High School Musical 3: SIMPLY THE BEST

Just got home. I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight....I'm so excited about what I just saw.

It more than lived up to my expectations. It exceeded my expectations!

OK, first onto the details of how we did just getting there. In the first picture below, you'll see where I started to get a little nervous when I saw some construction and lane re-routing on Briley Parkway. Thankfully....it amounted to nothing. (But I took a picture just in case.)

We were able to follow my "Plan A" just perfectly. In fact, we were running above schedule as we landed in line at:

4:34 pm.

We were SECOND in line. (Yes, that's 2.) My new BFFs Kerrie (Carrie?) and Kalyn (Kalinn?) were already there. We bonded over the things we do because we love our kids so darn much...anybody else's parents sit on a cold tile floor for 2.5 hours just so you could get into see a movie? (ON A SCHOOL NIGHT, no less!)

Might we have jumped the gun a little? Been a touch too anxious about this whole thing? Quite possibly. But, Carrie (Kerrie?) and I decided the story we'd be able to tell for YEARS about this experience was worth far more than the 2 hours of our lives we might've had back if only we'd cooled our jets and shown up casually at 6:30.

And, on that note, it did irk me just a tad when people casually sauntered into the theater at 6:45 wondering which seats they would take. OK, so I'll be honest and admit it. It wasn't a sell-out crowd. There were EMPTY SEATS in the theater.

But, at least I didn't check my kids out of school early like the #3 family in line. Yes, you read that right. The people behind us checked their 2 children out of school early to get in line.

OK, back to the schedule. Michael showed up right at 6:00 pm. We were then shown to Theater #9 where I was instructed to disassemble my camera (learned how to take the memory card out) and completely shut down my cell phone. Thankfully they did not make me take it back to the car. They had a couple of security guys there with nightvision goggles to make sure nobody started recording during the movie. Yes, you read that right. Security guards with nightvision goggles. The movie doesn't officially release until 12:01 am so they wanted to make sure the moms and tweens that showed up for this didn't pirate any grainy cell-phone copies in the 3 hours between the prescreening and its actual release.

Other fun stuff: I know this will surprise you (wink wink), but I made lots of fun friends in the line. Once we got into the theater, the Dad in the green shirt started throwing out HSM trivia questions to the crowd. I added a few questions in as well, but the fun stopped just before I started the Wave. Chin up--next time...

Spent a large portion of our next paycheck to buy popcorn and cokes (but hey, the tickets were free, so it's all good), went to the bathroom one last time and....big collective sigh...the movie began.

I'm not going to give away any spoilers. So, you'll just have to go see the film for yourself to find out if Troy & Gabriella stay together in the end. It's a BIG mystery. You know how Disney is always up for pulling a surprise ending on you....so I know you have NO IDEA what the final outcome of that storyline is, right? (winking) So, you dear readers, will have to go pay $8.50 to find out the relationship status of that fair couple.

HOWEVER, I would love to say something about a few of the song and dance numbers.

My favorite, by far, was Ryan & Sharpay's "I Want it All" song. It was chock full of dazzling (bedazzled) costume changes. Catchy tune, too.

Another favorite was "The Boys Are Back." I listened to this song on the soundtrack earlier this week and didn't really go for it. Well, seeing the story & dance with it made me LOVE it. Being the mom of 2 little boys, it made me very sentimental. It involves Troy & Chad in a car salvage yard reliving their moments as little boys...sword fighting and superheroes. It was just precious...in a tough and rowdy sort of way.

And, what HSM movie would be complete without several romantic duets between East High's favorite couple, Troy & Gabriella? They were aplenty in this installment.

OK. I'm ready to hit "Publish Post."

Let me know what you think when you go see it!

Good night, Wildcat Fans.