A Review of the ABC Primetime Preview
Weekend at Disney's California Adventure August 24th & 25th
Story by Lani Teshima, Photos
by Alex Stroup
ONE | TWO
The Golden State Amphitheater was
the site for the ABC Star Q&A Showcase
When is 1 and 1 more than 2?
When entertainment giant Walt Disney Company uses its creative resources
to build on the synergy espoused by CEO Michael Eisner. Merriam-Webster
defines synergy as "a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility
of distinct business participants or elements (as resources or efforts)."
The most recent example of Disney synergy was the ABC Primetime
Preview Weekend, held August 24 and 25 at Disney's California Adventure
park in Anaheim, which brought both media and guests together to enjoy
an DCA's inaugural weekend debutante ball that introduced five new shows,
as well as their roster of returning programs.
John Ritter and Katey Sagal from
the new show 8 Simple Rules
The weekend was filled with
various activities that allowed park visitors to see their
favorite TV personalities in person. Instead of the usual autograph
signing and meet-and-greet sessions however, the activities included
various shows that allowed park visitors to see the actors in larger
settings, such as question-and-answer sessions at the Golden State
Amphitheater, as well as a parade of stars through the DCA parade
corridor.
KABCTV-7 Los Angeles
entertainment reporter George Pennacchio and ABC Sports' Michelle Kwan
The Golden State Amphitheater, originally built for this summer's DCA
music series, was the site for the ABC Star Q & A Showcase. For
six shows on each day, ABC7 Los Angeles entertainment reporter George
Pennacchio emceed question-and-answer sessions with the featured cast
of the various TV programs showcased this weekend. Each session opened
with about 20 minutes of questions and answers between the stars and
Pennacchio, with another 20 minutes open for park guests. Three show
staff members roamed the audience with microphones to make sure each
question was heard by everyone.
ABC Sports' Dan Fouts and Al
Michaels
The Golden Dreams Theater (normally the home of the Golden Dreams movie)
then turned into the ABC Preview Screening Room. Park visitors experienced
sneak previews of actual shows (not pilots) set to air next month. The
screenings were scheduled to follow the Q & A sessions, allowing
visitors to see the actors in the flesh, then on screen.
Visitors seated for lunch at the
Pacific Wharf area were treated to the ABC "Happy Hour"
Trivia Challenge at the Pacific Wharf Stage, named after their Fall
Monday-through-Friday, 8-to-9 p.m. time slot. Three participants were
chosen from the audience to participate in a short trivia game that
involved answering three multiple-choice questions (the choices were
"A, B, or C - ABC, get it?" joked the show's host). Winners
of the trivia challenge received tickets to a taping of one of the "Happy
Hour" shows, presented by a different surprise guest for each scheduled
challenge.
The winner of the first challenge on Saturday received her prize from
Colin Mochrie from Whose Line is it Anyway?, while the winner
from the last challenge of the day (shown above) received her prize
from Katey Sagal (Peg from Married... With Children, and now
with 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter).
Whose in Line Anyway? LIVE
The biggest star of the weekend however, was a live show of the extremely
popular Whose Line is it Anyway improv comedy program with Drew
Carey. Fortunately for fans, Disney was well-prepared to handle the
crowds. Waiving the weekend's blockout restriction for certain annual
passholders, DCA even opened a half an hour early, at 9:30, to allow
the public to queue up for Fastpass tickets (below) to see the show
in the Hyperion Theater.
Waiting for Fastpass tickets to
the show
Mike Harris from Anaheim (known as RallyMonkey23 on our MousePad
discussion forum) arrived at the park at 9:50 and said he waited in
line for an hour to get Fastpass tickets for the show. The start of
the show was delayed for a number of reasons, and this meant an even
longer wait for those who already waited once for their Fastpasses
into the Hyperion Theater. By the time the doors opened at 1:50,
according to Mike, some in the crowd were chanting, "Let us in, let
us in."
Jennifer Littrell from Orange County (lilblckrncloud on MousePad)
agreed that the wait was very trying. "We were among the first in
line and got Orchestra tickets, and then went to stand in line at the
Hyperion at 12:30. Not only did the show not start on time but they
didn't let the Orchestra people in until dead last, so, we had to
stand in line for the longest amount of time to get the
tickets, and had to stand in line longest to get in.
Even with the long wait however,
MousePlanet's Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix reports that some visitors
were not on their best behavior in the queue area. Adrienne agrees
that management could have done a better job of communicating with the
audience about the nature and expected duration of the delay. However,
she says that did not excuse the behavior of some in the waiting area.
"There was shoving, pushing, someone tried to jump over a row of
seats and landed on a woman sitting in a wheelchair, security had to
be called to deal with a woman who was screaming at the cast
members... not the finest example of visitor behavior."
The show itself however, received rave reviews. "The show was
great! Drew Cary and company were funny as always!" Mike said.
Jennifer agreed: "After all (the waiting), though, I did have a
great time at the show."
For Mike, he particularly liked some of Drew Carey's wise cracks during
his opening monologue, which included an observation about DCA that
has been made by others in the past. "I love coming out to Disneyland
and California Adventure... although I donāt know why they built
California Adventure in the middle of big California," he said.
CONTINUE
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