Along with warm temperatures, museums, and cool eateries another perk of living in the sunshine state is having access to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom all within a 25 mile radius of my apartment.
And since The View, is airing its 20th season with a road trip to Disney World’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., with host Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg and Jedediah Bila all attending starting March 6-10 experiencing the endless magic of all four Walt Disney World theme parks. I thought why not see if I can be apart of the live studio audience.
I attended the March 7, taping of and it was an amazing experience! The best part? Sherri Shepherd and Ariel Winters were in attendance, as well as musical guest Train. Because the show was being taped at Animal Kingdom the audience also received day passes to the park. How awesome right? If you’re a first time audience member like myself I’ve gathered these helpful hints to ensure viewers of all experience levels can have a great time and come prepared.
(Pictured Above is Ariel Winters)
1. Get There Early
The View suggests arriving 90 minutes prior to the designated check in time. Shows typically give out more tickets to tapings than they can actually accommodate, as a result having a ticket won’t guarantee entry into the taping. After receiving your confirmed ticket email its states that the show purposely gives out more tickets than there are seats to ensure a full audience.
2. Dress For The Weather And Pack Light
At the start you’ll be waiting for a few hours, and you’ll be standing for a good portion of it. Before leaving for the taping tuesday morning I contemplated carrying a jacket because it almost always rains in Florida. I asked my sister if she thought I should, and she answered with a very confident and firm yes. Turned out she was very wrong, as the sun was hotter than the Sahara desert heat blazing down on me. Be sure to check the weather and confirm if you actually need a jacket before heading out.
3. Be Prepared For The Warm-Up Comedian
There is such a job title as warm-up comedian? I only have one question, where do I apply? Along with telling a few jokes at the start of the show and during commercial breaks, this person is here to help explain how the show works. In a live studio audience everything is 100 times more dramatic than you think, which basically means that when you find something funny or clap, you essentially have to do it louder and longer than you normally would. At most times when you hear laughter in the background it is a possibility that the laughter is not stage but it is set up in a way where it last longer by the show’s producer moving his or her hands up and down furiously in the background which basically signals to keep that laughter going for another two minutes people.
4. Be Prepared For A lot Of Instructions
There is not anything in The View live show taping that I experienced that was not pre planned or pre arranged. During commercial breaks the audience is told what to do, where to look, how long to laugh, how to sit and when to clap. I am almost certain that at one point I was clapping for three minutes straight. During The View musical guest performance by Train, we were taught a dance move and a few audience members were chosen to dance in front of the camera—these audience members knew it was coming so on camera when they seemed surprised to have been selected there is no doubt that they knew it was coming.
Once you are seated you are warned to never take out your cell phones until you hear the magic words, “you may now use your cell phones,” this typically only took place during commercial breaks. During these times the host are either retouching makeup or interacting with audience members by answering questions or reciting stories of their favorite Disney experience.
At the end of the show, The View awarded one lucky winner a four night Disney Cruise Line vacation that includes a day at their exclusive private island paradise Castaway Key. The audiences were given numbers during the commercial break and I was number 54. If you thought for a second that I was going to express that I was the lucky winner of this trip you thought wrong. Number 53 won! I am still waiting for Oprah Winfrey to start screaming her famous lines, “ you get a [trip], you get a [trip], everybody gets a [trip].”
Overall, I enjoyed the experience and had a wonderful time. If you can score tickets to a live show taping, I suggest you go for it, and definitely bring a friend, snacks and drinks with you. It will be completely worth it!