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Millionaire attraction to close at Disney-MGM - The interactive game modeled after the TV show will be replaced with a new ride.
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 28, 2006
Walt Disney World is closing the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire -- Play It! game at Disney-MGM Studios in August and reportedly will replace it with a new indoor ride.
The interactive game, modeled after the once immensely popular TV show, will play for the last time on Aug. 19.
Officially, Disney confirmed Tuesday only that Millionaire is closing Aug. 19, based on the company's regular course of re-evaluation.
"Preparation will begin for a new guest experience in that sound stage later this year," said Walt Disney World spokesman Jacob DiPietre. He could not comment further about the new attraction.
Some Disney-MGM employees were advised of a new ride this year.
One, Bob Frazier, a veteran Disney employee who is a trainer, coordinator and attraction host at Disney-MGM, said the planned new ride was described to him as a top attraction, and as a cross between Universal Studios' Men in Black and Disneyland's Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.
Both of those rides take people in cars through a maze of indoor scenes with robotic characters and other special effects. On Men in Black, riders shoot ray guns at aliens and tally scores. On Roger Rabbit, riders have some control over driving their cars.
The Disney Millionaire attraction premiered just a little late, April 2001, to take advantage of the peak popularity of the TV game show.
The show premiered in 1998 in the United Kingdom, then opened on Disney-owned ABC-TV in 1999 with Regis Philbin as host. It quickly became a huge hit on American TV, but by the spring of 2001 the TV show was dropping rapidly in the TV ratings. The show is now in syndication with Meredith Vieira hosting.
Disney-MGM's version is similar to the TV show, though participants compete for points instead of cash. The top scorer gets a prize, such as a vacation on the Disney Cruise Line. The studio seats 650 people, who all get to play. On Tuesday, it ran nine times.
Some industry observers said Tuesday the Disney-MGM game has probably run out of steam, just like the TV show.
"I think Millionaire's tired," said Jerry Aldrich of Amusement Industry Consulting in Orlando.
Steve Baker of Baker Leisure Group, an Orlando-based theme-park consulting firm, noted that most of the attractions along Disney-MGM's backlot area are fairly passive and said, "An icon attraction would be a good idea."
Still, Millionaire has its loyal fans, such as Lenard Summers of Brooklyn, N.Y., who were disappointed by the news. Summers, his wife, Paula, and three of their four children played the game for the first time Tuesday, after learning it from TV. He called the Disney-MGM version great because it's fun and educational, noting that one of his daughters posted the family's highest score.
"It's entertaining, and it makes the kids more studious," Summers said. "It's one of the few games you can play with the whole family."
Beth Olcott of Baltimore, who has played several times, also was saddened by the news. "That's a shame," she said. "That was a lot of fun."
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 28, 2006
Walt Disney World is closing the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire -- Play It! game at Disney-MGM Studios in August and reportedly will replace it with a new indoor ride.
The interactive game, modeled after the once immensely popular TV show, will play for the last time on Aug. 19.
Officially, Disney confirmed Tuesday only that Millionaire is closing Aug. 19, based on the company's regular course of re-evaluation.
"Preparation will begin for a new guest experience in that sound stage later this year," said Walt Disney World spokesman Jacob DiPietre. He could not comment further about the new attraction.
Some Disney-MGM employees were advised of a new ride this year.
One, Bob Frazier, a veteran Disney employee who is a trainer, coordinator and attraction host at Disney-MGM, said the planned new ride was described to him as a top attraction, and as a cross between Universal Studios' Men in Black and Disneyland's Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.
Both of those rides take people in cars through a maze of indoor scenes with robotic characters and other special effects. On Men in Black, riders shoot ray guns at aliens and tally scores. On Roger Rabbit, riders have some control over driving their cars.
The Disney Millionaire attraction premiered just a little late, April 2001, to take advantage of the peak popularity of the TV game show.
The show premiered in 1998 in the United Kingdom, then opened on Disney-owned ABC-TV in 1999 with Regis Philbin as host. It quickly became a huge hit on American TV, but by the spring of 2001 the TV show was dropping rapidly in the TV ratings. The show is now in syndication with Meredith Vieira hosting.
Disney-MGM's version is similar to the TV show, though participants compete for points instead of cash. The top scorer gets a prize, such as a vacation on the Disney Cruise Line. The studio seats 650 people, who all get to play. On Tuesday, it ran nine times.
Some industry observers said Tuesday the Disney-MGM game has probably run out of steam, just like the TV show.
"I think Millionaire's tired," said Jerry Aldrich of Amusement Industry Consulting in Orlando.
Steve Baker of Baker Leisure Group, an Orlando-based theme-park consulting firm, noted that most of the attractions along Disney-MGM's backlot area are fairly passive and said, "An icon attraction would be a good idea."
Still, Millionaire has its loyal fans, such as Lenard Summers of Brooklyn, N.Y., who were disappointed by the news. Summers, his wife, Paula, and three of their four children played the game for the first time Tuesday, after learning it from TV. He called the Disney-MGM version great because it's fun and educational, noting that one of his daughters posted the family's highest score.
"It's entertaining, and it makes the kids more studious," Summers said. "It's one of the few games you can play with the whole family."
Beth Olcott of Baltimore, who has played several times, also was saddened by the news. "That's a shame," she said. "That was a lot of fun."
I was looking forward to getting in the hot seat when we go down in September/October for 
{ and I really hate using the pinkbounce}
Unless WDW lets us back in early again this summer, as they have in the past 
.
