The Ultimate Disney Trivia Tournament Round 3

The third round of the Ultimate Disney Trivia Tournament took place the afternoon of August 18, 2011.  Contestants found out whether they had qualified for the third round at 2 p.m.  The results were posted on the D23 website and on the doors of the Anaheim Convention Center.   The top 106 contestants qualified, which included The Thespian.  While that sounds impressive, there were only a little over 100 contestants and only four people didn't qualify to make it to Round 2 let alone Round 3.

Contestants were instructed to reassemble outside the Anaheim Convention Center no later than 2:30 p.m. for a start time of 3:00 p.m.   Contestants were led to the third floor to Stage 23, the same room that where the contestants took the Round 2 written scantron test.  D23 staff checked the contestants names and issued a numbered sticker which you were asked to wear on the upper left side of your shirt.  The Thespian was contestant 31. Contestants were then separated into groups of eight.

The first part of Round 3 consisted of each group of eight contestants filing up on stage.  Each group was asked a series of three multiple choice questions.  On a table in front of each contestant was a flip board with three groups of letters A through E to flip over to indicate your answer to a multiple choice question.    From the audience left to right, green letters were for the first question, red for the second and black for the third.   If a contestant got two or three questions correct they were allowed to move on to the next round.   One or none and the contestant was finished and had to surrender their number.

It took two and a half hours and five rounds of questions to whittle the contestant pool from 100 to 26.   At that point the remaining contestants learned the significance of their number.  It corresponded roughly to where you had ranked after the Round 2 scantron test.   Following a short break, the contestants were given the instructions for the final part of Round 3.

The last part of Round 3 would be similar to the previous rounds involving multiple choice questions.  This time the contestants were divided into two groups of nine and one group of eight.  Each group was brought on stage to answer more multiple choice questions.   This time 23 questions were asked to each group and there was no elimination.  Instead the diligent judges would keep track of the contestants scores.    At the end of the three rounds the top eighteen contestants would compete in the semi-final rounds along with the champions of the trivia tournaments held at Destination D Disneyland 55 held in September 2010 and Destination D Walt Disney World 40 held in May 2011.  The remaining eight contestants would be alternates in the event a semi-finalist was unable to compete.

Following the grueling round, the judges settled down to some very important math.   In the event of a tie, the scores from Round 2 would be added in as a tie break.    And then, the unthinkable happened, the judges announced that they had 17 semi-finalists.   Despite the tie break, two contestants, numbers 29 and 38 had tied.    These two gentlemen had to partake in another round of 23 questions to determine the final semi-finalist.

Following their rematch, while the judges were adding up their scores, the other 17 semi-finalists were announced.    The Thespian was among them.   And then, the last semi-finalist was revealed to be...contestant 38.

These eighteen people plus the two earlier champions competed in the semi-final rounds of the Ultimate Disney Trivia Tournament on August 19, 2011 at 6 p.m. on Stage 23.   Those twenty semi-finalists were reduced to six finalists who vied for the title and the grand prize, a cruise on the Disney Fantasy.