Bennett family enjoys American Idol Experience at Hollywood Studios

Posted in summer fun, Things to do, Travel
by Shaun Bennett

This is the fifth in a six-part blog series detailing the Bennetts’ biennial trip to Disney World in Orlando. I’ll spend one blog entry on each of the four Disney parks, and two more on the two Universal Studios parks we visited before we hit Lake Buena Vista.

We hit the Universal Studios theme parks to begin our vacation, then hoofed it around Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. Next up was Hollywood Studios.

Dad’s pick

The American Idol Experience. I won’t say I’m a closet American Idol fan, mainly because I tell anyone who’ll listen how much I enjoy the show. I don’t fit the teeny-bopper demographic that the show tries to hit, but I fit right in at the live new show at Hollywood studios.

The studio is fashioned like the ones you see on TV, including flashing lights, brightly lit neons and huge TV screens to replay that action. There are also contestants who sing live for the audience and three judges — who probably not-so-accidentally resemble Randy, Paula and Simon.

The show runs seven times throughout the day, and the winner of each of those shows takes part in the finale — which was the show my daughter Stephanie and I went to. All seven singers were pretty solid, and at the end the audience was allowed to vote for their favorite. The winner of the day received a magic ticket, which allowed them to advance to the front of the line at any of the show’s live auditions around the country.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed we’ll see our show’s winner on a future episode!

Mom’s pick

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This is easily my wife’s favorite ride in all four parks, and has been since I took her there for her first trip in February of 2000.

Like most Northeast Ohioans, we compare just about every theme park and its rides to the mighty Cedar Point, and this particular ride would most closely resemble the Demon Drop. Except that it is enclosed in a huge mansion, has a complete back story to go with the ride and totally rocks.

You navigate the pathway to the hotel entrance, wait in the lobby and bellhops show you into the library — where you’re treated to the story of the Hollywood Hotel and how it became a portal to the Twilight Zone.
You are then escorted into a service elevator and, well … the craziness begins. I won’t ruin the many surprises of the ride itself, but it’ll be one ride you’ll be ready to go on again and again.

Daughter’s pick

Rock ‘N Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. Stephanie’s favorite ride changes about every time she heads south to Disney, and this ride seemed to be on top this go-round simply because she was finally tall enough to ride.

She loved the pre-show, and thought the “garage” where you got into the stretch limo was pretty cool, too. But when the train took off from the platform with a turbo thrust into the darkness, her eyes were wide open and her hand was firmly planted on my arm in a death grip.

The Rock ‘N Roller coaster is indoors and runs mostly in the dark. The car does loops, twists and curves past black-lit signs, all while an Aerosmith medley blares in your ears. For those who have been to an Aerosmith concert or who were alive while they released the bulk of their albums, it’s a trip — a very fast trip — down memory lane. For those like my daughter who don’t know Aerosmith from a blacksmith, it’s still a blast.

So much so, that Stephanie asked me to burn her a copy of the group’s greatest hits CD after her fifth or sixth time on the ride.

Belle and some of the enchanted items in the castle in the "Beauty and the Beast" live show.

Son’s pick

Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage. Jacob loves watching TV at home, so he seemed astounded when he got to see that actual characters from some of his favorite shows on the Disney channel.

The show centers around “The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and also includes scenes from “My Friends Tigger and Pooh,” “Little Einsteins” and “Handy Manny.”

“Handy Manny” is a particular favorite of my son’s, and the newest of the shows. Jacob has a Handy Manny figurine, a Handy Manny tool belt, a Handy Manny toolbox with all the tools and even Handy Manny discs for his Disney viewfinder.

It’s nice to see him picking up the tradition from his older sister, who loved the same show — and still enjoyed this year’s version — when the performance focused on “Bear in the Big Blue House,” “Stanley,” “Rolie Polie Olie” and “Pooh and Friends.”

Jacob even blended his love of the show with one of his favorite toys, picking out a Hot Wheels set where each of the cars was decorated with a Playhouse Disney show theme from the cart outside the theater after the show.

A stuntman is in flames in the Lights, Motors, Action extreme stunt show.

Hollywood Studios, which was just recently renamed after being known as MGM Studios for years, has a great mix of shows and rides. For show lovers, Beauty and the Beast is a condensed version of the Broadway musical, and The Voyage of the Little Mermaid is one of the best stage shows I’ve ever seen.

Great rides here include Star Tours, the Great Movie Ride and the new Toy Story Mania.

They also have live action shows like the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Lights, Motors, Action extreme stunt show.

For those who want a behind-the-scenes look at the magic, there are great exhibits like the Magic of Disney Animation, Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream and the Backlot Tour.

One of the other great things about this park: the themed restaurants. They have great re-creations like the Brown Derby and Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano. They have the 50′s Prime Time Cafe, where you get served by Mom or Dad and are even scolded if you don’t eat all your mashed potatoes. Then there’s the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, our family’s favorite restaurant in the park. The entire restaurant is set up like a drive-in movie, and patrons eat in cars equipped with tables. Cartoons and old shows play on the big screen, while “carhops” bring you your food and shakes.

Coming next: Disney’s Magic Kingdom.