SUPER SOAP WEEKEND

by Debbie Koma (aka DCDeb)

Feature Article

This article appeared in the September 12, 2000, Issue #48 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

I was lucky enough to visit Walt Disney World last September during the ABC Super Soap Weekend. For anyone wondering what it might be like this year, here's a brief review of last year's event. I'm fairly certain this will at least give a general idea of what goes on during this event.

Well, what can I say? Speaking as a WDW commando-type who doesn't watch the soaps, I found waiting in line for autographs for hours at a time to be a monumental waste of time. (No flames, please — I'm not saying anyone is wrong for enjoying the soaps and their stars. It's just that if I'm in WDW I can think of other things — lots of other things — that I'd rather be doing.)

But… my sister was the reason I even made this trip, a fact I had to keep reminding myself of, so I made sure she got to where she needed to be to maximize her celebrity- sighting time.

>From a WDW fan's perspective: I felt WDW had the event fairly well-organized, distributing the stars throughout the park to manage crowds. And were there ever crowds!

Mobs, even! You couldn't get near Susan Lucci's little empire, set up back on Mickey Avenue in one of the soundstages. In fact, to see her you had to have a voucher, distributed on first-come, first-served basis.

Because most of the folks were there for the soaps, the lines for the attractions at the Studios those two days were pretty much non-existent: Star Tours (which we rode 5 times over the course of 2 days) was a walk-on, as were Tower of Terror, the Backlot Tour, and Great Movie Ride. There was a 20-minute wait for the Rock N Roller Coaster, but even that seemed manageable. My only complaint was that the event had commandeered the theater Doug is shown in for a Soap Opera Talk Show — and so there was no Doug for the entire weekend.

>From a soap fan's perspective: My sister felt that the autograph sessions were fairly well-managed, except for the fact that CMs were not as well-informed as they might have been.

For example, when we arrived in the line for Cameron Mathison's autograph (Ryan, All My Children) shortly after 9 a.m., my sister was already #106. The CMs discouraged her, saying that only up to #50 would get an autograph, but she waited around for a photo and was glad she did. When this young hunk arrived, he treated his adoring fans to quite a show, stripping off his shirt and falling into the crowd, ala mosh pit. I was afraid that my sister, one of the "lucky" ones upon whom he fell, was going to need CPR afterwards. She was ecstatic with the "show" he put on, but she left after taking some pictures, only to find out later that he had signed nearly 150 autographs — she could have gotten his autograph and was a bit put out at having been discouraged by the Cast Members.

After we had learned the "system" for getting autographs, we used our time more efficiently, and my sister was able to snag pictures with her two faves, Wally Kurth and Billy Warlock, then just collected pre-signed promo photos of the rest of the celebrities.

We had no problem snapping pix of the stars as they were signing for others, and got close enough to talk to many of them even over the shouts of "We love you, Vincent!" and "You're so handsome, Michael!" We noticed that at least one of the autograph lines was relocated later in the day to a more sheltered spot — a smart move, since the weather was alternating between scorchingly hot and humid and heavy, but brief, downpours.

Jackie experienced the full range of the soap events, sitting in on one of the Talk Show sessions, the game show, viewing the motorcades — and she was a happy camper. I think she'd go to SSW again, despite all the waiting and the madness of the crowds.

The celebs for this year's Super Soap Weekend have been announced on the ABC site. They are (subject to change):

  • *All My Children
  • Susan Lucci (Erica Kane)
  • John Callahan (Edmund Grey)
  • Josh Duhamel (Leo du Pres)
  • Cameron Mathison (Ryan Lavery)
  • Esta TerBlanche (Gillian Andrassy Martin)
  • *One Life To Live
  • Linda Dano (Rae Cummings)
  • Kamar de los Reyes (Antonio Vega)
  • Jim DePaiva (Max Holden)
  • Kassie DePaiva (Blair Holden)
  • David Fumero (Cristian Vega)
  • Erika Page (Roseanne Delgado)
  • Jason-Shane Scott (Will Rappaport)
  • Hillary B. Smith (Nora Buchanan)
  • Erin Torpey (Jessica Buchanan)
  • *General Hospital
  • Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth Webber)
  • *Port Charles
  • Thorsten Kaye (Ian Thornhart)
  • Jon Lindstrom (Kevin Collins)
  • Julie Pinson (Eve Lambert Collins)

Have you attended a Super Soap Weekend? If so, ALL EARS® and WDWIG would love to hear from you! Email: [email protected]

For further information on Disney's Super Soap weekend, visit: http://allears.net/tp/mgm/m_supersoap.htm

For the latest event updates, call the Super Soap Hotline at (407) 397-6808.

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Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.