First of all, let me say that it is so shameful how long it's been since I have written something. But fear not! I am here to tell all about how I went to the taping of Dancing with the Stars Halloween Week! Pow!
So let me say that it was definitely a super fun experience but let me just go on and lay it all out there. I first started watching Dancing with the Stars last season (Season 20). I was hooked! When that season was nearly over, I found out that tickets to the show are free but wait listed. Womp, Womp, Womp. So I joined the wait list and last Thursday, I got my email. I was going to see Dancing with the Stars! Piyow!!
(via logotv.com)
We had to be there before 3pm in formal attire. So my sister in law and I took off yesterday afternoon around 12:45. We arrived a little over an hour later around 2pm and were still numbers 92 and 93 in line. But no fear, that's not THAT many people right? Wrong, they started to let people in at 3:00, a little while later we're told that there are no guarantees that we would get in. This is something we would hear many, many times yesterday. They are pretty sure most of us would get in but out of 700 seats, 525 are reserved for VIPs and we wouldn't know until those VIPs failed to show up.
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Next we are ushered through security where we have to give up our phones. We got one selfie outside the gate, haha! They bring a food cart and of course we're starving and of course it's cash only. I had $10 in cash; I was sure we could at least share a sandwich for $10. But did we?? No! The sandwich was $15!! Crazy, we got two bags of chips for $6 and didn't have enough left over for even one bottled water ($5 each). When I tell you those chips were delicious! They were, because we were so hungry.
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Then we sit...and wait...for about two hours. They start trickling people in. Ten at a time, 25 at a time, it's looking dire. I can hear applause and screaming from the inside, I'm getting sad when...FINALLY we all go in. We were up on the second balcony and it was awesome! Here is a photo I swiped from the official DWTS Instagram page:
There we are in the yellow circle! Two tiny little excited blobs.
(Picture via @dancingabc Instagram)
The ballroom is much smaller in real life than it is on TV. The cameras make it look so huge! As it turned out, the clapping and cheering we'd heard earlier was from pre-taping the opening scene and also a routine from Dancing with the Stars Live. TV magic is interesting and it was so cool to watch the technicians moving sets and pieces and props in and out in the span of four minute commercial breaks.
The performances were all pretty good in my opinion. It was kind of surreal to be there and it was super sad to see the elimination. That's always the worst part.
All in all it was a great time but I know that if I get a chance to go next season, I will pack a lunch and get there super duper early so that I'm guaranteed a seat!
Here we are in the last place we could take a picture before we went in.
