On January 19th, I was able to attend something I've always wanted to go to - the Dancing with the Stars tour. I went last year and had a lot of fun, but this year was was different; I was able to score VIP passes and I couldn't have been happier. So, here is what went down, from the start of VIP till the end.
I went with a friend of mine from back home. We met doing a show at a community theatre together and have been friends ever since. We knew we were going to spend our entire evening at the venue, so we wore clothes that were both nice-looking and comfortable.
The meet and greet was at 4:45 PM. We ended up getting to the venue at 4:00 P.M. The reason we got there so early, was to find the tour buses. We wanted to see where we could meet the stars and the pros after the show. After finding the buses fairly quickly, we went back inside and started to line up for check in. Check in was very easy. We just had to show ID's, sign our name on this piece of paper and then we were handed a bag with a mug in it and our official VIP pass. We found a seat next to this younger girl and her mother. We had a nice conversation with them prior to the meet and greet. A little bit after that, a man got over the microphone and told us how everything was going to go down. He said there's a number on our pass that told us what group we were in. My friend and I were group 1, meaning we got to meet everyone first. At 5:30, the pros and the stars walked in. It was Lindsay, Artem and Keo for the pros and Frankie Munez and Jordan Fisher for the stars. When it was my turn, I was really nervous. Keo gave me a hug as soon as I walked in. I stood by Lindsay and Jordan for the photo. After both photos were taken I told them how big of a fan I was and how much I loved them. After the meet and greet, we went over to the meet and mingle, which was Hayley and Jenna. I actually was never a big fan of Jenna, until that night.
I asked my friend to get Jenna and Hayley's autographs for me, because I was too scared to ask. Well, just my luck, the pen I had brought over, did not work. My friend then said to me, "Kaitlyn, your pen isn't working." Then, Jenna said to me, "Kaitlyn, your pen isn't working, Kaitlyn, get it together!" I could not stop laughing at this point. Jenna then licked the top of my pen to see if that would help, but it didn't. The girl we sat with earlier just happened to walk by and let Jenna and Hayley use her pen to sign my autograph. I took a couple photos with them, then told them they both had amazing boyfriends, which is true, because I've watched Derek Hough and Val Chmerkovisky since the beginning and they've always been great dancers and just really good looking men.
Towards the end, I approached a security guard with letters from myself and a couple letters from fans that were sent to me. The security guard thanked me and went right in and gave the letters to their owners. It wasn't until after the fact, that I realized that the security guard was LINDSAY ARNOLD'S BOYFRIEND!
After the meet and greet and meet and mingle, we were escorted to the DWTS merchandise stand. I ended up getting a T-shirt, a program and a bumper sticker for my car that I have yet to buy.
We then got dinner and then met up with a couple other people we knew were going to be there - a photographer who runs a DWTS VIP blog and twins who I have known from my Dancing with the Stars fan page on Instagram for quite some time. I had said to the photographer that I still had gifts for Emma, Sharna and a letter to Brandon. She had said that if I didn't get to meet Emma, Sharna or Brandon by the buses that I could meet with her after the show and give her the gifts to give to them next week, since she was going to their show. I thanked her and agreed. We all chatted in a hallway in the venue that was near the stage area. One of the twins had told me he saw all the pros go into a specific room in that hall. We asked the security guard if we could go in there and get a picture with them. The security guard said that the pros and stars weren't in there. 15 minutes later, out walks Frankie, then Keo, then Artem, then Sharna, then Emma, then Lindsay, then Sasha (which by the way, he waved to me), then Brandon, then Gleb, then Jenna, then Hayley, then Morgan, then Alan and then Morgan. Knowing that none of them were in there anymore, we went into the venue and got our seats.
The show itself was absolutely amazing! I also got to run one of the DWTS tour Snapchat's during the show, which was really cool. During intermission, I met up with one of my professors and her family. Her one daughter is a big fan of Val. Since I had met Jenna, I decided to give her Jenna's autograph. She was very happy and gave me hugs.
After the show, my friend and I headed to the buses. A few other people were out there too. In about 20 minutes, Keo and Frankie came out. Frankie waved but got on the bus. Keo went to the bus too, but came out after to take photos with us. Keo was super sweet too.
A little bit after, my phone died. I thought to myself "well, I hope Emma and Sharna come out." Plus, I didn't know the photographer's number by heart.
A little bit after that, security showed up and told us we had to leave because it was private property. We were all confused, but left. I was sad because I had written both Emma and Sharna a poem and they weren't going to get it.. Again! When we were inside, I just happened to try to turn my phone on. It turned on and it was on 20%. I called the photographer and met up with her. I gave her the gifts and was just so thankful that Emma, Sharna and Brandon would finally get my letters and poems.
We didn't leave till almost 11:45 at night. Even though I was exhausted, I was so happy I got to go with VIP tickets. Just like one of the songs in the show said, "miracles can happen if you believe."
I've watched DWTS since season 5, so I've believed for quite a long time! I highly recommend getting tickets for the DWTS live tour, especially if you're able to score VIP tickets.
