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| Picture taken in 2018, after ride closure |
The Great Movie Ride was a trackless traveling theater darkride located at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. Opened in 1989, it was one of only two rides when the park debuted as Disney-MGM Studios. The entrance was through the park's iconic replica of the Hollywood
Chinese Theater.
I got to ride this "spectacular journey into the movies" on my first visit to WDW in 2014, and my dad took these pictures. They aren't of the best quality (I'm not kidding, 'kay?), and I'm missing images of some of the key scenes, such as the theater at the opening...
...and the Alien sequence, as well as some of the more minor dioramas like Mary Poppins and Casablanca, but I'm still glad to have these images!
Footlight Parade was the first movie showcased. There's some spectacular footage of when the pyramid rotated and there was a fountain at the base - watch it if you get a chance!
Singin' in the Rain featured this memorable Gene Kelly figure and a water curtain raining down. I remember being fascinated with the way this animatronic "hung" off the lamppost, for some reason.
Of course, one of the coolest factors in the Great Movie Ride was the interaction that the live tour guide on every group of two cars had with the scenes. When the attraction was operating at full capacity, riders either had their tour "taken over" by a gangster or cowboy, depending on which setting their tram stopped in.
I was lucky to see the more scarce western scene, complete with a flaming bank!
If you squint, you can make out Indiana Jones in this set of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
When your "bad guy" tour guide was tempted by the jewel here, your original guide (the "oracle" scene here that warned against a curse) was restored in short order, with a skeleton appearing in place of the gangster/cowboy.
Tarzan's trademark call accompanied him swinging to and fro in this display.
An animatronic Jane was also present.
The grandest - and by far most memorable - tableau in the attraction revolved around the Wizard of Oz. The ride vehicles were surrounded by a munchkin village with lots of little animatronics, all singing happily.
However, the Wicked Witch of the West just has to come and spoil the party. Soon after, though, the munchkins return for a cheery singing of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road," and the cars advanced to see this scene:
Following this, you pulled into a theater for a montage of clips of classic movies before returning to load.
Of course, the Great Movie Ride closed in 2017 and was replaced by Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, which just opened this March. I've purposefully been avoiding videos of the new attraction, so I can't speak for its quality, but I hope that it's good, as the Great Movie Ride truly was great! With such an abundance of projections, however, I don't have high expectations. I hope you've enjoyed these pictures!
8 comments:
My family loved this attraction and the original Disney MGM Studios - which was my favorite WDW park until they changed most of it. This park was fantastic especially during the 90’s!
Great pictures and post, Andrew!
Sue, I was lucky to experience the final vestiges of the MGM theme in 2014, including the Backlot Tram Tour. Although I know that it was significantly whittled down from when the park opened, I'm still glad I rode it since it closed just a few months after my visit. Thanks for reading!
I LOVED The Great Movie Ride! Unfortunately, I was never able to take any really good pics in there. Your father's pics are better than mine!
I hate how Disney has slowly continued to get rid of the rides with large numbers of audio-animatronic people, like World of Motion, Horizons and now the Great Movie Ride. I hope Spaceship Earth, The American Adventure, and Carousel of Progress are safe from the wrecking ball!
I enjoyed this post! Thanks for sharing your photos, Andrew! (And your father's photos, too!)
Ugh. Audio-animatronics. They're expensive to maintain and hard to keep from doing things inappropriate for a family-oriented Park. They actually took over one attraction, auctioned off the women, tried to steal their food, and then set the whole thing on fire.
Great photos, Andrew! The last time I rode this was (gulp) in 1997, and we didn't have the wonderful sensors of today's digital cameras in the consumer-grade film cameras of the day.
The first time we rode this was on our honeymoon in 1993, and the gangster that took over our train turned out to be my wife's cousin. Thanks for bringing back some great memories.
I've also avoided any videos of the Runaway Railway to avoid spoiling anything. Same with Rise of the Resistance, Smuggler's Run, and pretty much the rest of Galaxy's Edge and all of the New Fantasyland. Of course, the way things are going, the next time I get there will be just after they tear all of those attractions out.
TokyoMagic!, I'll have to tell my Dad that you (and Chuck too) thought his pictures weren't mediocre at all! I agree that animatronics are the best. Those attractions that you mentioned - plus the Country Bear Jamboree - are my favorites at WDW. I'm glad you enjoyed the post!
Chuck, your animatronics "complaint" was hilarious! Imagine that happening to World of Motion. "Fun to be free," indeed! ;-) That's crazy about your wife's cousin being the gangster. I'm guessing you didn't know beforehand? I would've been riding Runaway Railway in 3 days (probably not Rise of the Resistance, though... long lines, school trip), but that's obviously not happening. I'll hopefully be able to see Galaxy's Edge (DL) in August, as long as the park is open, of course! There's not honestly much to spoil about the New Fantasyland - it's mainly focused on set dressing. Thanks for the fun comment!
I love the audio-animatronic human figures, but really...I like ALL audio-animatronics. I LOVE Country Bear Jamboree and was not happy when they took it out of Disneyland. I also love the Enchanted Tiki Room!
Andrew, we knew her cousin worked on the Great Movie Ride, but we didn't know what he did or whether he was on schedule that day, nor did we have any idea that your vehicle had a live tour guide. She also hadn't seen him in probably 6 years, so it was still a pretty big surprise.
The World of Motion in full motion - run for the hills (which is a pretty long run in Central Florida)!
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