American Idol at The Hollywood Studios

[MaxPower]

So The Hollywood Studios will be having an American Idol attraction in which guests compete against each other and sing. Has anyone heard any DETAILS about this yet? I am wondering how many shows there will be each day. From what I understand, the winners from each show ill then compete against each other in the final show of the day for the grand prize. Any idea what these people will actually win? Will there be an age limit? Will Grandpa be competing against Britney? Who will be judging? The audience?

Personally, I think this "attraction" is going to be a big mistake on Disney's part. Guests want a new attraction that builds on a great theme and showcases the creativity and talent of Disney Imagineering. They get in trouble when they try to create an attraction simply based on a TV show. That's why Who Wants To Be a Millionaire - Play It no longer exists. TV-based attractions are not going to get many repeat visits from the guests - especially as each year passes.

[SmallWorldBobby]

The attraction will have several levels. First, prospects audition to be included in the live attraction show. Those contestants compete in front of the Disney park audience, who then votes via keypad on the spot. Show winners are invited back in a series of escalating competitions (over the course of the season) until the final show, held once a season. The ultimate winner's grand prize is a "Fast Pass" (yes, that's what they call it currently) to audition on the actual American Idol show. The winner is not guaranteed a spot in Hollywood; he/she is only guaranteed aTV-taped audition. The winner bypasses the need to wait in line and is therefore assured an audition spot, hence the Fast Pass designation.

[disneyfan328]

I'm sorry but i think that this is a complete WASTE of Disney park space. Its just my opinion but to see them taking out shows like fantasmic for this????? I just don't see how Disney thinks that this is worth it at all. A singing competition at Disney is not something I want my park dollars going for. I would rather see them keep more fantasmic shows or groups like Four for a Dollar over this (and yes I have voiced my opionions to Disney on this but it doesn't seem to me that they care much about what the general paying public wants anymore. I know that they feel the need to "downsize" some things due to the economy being what it is, but certainly Disney could have come up with something better than this. Again just my :twocents:

[hardingella]

Im sorry but whats the point of a singing competition were you return throughout the season to somebody like me who lives over seas.
Surely this cant be. I want something thats going to make me go WOW, not, whats the point?
I so hope your wrong.

[Imagineer1981]

This has to be the worst cross promotion ever. At least with Millionaire it was Disney based questions and owned by Disney. American Idol is owned by Fox, so who knows how much royalty they are paying to Fox just to have the attraction. When there are volumes of Disney movies and the great thinkers of Imagineering, this seems like one of the biggest corporate let downs in a long time

[SmallWorldBobby]

As I understand it, American Idol won't affect Fantasmic at all. The only park space being used is the old Millionaire/TV Studio building in Hollywood Studios...Fantasmic should be unaffected. Please correct me if I am misinformed.

I am with most of you who think this is a bad Disney idea. I do, however, think that this will be a huge attraction. People are going to eat this up if it's handled correctly. Of course, 90% of the draw for early auditions is the horrible contestants, and since guests will have to compete to even be considered for the in-park performance, I don't think we'll see much of the funny bits. It doesn't add much to the Disney magic when a park-full of people is laughing at you for being so awful, does it?

One thing it will add is another "live" performance to the park. With PI closing, there are fewer live concert/stage shows.

[gwfx1031]

Don't write it off without seeing it first. It may be a lot of fun and perhaps be something like "Millionaire" where it may not be a permanent attraction, but rather have a limited run that will bring people into the park and offer another alternative. We, including myself, have complained about the lack of attractions at DHS. As fun as "Indy" is, it has been there since day one and has not changed much at all. This at least is something new.

[Marker]

Once again, in what seems to be the ever growing trend, WDW announces something new and automatically it's a stupid idea and everyone hates it before it even debuts.

Call me an eternal optimist, but I'm going to wait until I see it MYSELF to cast my opinion.

Personally, I think it sounds like a good idea. American Idol is very popular and I think a lot of people will appreciate an opportunity to get to watch a piece of it live and in person. Not to mention a chance for those who are so inclined to perform. I anticipate being in the audience if I get the chance.

If it flops, they tried and they'll move on to something else. Hey, if they never tried anything new or different they'd never come up with anything new or different. But then there are probably those who would prefer if NOTHING ever changed.

But that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong.

[EmISeeKayEeWhy]

Once again, in what seems to be the ever growing trend, WDW announces something new and automatically it's a stupid idea and everyone hates it before it even debuts.

Call me an eternal optimist, but I'm going to wait until I see it MYSELF to cast my opinion.

Personally, I think it sounds like a good idea. American Idol is very popular and I think a lot of people will appreciate an opportunity to get to watch a piece of it live and in person. Not to mention a chance for those who are so inclined to perform. I anticipate being in the audience if I get the chance.

If it flops, they tried and they'll move on to something else. Hey, if they never tried anything new or different they'd never come up with anything new or different. But then there are probably those who would prefer if NOTHING ever changed.

But that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong.

:ditto:

[MaxPower]

I still can't believe that they are going to expect the winners to return later in the year to compete in a finale to declare the overall winner.

Also, the TV Show American Idol has an age limit, so that fact alone means that all guests in the parks who would like to compete must fit into the age limit that the show has? That is discriminatory to a majority of park guests.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

I was talking to some of the new "Judges" for it tonight and they aren't even excited about it. They said they are looking forward to telling Guests they are horrible singers.

And as a side note, not all Millionaire questions were Disney based. The one I got wrong was on SNL, which is NBC not ABC.

[Pop Centurion]

Normally I'd wait to see it before passing judgment but this just sounds like a real bad idea. I don't know exactly how it will be run but It just seems like it would consume most of your day if you wanted to compete.
So let's say a family goes to the studios and their talented daughter wants to compete. They would have to wait around until it was her turn to audition which could be a few hours. If she makes it, then they go on the actual competition where the audience votes. This will most likely be at least an hour as most live Disney shows average about that long. Now to me this is taking away from time spent at other attractions in the park. Also what if she wins and invited back. What if the family can't afford to return? Maybe I'm just confused as to how it will actually be done but if not, it seems like a big waste of money. Enough with the TV show and Pixar stuff. Give us old school Disney :thumbsup:

[EmISeeKayEeWhy]

I'd have to agree with one thing bad about this attraction.. the AI age requirement.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Auditions are done in advance through the internet.

You'll know before you get there if you are going on.

[Pop Centurion]

Auditions are done in advance through the internet.

You'll know before you get there if you are going on.
Ahhh, that clears things up. Thanks Jess.

[RBrooksC]

Oh, this just make me throw up in my mouth a little. I can't stand American Idol on TV. Why would I waste my time with this at Disney. I can only hope it is gone by the time I am there in 2011.

Why would I want to watch a bunch of near-do-wells sing a bunch of songs I would turn off if they were on the radio? Why do I even care about these people? These are the YouTube people who will sell their soul to be famous for just a few minutes. I have no use for people who have this weird need to be famous.

If I was dragged to this by my group and, for some reason, couldn't get out of it, I would make sure to vote for the worst. I guess the Sanjaya (however his named is spelled...) effect.

[Pop Centurion]

BTW, since we're on the AI subject. It's not like anyone who wins and gets a chance to go to the real AI competition will win or even be a finalist. The show is a complete fraud. Many of the contestants you see already have record deals. The show is nothing more than cheap promotion of these artist for record labels. It's been leaked long ago that the voting means nothing and that the producers predetermine how far each contestant goes. I remember the very first season seeing the auditions of the really bad singers. I couldn't help but think they were acting that bad. Sure enough, you find out they were just acting. The show is all about money, ratings and like I said already, promotion of already established artists. Many of which aren't that good anyway. If it weren't for that show, many of them wouldn't sell any CD's. AI just creates a buzz for them.

Sorry for the rant.

[Meteora]

I agree with others that this will turn out to be a mistake--it just seems like glorified karaoke, there is nothing to guarantee that the singers will actually be decent enough to merit listening to, and why waste your time with this when you're in Disney and there are other, better things to do? I just can't see this being on the must-do list of anyone who isn't a hardcore AI fan, and I can't see it having a lot of return visitors.

Disney hires excellent singers for their own staff, and there is certainly no lack of opportunity to see them in well-developed, Disney-themed shows. This just seems like as superfluous, probably with less talented people.

[Imagineer1981]

BTW, since we're on the AI subject. It's not like anyone who wins and gets a chance to go to the real AI competition will win or even be a finalist. The show is a complete fraud. Many of the contestants you see already have record deals. The show is nothing more than cheap promotion of these artist for record labels. It's been leaked long ago that the voting means nothing and that the producers predetermine how far each contestant goes. I remember the very first season seeing the auditions of the really bad singers. I couldn't help but think they were acting that bad. Sure enough, you find out they were just acting. The show is all about money, ratings and like I said already, promotion of already established artists. Many of which aren't that good anyway. If it weren't for that show, many of them wouldn't sell any CD's. AI just creates a buzz for them.

Sorry for the rant.

I don't know if thats 100% true...do you think they really wanted Taylor Hicks over Catherine McPhee? Or Fantasia, or Blake Lewis? All of those artist have tanked. The ones that the fans really want are the ones that come out on top later, like Chris Daughtry. I would think they would have made him win if they thought he'd make the most money for the company