Who Wants to be Millionaire - Press Start to Continue

There have been endless discussion within the halls of both Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts divisions on what is to become of the “Who Wants to be a Millionaire-Play It!” show at the Disney-MGM Studios. Indeed, the DCA version of the show has already been gutted, and the show was built originally only to capitalize on a growing (and short-lived) television phenomenon as well as some unused warehouse space that would normally contain old, beat-up set pieces from some horribly out-of-date movie.

But do these facts give Disney enough motive to close the show? Fans would like to argue that no, it does not, while Disney will admit to the show having diminishing returns, resulting in the shuttered show in California as well as the abolishment of Fastpass to the show in Florida. Does this spell the end of Millionaire?

Personally, I wouldn’t be so hasty. The Millionaire in California had problems that the Florida show does not, namely, a place in an obscure and empty area of an obscure and empty park. Add to this fact that a majority of the tourist base in California is based on Annual Passholders, who either a) avoid DCA like the plague to begin with or b) are restricted by the show’s policy of a 30-day wait to return to the Hot Seat once you’ve experienced its glory (ironically, Disney was biting the hand that fed them in this instance). And surely it wasn’t the lack of quality for the show, as the more-accessible and easily-identifiable MuppetVision show ran on similarly low turnstile counts (a problem that has since been temporarily remedied by the revitalization of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area). Of course, there’s also the issue of the Fastpass removal from the Millionaire show in Florida. But Fastpass was also removed from MuppetVision at the same park, as well as Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, who clearly do not suffer from a lack of popularity, but because of the infrastructural and practical problems associated with it, which is what I would argue brought about the demise of Millionaire’s Fastpass (after all, Primeval Whirl retains its Fastpass despite a lack of popularity). The problems associated with offering Fastpass with a scheduled show is just too much hassle, which is why I would expect the Indy Stunt Show and Lights, Motors, Action to lose their respective Fastpasses soon (more on that in a later column).

So the question remains: should Disney close down Millionaire? If they were to find a suitable replacement, I would of course say yes, they should, as the Millionaire show does not hold the thematic and cultural vice-grip on the MGM Studios as, say, It’s a Small World has on the Magic Kingdom (which prevents Disney from replacing it with a more advanced, and arguably better, attraction).

But to whether or not they should close the show without a replacement (as they did at DCA), I would say the answer is a definite “no.” Here’s why: assuming all monetary and operational concerns continue as normal (and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t), Millionaire will be able to make Disney more money in the long-term than they would lose. First, there is the simple fact that the show being in operation means that there is one more attraction operational at MGM than there would be otherwise. This may seem like a no-brainer, but this is not without its merits, because it adds to the value of the park overall. One more attraction means more attractions per dollar spent on admission, which drives up the perceived value of the park. Also, the capacity of the park is increased, meaning both that the park will be sending more Guests through the attractions (rather than clogging the walkways) and that Guests will spend more time in attractions and less time standing in line. But then again, Disney doesn’t seem shy to close attractions with no replacement in site, so obviously park value in general isn’t what keeps an attraction open. Instead, it is the long-term value, which is what I believe should keep Millionaire open.

For one, the Millionaire show is very unique, and its distinctive components cannot be found in any other show in any other park on the planet. Of course, this spells “instant PR,” convincing first-timers to at least give it a try. Second, the show has massive repeatability…I mean, the chance to win a cruise is kind of alluring. These, combined with its innovations in theme park technology, makes the Millionaire show a good investment, at least until Disney chooses to leapfrog it technologically or a competitor chooses to copy the technology. In conclusion, at least for now, Disney would be wise to keep Millionaire around.

So now that Disney has kept Millionaire for the foreseeable future, the question now becomes, is that your Final Answer?