Super Soap Weekend
Hello again, everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful
Thanksgiving with your family and friends and that you are all rested for a new week hehe!
Isn’t returning back to work/school fun after the holidays? ;-) I’ll tell you
what’s REALLY difficult to do, and that’s to return home after you’ve
experienced all the craziness of Super Soap Weekend! I’m sure all of you who’ve
ever attended the event can attest to that! To sample a little bit of SSW in your very own
home, please click the SSW banner above to visit the "SSW Fan Encounters"
section here at jd.com. You must see these pictures! This year was my second year of
traveling down to MGM Studios in Orlando, FL to see many stars from all of the ABC Daytime
soaps. If I’m not mistaken there were more stars at this one than there ever have
been, and on that same note, I believe there were more fans in attendance than ever! Rumor
has it that MGM Studios had to stop letting people into the park at one point on Saturday
due to the high volume of visitors! The weather was wonderful with temperatures not ever
going above 80 degrees, and surprisingly, the humidity wasn’t so bad either. All in
all, it was a perfect weekend to participate in all of the events held at SSW each year.
For those of you who haven’t attended, the events include the "Super Soap Spin
Game Show," the "Super Soap Talk Show," the motorcades and star
conversations at the main stage, and of course, the one-hour autograph sessions, which are
by far the most popular.
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friends and I arrived at SSW around 11 on Saturday, a little later than I wanted to, but
nevertheless, we got there at a good time because people were lining up close to the main
stage to see Josh and Rebecca’s [Budig, Greenlee] 11:45 a.m. "star
conversation" at the main stage. Stars that are featured are transported via a
motorcade, which is cool because each star has his or her own car, and there is usually a
Disney character sitting next to them. The lucky Disney character for Josh on Saturday was
Minnie Mouse. Believe me, she didn’t seem to be complaining about it at all! :-) When
his car made it’s way down the boulevard, you’d have thought Elvis had arrived
because of all the screaming! Come to think of it, I * did * see what appeared to be
Elvis-like sideburns on Josh’s face when he turned the corner … nah, it was
probably just my imagination hehe… Anyway, he and Rebecca made it to the main stage
and were greeted to claps, cheers, and lots of (surprise!) screaming and they did a really
nice interview. From my angle, it was difficult to see at times, but I could hear most of
it. They were both genuinely enthused to be there (maybe as enthused as WE WERE to see
them there!) and immediately hit it off with the fans.
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said earlier, the autograph signings were the most popular of all the activities that went
on that weekend. And while Josh’s lines were among the longest, standing in line for
him was definitely worth it. His Saturday signings were at 10 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Yours
truly started standing in line for the 4 p.m. session at about 2:30. I mean, the lines
were huge! But there were already about 70 people in line before I’d even
gotten there. EVERYONE WANTED TO MEET JOSH! That shouldn’t be surprising because if
you’ve looked at some of the encounters posted here at jd.com from other fan events,
you will see from the stories and pictures that Josh is a very personable, friendly, and
genuinely likable guy. He definitely doesn’t have that "I’m a star"
attitude that some can get, know what I mean? Meeting Josh was so much fun for some fans,
that they stood in line for him both days, as you will see when you click the SSW banner
on this page. The fans couldn’t get enough of him!
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I read
Nicole’s story on the SSW fan encounters page here and it brought back memories for
me standing in line that day (we stood in the same line). I remember that sweet Disney
lady that had the counter, and I was all kinds of nervous about getting cut off in the
line because, as Nicole stated, they were counting off with that clicker, and I was about
number 115. The Disney lady kept telling us through the whole line that it looked really
good for maybe 120 or so getting through to meet Josh but you never know how those things
are going to go or how much time the people ahead of you will spend with him. Everyone
deserves their time with their favorite star, but when you are waiting anxiously in line
and you are close to the back, secretly inside you’re thinking, "Come on, hurry
up!" ;-) Hey, it’s only natural! Luckily for me, I had a nice support group of
friends who weren’t in line but were standing on the sidelines and encouraging me not
to be nervous. You know, stars always tell you to treat them like they are regular people
but that is so hard to do! If you are up on your K.A.J. (Knowledge About Josh), then you
know November 14th was his birthday. November also marks the first anniversary
of Josh in the role of "Leo du Pres" on All My Children. With that in
mind, and knowing I was going to attend SSW, I compiled a list of birthday greetings and
anniversary wishes that fans sent me via email. From that, I created a little birthday
present in the form of a booklet for Josh to show our appreciation for all his hard work
throughout the past year and for well wishes for the coming year. While standing in line,
I had a few people sign the book with handwritten messages for him. Needless to say, I was
eager to present this to him! I had a mission! But it was more than just that. When you
build a web page for someone, of course you want to meet that person to see if all the
good things you’ve read about him and have been told about him are really true! If
any of you are familiar with the unofficial fan site I’ve built for Josh, you are
aware that I wrote a fan letter to Josh back in February that he responded to. So of
course I was very anxious to meet the man who took the time to respond to my fan letter!
OK, back to standing in line on Saturday…
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kept inching closer and closer, and it was getting down to the wire. Five minutes
‘til 5, 4 minutes, 3 … and I still hadn’t gotten up there. I was getting a
bit panicky! All the stars at Disney had schedules to keep, and I knew Josh had to be at
another event shortly after 5. Finally, it was my turn and guess what happens? That sweet
Disney lady stepped in front of me and told me and told me I was the cut off point! In
other words, the fan Josh was talking to in front of me was going to be the last one of
the day for that autograph session! I wasn’t about to get mad at this lady because
she was just doing her job, but I had to say SOMETHING to plead my case! I told her
I’d made a special book for him from his fans, have a website for him, and had to get
up there! And then out of nowhere, the women behind me were telling the woman to let me up
there, and my friend in line with me and my friends out in the crowd up against the gate
were echoing their sentiments. It got quite boisterous! I would like to take this
opportunity to thank those women, should any of them read this. It was so wild that
afternoon that I’m not sure, after it was all said and done, that I actually turned
around to say thanks but if I didn’t, here it is: THANK YOU. Luckily, the Disney lady
relented, thanks to their help and my moment had arrived :-)
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I stepped up
onto the sidewalk and waited for my turn. Josh had finished with the lady in front of me,
and seconds later, I walked up to him. He looked at me and said, "What’s your
name?" and when I muttered "Janny" he said my name out loud and gave me a
really nice hug because he remembered me from the fan pages! It was awesome. I gave him
the booklet on behalf of the fans, and he really liked it, and we had a nice chat! It was
such a treat to meet him, and I encourage everyone who reads this, along with the other
SSW fan encounters posted here at jd.com to meet Josh if the opportunity presents itself.
Josh is more than gracious with every fan he meets! I guarantee it is an experience you
will never, ever forget! :-)
That’s my .02 worth. Now what about you?
Bye for now!
Janny
Tune in next time, as we will discuss the current storyline
involving "Leo du Pres" and "Bianca Montgomery". I need to hear from
you! My email is [email protected].
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