American Idol Experience coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Do you think you have what it takes to become the next American Idol? The grand opening for the American Idol Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will take place on February 14, 2009. Based on the popular Fox network show of the same name, American Idol at Disney offers guests three ways to enjoy the “Experience”—watch, vote, or perform.

Any undiscovered talent who wants to perform on the American Idol Experience must be at least 14 years of age. According to a recent article in the Orlando Sentinel, each show will feature three singing guests, and the winner of each will compete in the day's finale. Like the show itself, there will be judges onstage offering similar perspectives as Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell, although the actors will not actually be impersonating their real life counterparts. The finale winner earns a Dream Ticket, which essentially acts as a FastPass at a future audition of TV's American Idol.

There is one other aspect of American Idol that will also be different than the television version—there will be no awful auditions where the contestants embarrass themselves in front of the judges and the audiences. It’s just not a very Disney thing to do.