RIP Great Movie Ride
First, a moment of silence for our dearly departed Great Movie Ride. Gone, but certainly not forgotten.
I know what you’re all thinking. It was only a matter of time before I did a post about this. And, yes, this is only my second post, but I just couldn’t wait any longer. So, here it is. Going to lay it all out on the table: they should not have closed The Great Movie Ride.
Now, in order to understand why closing GMR was such a mistake (besides the fact that it was the best ride on Disney property), we have to understand the history of the ride.
Taken by me in 2013.
The origins of GMR are quite different from the GMR that came to be. In its original concept, the attraction wasn’t named The Great Movie Ride, it was called Great Moments at the Movies. It also wasn’t supposed to be at (what was then) Disney’s MGM Studios. In fact, at that time, there was no MGM Studios. The ride was supposed to be the main attraction of a movie themed pavilion at Epcot. That’s right, Epcot. Could you imagine GMR at Epcot?
Anyway, as plans for the pavilion grew bigger and bigger, Michael Eisner — the CEO of The Walt Disney Company at the time — took it as an opportunity to develop a brand-new park: Disney’s MGM Studios. Actually, how the theme/idea of the park came about is kind of sneaky on Michael Eisner’s part. The story goes like this: before Eisner became CEO, he was the president of Paramount Pictures. At that time, Universal Pictures had proposed a new theme park themed around the production of film and television, that would include a ride that resembled a “backlot tour” of movie sets. Sound familiar? So, when Eisner became CEO, heard of the plans for this movie themed pavilion in Epcot, he decided to give Universal some competition. So was born Disney’s MGM Studios.
In short, without The Great Movie Ride, we might not even have a Disney’s Hollywood Studios today. The attraction was the backbone of the park and to get rid of it doesn’t make sense.
A few weeks before the ride’s closure.
The Great Movie Ride was also very unique in terms of an immersive ride experience. Aside from attractions like Kilimanjaro Safaris or Jungle Cruise — where there is a live guide — GMR was a ride that had a live interactive part of the ride. Although this cast member was our guide into the movies — and therefore can still be compared to Kilimanjaro or Jungle Cruise — GMR had live acting and action incorporated into it. This was super specific to GMR that likely will not be recreated in future attractions. Each ride was special because each actor narrated uniquely and put their own spin on the acting portion. (Also, no one asked but yes, I did know the entire narration of the ride and would recite it every time I rode it, annoying my family and friends).
GMR also actually has a lot of really interesting facts that make it unique. Almost none (with the exception of Mary Poppins) of the movies featured in the ride scenes were owned by Disney. The ride featured movies by different production companies. They made deals with the movie companies for the rights of these films in order to include them. In addition to securing the rights for the films, they also needed to get approval to use the likeness and voices of the actors within the movies. This meant that if the actor was still alive, they needed that person’s approval or if they had already died, they needed permission from the person’s estate (their family).
There was also a piece of history in The Great Movie Ride. In the Wizard of Oz scene, the Wicked Witch of the West audio-animatronic was the first A100 figure. While audio-animatronics have advanced way past this — for example, the Kylo Ren one in Rise of the Resistance is an A1000 figure — it was still cool to see this piece of history every time I was on the ride. While it may have been outdated, it would still have been good to keep it in the spirit of nostalgia, but also as an ode to how far they’ve come with advancements of audio-animatronics.
Taken January 2020, two months before the opening of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
I know I’m not the only one who misses The Great Movie Ride. The last time I went to Disney, I had on a GMR ride sweatshirt (a gift from my friend Gaby, shoutout to her) and I got at least five compliments. Among those who complimented me were cast members, other guests, Edna Mode, and even a Green Army Man in Toy Story Land. He said, “GMR, good to see you. We’ve missed you!” It warmed my heart to see so many other people share in my sentiments about The Great Movie Ride.
While I haven’t ridden Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway yet so I can’t comment on how good the ride is, I’m certain I won’t love it nearly as much. I personally loved the feel and theme of Hollywood Studios as a park centering around movie making and after losing attractions like The Magic of Disney Animation and Backlot Tour, the closure of GMR really just emphasized the rebranding of the park.
For more facts and info on The Great Movie Ride, these are two of my favorite videos about the ride:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgXVBIECBKs&t=625s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ2QH3-xuUI&t=145s
