Great Wall of China Comes to Morongo Casino... Sort Of

The following is a news release from Morongo Casino Resort Spa: 
 
Sure, the real Great Wall of China may seem impressive, but does it have bricks stuffed with cash? No. For that, you need to visit its smaller, wealthier cousin, on display through Aug. 22 at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa.  

Introducing Morongo’s Great Wall of Cash, a 45-foot-long replica of the Chinese landmark, flanked by a scale model of the casino tower. Both dispense cash prizes to lucky Morongo patrons as part of a $200,000 summer promotion.  

“Casino guests are reacting to the faux Great Wall as if it were a Hollywood movie set, which isn’t too far off the mark,” said Morongo Executive Director of Marketing Phil Cooper, noting that the model wall was built by a San Diego firm known for TV and film props. “People are oohing and ahhing, snapping photos and selfies with the wall and tower.”  

Guests are also scoring free loot by pulling out random bricks that contain as much as $1,000.  

“We’re always looking for ways to create exciting new and distinctive experiences for our guests at Morongo,” Cooper said. “In this case, we wanted to design a promotion that not only created a lot of winners, but did so in a way that was uniquely fun, memorable and interactive.”  

Using photographs of China’s Great Wall as a reference, a dozen artists spent a combined 700 hours crafting the Great Wall of Cash from wood and hand-carved Styrofoam. Then a trio of painters used nearly 25 gallons of paint in seven layers to create the wall’s aged, textured appearance. The replica of Morongo’s trademark hotel tower is an accurate scale model, complete with working lights, based on blueprints of its real-life counterpart provided by Morongo’s engineering team.  

Both were assembled by Vanmark Scenic, whose clients range from Disney to the U.S. Department of Defense.  

The Great Wall of Cash, which offers prizes on weekdays through Aug. 22, is located inside the Morongo casino, near Café Serrano and the Sage Spa and Salon. For Great Wall of Cash game rules and other information, please visit http://www.morongocasinoresort.com/greatwall.