Great Movie Ride - what would you change?

[Magic Fanatic]

Let me appologize up front just in case I offend any women with this post. I have always enjoyed this ride but when we last rode in June, it was absolutely terrible. The role of the mobster that takes control of the car was played by a female cast member. It absolutely killed the theming and feel of the ride. Not to mention that the young lady playing the part seemed very uncomfortable with the role. The entire ride and casting has become very "tired" in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I like the ride and don't wish to see it reinvented, but it is in dire need of a refresh with an updated scenario for the in ride gags. Again, I apologize if I offended the ladies, but the gangster role is a male role ( In my opinion).

 

[Friendly Frog]

Keeping the alien scene is a must for me. My favorite part was when the alien dropped down from the roof nearly on top of the guests, it's a shame they took that out. They seriously need to get rid of the worn out spills expecially the gangster. It would be better with no speil at all and talk about the movies. I am all for allowing cast members to create adlibs. That is usually better than a rehearsed spiel.

I think at the end there should be a place where you could pay to have a DVD made putting yourself in your favorite movie scene. The technology is here now to be able to do it at a reasonable cost, it would just be a matter of copyright purchases. Can you picture yourself in that famous Casa Blanca scene standing by the plane? Perhaps have all your kids appear as munchkins in The Wizard of Oz?

 

[Joanna71985]

Let me appologize up front just in case I offend any women with this post. I have always enjoyed this ride but when we last rode in June, it was absolutely terrible. The role of the mobster that takes control of the car was played by a female cast member. It absolutely killed the theming and feel of the ride. Not to mention that the young lady playing the part seemed very uncomfortable with the role. The entire ride and casting has become very "tired" in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I like the ride and don't wish to see it reinvented, but it is in dire need of a refresh with an updated scenario for the in ride gags. Again, I apologize if I offended the ladies, but the gangster role is a male role ( In my opinion).

Aw, I'm sorry you feel that way. But personally, I'm glad they have female gangsters (as it's one of my favorite things to do at GMR).

 

[rolliev60]

I think at the end there should be a place where you could pay to have a DVD made putting yourself in your favorite movie scene. The technology is here now to be able to do it at a reasonable cost, it would just be a matter of copyright purchases. Can you picture yourself in that famous Casa Blanca scene standing by the plane? Perhaps have all your kids appear as munchkins in The Wizard of Oz?[/QUOTE]

I love that idea. I would love to see myself as the Wicked Witch!

 

[xipotec]

Star wars scene
lotr scene
indiana jones scene

 

[rdearth]

I would demolish the whole thing and start over.

Okay, maybe I wouldn't go to that extreme, but I'm definitely not one that enjoys this ride....and I LOVE movies and movie history.

As I see it, the first problem was that someone had some idea early on in the planning stage that they needed a guide to kind of replicate the success of the MK Jungle Cruise. But, for whatever reason, those corny Jungle Safari jokes always seem to work and the GMR jokes just don't. And I don't think it's always the case that it's the guide not being good at it, or even the material. I think it's more a problem of subject matter. No matter what kind of movie you like, everyone agrees that movies are cool. Corny jokes and stereotypical characters are what the worst movies are made of, not something that should be showcased as Hollywood's success.

A Great Movie Ride should either showcase the best ever movies (and just great Disney movies would be fine with me), or somehow make attendees feel like they are IN the great movies. A GREAT Movie Ride would do both.

I guess I would rather see a short history of film. Start in the queue area with silent films, etc. Then get on the ride, but have the ride take you through popular sets, but also have large screens incorporated that show more movie history. Add a host on screen like they do with Figment or Ellen's Energy. Maybe a treasured Disney character could be the host or even someone like Kurt Russell. Have some simulations that makes the ridegoers feel like they're flying through hyperspace or other great, recognizable scenes from movies.

OR, instead of going through movie history, have the car ride through different genres of film. So, you start with Drama, move to Comedy, enter War, then Animation, then Science Fiction, etc.

 

[DisneyDetective]

As long as they don't Disneyise them ride, I'm quite happy for an update of the ride however I would like there to be a constant reminder of the classics that changed cinema.

 

[Disco]

My idea would have been to give the entire ride an Aliens theme. I'm not sure if they have the rights to Aliens or just Alien though?
Replace the cars with replicas of the tank (APC) from the second movie. Have them opened topped with Pulse Rifles mounted off the sides for an interactive shooting experience ala Buzz Space Rangers.
Re-enact the tank fleeing the power plant scene in Aliens with the music blaring tank crunching Alien heads action. Aliens jumping and popping out everywhere with everyone in the tanks blasting away with their guns.
Ah, the perfect ride... It would need an age limit though.
Just not sure what to do with the exterior? The theater is really nice but it would be kinda weird internal difference. Maybe they can make a new side entrance and keep the theater portion up front so they can play classic movies?

 

[rdearth]

My idea would have been to give the entire ride an Aliens theme. I'm not sure if they have the rights to Aliens or just Alien though?
Replace the cars with replicas of the tank (APC) from the second movie. Have them opened topped with Pulse Rifles mounted off the sides for an interactive shooting experience ala Buzz Space Rangers.
Re-enact the tank fleeing the power plant scene in Aliens with the music blaring tank crunching Alien heads action. Aliens jumping and popping out everywhere with everyone in the tanks blasting away with their guns.
Ah, the perfect ride... It would need an age limit though.
Just not sure what to do with the exterior? The theater is really nice but it would be kinda weird internal difference. Maybe they can make a new side entrance and keep the theater portion up front so they can play classic movies?

But then you would just have The Great Alien Ride.

Don't get me wrong, I love (most of) the Alien movies, but I don't think I would even consider it one of the GREAT movies of all time...unless you're just limiting your choices to sci-fi or horror.

And it should tell Disney something that the only thing people recall about this ride is the small part with the Alien and the hokey parts with either the Gangster or Western scenes.

Ask yourself this, or ask family and friends, how much do you remember about the Jungle Cruise? Describe the different things that happen or what the guide says. Then ask them to describe the Great Movie Ride and what happens. The Great Movie Ride is utterly forgettable.

I'm typically not one of those people that call for changes to Disney stuff because I think a lot of that stems from people going to Disney so much that they're bored with it. They forget that for many people, it's all new to them, BUT The Great Movie Ride is a disaster on first viewing, or at least a missed golden opportunity that could be SO much better.

 

[MHSweb79]

Well, my first reaction was going to be that it's fine as it is (not "great" but fine enough) and if they just replaced the Alien section with something else, that would be change enough for me.

That makes two of us. "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship!"



I just don't think the Alien/s series is classic enough to be included. I like the Star Wars idea and also Psycho. The ride is supposed to be a homage to classic Hollywood (as is the entire park) so it gets tricky when you are trying to decide on which modern movies to include. Will they stand the test of time?

When the Studios was built, the Great Movie Ride was supposed to be the super headliner for the park. How times have changed!

 

[ronDisney]

I would demolish the whole thing and start over.

Okay, maybe I wouldn't go to that extreme, but I'm definitely not one that enjoys this ride....and I LOVE movies and movie history.

As I see it, the first problem was that someone had some idea early on in the planning stage that they needed a guide to kind of replicate the success of the MK Jungle Cruise. But, for whatever reason, those corny Jungle Safari jokes always seem to work and the GMR jokes just don't. And I don't think it's always the case that it's the guide not being good at it, or even the material. I think it's more a problem of subject matter. No matter what kind of movie you like, everyone agrees that movies are cool. Corny jokes and stereotypical characters are what the worst movies are made of, not something that should be showcased as Hollywood's success.

A Great Movie Ride should either showcase the best ever movies (and just great Disney movies would be fine with me), or somehow make attendees feel like they are IN the great movies. A GREAT Movie Ride would do both.

I guess I would rather see a short history of film. Start in the queue area with silent films, etc. Then get on the ride, but have the ride take you through popular sets, but also have large screens incorporated that show more movie history. Add a host on screen like they do with Figment or Ellen's Energy. Maybe a treasured Disney character could be the host or even someone like Kurt Russell. Have some simulations that makes the ridegoers feel like they're flying through hyperspace or other great, recognizable scenes from movies.

OR, instead of going through movie history, have the car ride through different genres of film. So, you start with Drama, move to Comedy, enter War, then Animation, then Science Fiction, etc.

A short history of film might be nice and informative. But I think the idea goes hand in hand with something I always thought of as an issue with regards to Hollywood studios / mgm studios as a whole. It's still in the midst of discovering its identity.

If i'm not mistaken...MGM was all about showing people HOW movies are made, later on Hollywood studios kind of set up the concept of putting you into the Hollywood that one always dreamt of, but never was. I dunno doesn't sound specific enough and kinda gets a bit confusing to me when I try to understand it too much. LOL!!

The simple concept of: "putting YOU in the movies", I think probably works best. Oh sure, it's been done before, but at its core isn't that what most people connect with? Aren't movies part of people's want and desire to "escape"? To be part of the story being told?

I think people tend to have more fun when they become immersed in the film, rather than discovering how it was made, or being taught a lesson about its history.

For this reason, i'm more interested in making GMR, about immersing people into various scenes. It might work best, and easiest, using some kind of virtual simulator ride, but there is something to be said, about the tactile, true 3 dimensional look, of animatronics and real physical sets.

How such immersion would actually be accomplished? I leave that to the imagineers. But. perhaps a cohesive story, could tie things together, much like the old figment, set up a story to tell us about imagination. Maybe they could come up with some kind of character that could transport us INTO the movies.

 

[JenLoy]

The que definitely needs an update and rather than showing scenes from movies on the big screen bring in more props and costumes for folks to look at as they wound around the que. At one point I remember there being a dinner jacket that Gloria Swanson wore in Sunset Boulevard in one of the glass cases. We need more items from classic Hollywood. The horse from Mary Poppins is great but it takes up so much space. Perhaps it could be hung from the ceiling and have a few more items in the glass cases or shorten the que capacity and place more items all the way down the theater. Also, rarely do I get to the loading area without having the movie start over. The video could be updated and move scenes from more movies to expand the run time.


We need to keep classic scenes from the golden era of Hollywood on the actual ride but there could be some tweaking. For instance, they could do a great scene from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or Seven Year Itch and Marilyn Monroe would be recogonized by most guests. I could replace an existing scene or a trim could be done to one of the others (Tarzan, maybe?)

Have always loved the great movie ride and hated it when the giant hat was plopped down in front of it to hide the Chinese Theater background. I would love to see Disney throw some new life into it.

 

[ZoeisMommy]

I am sure this will cause enough controversy on the love/hate Alien group (because I LOVE Alien franchise) but its not kid friendly at all. I say replace it with star wars...add the classic Luke/Vader scene

I say shorten Tarzan and add Avatar (instead of a WHOLE land at AK) Keep Casablanca and wizards of Oz. Maybe update the western and mob scenes to newer movies that are in the same genre

And istead of all the corniness I would love to hear the movie facts and tidbits people don't know that went on behind the scenes. I do agree with a PP if you have John Wayne why not Marilyn?? And love someones idea of Forrest Gump. They could create a timeline..2 Oldies, 4 Classics, 2 new movies

But that's just my honest opinion

 

[MadameMim]

Ask yourself this, or ask family and friends, how much do you remember about the Jungle Cruise? Describe the different things that happen or what the guide says. Then ask them to describe the Great Movie Ride and what happens. The Great Movie Ride is utterly forgettable.

I'm typically not one of those people that call for changes to Disney stuff because I think a lot of that stems from people going to Disney so much that they're bored with it. They forget that for many people, it's all new to them, BUT The Great Movie Ride is a disaster on first viewing, or at least a missed golden opportunity that could be SO much better.

Aw! I completely disagree with you!

My family just returned from our second WDW trip. The first time (6 years ago) we missed TGMR all together. I was pregnant and sick the day we were at HS and most of our HS park time was spent sitting on various benches.

So anyhow, we all LOVED TGMR! My husband and I both enjoyed it, as did our four children (10, 8, 5 & 3). We were lucky enough to be in in the first row and when the gangster took over the tour we were all surprised and shocked and totally sucked in. He heckled my kids and my daughter's (5yo) eyes were as big as saucers. He was GREAT! It was very memorable and simply an awesome Disney experience.

This thread kind of breaks my heart a little. We had such a lovely magical day at Hollywood Studios and enjoyed it to the max, just as it is.
Well, adding the Monsters Inc. coaster would be fine by me.

 

[Fantasmiss]

The ride. That's what I would change. I'd rip the whole thing out and build a new exciting (non-thrill) water ride instead, with a Tangled or maybe UP! theme, as I love water rides, there are none in HS, those films are ace and I'd love to see a ride based on one of the newer movies. Plus they would both would suit a water ride.just imagine wht they could o with the lantern scene.... A little random I know.

 

[ZoeisMommy]

The ride. That's what I would change. I'd rip the whole thing out and build a new exciting (non-thrill) water ride instead, with a Tangled or maybe UP! theme, as I love water rides, there are none in HS, those films are ace and I'd love to see a ride based on one of the newer movies. Plus they would both would suit a water ride.just imagine wht they could o with the lantern scene.... A little random I know.

What kind of water ride? MK has Splash Mountain and AK has Kali River Rapids. Rumor has it they are replacing the beloved B&TB stage show at HS with Tangled (which I absolutely am OK with)

 

[Fantasmiss]

What kind of water ride? MK has Splash Mountain and AK has Kali River Rapids. Rumor has it they are replacing the beloved B&TB stage show at HS with Tangled (which I absolutely am OK with)

I know, but I was thinking more like Pirates of The C./Maelstrom or mabye even like Small World/The Land/Three Caballeros. I love those kind of rides, they don't exclude anyone like thrill rides do, and I wish they'd have a couple of them in HS a couple in AK too. Ain't very likely to happen though, and certainly not exactly the way I'm describing it. I'm guessing rides with tracks are much cheaper and easier to maintain.

I like the B&B stage show! But I think I'd love a Tangled stage show, plus i'd be all new, so I hope the rumour is true. Although I'd rather have both

 

[PaulaSB12]

I would demolish the whole thing and start over.

Okay, maybe I wouldn't go to that extreme, but I'm definitely not one that enjoys this ride....and I LOVE movies and movie history.

As I see it, the first problem was that someone had some idea early on in the planning stage that they needed a guide to kind of replicate the success of the MK Jungle Cruise. But, for whatever reason, those corny Jungle Safari jokes always seem to work and the GMR jokes just don't. And I don't think it's always the case that it's the guide not being good at it, or even the material. I think it's more a problem of subject matter. No matter what kind of movie you like, everyone agrees that movies are cool. Corny jokes and stereotypical characters are what the worst movies are made of, not something that should be showcased as Hollywood's success.

A Great Movie Ride should either showcase the best ever movies (and just great Disney movies would be fine with me), or somehow make attendees feel like they are IN the great movies. A GREAT Movie Ride would do both.

I guess I would rather see a short history of film. Start in the queue area with silent films, etc. Then get on the ride, but have the ride take you through popular sets, but also have large screens incorporated that show more movie history. Add a host on screen like they do with Figment or Ellen's Energy. Maybe a treasured Disney character could be the host or even someone like Kurt Russell. Have some simulations that makes the ridegoers feel like they're flying through hyperspace or other great, recognizable scenes from movies.

OR, instead of going through movie history, have the car ride through different genres of film. So, you start with Drama, move to Comedy, enter War, then Animation, then Science Fiction, etc.

I agree some old gangster movies, Alien which came out in 1979 and Indiana Jones which came out in 1981 its just lame now rip it out and put something more contemporary in its place.

 

[Waddler]

I'd like TGMR a lot more if the statues better resembled the stars that they're supposed to portray. As is, they're kind of creepy. Maybe they could swap them out for very realistic wax figures (like Madame Tussauds).

 

[ronDisney]

I think a lot of the difficulty and complexity of this issue with changing GMR is that fact that the subject matter is so dynamic.

Movies are constantly changing, moving with the times, and sometimes helping define the times. Capturing all of that in a bottle (so to speak) is incredibly difficult and complex.

We're not talking about building an attraction off of one movie (TSM, Little Mermaid, etc), we're talking about an attraction that is supposed to center around ALL movies. And that's a pretty tall order.

Personally, a complete re-imagining, redesign, or possibly even replacement of this attraction would be a welcome change.

A truncated history of cinema might work, although I would be more partial to have an attraction that placed you in memorable movie scenes.

- dodging "King Kong" (original black and white) on the empire state building
- soaring through the divided waters in "Ten Commandments"
- travelling through the dark and creepy hallways of the "Alien" spacecraft
- racing through the grid in "Tron" *had to add a disney film LOL!!
- and to add a splash of modernism...trekking through the jungles of Avatar's Pandora.

As I had said, while the history of film would be informative and possibly entertaining, i think placing people "IN" the films would garner much better reactions.