Late at night I would lie in my bed and think of different scenarios and how I would react to them. I would wonder what it would be like to stand face-to-face with Nicolas Cage. I know I wasn’t going to be able to talk to him or get my picture with him. That was never a thought. Rather I thought about being mere feet away from him, face-to-face. And possibly getting his autograph, or at the very least a fantastic picture of him. I think my heart would stop! LOL!
My entire family was invited to the event. My husband took a 1/2 day off from work so we could get into the city a bit earlier just to be on the safe side. New York City traffic can be a huge nightmare. All it takes is for one little “fender bender” and traffic could be backed up for hours.
The weather in NY was brutal today too. It was 100+ degrees and with the humidity it felt even worst. The air quality was listed as poor today. I was going to bring my inhaler with me to be on the safe side but it had run out. Just my luck! Even so there was no stopping me from going. I was going to make it into the city today no matter what.
As luck would have it the parking garage we picked out, which was a block away from the New Amsterdam Theater where the world premiere event was taking place, had us drive right past the theater (due to one way streets). As we drove past I was able to snap a picture of the red carpet being set up.
Up until this point the whole idea of being at the red carpet seemed surreal. It wasn’t until I actually saw it that it all became so real to me. Wow… in just a few short hours that red carpet was going to be filled with celebrities and I was going to be there too.
After we parked the car we walked back to the New Amsterdam Theater to check things out. The New Amsterdam Theater, located on 214 West 42nd Street in the heart of Times Square, is owned by Disney. Currently they are showing the play “Mary Poppins”.
As we approached the theater we saw the signs for the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
The more I saw the more excited I became. Even my kids and my husband were getting really excited.
We were able to get up close to the red carpet to take some more pictures. I took dozens of pictures but I won’t bore you with all of them.
The New Amsterdam Theater is located next to Madame Tussard’s Wax Museum and the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum. That huge hand you can see in one of the above pictures is from the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum.
Ripley’s Believe it or not will run you OVER $100 for a family of four. Ouch! But then again it’s NYC. Things are more expensive in the city.
Standing outside in front of the museum was this goofy faced waxed figure. Notice the image of Johnny Depp in the background. Hubba hubba!
Madame Tussard’s Wax Museum is also next to the New Amsterdam Theater. They have over 200+ waxed figures and it will also cost you over $100+ for a family of four. It was at Madame Tussard’s that we had our first Nicolas Cage sighting. Too bad he was a wax figure.
Before we took off to spend the afternoon walking around Times Square I decided to snap another picture of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice sign on the theater marquee, but from the opposite side from the other picture I took earlier.
Just seeing the sign gave me chills. I couldn’t wait for the world premiere later on in the evening.
To kill some time my family walked around Times Square. I am the only one in my family to have gone there before. My husband has driven through Times Square but never stopped to walk around. My kids have never been there before and my son has been begging us to go for years now. Finally a dream come true for our son. He loves the city and everything about it. Our daughter on the other hand is not keen on the city at all.
It was fun seeing the Times Square/New Year’s Eve ball during the daylight hours. Even during the day the ball is lit up and it changes colors constantly.
Even though you felt as if you were melting with the unbareable heat there was still plenty of hustle and bustle going on in the city.
It was fun to see the HUGE billboards and places like Bubba Gump’s restaurant and the newly closed ESPN Zone.
To get out of the heat we stopped by Toys R Us in Times Square. This is probably one of the biggest Toys R Us stores around. It was three levels! It’s so huge that there is a working Ferris Wheel right in the middle of the store.
Our kids were going to take a ride on the Ferris Wheel after we walked around a bit. We had been sitting in the car for a while so they wanted to walk around and look at all the toys.
The store has so much to see! There are three levels of toys and more. WARNING…don’t take your kids into the candy land section. They have so many different candies including candy necklaces that were like 3′ long!
The Toys R Us in Times Square features a robitic dinosaur that really moves. He’s 20′ high and 30′ long. Right next to the dinosaur (Jurrasic Park) is their Lego area which has a display of a gigantic Empire State Building made out of Legos, including a Lego King Kong.
The kids ended up not going on the Ferris Wheel, even though we had tickets. For some odd reason it was terribly hot and humid in the store. Even the kids were sweating buckets of sweat. For the kids to say they needed to go some place cooler I knew something was up. Kids don’t just give up something fun like a ride on a Ferris Wheel if they weren’t legitimatly overheated.
We left Toys R Us and walked around a bit longer to look for a reasonable place to eat. And by reasonable I mean it’s NYC. You could easily spend $12 on a simple hamburger. We needed to keep it as affordable as possible. We ended up at Ruby Tuesdays (I believe it was on 41st street). It wasn’t cheap but it was a lot less then we thought it would be. By the way their crab cake was very good!
After we finished eating I wanted to head on back over to the theater. Check in time was 4:30 (it was around 4:00 PM at this time) but I had a feeling it would be crowded.
We got back to the theater around 4:10. After a bit of confusion as to where to go we finally ended up online to wait for our guest passes.
We had to wait in line next to these tables that were set up. You can see the red carpet from where we were.
This quickly started to get crazy. People were coming from everywhere. Between the event and the fact that McDonalds, Madame Tussards and Ripley’s Believe it or Not all in the same spot there were people EVERYWHERE! If you blinked 1oo+ more people were all around you. It was getting crazy!
I think my head was starting to spin and my heart was beating out of my chest. Movie cameras, lights, people in suits, ladies in heels a mile high and limos circling the block. We waved at every limo that drove by, not knowing who was inside. I am getting chills just writing about it.
Then…without warning…we heard the crowd on the red carpet clapping and cheering. Oh my goodness! What was going on? We were still stuck on line waiting for our passes. Something was happening, but what? Has someone arrived? If so, who was it? We waited in anticipation to find out what was going on, while anxiously waiting to finally get our passes.
The crowd on the red carpet got quiet again. After a few minutes we saw a lot of commotion on the red carpet. IT WAS NICOLAS CAGE! OMG! He was right there and we were still waiting for our passes. Oh no!
Trying to get a good shot of Nicolas Cage in the crowd was like trying to find “Where’s Waldo”. Just when I was able to get focused on him he would disappear again among the sea of people.
Yes! It was really Nicolas Cage. He was going around greeting his fans and the paparrazi and signing autographs. OH! I wanted his autograph so bad! I even brought along a small notebook just in case I was lucky enough to get it. I would have framed it for sure!
We had a chance to see Jay Baruchel who plays one of the lead characters, Dave Stutler, in the movie. He seemed like a lot of fun. At one point I saw him jumping up and down waving both hands at the people behind the red carpet crowd. I guess he wanted to show some love to all his fans, even the ones who were too far away from him.
Unbeknown to us, the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, the cast of the movie, Jerry Bruckheimer and even Oscar Winner Helen Mirren, were also in attendance on the red carpet. I adore Helen Mirren! She’s a fine actress. I would have loved to have seen her. Sadly we were still waiting in line at this point for our passes.
There was a wee bit of a glitch with my passes. They couldn’t find my name on the guest list! I almost started crying then and there. For days I was getting so excited about today and to see all the fanfare involved with the red carpet and to see Nicolas Cage (from a far anyway) it would have been THE WORST thing to happen if we didn’t have passes to get into the movie.
After what seemed like an enternity some lady was able to give me and my family tickets. THANKFULLY!
As soon as we received our tickets and our passes we were whisked ON TO THE RED CARPET! We were literally on the red carpet with the celebrities. However the celebrities were doing press interviews at that time and all we could see was the backs of their heads.
FINALLY I got close to Nicolas Cage. Sadly I was only able to get a shot of the back of his head. If only he could have turned around at that moment in time.
Even Mickey Mouse was on the red carpet dressed as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice from the movie Fantasia. I wanted to get Mickey’s picture because Fantasia was one of my favorite movies growing up and that scene with Mickey and the mops was my favorite from the movie. Unfortunatly we were whisked off the red carpet and not able to stop and take any pictures. I did manage to snap one real quick on in hopes of catching Nicolas Cage again but I really didn’t capture much.
Once inside we showed our tickets to the clerks and had our bag searched. We also had to turn in our cameras. It was like a coat check where you gave them your camera and they gave you a claim ticket. You also had to leave your driver’s license with them too.
We had seats on the second level of the theater so we took the elevator upstairs. Once upstairs we made a quick trip to the bathroom and then made our way to our seats. On our way past the concession stand we were given free popcorn and free soda or water. After being outside in all that heat the soda and water was GREATLY appreciated. The kids loved the popcorn too. It came in a small bucket. Thank you Disney! Those treats were unexpected and certainly very appreciated.
The New Amsterdam Theater is BEAUTIFUL! There is breath taking artwork painted on the walls and the ceilings. I really wish I could have snapped a picture inside the theater to show you just have beautiful it is.
The seats were comfy but if you have long legs like my husband you might find yourself a bit cramped. There is not much leg room between the seats.
I cannot comment on the movie or provide a review, just yet. I’m going to wait until next week closer to the release date of July 14, 2010. All I can say at this moment in time is that we all L♥VED IT!
It was fun to watch the movie with the audience we had with us. There was a lot of clapping and cheering going on. I love it when audiences really get into movies like that. It makes it that much more fun to watch.
After the movie we were once again treated to some goodies from Disney (I’m assuming it’s from Disney). Everyone received a small tote bag filled with fresh cut apple slices, a bottle of water (which we all drank right away) and a HUGE bag of pretzels (more like a family size bag – but for each person!). The kids loved having their own big bags of pretzels and enjoyed noshing on them on the way home from the city.
When the movie was over we were all invited to a concert in Bryant Park just a few blocks away. It was part of the world premiere of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Sadly One Republic, who was suppose to be headlining the concert, had to cancel at the last minute because several band members were feeling under the weather.
We stayed at the park for a bit over a half hour but it was so hot and humid out, and my husband had to work the next day, so we decided to take off and head home. We also could have been right up next to the stage but we opted to stand back because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t too loud for the kids plus with the heat we wanted to avoid being in a crowded area.
I was able to snap my daughter wearing her badge that we needed to be in the theater. They let us keep them too. I have mine proudly displayed on my desk. I keep looking up at it as I type this post.
The walk back to the car was nice. It was still horribly hot and humid but it was cool to see Times Square all lit up. I haven’t seen Times Square at night since 1995!
We even headed back to the New Amsterdam Theater for one last look before we left. It’s amazing how quickly they had the red carpet taken apart and driven away. The only reminder left of the world premiere of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice was the sign on the theater’s marquee.
The drive home was rather bittersweet. We didn’t want the night to end. We all knew this was a once in a life time opportunity. It’s not every day that people get to attend world premiere red carpet events. That is why we savored each and every moment of it, from the good (GREAT) like seeing Nicolas Cage and the movie, to the not so good (not finding our tickets). My only regret is that we couldn’t have taken better pictures or even some video of the event and that we missed people like Helen Mirren and Michael Bloomberg.
Here is a great video from the event taken by TheTVRealist.com.
If you get a chance you should watch the clip so you can see the event as well.
If you are reading this via RSS or e-mail it would be worth your time to come to She Scribes to check out the videos.
It was an amazing night. It still doesn’t seem like it was real. Were we REALLY there? Or was it just a Sorcerer’s illusion? LOL!
If it wasn’t for the tickets on our cork board and the pass that is dangling mere inches from my face I wouldn’t believe that I was there. My whole family is overwhelmed by the experience and it’s a memory that we will cherish for a life time.
THANK YOU Disney for this wonderful and amazing opportunity!
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is released nation wide on July 14, 2010. For more information you can check out the movies official web page,
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/sorcerersapprentice/#home
*We received free movie tickets in order to do the movie review (posting next week). We were not compensated in any other way. We paid for our own meals, transportation and parking. Any opinions expressed are my own.
Anonymous says
It sounds like you had a funtabulous time! I'm glad for you.
Zoe0825@verizon.net
trisha @ momdot says
what a super cool experience!!
trisha
momdot.com
Eileen says
WOW…what an honor! your family will never forget this! OMG…NICHOLAS CAGE! THAT is so amazing! I love the way you wrote about the city and all its treasures. My husband will NOT go into NYC, so I am guessing we would never go…but was fun to hear all about your adventure!
TOO cool Kimberly!
Nancy says
Wow, sounds like a wonderful time! What a great experience for your family. Nice pictures of Times Square at night…it reminds me that I haven't been there in a long time again.
jbpr says
What an awesome opportunity Kimberley! Would love to take the kids to see this movie!
Rhea says
awesome awesome awesome!! So jealous. I'm sorry you didn't get his autograph, but to be breathing the same air is pretty darn good, too!
Shop with Me Mama says
Oh how awesome was that?! I only wish I were invited to those types of things! Love seeing celebs up close 🙂 Great post and pictures!!!
Celia says
Sounds AMAZING! I would love to go to NYC… someday.
Katie says
I'm so glad you had such a great time Kimberly! You and your family deserve it! Bummer about One Republic, they are one of my favorites 🙁
Creative Junkie says
I'm so glad you had such a great time! I don't know what I'm more jealous of … the fact that you are in New York City or the fact that you shared the same air with Nicolas Cage.
Leah says
looks like you had an awesome time!!!!
"Deal"icious Mom says
Oh how much fun is that! I am so jealous! I would love to go to NYC someday!
Sarah @ OneStarryNight says
AHHH that looks AMAZING! I can't believe you were so close to him!
Lynsey Jones, The Party Plan Coach says
Sooo amazing!! Looks like a wonderful time! I cant WAIT to go see the movie!
Mandi says
How.freaking.awesome!!!!!
Kathleen says
What a lucky lucky duck you are. How awesome was that! I would have fallen down dead at the opportunity. It stinks that you had to waste so much time in line, but at least you eventually got in and look at how close you were to the back of Cage's head! How awesome for you and your family. I wish I lived close to a more exciting city.
The Shopping Mama says
What am awesome, awesome day! That is such an unforgettable experience and I'm so glad you got to enjoy it.
Tired Mom Tésa says
What an amazing day! That's fantastic that you got to see Nick Cage on the red carpet even if you didn't get as close as you'd hoped. What wonderful memories! I didn't know that the movie was his idea. Very cool.
Eve says
How COOL!! That looks amazing! Congrats on getting picked!!!
Tammy says
It's not that I'm not happy for YOU – I'm just INSANELY jealous! How exciting Kimberly – You rock, and work so hard on your blog, and it's great you got this opportunity. Sweet memories for you and your family. As huge Disney lovers here at my home, I can imagine that this once in a lifetime event was an awesome experience.
candace says
Great Post..I kinda felt like I was there! Oh and I heart Nicholas Cage..I'm so jealous!
TheSuburbanMom says
WOW WOW WOW – what else can I say?!?! Disney, check. NYC, check. Red carpet glamor, check!!! I am dying to know what you wore!
Blommi says
Very cool. Looks like so much fun.
Not So Average Mama says
OHHHH looks like you had a wonderful time! I love Nicholas Cage, mainly his old movies…not so much the recent stuff. Raising Arizona is one of my all time faves!!! You rock1
Night Owl Mama says
I'm so Jealous!!! I need to move to NEW York. Thanks so much for sharing details of this wonderful experience Kimberly. It was as if I were there right beside you….all the way up until I saw Nicholas Cage's picture. I surely would of jumped the barrier to get a HUG then after security would grab me and hall me away 4 sure.( see u could of got a picture of the whole thing LMAO)
~Sherie~ says
What a great way to spend some family time, and certainly something you can all brag about later! I'm so glad you guys had a good time, in spite of the heat. And thanks for the Nicholas Cage pics, I bet him being there is what made it so hot, lol. I think I would faint if I ever got that close to him, you lucky girl!
Bobbie says
What a great experience! I would LOVE to go to one of these things.
Mami2jcn says
Thanks for the detailed recap, Kimberly! How exciting you got to see Nicholas Cage, even though you couldn't get his autograph.
Jackie says
You have no idea how excited I am for you reading this post! I am so happy you were not only able to see Nicholas Cage, but that you were also able to get a photo! This bought back memories of the excitement and the "I can't believe we are here" feelings my daughter and I had at the premier we attended in LA. For years your family will be saying "Remember the time we went to NYC for the premier..that was a once in a lifetime opportunity". What a wonderful memory you will all have!
P.S. I can't wait to see this movie!
Tylerpants says
What an amazing experience and even more special that you got to see Nicolas Cage. Too cool!!
Charlene Canfield says
Oh Kimberly,
It sounds like you had a wonderful time. That was so well written that I had chills reading about them. I am so glad you and your family were able to have that time!