easter Dress. It gets violently green here in the spring.
 
Saw this show for the first time yesterday. The set is great, the show set-up and flow is solid, but I wasn't too impressed with the "Simon" judge. He was just a one-liner guy who didn't bring much to the table. Good luck to anyone who competes!
 
I wanted to go see this while I was at WDW last week, but the girlfriend didn't want to have a part in it. I saw they were doing auditions and joked about wanting to go and be terrible, but she wouldn't let me :( Oh well, AI isn't my cup of tea anyways but I figured with it being new it might be interesting!
 
Well, I tried avoiding to comment here about AI Experience but, here I go, lol. I like the tv show, though I think it's getting boring, but my wife and I went during the AP viewing and I thought the setting was awesome. I personally think it'll get boring. The judges, was blah. The Randy wanna be is a bad impression. Very annoying. Paula character was, eh. Simon's character was no where near Simon and I was disappointed. Now, maybe the have fixed their mistakes and such but my wife and I have agreed that we won't be back unless we have visitors or one of our friends comes w/ us and haven't "experienced it" yet, then maybe.
 
So I hear Simon is leaving the show as a judge. That's likely going to really cripple the show thus really really cripple Disney's latest 'missed-the-boat' attraction. Why not just go all out for a Survivor attraction or the Hills? Seriously though, can I just have 7-night Fant! back, please? AI is fun to watch a time or two but nothing about it is Disney (at least Millionaire was ABC) and it's already dated.
 
So I hear Simon is leaving the show as a judge. That's likely going to really cripple the show thus really really cripple Disney's latest 'missed-the-boat' attraction. Why not just go all out for a Survivor attraction or the Hills? Seriously though, can I just have 7-night Fant! back, please? AI is fun to watch a time or two but nothing about it is Disney (at least Millionaire was ABC) and it's already dated.
And you heard that where?
 
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