Every year, Syfy hosts a Digital Press Tour event in October to give the online press a look at some of its upcoming programming. The past two years this took the form of set visits in Canada. However, this year we headed to sunny Orlando, Florida for a welcome dinner, bowling with the cast of Ascension, a day full of panels, and a night of exclusive access to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park.
Here’s a recap the weekend events along with photos, plus videos of all of the panels (Executive Sit-Down, 12 Monkeys, Helix, Killjoys, Town of the Living Dead, Ascension, and Z Nation).
And for more stories from my trip, check out this recent episode of the TV Times Three podcast.
My trip began early Sunday morning, I headed to the Manchester, NH airport. When I arrived in Orlando many hours later, I was picked up at the airport by the TV Times Three podcast trio, and we grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the Lowes Royal Pacific Hotel, which would serve as both our home and our home base for the weekend’s events.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
6:30-7:30pm COCKTAIL HOUR 7:30pm WELCOME DINNER
Official welcome by Dave Howe and Bill McGoldrick.
Location: Antojitos / Universal CityWalk
This year’s Syfy Digital Press Tour started with a welcome dinner at Antojitos, a Mexican restaurant that is part of the Universal CityWalk section of the Universal Studios theme park. It was a great opportunity to meet up with other bloggers, online press, Syfy and publicity folks whom I only get to see once or twice a year.
It was a buffet-style dinner. We were sat on the balcony which overlooked the stage where a Mariachi trio performed. The band was amazing—they were equally at home playing the standard hits as they were with pop songs like “Tainted Love” and “Call Me, Maybe”! (Apparently we weren’t the only ones impressed—a bunch of their performances can be found on YouTube.)
9:30pm BOWLING, DRINKS AND DESSERT WITH THE ASCENSION CAST
Location: Galaxy Bowl / Cabana Bay Beach Resort
After dinner we boarded a bus and headed for the bowling alley. There were various of dessert and fruit/cheese platters set up as well as an open bar. The screens above the lanes were looping ads for various Syfy series.
We got our shoes and started to bowl. However, on my very first turn, I fell flat on my face—I was expecting to slide into my throw, but was instead met with friction on the lane. I did manage to get a 9 on that frame (and eventually won the string with an even 100), but I was extremely cautious every time I stepped up to the lane from that moment on. Fortunately my mishap happened before the talent arrived.
Shortly after we had started bowling, the cast of Ascension arrived, and one cast member was assigned to each pair of lanes. We got Andrea Roth at our lane, and she was extremely nice and welcoming. She recognized a bunch of us from the San Diego Comic-Con press room and thanked us for our coverage. Andrea joined in the rotation on the lane, and talked with us throughout the night while bowling.
As things were winding down a couple hours later, the cast gathered for a group photo, and afterwards I got photos with Andrea and Tricia Helfer.
It was a really fun night, but it was time to get on the bus back to the hotel and get some rest for the packed schedule the next day.
