Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:29:26 GMT

this has got to be another one of the Great Embarassing Moments about to happen in Disney Park History.

Oh, and Jim...MIDWAY Mania. Toy Story MIDWAY Mania. ;) who cares what them turkeys in Marketing are trying to pull, anyhoo.....

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:47:01 GMT

Jim, will there be any special rules for annual pass holders vs. day guests. I am betting that if you want to get on the show and live in the area you could get an AP and go multiple days. Maybe there will be rules how many times you can apply?

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:03:48 GMT

I honestly can't see DHS finding 12-15 "good" singers each day, 365 days-a-year, to create this show. Also, I'm having trouble imagining 4,000 park guests wanting to watch other park guests perform a few songs. And hasn't American Idol already hit its peak and is now on its way out??? So I don't understand why Disney is yet again trying scoop up an older television property for a theme park. Was nothing learned from Ellen's Energy Adventure and the sound show with Drew Carey???

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:24:18 GMT

Last I checked, englishboy, the only part of Ellen's Energy Adventure that's really dated is Bill Nye -- and Alex Trebek's mustache. Ellen herself is still very much in the public eye, so it's not so bad. (Although I do hope they're at least working on concepts for a revamp.)

I agree, though, that it's possible American Idol has peaked. It's still massively popular, though, and this could be a great experience for those selected.

What disappoints me, however, is the insistence on vocal performance. I realize that's how Idol works in real life, but IMO pop singing is overdone.

Powers &8^]

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:04:42 GMT

Are you kidding? Of course they'll find enough singers a day. This show is going to be massive, people are going to be camping out the night before. You only have to watch the show to see how bad people want this

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:20:47 GMT

No question they will find enough singers--AI wannabes will be flocking to DHS in the hopes of getting a "fastpass" to the judges. If you've watched the show, you know they fill stadiums with potential contestants, many of whom have come thousands of miles. If this is seen as an "in," it'll be huge. Besides, 15 people who can carry a tune out of 30,000? The only problem I see is making sure people who sign up in the morning don't get bored and leave the park if they're in a late afternoon show.

How tightly scripted will the judges be? Because when equity actors are allowed to improv and mock guests in the Adventurers Club, the results can be pretty funny.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:14:39 GMT

My least favorite park gets my most hated TV show.

Another good reason for me to stay away from the Studios.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:56:22 GMT

You know, I guess it all depends on how you define the "magic." Clearly a LOT of people have the "Idol" dream. And there will be OODLES of really MEDIOCRE singers (more than the bad ones, these are the ones who are so grating--the girls with the faux tremolos and endlessly bad impressions of pop stars--y'know what I mean?) who will line up to take their shot.

Idol, btw, while "fading" a touch, is still a HUGE hit watched by millions. The issue is less the popularity of the show and more the VALUE of winning. Recent winners have been much less successful at selling records and that's partly because the novelty is over and mostly because the music biz has changed so radically. And let's face it--the Equity members who are Disney cast folks doing the judging are technically pro's, but not ONE of them has ever done anything to equal even being a finalist on Idol not to mention winning, at least as far as career exposure is concerned.

Ah well, not my idea of entertainment or certainly of a way to spend a whole day at Disney...but to the degree that it stimulates people to attend ANOTHER day and extend their overall WDW vacation, it will be a success.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:31:42 GMT

Sounds like not much more than tarted-up karaoke for the presumably sober. Personally I prefer to watch professionals, but the novelty of this for audiences who will never get to see the original TV show live will probably pack the room, at least until the TV show packs it in.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:02:32 GMT

I think this is a good idea overall, but the proof is going to be in the execution. If the show building is designed well, things move along quickly and WDI has a free hand to add touches to make this interactive and immersive - it could work well and change the dynamics of the park. If they execute on the cheap, best of luck.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:12:42 GMT

I think one big issue would be locals doing it day after day, like they did with the Millionaire attraction.

I have such fond memories of the Superstar TV show. 2 of my kids were in it, but the funniest was the barely English speaking Japanese tourist in the Soap Opera scene....... I do not think Idol will be as entertaining. But, we will see.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:42:53 GMT

Hey if it lowers the line levels of Midway Mania then I'm all for it.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:22:17 GMT

Oh no....

I respect the tastes of many people who enjoy watching American Idol, but this is just... c'mon... I think a karaoke attraction is fun to stare at, but in the end, it's kinda state fair status of an attraction waiting to happen. I can see the Marketing Dept completely blowing this out of proportion and guests visiting. It will be a hit for a year or so, and slowly die down and won't really be something that's memorable... just embarrassing to watch.

But again, this is just my opinion, and who knows... as long as its not anymore Disney Channel stuff... (shiver). but this is pretty darn close.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:50:45 GMT

Look atthe reality of the situation...MILLIONAIRE was a major loss in a short period of time...both in Florida and in California. Theming an attraction based show to a popular television phenomena is a bad move...it is not a timeless placement and just a quick fix to try and capitalize on tourist draw income. And, for me at least, it really detracts from the Disney Park Experience. Admittedly, I don't go to these type shows and tend to avoid them like the plague. About all they might be good for, in the long run in Florida, is an air conditioned respite from the summer heat. ;) There is so much more that can be created on Hollywood and movie themes to fit a mutable show building over a television show that is already losing demographic numbers in it's annual broadcast.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:06:49 GMT

Yeah... I predict a HUGE opening... and then within months to a year later it will be empty and they will be BEGGING people to come.

They should have actual perfomerers do Disney songs and then pick ONE person (a kid or teen) from the audience to sing too. Then have the panel 'judge' them all, and then let the audience pick the winner by applause (or just let the audience member win).

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:21:26 GMT

I think this could be done where it is a very worthwhile attraction for years to come, or at least as long as American Idol the TV show is still running! I think there are a surprising number of people who can sing quite well (karaoke nights across this country and others show that) so finding 10-15 people a day shouldn’t be all that difficult. I have high hopes for this attraction and we will just have to wait and see how the final product comes out. I do not recall how crowded Millionaire was when it first opened, but I sure was around when it quickly was empty almost all the time, hopefully AIE doesn’t share the same fate!

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:35:50 GMT

I dunno how I feel about this. I'm one of the three people in this country who don't like "Idol", so I'm not all that excited. But it's better than an empty theater, I guess...

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:23:37 GMT

Meh

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:07:41 GMT

mouse*o*ears - I think the number of karaoke nights shows that alot of people *like* to sing... but there is a BIG difference between that and actually being *able* to sing.

As a Director that has sat in on more vocal auditions than I would ever care to count, I can attest to the following facts:

1. Everybody can sing, if you only mean making noise with your mouth.

2. Some people can sing well enough that family and close friends MIGHT want to hear.

3. FEW people can sing well enough that strangers would want to listen.

On another note, doesn't this seem like an awful lot to go through, both time and effort wise, on the behalf of the auditioner? I mean you paid to go to the park right? Or are people going to pay admission just to audition?

I still think this idea will burn bright for a moment and then very quickly flame out.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:29:35 GMT

Cbarry123 said: "My least favorite park gets my most hated TV show. Another good reason for me to stay away from the Studios."

Ditto for me!!

This sounds like an asinine idea. Also, though Disney may say all those 14 and up are welcome to sing, you just know that it's going to be skewed to the teens and twentysomethings, with their awful taste in pop music. Anybody of my generation who would like to sing the likes of Cole Porter probably need not apply...

I also agree with captainhook91 when he questions who is going to want to spend time with all this rigmarole when they've just spent a small fortune to get into the park in the first place.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:37:38 GMT

Last night was the premeire of "I SURVIVED A JAPANESE GAME SHOW" on ABC/Disney - okay! I busted a gut all the way through this show (it was preceeded by "Wipe Out" - an Americanized version of another Japanese import - "MXG" - "MXG" was the superior version) - and, that , if Disney were to have to have a "game show take" in their studio park, imho, would be THE WAY to go! Of course, you're talking a serious amount of waivers for guests to appear in the stunts (Rather much a Disney version of the Nickolodeon Green Goop challenges) but, with the inherent humor of guests having to put on silliy costumes and perform outrageous stunts while having a running commentary provided by WDW Streetmosphere talent...yeah. That works.

Something like this is timeless. At least, has a better timeless factor over American Idol or Who Wants To Be style shows.

And, don't forget , " Owwww", "why are you hurting me", please just let me die." (Homer Simpson - on Japanese Game Shows)

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:28:02 GMT

Cap'n ....I too have endured oodles of bad auditions and, as I stated earlier, the even worse ENDLESSLLY mediocre auditions. But as to the issue of people paying to audition, that's a proven reality. Look at all the bogus "talent" and "modeling" agencies out there charging doting parents oodles for head shots and alleged representation of countless moppets and teens they KNOW will never do anything (even while putting themselves in position to cash in for a piece of the action if and when lightning strikes.)

The attraction for the contestants, even after paying to get to WDW, stay there, and then get into the parks, is clear. The more difficult issue, dare I say the MORAL issue?--the fact that for the AUDIENCE, the "fun" (just like with the above-noted Japanese gameshows and the "reality" shows they have spawned in this country) is about enjoying the humiliation and semi-torture of others. The fact that they VOLUNTEER to be humiliated (or are too dumb to AVOID it out of their own hubris and their family egging them on with utter blindness to their lack of talent) is, after all, what people tune in for in the early weeks of Idol on TV.

Some rare people may actually have the talent to live up to their dreams of becoming the next Carrie Underwood or even Ruben Stoddard. But let's face it, there are a whole lot more wannabe/potential Sanjaya's out there, and a lot of people who look forward to watching them fail.

Not my idea of Disney "magic" as I said earlier. I wonder if the issue is less one of the timing re. the "fading" of American Idol the TV show or more an issue of our nation getting fed up with the slime and degradation that is at the core of the whole "reality" trend? Maybe we'll rise above it just in time for this attraction to be rejected mightily.....but I'm not holding my breath.

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:47:18 GMT

Epic fail.

I agree with the other posters who say this will be popular for a few months, then it will be deserted.

I also anticipate this scenario:

Younger Kid: "Dad, can we go ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror now?"

Dad: "Not now, honey, we're going to watch your sister Ashley sing! Doesn't that sound like more fun?"

re: Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

Jim Hill — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:29:06 GMT

"Does this new attraction sound like something that you'd go out of your way to see the next time you visit Disney's Hollywood Studios?"

No.

penis enlargement

Jim Hill — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:40:20 GMT

penis enlargement