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Reply #120 posted 10/06/16 2:17pm

Asenath0607

How does anyone on here know what Prince specified? Maybe he wanted his ashes to remain at PP, for people to speak negatively about his sister without even knowing the details, in my opinion, is just not cool. For Prince to be about loving one another, positivity, etc, I am coming to find that jeez, quite a few of the fans posting here are the antithesis of what he stood for.
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Reply #121 posted 10/06/16 2:26pm

AnnaStesia10

avatar

Oh...my...goodness, you guys this is amazing info. To all of you who went today and are able to go during this limited permit time, bravo to you! I cannot believe his remains even if partial are there, I did not feel that coming. I am definitely planning on coming out to PP next year. I wish to God I could have been there on opening day, problems or no problems I would not have cared. You all are truly blessed to have gone and thank you very much for the reports!

heart 2 prince

"A strong spirit transcends rules." - Prince
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Reply #122 posted 10/06/16 2:29pm

gollygirl

avatar

I am not sure how I feel about the Urn thing - at first I was upset as I am not sure Prince would like that on display, but now I feel more upset that maybe only his paritial ashes are in it? They seperated his ashes??????????? eek eek eek

Thank you Prince for every note you left behind đź’ś
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Reply #123 posted 10/06/16 2:30pm

PennyPurple

avatar

Dibblekins said:


.
PLEASE let us not forget that Prince sent his friends and family DETAILED instructions regarding how he wanted things to be done in PP once it was turned into a museum.

.

I wouldn't be at ALL surprised to learn he wanted his ashes there, in a mini Paisley Park - he wanted to be in his home, with his fans (fams); he said as much - that he wanted everyone to come to his home, where he could be with them. He loved that place; he loved the whole idea of sharing his home and his love with all of us.

.

Given everything he said and did in recent times, I think relegating him to a cupboard in a relative's back room would be the LAST thing he would want. I have every reason to believe that him 'greeting' his guests in the atrium would be EXACTLY what he would want!

.

[Edited 10/6/16 11:48am]

I agree. I think it's shocking to some people because nobody knew about it beforehand. Prince is exactly where he wanted to be. Home.

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Reply #124 posted 10/06/16 2:35pm

PennyPurple

avatar

destinyc1 said:

Prince's poor doves.Is it true that they haven't said a word til tyka said sing and they did.?

No, that's not what Tyka said. She said after he died she walked in PP and didn't hear the Doves, wanted to know why they were silent. She told PP to play Prince's music and that's what got the Doves going again.

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Reply #125 posted 10/06/16 2:50pm

AA1slot

I think that is where P would want to be. he loved that place..that way he is "home" in both places...his earthly and heavenly homes. I only hope it is still open next spring. This is what P wanted and his life celebrated and what a life it was...It was good of him to plan ahead, leavhing his legacy and his home open. It can see where it would be upsetting but knowing that he wanted this to reflect and say I loved you and my life...I would treaure the time spent there and perhaps it will help others to move on or accept his death as difficult as that is. Thanks all who shared their day

[Edited 10/6/16 15:00pm]

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Reply #126 posted 10/06/16 2:51pm

haipo

So while I have been on the .org for many years, I post very rarely. However as I went to Paisley Park this morning and went on both the GA and VIP tours it would be a good time to post my experience as well as the differences between the 2 tours incase some of you were wondering.

This is a very long entry and if you want to be surprised about the Tour, don’t read any further, there are “spoilers” below.

The experience started with taking the bus from Chanhassen parking garage to the park. As I was on the first bus, we were greeted by the media (2 video crews and several additional photographers and reporters). Upon entering the building we were all personally greeted by the mayor of Chanhassen welcoming us to his town. Given all the issues earlier this week it was a nice touch.

VIP’s were asked to go to the left and GA’s to gather in the right side of the entry way. VIP’s were offered the chance to purchase a thumb drive ($10.50) to be used later for a photo opportunity and given an purple arm band.

It was made very clear to all that camera’s, recording devices and phones were not to be used at all. If caught, we were told we would be banned from Paisley Park. This was said in a very nice way (….prince had strong feelings and we have the same so please respect…..)

My first tour was the GA tour, so I will explain next what was covered and after I will tell how the VIP tour differed.

Both groups started the tour together in the entry way. The person giving the intro tour was one of the recent hires and was following cue cards.

She then undid the velvet rope and we all walked into the atrium passing several gold and platinum awards as well as a very cool Musicology award with a ticket from each of the shows and a letter of condolences from President Obama.

Once in the atrium we had a new guide whom talked about the atrium, princes birds, which we could see their cages upstairs and when quiet hear them coo. There were several rooms off the atrium which had small exhibits (some you could walk into the room others had plexiglass and you could look in.

We were able to look into the “little kitchen” which is where we were told prince relaxed, watched basketball and ate.

In the center of the atrium incased in plexiglass was a miniature model of Paisley Park. Inside the model was a purple box, and we were told his remains were inside this box. GULP…that was not something I think anyone was prepared for.

The mini exhibits off the atrium were:

Dirty Mind – I believe Prince’s original Hohner guitar was on display

Sign o the times – you could walk into the room and some of the instruments were on display + a tv was showing concert footage

Diamond and Pearls – you could walk into this room as well and had princes yellow costume from the era and other things on display

Princes office – we could walk into this room as well

There was a 4th exhibit (Lovesexy) however it said it would be ready in 2017.

We were then moved into Studio A where we heard 2 of his newest songs Ruff Enuff, which is circulating and another song called “Soul Patch” which was from a Jazz album he was working on when he passed. In one of the rooms off the main studio was a display of some instruments and on a music stand were 2 songs (one was typed and I could not see the title, the other was handwritten and I believe the song was called “cool down baby cool down”

We then moved into the “inspiration hallway” where they showed us a mural and then into the “purple rain” room. I believe this was at one point a studio and the place Prince played basketball.

It has memorabilia from purple rain (original script, motorcycle, white cloud guitar and his purple coat from the movie)

We moved from this room to the Parade / Graffiti Bridge room. This room had videos of both movies playing as well as the parade drum kit, and some costumes and instruments from graffiti bridge.

From here we walked down the “history hallway” which had images of prince since 1979 and most of his Grammys’ a soul train award and several others.

From here we went into a small room (just outside the main sound stage) which had a ultra rare, futuristic looking grand piano (1 of 14 in the world) and then into the main sound stage.

Inside where several mini-stages which instruments from several era’s (jam of the year, piano and a microphone….)

After walking around for a few minutes they played about 10 minutes of concert video.

From here we walked into the NPG music room (a smaller sound stage) where there had more instrument set ups on stages.

From there we moved into a small entry way type room where they played Prince’s Super bowl performance (while a guide talked about the show) and off to the side was a small installation with items which people placed on the chain link fence outside of paisley.

From there the tour finished and we were brought into a tent which had merchandise (several T-shirts from Piano and a microphone as well as for Baltimore, Third Eye girl, Purple rain, as well as mugs, a program and even ping pong balls). T-shirts (smaller then XXL) were $23.

If you had not purchased the special tasting before hand you could purchase it there.

I had it and it was quite good. Items included:

Wild Rice with Pumpkin Sauce

Coconut Curry with Black Rice and Chickpeas

Grilled Broccoli

Bibb Lettiuce Cups

Kale Chips

I then exited the tent and walked around back to the entrance for my VIP tour.

While it was the first day and clearly there were bumps (people with Friday tickets got in on Thursday, people lost their tours) all was pretty orderly. Tours were seemingly all on time which was very impressive.

As I waited in line for my second tour of the morning, the experience was a bit different. No media anymore a little more organized, and the mayor had left.

While we were waiting to begin, someone from Paisley Park addressed the group. He asked how many people were local (which was about 20%) and asked them to please reach out to their representatives to let them know that Prince’s “Fans” (yes, he said fan’s and not Fam’s) were the type of people that Chanhassen would want in their community and to lend their support for continued tours of the park.

The VIP started the same as a large group (about 30 people) and we all went into the atrium and viewed the mini exhibits together. When the group was ready to go to Studio A the VIP’s (maybe 10 or less of us) went to a special Video Editing room where we watched some Musicology concert footage (which included Patti Labelle and members of the band and Prince).

From here we went to Studio A and got a much more intimate tour (same guided content just less people) the Purple Rain room, Parade/Graffiti Bridge and History Hallway.

At this point we got another “extra room” which was Studio B (this studio was off the history hallway). Inside the room was a ping pong table, and an area with 2 of princes piano’s (a black one and a purple one). On the purple one was also a dark blue (or maybe purple) guitar. You could sit at the purple piano and play it (each key had a sample and when you played it you could hear it) as well as a song book with lyrics on top and the piano also had lyrics painted on top (I believe this piano was from the Piano and a microphone tour).

It was here that you could get your photo op while playing the piano or next to the guitar.

The line for the photo op was about 30 minutes (maybe more) as clearly they were having some first day logistical issues, but people played ping pong to pass the time and were generally good mannered. On one side of the studio the wall had huge black and white images of each of the members of 3rd eye girl and Prince.

In the studio they played 3 tracks from Piano and a microphone tour (Black Sweat, dirty mind and joy in repetition). Off the main studio was a small room (I think it was called the galaxy lounge) with the walls painted with stars and planets on it, which had a black light on.

From here we went out to the entry room of the main sound stage (The one with the futuristic piano) then onto the main sound stage, NPG music room, etc. and completed the tour. The VIP tour included the special tasting as well.

While we were in the hallways and atrium there was music piped in. It was a mixture of “Hits” as well as some more rare tracks like “Moviestar”.

The guides did there best to answer all types of questions but it was clear that they were all brought in for the tour and were not folks from the park so they basically stayed to their scripts. None the less they did a great job with the amount of training they were given.

I am sure some of my details might be a little off as it was a lot to take in.

Both tours went faster then I realized and I am glad I went on the tour twice in a row as I picked up on things missed the first time around.

I was also surprised at the variety of people on the tours, there were clearly many die-hards, but also some people who clearly more casual (in Princes office were photo’s of children and someone asked if they were princes grandkids).

We were told that today the park was going to see over 2,000 guests and that we should come back as they would be updating and changing some of the exhibits from time to time. We were told Prince had over 20,000 pairs of shoes and costumes (which will be rotated in and out) and they made a point to tell us that many of the mini-exhibits were already in place before he passed or they had just completed work which he had laid out his vision for.

While I think I saw Kirky J. walking around, no one “famous” was around nor any of the family members. It was clear the security guys walking around were from Prince’s entourage as one of them told us how prince used to beat him at ping pong all the time.

Hopefully all of you will get a chance to see the Park!

Now looking forward to next week’s tribute show!!!!

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Reply #127 posted 10/06/16 2:52pm

rogifan

lotusflower0000 said:

My tour was at 9:30am. I think we were the first group inside of Paisley Park. Here's a bit of what I observed/experienced. (Sorry ahead of time for typos etc. If only you knew how long I drove from home lol)



The Reactions From "Fans": Everyone I talked to was very friendly. There were people from ALL over & some people from outside the U.S. Some people were quiet. Others mingled, in awe of the atmosphere. I personally was quite bummed (not becuase the tour wasn't amazing/life changing) because of the fact that Prince wasn't in the building alive & breathing.



Paisley Park GA Experience: AMAZING. I would have to actually talk to you guys on the phone to explain how wonderful this experience was for me. I'm nearly crying as I type this. The amount of LOVE that Prince put into Paisley Park is overwhelming. Its like I could feel his spirit through the entire place. While in the atrium, LONG BEFORE they told us about his remains being in the mini Paisley Park building, thats were I felt his spirit the most. It was very intense. Then when they actually told us that his remains were infront of us, I wanted to start crying. I just felt a deep sadness. In that same area they have many different rooms that were all open. Except for one room/closed space (basically a mini kitchen with comfy furniture) with see through glass, that has been left untouched. The tv was on the sports channel. Apparently, this room was kept just how Prince left it before he died. I'm telling you guys, I would have to talk on the phone to tell you about it all.



Taste Experience: I didn't purchase that before hand BUT I have the menu of everything that was served. The food smelled SO good! I could smell it while we were walking around PP. When I have enough time I can post a picture of it.



Merchandise Experience: I also have a picture of the list of everything that was sold today. The set up was quite smail. The line was SUPER long and a tad bit slow (not blaming them b/c of the last minute decision to reopen PP) The setup of the merchandise was neat. They had shirts, keychains necklaces, mugs & much more. I bought two shirts, a keychain and necklace. The tour guides told us that everything for sale in there had been approved by Prince & that this wasn't something they made up themselves (as far as the designs on tshirts & mugs etc)



Parking: We parked in a garage LITERALLY minutes from PP. Everything went smoothly. There were plenty of spaces. The buses were on time. The drivers were great/nice.



OVERALL I have nothing negative to say about this experience. The guides even told us at the end of the tour to feel free to voice our opinions about how they could make the tour even more enjoyable. It's such a shame that some people have it made up in their minds that everything about this is TERRIBLE & REPULSIVE when they have't been & don't plan to go. If you don't want to go then fine but don't make us feel bad. I know I LOVE and RESPECT Prince just as much as everyone else he's made an impact on.



It took me a little while to opened my laptop and type this. My emotions are up and down.. If you have anymore questions, i'd be glad to answer them.

[Edited 10/6/16 13:54pm]


Thank you for sharing this. I'm so happy for you and everyone else who got to experience it. smile It would be great if you shared your experience with Dr. Funkenberry. The positive experiences need to get out there as much as possible to drown out all this negativity. 🙏🏻💜
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever đź’ś
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Reply #128 posted 10/06/16 2:57pm

rogifan

Bankinherpocket said:


I feel the exact same way - I got such a sense of "this is how Prince wanted it" from the whole thing. It was amazing and beyond words. People that have written it off already are really missing out on Prince's final legacy, and I feel sad for them.



Must have missed the keychains, LOL!


The more I read people's experiences the more I believe Prince did have detailed instructions and the Estate/Graceland is not exaggerating there. There's no way he would provide anything less than an amazing experience. đź’ś
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever đź’ś
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Reply #129 posted 10/06/16 2:57pm

FlyOnTheWall

rogifan said:

So no reports yet (other than the urn)? Star Tribune reporter claims fans are giving raves but I'd love to hear a first hand account. I won't be going there until next year.

There are several first-hand accounts on this video, all rave reviews. One of them, toward the end, is even holding a "Taste of Prince" vegan plate.

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Reply #130 posted 10/06/16 3:02pm

purplethunder3
121

avatar

haipo said:

So while I have been on the .org for many years, I post very rarely. However as I went to Paisley Park this morning and went on both the GA and VIP tours it would be a good time to post my experience as well as the differences between the 2 tours incase some of you were wondering.

This is a very long entry and if you want to be surprised about the Tour, don’t read any further, there are “spoilers” below.

The experience started with taking the bus from Chanhassen parking garage to the park. As I was on the first bus, we were greeted by the media (2 video crews and several additional photographers and reporters). Upon entering the building we were all personally greeted by the mayor of Chanhassen welcoming us to his town. Given all the issues earlier this week it was a nice touch.

VIP’s were asked to go to the left and GA’s to gather in the right side of the entry way. VIP’s were offered the chance to purchase a thumb drive ($10.50) to be used later for a photo opportunity and given an purple arm band.

It was made very clear to all that camera’s, recording devices and phones were not to be used at all. If caught, we were told we would be banned from Paisley Park. This was said in a very nice way (….prince had strong feelings and we have the same so please respect…..)

My first tour was the GA tour, so I will explain next what was covered and after I will tell how the VIP tour differed.

Both groups started the tour together in the entry way. The person giving the intro tour was one of the recent hires and was following cue cards.

She then undid the velvet rope and we all walked into the atrium passing several gold and platinum awards as well as a very cool Musicology award with a ticket from each of the shows and a letter of condolences from President Obama.

Once in the atrium we had a new guide whom talked about the atrium, princes birds, which we could see their cages upstairs and when quiet hear them coo. There were several rooms off the atrium which had small exhibits (some you could walk into the room others had plexiglass and you could look in.

We were able to look into the “little kitchen” which is where we were told prince relaxed, watched basketball and ate.

In the center of the atrium incased in plexiglass was a miniature model of Paisley Park. Inside the model was a purple box, and we were told his remains were inside this box. GULP…that was not something I think anyone was prepared for.

The mini exhibits off the atrium were:

Dirty Mind – I believe Prince’s original Hohner guitar was on display

Sign o the times – you could walk into the room and some of the instruments were on display + a tv was showing concert footage

Diamond and Pearls – you could walk into this room as well and had princes yellow costume from the era and other things on display

Princes office – we could walk into this room as well

There was a 4th exhibit (Lovesexy) however it said it would be ready in 2017.

We were then moved into Studio A where we heard 2 of his newest songs Ruff Enuff, which is circulating and another song called “Soul Patch” which was from a Jazz album he was working on when he passed. In one of the rooms off the main studio was a display of some instruments and on a music stand were 2 songs (one was typed and I could not see the title, the other was handwritten and I believe the song was called “cool down baby cool down”

We then moved into the “inspiration hallway” where they showed us a mural and then into the “purple rain” room. I believe this was at one point a studio and the place Prince played basketball.

It has memorabilia from purple rain (original script, motorcycle, white cloud guitar and his purple coat from the movie)

We moved from this room to the Parade / Graffiti Bridge room. This room had videos of both movies playing as well as the parade drum kit, and some costumes and instruments from graffiti bridge.

From here we walked down the “history hallway” which had images of prince since 1979 and most of his Grammys’ a soul train award and several others.

From here we went into a small room (just outside the main sound stage) which had a ultra rare, futuristic looking grand piano (1 of 14 in the world) and then into the main sound stage.

Inside where several mini-stages which instruments from several era’s (jam of the year, piano and a microphone….)

After walking around for a few minutes they played about 10 minutes of concert video.

From here we walked into the NPG music room (a smaller sound stage) where there had more instrument set ups on stages.

From there we moved into a small entry way type room where they played Prince’s Super bowl performance (while a guide talked about the show) and off to the side was a small installation with items which people placed on the chain link fence outside of paisley.

From there the tour finished and we were brought into a tent which had merchandise (several T-shirts from Piano and a microphone as well as for Baltimore, Third Eye girl, Purple rain, as well as mugs, a program and even ping pong balls). T-shirts (smaller then XXL) were $23.

If you had not purchased the special tasting before hand you could purchase it there.

I had it and it was quite good. Items included:

Wild Rice with Pumpkin Sauce

Coconut Curry with Black Rice and Chickpeas

Grilled Broccoli

Bibb Lettiuce Cups

Kale Chips

I then exited the tent and walked around back to the entrance for my VIP tour.

While it was the first day and clearly there were bumps (people with Friday tickets got in on Thursday, people lost their tours) all was pretty orderly. Tours were seemingly all on time which was very impressive.

As I waited in line for my second tour of the morning, the experience was a bit different. No media anymore a little more organized, and the mayor had left.

While we were waiting to begin, someone from Paisley Park addressed the group. He asked how many people were local (which was about 20%) and asked them to please reach out to their representatives to let them know that Prince’s “Fans” (yes, he said fan’s and not Fam’s) were the type of people that Chanhassen would want in their community and to lend their support for continued tours of the park.

The VIP started the same as a large group (about 30 people) and we all went into the atrium and viewed the mini exhibits together. When the group was ready to go to Studio A the VIP’s (maybe 10 or less of us) went to a special Video Editing room where we watched some Musicology concert footage (which included Patti Labelle and members of the band and Prince).

From here we went to Studio A and got a much more intimate tour (same guided content just less people) the Purple Rain room, Parade/Graffiti Bridge and History Hallway.

At this point we got another “extra room” which was Studio B (this studio was off the history hallway). Inside the room was a ping pong table, and an area with 2 of princes piano’s (a black one and a purple one). On the purple one was also a dark blue (or maybe purple) guitar. You could sit at the purple piano and play it (each key had a sample and when you played it you could hear it) as well as a song book with lyrics on top and the piano also had lyrics painted on top (I believe this piano was from the Piano and a microphone tour).

It was here that you could get your photo op while playing the piano or next to the guitar.

The line for the photo op was about 30 minutes (maybe more) as clearly they were having some first day logistical issues, but people played ping pong to pass the time and were generally good mannered. On one side of the studio the wall had huge black and white images of each of the members of 3rd eye girl and Prince.

In the studio they played 3 tracks from Piano and a microphone tour (Black Sweat, dirty mind and joy in repetition). Off the main studio was a small room (I think it was called the galaxy lounge) with the walls painted with stars and planets on it, which had a black light on.

From here we went out to the entry room of the main sound stage (The one with the futuristic piano) then onto the main sound stage, NPG music room, etc. and completed the tour. The VIP tour included the special tasting as well.

While we were in the hallways and atrium there was music piped in. It was a mixture of “Hits” as well as some more rare tracks like “Moviestar”.

The guides did there best to answer all types of questions but it was clear that they were all brought in for the tour and were not folks from the park so they basically stayed to their scripts. None the less they did a great job with the amount of training they were given.

I am sure some of my details might be a little off as it was a lot to take in.

Both tours went faster then I realized and I am glad I went on the tour twice in a row as I picked up on things missed the first time around.

I was also surprised at the variety of people on the tours, there were clearly many die-hards, but also some people who clearly more casual (in Princes office were photo’s of children and someone asked if they were princes grandkids).

We were told that today the park was going to see over 2,000 guests and that we should come back as they would be updating and changing some of the exhibits from time to time. We were told Prince had over 20,000 pairs of shoes and costumes (which will be rotated in and out) and they made a point to tell us that many of the mini-exhibits were already in place before he passed or they had just completed work which he had laid out his vision for.

While I think I saw Kirky J. walking around, no one “famous” was around nor any of the family members. It was clear the security guys walking around were from Prince’s entourage as one of them told us how prince used to beat him at ping pong all the time.

Hopefully all of you will get a chance to see the Park!

Now looking forward to next week’s tribute show!!!!

Thank you for your extremely detailed account of the two tours. I hope it was a good experience for you and that you enjoy the tribute show.

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #131 posted 10/06/16 3:08pm

rogifan

Menus were posted on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/serpa...4984887296
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever đź’ś
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Reply #132 posted 10/06/16 3:12pm

purplethunder3
121

avatar

rogifan said:

Menus were posted on Twitter. https://twitter.com/serpa...4984887296 Image and video hosting by TinyPic Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Thank you for sharing. I like this inclusion in the tour.

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #133 posted 10/06/16 3:17pm

FlyOnTheWall

Latin said:

Bankinherpocket said:

Ok - not sure if anyone else that's ACTUALLY been on the tour has checked in yet, but here's my two cents:

I had a VIP ticket for 9:20 this am. Parking and bussing was no problem, easy peasy. In fact, probably easier than trying to get into the PP parking lot, which is pretty small. I was on the second bus, and the staff were all very friendly, welcoming and accommodating. I can't say enough about every staff member I encountered today. They were all awesome! That being said, it was a bit disorganized - like any cold opening of any other business, there were hiccups. Time management was one of them. PP is HUGE - even containing us all to the main level, there are so many rooms and hallways it's like a huge maze and keeping all the groups on track proved difficult, but that's nobody's fault. I'm sure they will work through that. They also need more cashiers, but again, I'm sure that will get worked out over time.

YES, there is a very small urn in the atrium. It's located inside a small model of PP, which is located inside of an acrylic cube. You can walk all around it, but the urn can only be viewed on one side. It's purple marble, of course. I don't for a second think this is 100% of his remains. I'm sure the family has the majority, but I truly believe this is where P should be. This was his home, and the way it is set up is exactly the way he wanted it. The display is not tacky, IMO.

Many of the walls are covered in large photo murals, which Prince had designed and put up long before his passing - he was clearly planning this for some time. Along the atrium, there's the "little kitchen" and three era rooms - Dirty Mind, SOTT, and one other that I'm not remembering now (there was so much to look at it's going to take me a while to process everything). Guitars, costumes and memorabilia are all on display in those rooms. The PR room is amazing - and just like on the Today show so I won't elaborate on that.

I was amazed by how up close we were able to get to everything - I hope people don't ruin that!! The concert hall had about 5 different small stages set up with costumes and instruments from the various eras, and they played clips of his live performances. We also saw the editing room, Studio A and Studio B along with the Studio B lounge, which was really cool (and had a great picture of Judith Hill). They played us an unreleased track from the jazz album he was working on at the time of his passing, which was also amazing - I hope that sees the light of day soon!

The food at the end from People's Organic was really good - if you go, you should definitely give it a try.

Overall, I am so glad I was able to go. Everyone involved is doing their best to make this succeed, and I commend their efforts.

[Edited 10/6/16 13:23pm]

Thank u for the wonderful report!

yes Thanks for all the details of your experience. One day, I hope to make the trek.

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Reply #134 posted 10/06/16 3:23pm

Latin

haipo said:

So while I have been on the .org for many years, I post very rarely. However as I went to Paisley Park this morning and went on both the GA and VIP tours it would be a good time to post my experience as well as the differences between the 2 tours incase some of you were wondering.



This is a very long entry and if you want to be surprised about the Tour, don’t read any further, there are “spoilers” below.





The experience started with taking the bus from Chanhassen parking garage to the park. As I was on the first bus, we were greeted by the media (2 video crews and several additional photographers and reporters). Upon entering the building we were all personally greeted by the mayor of Chanhassen welcoming us to his town. Given all the issues earlier this week it was a nice touch.




VIP’s were asked to go to the left and GA’s to gather in the right side of the entry way. VIP’s were offered the chance to purchase a thumb drive ($10.50) to be used later for a photo opportunity and given an purple arm band.



It was made very clear to all that camera’s, recording devices and phones were not to be used at all. If caught, we were told we would be banned from Paisley Park. This was said in a very nice way (….prince had strong feelings and we have the same so please respect…..)



My first tour was the GA tour, so I will explain next what was covered and after I will tell how the VIP tour differed.



Both groups started the tour together in the entry way. The person giving the intro tour was one of the recent hires and was following cue cards.



She then undid the velvet rope and we all walked into the atrium passing several gold and platinum awards as well as a very cool Musicology award with a ticket from each of the shows and a letter of condolences from President Obama.



Once in the atrium we had a new guide whom talked about the atrium, princes birds, which we could see their cages upstairs and when quiet hear them coo. There were several rooms off the atrium which had small exhibits (some you could walk into the room others had plexiglass and you could look in.



We were able to look into the “little kitchen” which is where we were told prince relaxed, watched basketball and ate.



In the center of the atrium incased in plexiglass was a miniature model of Paisley Park. Inside the model was a purple box, and we were told his remains were inside this box. GULP…that was not something I think anyone was prepared for.




The mini exhibits off the atrium were:



Dirty Mind – I believe Prince’s original Hohner guitar was on display


Sign o the times – you could walk into the room and some of the instruments were on display + a tv was showing concert footage


Diamond and Pearls – you could walk into this room as well and had princes yellow costume from the era and other things on display


Princes office – we could walk into this room as well



There was a 4th exhibit (Lovesexy) however it said it would be ready in 2017.



We were then moved into Studio A where we heard 2 of his newest songs Ruff Enuff, which is circulating and another song called “Soul Patch” which was from a Jazz album he was working on when he passed. In one of the rooms off the main studio was a display of some instruments and on a music stand were 2 songs (one was typed and I could not see the title, the other was handwritten and I believe the song was called “cool down baby cool down”



We then moved into the “inspiration hallway” where they showed us a mural and then into the “purple rain” room. I believe this was at one point a studio and the place Prince played basketball.



It has memorabilia from purple rain (original script, motorcycle, white cloud guitar and his purple coat from the movie)



We moved from this room to the Parade / Graffiti Bridge room. This room had videos of both movies playing as well as the parade drum kit, and some costumes and instruments from graffiti bridge.



From here we walked down the “history hallway” which had images of prince since 1979 and most of his Grammys’ a soul train award and several others.



From here we went into a small room (just outside the main sound stage) which had a ultra rare, futuristic looking grand piano (1 of 14 in the world) and then into the main sound stage.



Inside where several mini-stages which instruments from several era’s (jam of the year, piano and a microphone….)



After walking around for a few minutes they played about 10 minutes of concert video.



From here we walked into the NPG music room (a smaller sound stage) where there had more instrument set ups on stages.



From there we moved into a small entry way type room where they played Prince’s Super bowl performance (while a guide talked about the show) and off to the side was a small installation with items which people placed on the chain link fence outside of paisley.



From there the tour finished and we were brought into a tent which had merchandise (several T-shirts from Piano and a microphone as well as for Baltimore, Third Eye girl, Purple rain, as well as mugs, a program and even ping pong balls). T-shirts (smaller then XXL) were $23.



If you had not purchased the special tasting before hand you could purchase it there.



I had it and it was quite good. Items included:



Wild Rice with Pumpkin Sauce


Coconut Curry with Black Rice and Chickpeas


Grilled Broccoli


Bibb Lettiuce Cups


Kale Chips




I then exited the tent and walked around back to the entrance for my VIP tour.




While it was the first day and clearly there were bumps (people with Friday tickets got in on Thursday, people lost their tours) all was pretty orderly. Tours were seemingly all on time which was very impressive.



As I waited in line for my second tour of the morning, the experience was a bit different. No media anymore a little more organized, and the mayor had left.



While we were waiting to begin, someone from Paisley Park addressed the group. He asked how many people were local (which was about 20%) and asked them to please reach out to their representatives to let them know that Prince’s “Fans” (yes, he said fan’s and not Fam’s) were the type of people that Chanhassen would want in their community and to lend their support for continued tours of the park.




The VIP started the same as a large group (about 30 people) and we all went into the atrium and viewed the mini exhibits together. When the group was ready to go to Studio A the VIP’s (maybe 10 or less of us) went to a special Video Editing room where we watched some Musicology concert footage (which included Patti Labelle and members of the band and Prince).



From here we went to Studio A and got a much more intimate tour (same guided content just less people) the Purple Rain room, Parade/Graffiti Bridge and History Hallway.



At this point we got another “extra room” which was Studio B (this studio was off the history hallway). Inside the room was a ping pong table, and an area with 2 of princes piano’s (a black one and a purple one). On the purple one was also a dark blue (or maybe purple) guitar. You could sit at the purple piano and play it (each key had a sample and when you played it you could hear it) as well as a song book with lyrics on top and the piano also had lyrics painted on top (I believe this piano was from the Piano and a microphone tour).



It was here that you could get your photo op while playing the piano or next to the guitar.



The line for the photo op was about 30 minutes (maybe more) as clearly they were having some first day logistical issues, but people played ping pong to pass the time and were generally good mannered. On one side of the studio the wall had huge black and white images of each of the members of 3rd eye girl and Prince.



In the studio they played 3 tracks from Piano and a microphone tour (Black Sweat, dirty mind and joy in repetition). Off the main studio was a small room (I think it was called the galaxy lounge) with the walls painted with stars and planets on it, which had a black light on.



From here we went out to the entry room of the main sound stage (The one with the futuristic piano) then onto the main sound stage, NPG music room, etc. and completed the tour. The VIP tour included the special tasting as well.



While we were in the hallways and atrium there was music piped in. It was a mixture of “Hits” as well as some more rare tracks like “Moviestar”.



The guides did there best to answer all types of questions but it was clear that they were all brought in for the tour and were not folks from the park so they basically stayed to their scripts. None the less they did a great job with the amount of training they were given.



I am sure some of my details might be a little off as it was a lot to take in.



Both tours went faster then I realized and I am glad I went on the tour twice in a row as I picked up on things missed the first time around.



I was also surprised at the variety of people on the tours, there were clearly many die-hards, but also some people who clearly more casual (in Princes office were photo’s of children and someone asked if they were princes grandkids).



We were told that today the park was going to see over 2,000 guests and that we should come back as they would be updating and changing some of the exhibits from time to time. We were told Prince had over 20,000 pairs of shoes and costumes (which will be rotated in and out) and they made a point to tell us that many of the mini-exhibits were already in place before he passed or they had just completed work which he had laid out his vision for.



While I think I saw Kirky J. walking around, no one “famous” was around nor any of the family members. It was clear the security guys walking around were from Prince’s entourage as one of them told us how prince used to beat him at ping pong all the time.




Hopefully all of you will get a chance to see the Park!



Now looking forward to next week’s tribute show!!!!





Thanks for your wonderful report!
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Reply #135 posted 10/06/16 3:23pm

Superfan1984

Oh Wow! eek lol Sounds amazing!

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Reply #136 posted 10/06/16 3:39pm

rogifan

Here's a picture of the tasting plate.

https://twitter.com/bostc...6613166080

tRSbf.jpg
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever đź’ś
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Reply #137 posted 10/06/16 3:52pm

babynoz

I'm very thankful to those who shared their experience. I am glad I waited to hear about it before making any comments. It sounds like things were done with the proper level of decorum and sensitivity.

I hope that everything gets worked out with the city so that more of us can see where our remarkable Prince made his magic. I'm already in tears just reading about it but I feel that visiting PP is something I must do.

PP is the most appropriate place on earth for his urn to be and it's probably stored in the security of the vault when the tours are done.

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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Reply #138 posted 10/06/16 3:54pm

SquirrelMeat

avatar

Although I'm a little twitchy (aka protective) about things like photos with Prince's guitar or piano, this sounds like they have made a really good experience.

Thanks for the feedback for those that went.

.
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Reply #139 posted 10/06/16 3:56pm

BillieBalloon

rogifan said:

Here's a picture of the tasting plate.

https://twitter.com/bostc...6613166080

tRSbf.jpg



Pretty cool, my kind of food and it looks like a generous amount.
Baby, you're a star.

Meet me in another world, space and joy
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Reply #140 posted 10/06/16 3:59pm

IstenSzek

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thanks for all the reviews guys and girls thumbs up! much appreciated!

does anyone have a pic of the usb stick you could get for your picture?

i hope they start selling those online at some point. i want one biggrin

and true love lives on lollipops and crisps
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Reply #141 posted 10/06/16 4:00pm

BillieBalloon

I'm thankful for the reports people are sharing, some very detailed ones.
Baby, you're a star.

Meet me in another world, space and joy
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Reply #142 posted 10/06/16 4:02pm

SquirrelMeat

avatar

rogifan said:

Here's a picture of the tasting plate. https://twitter.com/bostc...6613166080 tRSbf.jpg



Nice side salad. Now slap a 20oz rump on there and I'm game. wink

.
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Reply #143 posted 10/06/16 4:05pm

BillieBalloon

SquirrelMeat said:



rogifan said:


Here's a picture of the tasting plate. https://twitter.com/bostc...6613166080 tRSbf.jpg



Nice side salad. Now slap a 20oz rump on there and I'm game. wink




And a pancake?
Baby, you're a star.

Meet me in another world, space and joy
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Reply #144 posted 10/06/16 4:07pm

HatrinaHaterwi
tz

avatar

babynoz said:

I'm very thankful to those who shared their experience. I am glad I waited to hear about it before making any comments. It sounds like things were done with the proper level of decorum and sensitivity.

I hope that everything gets worked out with the city so that more of us can see where our remarkable Prince made his magic. I'm already in tears just reading about it but I feel that visiting PP is something I must do.

PP is the most appropriate place on earth for his urn to be and it's probably stored in the security of the vault when the tours are done.

Honey...they are selling dinners and I just saw a picture on FB that somebody paid extra for of them sitting at his piano. I really just can't deal with this. disbelief

I knew from the start that I loved you with all my heart.
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Reply #145 posted 10/06/16 4:16pm

SquirrelMeat

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BillieBalloon said:

SquirrelMeat said:



Nice side salad. Now slap a 20oz rump on there and I'm game. wink

And a pancake?


I'll just pull a few of those out of the fence and save some money lol

.
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Reply #146 posted 10/06/16 4:16pm

rogifan

BillieBalloon said:

rogifan said:

Here's a picture of the tasting plate.

https://twitter.com/bostc...6613166080

tRSbf.jpg



Pretty cool, my kind of food and it looks like a generous amount.

Why do I get the feeling this is not what Prince's plate would have looked like? He probably would've had half the amount of food on here. lol
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever đź’ś
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Reply #147 posted 10/06/16 4:18pm

destinyc1

wink

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Reply #148 posted 10/06/16 4:21pm

FlyOnTheWall

lotusflower0000 said:

My tour was at 9:30am. I think we were the first group inside of Paisley Park. Here's a bit of what I observed/experienced. (Sorry ahead of time for typos etc. If only you knew how long I drove from home lol)

The Reactions From "Fans": Everyone I talked to was very friendly. There were people from ALL over & some people from outside the U.S. Some people were quiet. Others mingled, in awe of the atmosphere. I personally was quite bummed (not becuase the tour wasn't amazing/life changing) because of the fact that Prince wasn't in the building alive & breathing.

Paisley Park GA Experience: AMAZING. I would have to actually talk to you guys on the phone to explain how wonderful this experience was for me. I'm nearly crying as I type this. The amount of LOVE that Prince put into Paisley Park is overwhelming. Its like I could feel his spirit through the entire place. While in the atrium, LONG BEFORE they told us about his remains being in the mini Paisley Park building, thats were I felt his spirit the most. It was very intense. Then when they actually told us that his remains were infront of us, I wanted to start crying. I just felt a deep sadness. In that same area they have many different rooms that were all open. Except for one room/closed space (basically a mini kitchen with comfy furniture) with see through glass, that has been left untouched. The tv was on the sports channel. Apparently, this room was kept just how Prince left it before he died. I'm telling you guys, I would have to talk on the phone to tell you about it all.

Taste Experience: I didn't purchase that before hand BUT I have the menu of everything that was served. The food smelled SO good! I could smell it while we were walking around PP. When I have enough time I can post a picture of it.

Merchandise Experience: I also have a picture of the list of everything that was sold today. The set up was quite smail. The line was SUPER long and a tad bit slow (not blaming them b/c of the last minute decision to reopen PP) The setup of the merchandise was neat. They had shirts, keychains necklaces, mugs & much more. I bought two shirts, a keychain and necklace. The tour guides told us that everything for sale in there had been approved by Prince & that this wasn't something they made up themselves (as far as the designs on tshirts & mugs etc)

Parking: We parked in a garage LITERALLY minutes from PP. Everything went smoothly. There were plenty of spaces. The buses were on time. The drivers were great/nice.

OVERALL I have nothing negative to say about this experience. The guides even told us at the end of the tour to feel free to voice our opinions about how they could make the tour even more enjoyable. It's such a shame that some people have it made up in their minds that everything about this is TERRIBLE & REPULSIVE when they have't been & don't plan to go. If you don't want to go then fine but don't make us feel bad. I know I LOVE and RESPECT Prince just as much as everyone else he's made an impact on.

It took me a little while to opened my laptop and type this. My emotions are up and down.. If you have anymore questions, i'd be glad to answer them.

[Edited 10/6/16 13:54pm]

Thank you for sharing!! I'm so happy you had such a wonderful experience.

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Reply #149 posted 10/06/16 4:24pm

babynoz

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

babynoz said:

I'm very thankful to those who shared their experience. I am glad I waited to hear about it before making any comments. It sounds like things were done with the proper level of decorum and sensitivity.

I hope that everything gets worked out with the city so that more of us can see where our remarkable Prince made his magic. I'm already in tears just reading about it but I feel that visiting PP is something I must do.

PP is the most appropriate place on earth for his urn to be and it's probably stored in the security of the vault when the tours are done.

Honey...they are selling dinners and I just saw a picture on FB that somebody paid extra for of them sitting at his piano. I really just can't deal with this. disbelief



I'm going by what's being said by those who have actually visited already. The positive experiences they shared seems credible to me.

I will be happy just to be in the place he loved and called home and to feel his energy around the place. That's the most important thing to me.

Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise.
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