“Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” World Premiere Wrap-up Report [Part 3]
(a little background story).
No doubt that our coverage opportunities brought us trials and shortcomings, but let me tell you it was all worth it. It was about 4 years ago that myself and Harrison did indeed spend almost 11 hours plopped down on Main Street, holding down the fort with other Disney fans as we patiently waited for the stars to come down Main Street USA for the third time for the World Premiere of Pirates 3 : At World’s End.
By the time all the media arrived and and the celebrities were about to make their way onto the carpet, we had practically NO view of the carpet itself. We were dwarfed by media standing on step ladders. NO stars came and wanted to greet us. They were all on the other side of Main Street signing autographs, etc.
All we got that day were memories of an discouraging time.
We knew that we wanted to do something about it. We wanted to be part of the action, and there was only one way to do that.
Later that year, we founded Walt’s 33, our first sorta website. That failed.
A year later, we founded All Ears on Disney.com, our second attempt at a website – We were ordered to cease and disist…lame.
A year after that, we came back with the DisneyExaminer, beta. Third time is the charm? Perhaps, but we never made it on the Disney scene.
And then now.
DisneyExaminer.com, no longer beta, but back by POPULAR demand. It took us four years for us to see our dream come back as reality. It wouldn’t have been like this if it hadn’t been for you all, our readers, and I cannot truly thank you enough for making this all possible!
The dream of me covering a movie premiere finally came true last Saturday and it’s all thanks to you. The dream of creating a top notch Disney news site finally came true too and it’s all thanks to you and my good family and friends that I am most thankful for and blessed to have.
DisneyExaminer was finally there. I was there. We were finally there. The same place made of Magic. The same street, Main Street USA as its called. Not the same experience, that’s for sure!
With that in mind, I wanted to make sure that all of you who felt the same way me and Harrison did 4 years ago or for those of you who may never get the opportunity to see such spectacles do indeed get the chance to see them. With the help of some great friends and technology, we are now able to do that. So that’s what we did. This is what makes us different. We hope you know that as you continue this journey with us too 😀
So without any further adieu…Welcome to the Premiere!
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Saturday 5/7/11.
Could barely sleep at all. Had all that narrative above stuck in my head. I was very excited…!! Woke up at 8 AM, went around the house, gathered all my gear – Mac, camera, power cords, etc. Woke up Mike, who was laggin the whole morning, but its ok! He had breakfast with his mom…too cute.
Time was wasting. I wanted to make a photo tip sheet of the guests that were going to be at the Premiere so we could identify them to ask them questions as they made it down the carpet. Harrison did an awesome job compiling the over 60 names and pictures on paper.
… we had to go. I finished looking my best. Mike was ready. We filled the car with our things and off we went…then to come back because I forgot to shave. Time was wasting.
We hit the I-5…blasting Hans’ Pirates Tunes. Exited Disney Way and took it all in. First perk of covering a Premiere? Free, Private parking. Pumba Lot to be exact!
Custom made parking permit. On 8.5×11 white paper using an HP Photosmart printer with colored ink.
It was 1:30 PM. Me and Mike gathered our gear and we hit…the buses? Not just any ordinary buses folks…media buses. Yup. We’re media. Yup.
With the switch of a sign, they become your buses too!
Nice ride. If I had to give it a review, I’d say spectacular. Really. No sarcasm there at all. It was a MEDIA ONLY BUS, not a tram, a bus. A bus that was going to take us to Disneyland. Take us to treasure!
Yes, media, that’s us. Where to skeleton finger?
It was pointing us in the direction of the check-in booth. Situated outside and to the right of the main gates of Disneyland, this makeshift tent is where Disney Studios put their publicist and assistants to check us in and get our credentials for entering the Park. I wanted to use my pass but that’s ok. A green wristband of a credential was good enough for me!
Plus I was blocked out.
Two things about this photo : 1) That was our credential. We were a little saddened that they did not provide the lanyard badge credentials to media this year, but we were happy with our little green wristband and 2) That card underneath my wristband was made by my wonderful mom! It was a small campaign to bump up our readership and fan base that we wanted to try and hand these cards to other media but mostly the Disney fans who were there participating in the carpet festivities. I know A LOT of you who received a card wrote in to say thank you. Thank you for visiting and becoming loyal supporters 😀 And thanks again mom for your help with those – ended up being a great success. Love you!
After receiving our wristbands, me and Mike entered the media center – a place where the media could loosen up, get ready with make up, eat, and report the latest happenings. Disney Studios pillaged the Lincoln Theater and really turned it into a great place to chill and work.
Detail every where you turned in the media center. The following photos by Harrison Butac.
It was around 1:30. I headed back out to the check-in table to make sure Harrison and Marcos got in without any problems.
Got checked in early and posted on a comfy couch and got our laptops out. It was time to report! DE was LIVE. Our coverage began.
We were told to wait till 3:30 PM so we could meet with our media host – our assistant assigned to us to help us with any matter. There was a lot to do until then. We had to create the seperate pages for the different coverage offerings. We has to test our equipment…FAIL. More on that later. And of course, we had to eat!
The lunch & later dinner box compliments of Walt Disney Studios. (Thank you again! – this was needed). This was a “POORRRKKK” sandwich. Argh.
Yo-ho, Yo-ho, a Brownies life for me.
It certainly got me filled. Back it was time to get back to business…covering this for all you folks! Believe me, there is a lot to do when you are doing LIVE coverage of ANY event. Sometimes things don’t go exactly to plan…(foreshadowing).
Oh yeah, remember how I had Harrison create that tip sheet so we could identify the celebs for interviews? Turns out Disney beat us to that one and provided it for us.
Worried about Harrison and how he felt when he found this out too? Don’t be. The file for his custom tip sheet disappeared.
On with the show! – as a famous mouse once said.
And boy were we on and ready for show. 3:30 rolled around. After a slight miscommunication, we were greeted by our media host named Jon and were escorted directly to our spot on the BLACK CARPET.
It was DE’s time to shine like pirate gold, but there be storms ahead for me and my crew…
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Just in case :
Click HERE to go back to Part 1.
Click HERE to go back to Part 2.