Great Movie Ride closes for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway

[rteetz]

Wow, this is huge.

I can't help thinking that Universal's impending 3rd and presumably 4th park plus ever-growing portfolio of resort hotels will force Disney to take a very large broom to a large number of their more elderly, lame, and "almost never" updated attractions.

Especially in DHS and Epcot.

I predict that the slogan for DHS will be, "It's a whole new park!" and its other stepsister park will be glossed, "Epcot like you've never seen it before."

What else can the do if Uni is saying, "We actually have an actually new park, and we're going to build another actually new park afterward, plus we'll have a water park that kicks the Disney water parks' a$$e$ all the way back to Burbank" ???

Build, build, build.

One big complaint I'm seeing is, what happened to the blessing of size. Disney keeps replacing old attractions. Why not add additional attractions and expand.

 

[rteetz]

How long has this been in the works though? Even though this seems 95% official I'm still going to wait for official confirmation just to be sure. Sad to see such a legendary, though extremely out of place, ride go

Jim hill was the first to mention GMR going away in 2014. Things have changed a bit since then but it seems it's still going away.

 

[dreiwhit]

I really like GMR and will miss it.

Most of the movies from the last 10-15 years don't hold much attraction for me. I like the older movies that are shown on the ride.

One big complaint I'm seeing is, what happened to the blessing of size. Disney keeps replacing old attractions. Why not add additional attractions and expand.

I agree. Why not keep the good old rides and add new ones? For example, if they replace GMR with something we don't care for, it will be one less thing that we can do at a park that is quickly losing its attractiveness for my family. Avatar holds no attraction for me or my family, so when it opens, we probably won't go in that area.

 

[SgtTibbs]

Happy to see it go. It always seemed awkward and somewhat uncomfortable to experience.

 

[rteetz]

I really like GMR and will miss it.

Most of the movies from the last 10-15 years don't hold much attraction for me. I like the older movies that are shown on the ride.



I agree. Why not keep the good old rides and add new ones? For example, if they replace GMR with something we don't care for, it will be one less thing that we can do at a park that is quickly losing its attractiveness for my family. Avatar holds no attraction for me or my family, so when it opens, we probably won't go in that area.

I agree except for avatar. Just because you didn't like the movie doesn't mean you won't like the land. The land has the potential to be the best themed land in a theme park.

 

[jaxonp]

Exciting. Disney needs some new ... GMR wasn't great, yes it was original and there from day 1, but most people do not have much interest in it. Plus that show building is rather large, so Disney has an opportunity to do something amazing here, but what will it be? The possibilities.. endless.

 

[MommaBerd]

Big Hero 6 or Wreck it Ralph?

I would *love* to see either of these have a ride.

Bummer....I love thrill rides and simulators as much as anyone, but a big part of the Disney "brand" and its legacy that always made it so different from six flags, uni and busch gardens was their ability to bring different flavors to the vacation experience - a mix of thrills with other calmer attractions that were charming and well-themed and would appeal to all ages - tots to great grandpas. Small World, The Great Movie Ride, Carousel of Progress...these added unique character to the parks.

Just because it's "E ticket" doesn't mean it will necessarily be scary/fast/not appropriate for small children...or grandpas!

 

[jaxonp]

Maybe that's what DHS and Disney needs is a bit faster, more intense rides. Yes, I know that isn't the normal at WDW, but right now DHS has the most complete set of thrilling rides.. I wouldn't be opposed to DHS becoming the park for slighting more thrill ride. MK will always be about KIDS and Animal Kingdom has a solid mix of everything. I don't see why DHS can't evolve a bit towards this.

 

[rteetz]

Exciting. Disney needs some new ... GMR wasn't great, yes it was original and there from day 1, but most people do not have much interest in it. Plus that show building is rather large, so Disney has an opportunity to do something amazing here, but what will it be? The possibilities.. endless.

But Disney could've updated the great movie ride even with properties they own and people would've had interest in it again.

 

[rteetz]

I would *love* to see either of these have a ride.




Just because it's "E ticket" doesn't mean it will necessarily be scary/fast/not appropriate for small children...or grandpas!

I don't believe this is supposed to be an extreme thrill attraction. It's an e ticket for sure from what I understand though.

 

[L&Lfan]

Happy to see it go. It always seemed awkward and somewhat uncomfortable to experience.

Just curious (alright, I'm nosy!) what was "awkward and somewhat uncomfortable" about the Great Movie Ride? I thought it fit in beautifully with the original theming of the park.

 

[MommaBerd]

They need to go ahead and announce the new name for the park...it could help people make the mental/emotional transition if people knew this wasn't going to be "Hollywood Studios" anymore.

 

[AGoofykindagirl]

Granted, if you gave me a penny for my thoughts you would probably have change coming, but I will give my opinion anyway.
I would not mind an update to some of the movies represented in the ride, but would hate to see it go away completely. There are few attractions I can share with my father (84 with back fractures that cannot be mended) other than shows like Beauty , Nemo, Lion King. He can't ride Toy Story because of the spins, but he can ride GMR and enjoys the memories it brings. "It's dull"- well maybe, but sometimes it is nice to have a chance to relax a little. But then, WDW isn't specifically for me and Pop. It is sad to me (and probably others), but life is just a series of changes. I'll always be grateful that the movie inspired me enough to go back and watch the movies from it (except for "Aliens"- it is still too scary for me!)

 

[L&Lfan]

TGMR inspired me to watch Singin' in the Rain, Footlight Parade, Mary Poppins, The Searchers, Tarzan the Ape Man, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alien, Fantasia, Casablanca and The Wizard of Oz. I don't get why people find this boring.

 

[HuskieJohn]

Big Hero 6 or Wreck it Ralph?

Ya a BH6 San Fransokyo theme would work well with the current Chinese Theater building.

 

[SgtTibbs]

Just curious (alright, I'm nosy!) what was "awkward and somewhat uncomfortable" about the Great Movie Ride? I thought it fit in beautifully with the original theming of the park.

Primarily the "actors". Clearly board to tears by the repetition. Just slogging through their lines knowing they get to do it again and again and again as more tram loads of guests keep arriving.

 

[L&Lfan]

Primarily the "actors". Clearly board to tears by the repetition. Just slogging through their lines knowing they get to do it again and again and again as more tram loads of guests keep arriving.

Oh, I agree on that part. And I know it's sexist but it takes me out of the fantasy to have a woman playing the part of the gangster or cowboy. But I'm old (56).

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

It's been years since I've experienced GMR. DHS is our least favorite park, and we usually only spend half a day there- most recently only to see Star Wars events. I don't have strong feelings for it to stay OR go, but it is an Opening Day ride and features several timeless moments from Hollywood history. The kids have never been on GMR and I was hoping to finally get them to see it during our December 2017 trip. Maybe it will still be there.

 

[dreiwhit]

I agree except for avatar. Just because you didn't like the movie doesn't mean you won't like the land. The land has the potential to be the best themed land in a theme park.

Actually, i've never seen Avatar and don't have any plans to do so, even though my cell phone came with a free copy when I bought it. It doesn't hold any attraction to me.

And if a land is based around a movie that I don't have any desire to see, I have to ask myself "why go there?"

 

[Budshark]

Actually, i've never seen Avatar and don't have any plans to do so, even though my cell phone came with a free copy when I bought it. It doesn't hold any attraction to me.

And if a land is based around a movie that I don't have any desire to see, I have to ask myself "why go there?"

Because of what you haven't seen by not watching the movie.

The "alien" animals and humanoids are interesting, the plot is ok. But a large part of the movie is about reimagining what a world, similar to earth but different would be.

The amount of unique features related to bioluminescence and floating mountains, and plants are what is really impressive. This is being used to create a themed land that is amazing. Part of the uniqueness of Pandora (the planet in Avatar) is how at night it is a completely different place. So again, something Disney can really play with in the theming.

My guess, as pointed out by others, is you can skip the rides, you can reject the movies, but the theming and world created is going to be something you have to see.