Extinct attraction

Wandering around Google News for game show items can be a learning experience.

Often you learn obscure things nobody should care about.  But I do care because I need stuff to fill the blog. I even care about a now defunct Disney park attraction, which may be taking my interest in game shows to an unhealthy extreme.

Once upon a time Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was a national broadcast sensation, and not just a blah-rated syndie in the afternoon. So Disney decided to take advantage of their ABC hit by running live versions of the show at a couple of their theme parks.

A fellow named Cole Geryak likes to write about such now extinct Disney shows. So he typed a long blog entry about the live versions of Millionaire at Disney's Hollywood Studios and California Adventure. The shows began in 2001 and lasted until 2004 at the first park and 2006 at the second.

The gameplay was pretty much the same as the classic format, except the prizes were naturally a lot less valuable. Audience members competed to get into the hot seat, and you can see one of them (in an exultant mood) in the picture. I have no idea who the host is, but she seems happy enough, too.

The Price is Right's live show continues to tour the country, but these Millionaire live shows have faded into faraway memory. I wonder how many people at Disney have any recollection of them.