Of course, Disney knows "The American Idol Experience" represents a much bigger opportunity for the park and its guests than the TV rating wars.
"We view it as a pop culture phenomenon," Disney spokesman Rick Sylvain said. "This gives people the thrill of a live production, making them feel like they're actually on the set."
Guests get two chances to participate in this attraction — to be on-stage, or in the audience voting for the winner. There are seven regular shows a day, each featuring three performers.
The winner of the eighth show, pitting the day's victors against one another, gets a grand reward: A front-of-the-line ticket to any one of the next season's "American Idol" tryouts in the country. That's a truly golden ticket to the thousands willing to wait days for an audition spot in each city's casting call.
Up to 400 can audition here each day, and about 40 will make it past the first cut. Then 21 are eventually cast to compete in seven regular shows.
The Orlando set is a near-perfect match, built by the Hollywood "American Idol" stage designer, but for a few small changes. "Judges" sit stage-right, instead of the floor, though they retain the trademark Coke drinking glasses.
The audience is actually encouraged beforehand to support every contestant and heckle the judges — all three of whom are cast members, including the obligatory jerk.
Singers who've made the cut arrive an hour early. They have 10 minutes of hair and make-up, 10 minutes with a voice coach and 10 more alone, with an iPod programmed with their song and its lyrics. They also tape short back-story interviews to air with the introductions.
The production feels real, with someone shouting "We're live in 3-2-1" and a giant bank of lights turning on the show's trademark "aa-AA" sound.
A main difference is the performers themselves — wearing Mickey Mouse T-shirts, jean shorts and sandals, and quite long shots to make the real deal. They also don't do whole songs here, only 90-second snips picked from a list of 113.
The theater seats 1,000, and every other armrest has a voting pad. The audience eventually decides who advances, not the judges or cast members who culled the flock along the way.
Disney hopes to please even guests who don't make the first cut: Cast members along the way are fed electronic notes on what to help them with — pitch, nerves, gestures, etc.
"We are Disney; we are not Simon (Cowell)," said Eva Medved, entertainment operations manager for the attraction. "So we want to make sure after they walk out of here they've had a good time regardless."
Would-be stars who didn't make the cut can try again every 30 days. Unsurprisingly, Disney has already seen a host of new regulars.
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