Who wants to be a Millionaire - Ringers?

[safetymom]

I don't think locals should be limited to more than 30 days. I don't play the game but locals pay money to enter the park like everyone else. Why should they be hampered from playing?

 

[EjandMD]

I have been there to play several times, and each time we saw ringers. One took a fancy to my mom. He was super nice and the CM's knew him by name. We sat next to him while he and my mom became buds over the time they waited for the show. He was a retired professor and comes in about twice a week to play. It was his hobby. I wish my mom would have exchanged emails with him cause she has never been interested in dating, even though she has been divorced for over 25 years! And she definately liked him!

It can get annoying we were just there in December and yes the first guy was a ringer when asked "who's here cheering you on?" He said "the whole audience" That's when we knew. He played for half the time then a little girl came on, she was fun and we all cheered wildly for her.

When I worked at Sea World (Ohio) we used to have "dolphin people" who had season passes and did nothing but pet the dolphins all day long. We found them strange, they came in everyday when the park opened and hung out at the pool. Oh well I guess every park deals with this issue.

 

[WDWMom]

I won two years ago, but only got to about $16,000. I knew the answer to the faster finger, and knew I had done it fast, but didn't realize I was the fastest. The next time we went, I pressed DS's buttons because I knew I couldn't get on. Figured I would be going up with him (or DH would have) so it didn't matter.

 

[wwtbamrob]

I won two years ago, but only got to about $16,000. I knew the answer to the faster finger, and knew I had done it fast, but didn't realize I was the fastest. The next time we went, I pressed DS's buttons because I knew I couldn't get on. Figured I would be going up with him (or DH would have) so it didn't matter.

Proof positive that someone can win a Fastest Finger question by knowing the answer, not just random punching like some have claimed. I've also won Fastest Fingers by knowing the answer. My competitive nature prevents me from just randomly punching buttons.

As a word of caution though, I wouldn't suggest pushing the buttons on another person's panel. The show is bound by Florida gaming laws which would frown upon this practice. The Cast Members stationed in the audience are watching for this type of thing too.

Rob

 

[ottawa-newbie]

DH made it into the hotseat on his first and only try. After the game was over, we were in the <gasp> smoking section nearby and ran into a "pro". He was retired, and said that coming to watch the games was indeed his hobby, and that he played every 30 days. (he said he had won the cruise once and made it to the 500 000 question more than a few times)

EjandMD - perhaps this is the same fella your mom met?

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

LSUwest, I am certain that I was at the show you described but I may be mistaken in which show I got into the Hot Seat on. When my number flashes I go blank. LOL I always wear my DIS button so that I can make sure that if there are any others in the audience they will be rooting for me. I need all the help I can get. LOL I was sitting in seat 600 over in the handicap section.

I ran into a guy who had won the cruise and lived nearby. He had longish white hair and a beard and hung around the front giving people tips on how to get into the Hot Seat etc. Wonder if he is the same guy. He was Hispanic.

I have met many other 'ringers'. The ones that beat the band were the family from Michigan who had members of their party stand near the Phone a Stranger line to improve their odds of a good answer. I am not quite that dedicated.

My plan for the FF is to read the answer very fast if it does not include sports or some other topic that I am totally ignorant of and get the first letter right and then just punch buttons as I think it increases your chances. Otherwise I just pick a button, start punching and then do the others the second the lights come on. I find it easier to get in by answering questions.

I also notice that when the first questions are extremely easy it is much harder to make the board as so many people are competing against you while when the harder questions come up if you are lucky enough to know the answer you hit the board a lot quicker and higher up.

Rob, not sure what you mean by 12 times a year (that would be about once every 30 days as now) and no two times in more than 48 hours? Do you mean that they would not be allowed to attend rather than not play?

I would think that once every 3 months would cut down a bit on it but since they cannot get into the Hot Seat for a bit it evens things out a bit. I enjoy having to decline but then I am odd. LOL Hey, I am a homemaker and get little respect so I will take it any old where I can find it. (grin)

I knew you would know the R2D2 one. Wish I could remember some of the other questions because they were downright embarrassing in how easy they were. I am a Trekker and I knew them.

Slightly Goofy

 

[ladysoleil]

Proof positive that someone can win a Fastest Finger question by knowing the answer, not just random punching like some have claimed. I've also won Fastest Fingers by knowing the answer. My competitive nature prevents me from just randomly punching buttons.

I'm the same way- I know it's easier to just hit buttons at random, but I can't bring myself to do it! If I get in the Hot Seat, I'd rather be proud that I got in for being fast *and* right, not just fast! That's probably why I've only been in the Hot Seat once, and it was because two people on the board before me who were ineligible had to decline the seat. (See, you can luck out that way!)

As to the 30 day stuff, I think there's a balance there, and I do think the point is to keep locals from winning over and over. Most of us who don't live in Florida don't get to the parks once a month. (oh, how I wish!)

I'd hate to see the window get longer because lately it seems that we're going every six months or so and I'd hate to be disqualified. I guess I'm a "ringer" too- I've played when I wasn't eligible for the Hot Seat and so has my husband. We love the game and love to compete with each other and friends in the audience. We enjoy the game play and the cast members, even if we're not trying to "win" anything. I won't lie, I seriously plan to win that cruise someday, but until it happens, we have a good time just being there.

Then again, I'm horribly competitive at the live tapings too, I can't wait for the poor contestant to need to use the "Ask the Audience" lifeline so I can see if I'm right or not! heh.

I'm wondering if I can talk my husband into making a birthday weekend trip down for me since I won't get my Play It! fix in January.

Hi. I'm Margaret. I'm a Millionaire Addict.

 

[wwtbamrob]

I'm the same way- I know it's easier to just hit buttons at random, but I can't bring myself to do it! If I get in the Hot Seat, I'd rather be proud that I got in for being fast *and* right, not just fast! That's probably why I've only been in the Hot Seat once, and it was because two people on the board before me who were ineligible had to decline the seat. (See, you can luck out that way!)

I don't think I've told this story here. Has anyone ever seen or heard of a tie on the Fastest Finger question? I was part of one once and it had to have been one for the record books. I don't recall the question, but I tied with 20-something guy. So, they had a tie breaker. I don't recall that question either, but I think it was arranging states in order from East to West. I confidently punched the first 3 before realizing that the one I had left wasn't the western most. D'oh!

So what happened next? We both missed it. On to a third Fastest Finger question. I believe it was on movies by theatrical release. Great, one of my specialities. They show the leaderboard and...both of us missed again! I must have mistyped it!!!

Finally they gave us a Fastest Finger question that required us to arrange the lines of the nursery rhyme Patty Cake in order. I guess they figured they better dumb down the question for the two big dummies in the audience. Well, I finally managed to punch one in correct and I won the Hot Seat. And it only took me four Fastest Finger questions to get there.

Rob, not sure what you mean by 12 times a year (that would be about once every 30 days as now) and no two times in more than 48 hours? Do you mean that they would not be allowed to attend rather than not play?

What I was getting at was that every 30 days is 12 times a year, so why not just say 12 times a year so that non-locals could have more shots. They would still want to prevent the same people being in the Hot Seat close together, that is why I proposed a 48 hour lock out. Most visitors could still get a couple of attempts in that way.

Rob

 

[Ginamarie]

The unfair thing that I've seen is a few people who play the game all the time and write down the questions/answers. There's a couple that my DH and I have seen every single time we go to the attraction and are always winning the #1-#3 positions. I'm not sure if they've won the cruise, but we've seen the woman in the hot seat before, and she's refused several times to get in the hot seat because of the 30 day rule. Of course, I was actually in the #2 position when she went in the hot seat, so she ruined my chances!

 

[Principessa1284]

A lot of locals and AP's go probably everytime they get the chance. I was addicted to the show when it was on primetime, and it's even more exciting to be there in the action. My brother was #2 on the fastest finger when he was 13 or 14 lol that was cool. There was this one guy from england.. the host asked what his favorite ride at disney was, and he said spiderman. Everything started ROARING with laughter, and he didnt understand why. His girlfriend looked mortified and the host told him it would probably be best if he left LOL. But then he won like 1000 points or so.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It can get annoying we were just there in December and yes the first guy was a ringer when asked "who's here cheering you on?" He said "the whole audience" That's when we knew. He played for half the time then a little girl came on, she was fun and we all cheered wildly for her.

When in December? It's possible that first guy was there for MouseFest and a fair number of Guests in the audience were cheering for him

As for all those 30-day people in the original post - it's possible (NOT likely, but possible) that one or more of them just didn't want to be in the Hot Seat for whatever reason and used the 30 day rule as their excuse.

And, I don't consider myself a ringer - I only get to Disney World two or three times a year. But every time I go, I make it a priority to at least try to get in the Hot Seat. This generally involves going to several consecutive shows on my chosen day. It's worked. Twice. Once not long after the attraction opened (lost on the 64,000 question, something like "Which Presidential candidate wrote the book ___?" and it should be noted I'm not being vague, I don't remember the title ), and again last January (lost on the 64,000 point question, are we noting a pattern here, "What's the name of the dog in the Old Navy commercials?" and I never noticed a dog in the ads).
The CM in the office where you go to sign papers and get your prizes even seemed surprised that so much time had passed between my wins.

 

[cindyfan]

As of earlier this month, they have had 113 "million point" winners in the time the show has been there, which is approximately 4 years and 8 months.
Rob

Wow..... only 113 winners.... that doesn't seem like much considering....
They have 3 to 4 shows a day.... 365 days a year ...... 4 years, 8 months....

that is less than 7% of the shows have a winner of the cruise.... but consider they average 2 or 3 players each show..... it is less than 2.5% of the players win the cruise...

But also that figures out to 2 cruise winners each month.

BTW..... I was in the hot seat 2 years ago..... loads of FUN!!! and we weren't even going to go in.... had already done WWTBAM earlier that week.... but we got caught in a storm and the only place to duck in and get dry was WWTBAM!
I got up there by answering like 5 questions correctly and the first hot seat person missed.
I lost at 64,000 pts with a question about nicknames for the state of Louisiana! I love my 32,000 pt polo!!!

 

[wwtbamrob]

Wow..... only 113 winners.... that doesn't seem like much considering....
They have 3 to 4 shows a day.... 365 days a year ...... 4 years, 8 months....

that is less than 7% of the shows have a winner of the cruise.... but consider they average 2 or 3 players each show..... it is less than 2.5% of the players win the cruise...

But also that figures out to 2 cruise winners each month.

BTW..... I was in the hot seat 2 years ago..... loads of FUN!!! and we weren't even going to go in.... had already done WWTBAM earlier that week.... but we got caught in a storm and the only place to duck in and get dry was WWTBAM!
I got up there by answering like 5 questions correctly and the first hot seat person missed.
I lost at 64,000 pts with a question about nicknames for the state of Louisiana! I love my 32,000 pt polo!!!

Yep, if you calculate based on 8 shows per day, 2 contestants per show, that comes out to (very roughly) 27,680 attempts.

And if you think you love the polo shirt, wait until you win the jacket!

Rob

 

[Pig Pen]

We go to Millionaire several times during every trip. I have been #2 several times...I am always proud when I do well, but scared to death of actually getting to the hot seat and freezing up!

Now I have to worry that when I am #2, the #1 player will decline and I will get stuck....yikes!

 

[Dopey Sharon]

The unfair thing that I've seen is a few people who play the game all the time and write down the questions/answers. There's a couple that my DH and I have seen every single time we go to the attraction and are always winning the #1-#3 positions. I'm not sure if they've won the cruise, but we've seen the woman in the hot seat before, and she's refused several times to get in the hot seat because of the 30 day rule. Of course, I was actually in the #2 position when she went in the hot seat, so she ruined my chances!

I've seen them too. Every time we've gone, they are there, sitting in the same seats, too. They look like mother and son. They had a bunch of papers with them...questions and answers would be my guess.

The last time we were there, a few weeks ago, there was a guy who came in and sat several rows behind them. They knew each other. After the first contestant lost, they went to the board, and the single guy was first. He declined, so it went to the second highest player who just happened to be me! Talk about nervous!!! I think that was the most nervewracking experience of my life! I forget at what point I lost, but I ended up with the cap, pins and lanyard.

 

[dcgrumpy]

They started the 30 day rule because in the beginning there were the same people winning all the time. Local AP holders would go every day.

 

[Eljay]

I've been in the HS twice, after the Fastest Fingers person leaves. I am terrible at FF but fast & accurate otherwise. If I get a question wrong, I stop playing because you must be 100% correct & the fastest one in the room to get in the HS.

I'm not really surprized at the low statistics regarding cruise winners. Compared to the TV show, these are not people who have pre-qualified. Many are kids, foreigners who don't speak English well or first timers who don't get the hang of the buttons.

They often tell the story of the youngest contestant, a 2 year old who pressed the buttons randomly to win the FF! I was at that show and he was the most adorable English child in a pirate hat! His daddy helped him but was eliminated quickly.

Good luck to all of you who play!

 

[wwtbamrob]

If I get a question wrong, I stop playing because you must be 100% correct & the fastest one in the room to get in the HS.

Not necessarily true. If the question you miss is low in the stack, and the Hot Seat contestant gets fairly high in the stack, it is very possible to retake the lead. However, it is generally true that you have to get all of the questions correct in order to be in the running.

Rob

 

[Eljay]

Not necessarily true. If the question you miss is low in the stack, and the Hot Seat contestant gets fairly high in the stack, it is very possible to retake the lead. However, it is generally true that you have to get all of the questions correct in order to be in the running.

Rob

Thanks for the tip, Rob. I guess I'll continue to play then, even if it's only to contribute to the Ask The Audience lifeline!