Sometimes there will be the strangest connections to Disney — even at a horror con — and such as the case this year at Midsummer Scream 2025 where creators and fans of the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter attraction at Walt Disney World gathered for a historical look back.

Here’s a look at what we learned during the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter panel at Midsummer Scream 2025 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Jeff DePaoli (host of the Dizney Coast to Coast podcast) moderated the discussion about Disney’s arguably scariest attraction ever built. The panel featured talent who created the attraction including director Jerry Rees and makeup designer Tony Gardner.

Also in attendance were Amit Itelman and Adam Franklin who were part of the team who produced a bloody live tribute of the show in Los Angeles. Here’s some of what we learned…

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  • Both Jerry and Tony were originally hired just for media video elements that would be used to support the attraction before finding themselves in much more substantive roles
  • Jerry was encouraged by Disney CEO Michael Eisner to make it “scarier”
  • Comedic actors Kevin Pollak, Kathy Najimy, Jeffrey Jones, and Phil Hartman were amongst those cast to give the attraction a balance of humor and scares. Eventually, warm-voiced Hartman’s character T.O.M. 2000 (aka Technobotic Oratorical Mechanism series 2000) was replaced by Tim Curry who brought to life the automaton S.I.R. (aka Simulated Intelligence Robotics.)
  • A then-unknown Tyra Banks was also cast but her voice was dubbed to give the character a more mature sound.
  • For the alien characters, makeup took 2–2.5 hours per performer with integrated prosthetics.

  • A big part of the attraction as having you FEEL — and not necessarily see — the experience. Technology was a big part of pulling off the magic.

    • Binaural audio created realistic 3D sound; special effects included hot breath on necks, tongue-like seat actuators, air blasts, chair thumps. Many of the effects were all positioned into the “safety harness” that was devised for each seat.
    • A happy accident led creators to the notion of not having everything happen to everyone all at once in their seats to further enhance the idea that the alien was actually moving around the theater. When a planned blood drop misfired and only sprayed half the audience, the OTHER half of the audience was left in suspense not knowing why the other half was screaming. This proved to be an effective suspense-building moment that they worked into the show.
  • The L.A. Live tribute of the show was created without collaobration by Disney. It was intentionally designed to be more gruesome than would ever have been done in the theme park.
    • The roughly 45-minute show continued the story from the attraction in a much more visceral sense with used gallons of fake blood, alien mucus, puppetry, blackout improvisation, and direct audience targeting for a more realistic and unique experience for the 40-ish people in each audience
    • Creators are looking to bring the show back to either Los Angeles, Tokyo, or Las Vegas. They’d be interested in Orlando but noted a lack of contacts to help make it happen.

Video

Watch full video of the complete panel below.

See it for Yourself

Midsummer Scream takes place in Long Beach from August 15-17, 2025.

MORE INFO: See all MouseInfo coverage for Midsummer Scream

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