The Fabulous Disney Babe - Apr 12, 2002

The Fabulous Disney Babe
Page 1 of 20

by Michelle Smith (archives)
April 12, 2002
Fab gives her guide to Super Soap Weekends plus a huge pictorial with more than 70 pictures from the first weekend.

ABC Super Soap Weekends - All My Children

Table of Contents

The Orlando version of the ABC Super Soap Weekend is wildly popular out there, with people flying out from all over the country to meet and greet their favorite daytime soap stars. This year, with the opening of the Soap Opera Bistro at Disney's California Adventure, it was hoped that Disney might bring the event to the West Coast.  

This February, the dreams of the West Coast Soap fans came true: Disney held a press conference at the Soap Opera Bistro, announcing the upcoming event, which would be, unlike the Super Soap event at Walt Disney World, split into three weekends: the first weekend would be for All My Children, the second for One Life to Live, and the third would be split between General Hospital and its half-hour spin-off, Port Charles.  

On Saturday, there were press conferences, very brief with the "print" press, which is what New Media (Internet) is considered, and a little longer with Broadcast Media (TV, Radio etc.) as they had to have the stars individually or in pairs. The stars were kept running the entire weekend, and if you really HAD to meet that certain star, you were guaranteed. It might take getting up extra-extra early and standing in long lines with no Fastpass, but it could be done.

With that in mind, instead of the usual "then I did this, then I saw them, blah blah blah" that I usually do, I'd like to give you my guide to the Super Soap Weekends. Next week I'll blah blah blah about schmoozing as per usual. All right, I'll blah blah a little bit, but then straight to the info, okay?

The best way to meet stars is to dine at the Soap Opera Bistro, except when the cavalcade is happening. The cavalcade is the only way to see all of the stars of the show that are there together, unless you were invited to the über-exclusive "thank you" party that Cynthia threw for the cast at the bistro on Friday night. It was a small and private affair to thank the troupers for what they were about to go through that coming weekend.

There was a breakfast buffet at the Bistro. I spoke to people who attended, and they had bought their tickets months ago for the event. A good way to get a heads up on the breakfast is to purchase the Super Soap Weekend package, which includes hotel, tickets and a special thank you gift. There are still packages left for the General Hospital weekend.

And, yes, I admit it. I'm an ABC Soap fan. Roger Howarth's character, Todd Manning/Lord/Manning on One Life to Live is my favorite, followed closely by Timothy D. Stickney's R.J. Gannon. Yow. But I digress. Mr. Howarth rarely, if ever, makes guest appearances...but Mr. Stickney will be here this coming weekend. Again, yow. Another usually-shy actor, Timothy Geary, who plays Luke on General Hospital, made an appearance for the grand opening of the Soap Opera Bistro. Unfortunately, he won't be here for the General Hospital weekend - as far as we know now. Things are always subject to change, according to the microprint.

The press interviews took place at the Avalon Cove bar, which had been cleaned out of all mandarin-martini-making materials, replaced with sandwiches on fresh Boudin sourdough, Rice Krispie treats shaped like stars, Mounds cookies, coffee, soda and water. I learned an hour too late that this would be a camping trip. I missed the first set of interviews, and met some great people waiting for the second set, from http://www.turtle-run.com and from ABC Soaps In Depth magazine, which was handed out at the main entrance and at the Super Soap Weekend information booth in front of the Sun Plaza as you enter the park.

The magazine was the usual edition, with one difference: in the middle was a two-weekend planner (All My Children and One Life to Live) for the Super Soap Weekend, painstakingly detailed: whom, exactly, would be where, exactly, doing what, exactly, when, exactly, and for how long. Exactly. I actually used it Sunday to work out my plan of attack to get photos of those I had missed the day before. Nolan North of Port Charles talks about DCA in an "Up Close and Personal" segment of the magazine, about filming a SoapNet show inside Soap Opera Bistro and riding Soarin' Over California with his shoes off. There are also some hilarious fan moments outlined inside.