I Heart Hollywood Studios

In honor of Hollywood Studios Awareness Week I've decided to talk about my favorite experiences at DHS.  Sadly, there are some WDW guests that don't expect a lot from DHS so they don't plan to spend a lot of time there.  It really is a park that you either love or hate.  In my opinion, it takes proper touring to really appreciate all that DHS has to offer.  It's personally one of my favorite parks in all of WDW. 

While visiting DHS back when I was a junior in high school, select members of my family were chosen to participate in the Backlot Tour's show.  My brother and sister-in-law joined me in putting on raincoats backstage and then heading out to act in a show that shows how some special effects are done in movies.  We were given cues as to how to act and react.  Being the theatrical family that we are we really hammed it up.  As we were taking our bows, the CM handed me the microphone so I could wish our mother a happy birthday.  It was a really special experience that I'll never forget.

In 2008, my husband and I took a trip to WDW for our one year wedding anniversary.  About a week before we left Michigan I found out that Disney was looking for volunteers to be extras in the filming of promo spots for Toy Story Mania.  I signed us both up and we arrived that morning at DHS very excited.  Our small group was escorted backstage in a cast member area where we could put our belongings.  It was really cool to see Pixar Place before any guest had.  We were the first guests to ever walk through the queue line and the first guests to ride the attraction itself.  Matt and I did our best being animated all the while knowing we were being filmed.  We got to ride the attraction in its entirety five times.  Apparently we were pretty fugly people to Disney because we never saw our faces on any commercial for Toy Story Mania.  Still, we had a blast and would do it all over again if we could.

This past fall I took a trip with my mom to WDW and auditioned for "American Idol Experience."  The goal of the attaction is to give the guest the REAL American Idol walk through.  You audition with two seperate judges and then if they like your sound enough you move onto the big stage to perform in front of over a thousand guests.  You get vocal coaching, hair and make up, and a soundcheck all to prepare you to take the stage.  I had a blast performing at the 1:00 p.m. show and was lucky enough to win.  I moved onto the evening finale where I competed against the other preliminary show winners from that day.  The stage is amazing!  A true and honest replica of the real American Idol stage.  Even if you're not a big fan of American Idol itself, it sure is a high energy show that is not to be missed.