American Idol Experience - Now Testing - Review

[DizneyRox]

Sounds like another attraction I'll be skipping at the studios. Not a fan of AI and the review (while I understand it's testing) kindof confirms things.

[Diznee4Me]

Thanks for the review but having never watched the show - just not interested - it is probably something we will skip also.

[Nascfan]

I'm not a fan of the show, never really watched it except a couple of those audition ones with the bad singers, so I was not looking forward to this attraction.

I may be in the minority however, that John's review may have changed my mind. It sounds like something we may go into and check out if the line isn't too long, especially in the heat of a June day.
And no, it's definitely not Disney's answer to Harry Potter. That kind of comparison isn't even apples to oranges, more like steak to bread.

Thanks John!

[DixieBelle]

Although I am not a fan of AI
I will still go and check it out.
Thanks for the review.

[BMan62]

Nothing about AI appeals to me or DW, BUT if her DS and BIL go with us I can guarantee we will be sitting through at least one show!!! (But, since that's well over a year away, I'm not putting much stock in seeing it!)

[4ubie1]

Thanks for the review on this attraction. I was interested in seeing how they would handle this concept. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of the program...something about public humiliation is not my bag. Granted, the contestants know what they are getting into but still...are we not encouraging it by watching. I have been hoping for years that this would be the last year for that show. I guess some dreams don't come true at WDW.

Anywho..I still don't plan to attend this attraction even with so generous review...Sorry!

[Crow]

thanks for the review
I will be there in APril and I will make a point not to see it......i was forced to watch the show a few times by the ex( for those who remember i met her at WDW) and thats still something I hold against her
too much else to see there.
such a shame that Adventurers CLub performers had to end up there

[Darbylew]

I am not a fan so I am not excited about it. I
have never seen the show. I will probably check
in out when we are there in March.

[Magic Smiles]

Not sure whether or not I would visit AIE, but I am wondering............how will the contestants handle the "Simon" critiques?

[CaptSmee]

John,
How do you audition for this? We are going to be there in May and my daughter and her husband would love to try to get on!!!
Luanne

There were cast members all around the entranceway as you walk into the park last week when I was there asking people if they wanted to audition. The actual area is in the back of the theater across from Sci-Fi Diner.

[CaptSmee]

John, we too caught a sneak preview last week at one of the closing shows. It was much better than we anticipated and everyone in our party enjoyed it very much, mostly because of the production of the show and the performers that were on stage. I did not care for the judge clones, coming up with new personalities would have been more fun for me.

On a side note, the show we saw they did make an announcement saying that this was in preview mode or test phase something along those lines and that not all performers had necessarily been through the audition process and that at this time it could have WDW performers as part of the show.

[Lightning McQueen]

Will the auditions only be performing Disney songs, or just pop music songs in general?

[Camping Mom]

My son got to participate in one of the "trial runs." No, it isn't all Disney songs. He had a ball going thru the process.

[Mickey 101]

We got to catch one of the preview shows recently, as well. We really enjoyed it. We were able to walk in as it was seating, so timing was such that we didn't see what happened in the queue or pre-show. We had been offered to audition, as well, but didn't take advantage of that, to the mercy of other guests.

We did not have 'Simon', but someone from the US who was essentially a clone of the one from the show. We weren't crazy about any of the judges. The host was Ryan Kim, and he did a very nice job. Two of our performers were definitely guests from the parks, but they really got into it. The third one, who was the best, was likely a CM, as she was from Orlando and they did a little more back-story info on her. All-in-all, I think it's a great addition to the park and it was a lot of fun.

[rookie]

Sounds like they need to recruit the two old guys from the muppet theatre for judges...either that or the robots from MST3000

[gwfx1031]

We caught a preview on Monday. I do watch the show, but was leary of how this would work at DHS. After seeing it, I really enjoyed the show. The production values were top notch. The show moved at a nice pace and took no more than 30 minutes once you are inside. There was a comedian that warmed up the crowd for a bit and he was a riot. I was dissapointed that he was not our host. The host we had was OK, but did not add to any of the excitement of the show. I agree with previous posts that the judges are too much like clones of the originals, but I assume that is the safe way to go for the majority. I would deffinately see this one again on future visits.

[Jasper]

We also saw one of the preview shows a couple of weeks ago and even though I am not an Idol fan I did find it to be fairly enjoyable. Later that same day I was hanging out near the Sci-Fi Diner waiting for the rest of our party to regroup and had the chance to talk to a Cast Member who is some kind of manager for the Idol attraction. I don't remember his name but it was something that sounded like Andy was spelled in some way that I have never seen before and would never have pronounced as Andy.

Anyway, between what he said and what I saw of the process I think that the "Producer" will have a big impact on the quality of each show. While these "producers" are characters within the scope of the show they do actually have real job duties deciding what show to put a candidate in and in what order they should perform. If the "producer" puts a couple of weak singers back to back or put a couple of ballad singers together in a row the show will likely suffer. Time will tell how good they get at their job and how well people turn out to sing in their show.

[cgriff]

Harry Potter world is coming to Universal, and this is the best they could compete with?

It's more like H. Potterland is coming to Universal in an attempt to try and compete with WDW, not the other way around. The onus is on Universal.

Besides, how are they going to make it overcast and snow every day in central Florida?

I'm looking forward to trying the American Idol Experience this summer. I need to figure out what song I am going to sing tho, Hmmmmm...

[cgriff]

Sounds like they need to recruit the two old guys from the muppet theatre for judges...

That would be funny. Or how about a trio of Disney villains? Jafar, Hades, and the Cruella DeVille?

[BMan62]

Sounds like they need to recruit the two old guys from the muppet theatre for judges...either that or the robots from MST3000

Statler and Waldorf would be fun to watch and interact with. Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo would only be good if they had Mike to play off! (Actually, I liked Joel better as the foil for the robots.)