Hollywood Hands

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

"This is probably the most interactive attraction that's ever been built," we were told by Larry Foster, operations manager of National Enquirer Live! in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. "Nowadays people don't want to read; they want to experience." It seemed like a circuitous approach to take in an attraction based on the National Enquirer -- something that people, you know, read -- but soon we were having too much brainless fun to think about that, or anything else.

Some of the displays (called "interactive stations" here) try to make everyone feel famous -- worthy of a National Enquirer cover -- such as this one, which encourages visitors to immortalize their handprints and signature in a virtual Walk of Fame. It's easy to press your hands into the screen concrete, but difficult to sign your name, just like it would be in real life; the software simulates wet sidewalk cement, forcing you to drag your signature into a feeble squiggle. Larry was nevertheless thrilled by our barely decipherable scrawl. "Now you're a celebrity!" he exclaimed. "In Hollywood!"