DVDizzy Forum

Posted: **Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:31 am**

Nothing new, but since I just found out, and there hasn't been any threads here:

Orlando Sentinel wrote: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."

This news is disappointing to me. WWTBAM: PI was one of the best shows at WDW! Mainly because it was a different show everytime.

But it is outdated, and I would have an open mind to it if something great was replacing it, unfortunately, the Pixar attraction idea sounds unimpressive.

Posted: **Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:54 am**

Millionaire!?!?!? No! It was so great and yes a different show everytime. The final (I guess) time I went was during last years Star Wars Weekend. That was a wonderful show and it will be missed alot next time.

Posted: **Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:14 pm**

Aww. I loved that attraction!!

Shane made it to the hot seat once...& he got a biblical question wrong...oh well- good times.

Well hopefully- a new fun attraction will be put in it's place. If anyone has any further info on the possible new attraction- please keep us posted here.

Posted: **Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:35 pm**

It will be a copy of the Midway Mania attraction that was developed for California Adventure. It will utilize the same interactive technology that is being used for Tokyo Disneyland's Monsters Inc ride in that guests will be able to interact with the show scenes as they ride the attraction. How they do that in Midway Mania, I don't know, but in Tokyo they use flashlights to try and find the Monsters hiding in Monstropolis.

Midway Mania will also have Guests use 3-D Glasses, which is a first for a Disney dark ride...I think. It is supposed to be a high level D-Ticket Attraction in Florida first and then California.

Although the ride was desined for California Adventure, in this park they need to construct a new show building in Paradise Pier so the clone will actually open first in Florida.

Posted: **Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:32 pm**

I'm very sad to see Millionaire go. It always packed a full house when I was in it and it was a quality attraction... I guess with the TV show on the downslide it isn't quite the asset for Disney that it once was. I'm glad to see MGM get a new ride, especially a dark ride. I can't help but think that there's already so much vacant space in MGM, though, and that they should be adding, not replacing. Furthermore, I'm not sure how I feel about this attraction idea... on the one hand, it could turn out to be really cool, but on the other hand, it sounds like it could be a near-clone of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The latter is more likely to win out if they go with the all-Pixar theme that has been rumored (as opposed to the original various Disney characters theme), which I hope they decide against.

Oh well... I didn't get to do it on the two most recent trips and it's unlikely that I'll get to return before it closes. RIP, WWTBAM-PI!

-Aaron

Posted: **Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:27 pm**

dizfan wrote: Midway Mania will also have Guests use 3-D Glasses, which is a first for a Disney dark ride...I think. It is supposed to be a high level D-Ticket Attraction in Florida first and then California.

Sounds kinda like Spiderman @ Universal Islands of Adventure.

Sweet!

Posted: **Sun Jul 02, 2006 7:35 am**

Fidget1234 wrote:
dizfan wrote: Midway Mania will also have Guests use 3-D Glasses, which is a first for a Disney dark ride...I think. It is supposed to be a high level D-Ticket Attraction in Florida first and then California.

Sounds kinda like Spiderman @ Universal Islands of Adventure.

Sweet!

A more detailed source for the attraction can be found here.

Personally, I don't like the idea. While the technology sounds awesome(combine The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man with Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin), I can't stand the fact this isn't really anything more than a slightly more advanced "Buzz Lightear's Ranger Spin". I mean, how many "shooting lasers" rides do we really need in the Disneyland or WDW resort? I also don't like how it doesn't really fit with the "Hollywood" theme!(yeah, Pixar makes movies, but c'mon, you need more than that) And considering Millionair was such a original idea, I would like to see an original ride replace it.

If I had to replace Millionair, I would replace it with a "Fantasyland dark ride"(in the vein of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride), it can still have innovative technology(keep the 3D effects, at least that idea was awesome) and if it had to have a Pixar theme, make it a Cars ride! The fact that there's a movie with talking cars leads itself to an attraction, it's 3 weeks in release, yet it's already a smash hit, and the fact that they're trying to reach California through-out the entire movie makes it fit perfectly with the "Hollywood" theme. It's really the perfect timing for a Cars attraction, and the idea just feels so great and it fits perfectly at MGM and DCA if it replace Millionair at both parks.

But even with John Lasseter, we still can't have even that.

Posted: **Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:05 am**

So you don't like the idea of the ride, because it is too similar to Buzz Lightyear. So your solution is to strip the attraction down to everything except for the 3-D to make it a more standard dark ride like Mister Toad? And of course, it should be mentioned there many more of these types of dark rides at both Disneyland and WDW, then there are Buzz attractions.

Regardless if the attraction has similarities to others, the story is of the ride is very different as is the point of you shooting "lasers" (I don't think they'll be lasers) in this attraction. It promises to have a high repeatablility ride for families.

Posted: **Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:16 am**

Looks like I'll narrowly miss it at WDW too. Missed it at Disneyland last summer, as it was already closed there.

Posted: **Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:17 pm**

Aaw, yea sad to see it go. I'm glad then I got to go do this during my last trip to Disney World. It kinda stinks since that you really don't have to be smart to get to the hot seat. The one guy who went to the hot seat during my show got the fastest finger right in like 0.4 seconds. You just have to get lucky and press the right button combination fast.

Posted: **Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:09 pm**

Lucylover1986 wrote:Aaw, yea sad to see it go. I'm glad then I got to go do this during my last trip to Disney World. It kinda stinks since that you really don't have to be smart to get to the hot seat. The one guy who went to the hot seat during my show got the fastest finger right in like 0.4 seconds. You just have to get lucky and press the right button combination fast.

That's true. I don't have time to think about it and some people doing it randomly and get it right. It's sad to see it go, but it's clearly outdated since they stopped showing the Regis Philbin intro. I think for that brief time when the show came back on prime time for the special $10 Billion Edition, they brought back the video. Maybe I'm making that up, lol I dunno. Anyhow, I hope we get to do this one last time this or next week.

As for a new ride...I'd like to see a Narnia indoor ride. That would be awesome! I can't wait to see the walk through attraction Aaron talked about in his podcast.

Posted: **Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:39 am**

Sure, I'm sad to see ol' Millionaire go, but if this "Midway Mania" thing, or whatever Disney has up their sleeve works, then I'll be happy.

*tlm

Posted: **Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:01 am**

It's a shame that this is going, as it sounds a fairly interesting idea, even if there was a good chance that I wouldn't win anything of any real substance in the first place (according to Wikipedia, I could have won a pin on this attraction

). Like the Fan of the Lion King funnies, I would like it if they had a dark ride in its place, particularly one themed to a certain movie. Perhaps, considering it's motor-esque title, "Midway Mania" could be themed to Cars...

Timon/Pumbaa fan wrote:But even with John Lasseter, we still can't have even that.

You really don't like that guy, do you?

Posted: **Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:13 am**

Eh, as a castmember I was never allowed in the hotseat, so it's no big loss for me. Enjoyed it while it was there, won't be missing it when it's gone. I feel for the people who enjoyed it though. It was one hell of a game.

Escapay

Posted: **Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:36 am**

It was that good? Now I regret I never went to Millionaire when I was at Disney-MGM Studios.

Posted: **Fri Jul 14, 2006 5:51 am**

I've never been to Disney Studios to go to the "Millionaire: Play It!" attraction. Sorry to see it go. By the way, thanks to GSN for putting reruns of a successful game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". You should watch the show on GSN everyday. You'll like it!

Posted: **Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:54 am**

While it's always sad to see a decent attraction go, I am excited that MGM is getting something new. The park really needs some new things.

Posted: **Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:55 pm**

The new attraction sounds like it could be really great IMO, hope it is not another Monster's Inc. Mike and Scully to the Rescue, that ride sucked.

Posted: **Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:57 pm**

Even though I never actually went to WWTBAM, it looked like fun. But even though that will be gone, it's spirit will live on...

Seriously, what would you put in it's place? Some say "indoor-Narnia attraction", some say "Cars-themed", but I can't relate. When I went there last May, there wasn't much to see. The Disney Animation attraction was butchered, the other attractions like the the Drew Carey one left something to be desired. The park really needs some new attractions.

There could be a Pixar-themed attraction, but since both a Finding Nemo & a Monsters Inc. ride are already in development in WDW, that would be somewhat overwhelming.

Maybe a shooting ride like Buzz Lightyear's or Roger Rabbit's would be suitable(since each park has it's own 3D attraction, roller coaster & audio-animatronic-filled ride, I guess a shooting attraction wouldn't be too cookie-cutterish, right?)

A while ago, I had an idea to create some sort of memorial of the Nine Old Men, with bronze statues & info booths to commerate their influence on the future of film, but that would seem a waste of space & not so exciting & fun to some people.

I guess my ideas aren't as great as the ones posted here already. Oh well, I tried.

Posted: **Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:07 pm**

Perhaps they could expand the Narnia attraction they have now into a whole world that can be explored. You could walk through the wardrobe into the room they have now, and then maybe into Mr. Tumnus' house, the beaver's dam, the Witch's castle, if possible, the battlefield and the Stone Table where Aslan was killed. I don't know I just think something like that could be kind of fun. I'm always up for another dark ride too!

DVDizzy Forum

R.I.P Millionaire (well, in a month)..

R.I.P Millionaire (well, in a month)..