American Idol Experience Review
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The American Idol Experience soft-opened for guests today, January 14th, at Disney�s Hollywood Studios. I had long abandoned the franchise on television, and was skeptical as to whether it was a little too late to introduce a new attraction based on a 7-year old television series.

It is still too soon to know whether American Idol will have legs for many more seasons. But Disney does have a winner in this new attraction, which has some tweaks to make before it officially opens on February 14th. I attended two shows today - with different hosts, judges and contestants.

I arrived early for the first show, only the 4th guest in the queue area. I asked about taking photos as the sign I�d seen previously prohibiting photography was nowhere in site. The official rules - no flash photography, videotaping, or audio taping (flash was okay in the queue, but not inside).

There soon was a family of one contestant near me. They spoke with a cast member about their party size - 11, which is too large for the VIP seating area. Each performer is able to have 6 seats in the VIP section.

Prior to the show, an enthusiastic cast member (who is on stage later before the host arrives) warms up the crowd - this is a high energy show, and a camera may be on you at anytime. The outside crowd was taped giving cheers to one of the contestants, and a little girl was taped saying �Boris, you are my American Idol�! Ryan Seacrest followed with a short video before we were let into the auditorium.

The doors soon opened - and I was really impressed with the design of the stage. Disney did a great job creating an atmosphere which feels like one is entering into a real American Idol show. Mark, the host in the first show was also fantastic. The familiar music from the show is also a major part of the attraction. We were shown how to use our voting buttons, which turned orange once pressed.

As The American Idol Experience is only in soft openings, there are currently no prizes given. Some of the contestants during soft openings are cast members, including a wonderful performer in the first show named Boris. There was no finale today, although the last show included confetti falling from the ceiling when the winner was named. I was told that the confetti will eventually be for the finale winner at the end of each day - once in full swing, there will be 7 shows and a finale.

Mark did show us a Dream Ticket, which will be awarded to one winner each day. The Dream Ticket allows the winner to bypass the line at any American Idol audition.

The judges were introduced, and this is where the attraction gets iffy for me. One of the judges was supposed to be a Randy Jackson clone with the hat and the �dawg�, and there was a judge who was supposed to be like Simon Cowell. But neither show had an obvious Paula, nor could I figure out whether they were really there to judge, or to try to be funny (which overall, they weren�t). The quips seemed overall forced and not amusing, and the first �Simon� was all negative without the positive feedback that Simon Cowell brings to the American Idol show. In the second show I watched, the �Simon� was excellent . He balanced his criticism with positive comments when warranted. He did comment on one contestant who sang �Ever After� that she �took the happily out of happily ever after�. Overall, I�d just like to see honest comments and not caricatures of the American Idol judges.

In both shows I went to, there was an obvious winner from the 3 contestants. Songs that were sung included �Walking in Memphis�, �Black Horse and the Cherry Tree� and the aforementioned �Ever After�. There are so many factors that will effect how good a show is - from the host, to the judges, to the contestants and audience. In the first show I attended, the audience was on their feet quite a bit when prompted. The second audience was much more low-key, and more than half of the audience sat through the Jordin Sparks video that is part of each show. She encourages everyone to stand up, and sings �I�ve Got the Music in Me� as she rides a variety of attractions at Disney�s Hollywood Studios. Jordin Sparks is not the only American Idol to be part of this attraction in video form, David Cook and others join in as well.

�American Idol, The Experience� will officially open on February 14th.

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-- Posted January 15, 2009
-- Test by Denise Preskitt