Just Back MGM Rumors!

[OnWithTheShow]

I would actually except to see a ride ore like spider man. A motion base system with 3D movies along the way. The original theme of the Great Movie Ride will remain except it will be even more of a "Fantasic Journey INTO the Movies". Some of the existing sets would remain and the general path of the ride would stay the same. More movies will be added and so will 3D screens with the movies designed to blend with the set and add the characters (eliminating costly animatronics). Long scenes will be shortened (ie Gangster, Old West, Wizard of Oz, Alien) to allow more movies to be added. I have also heard that the final movie will be moved to be the new preshow.


This is just one of the rumors I have heard for the GMR. I have also heard Villians ride rumors. But this is the one of I have heard mentioned the most. I havent heard the Indiana Jones rumor at all among the cast.

 

[johare]

Why copy Spiderman or Indy? Isn't there any imagination left? How about something fresh and new for MGM?

 

[Pluto17]

I agree with Planogirl. What are they gonna do about a new icon? I was just on the Indy ride out in DL. From the outside it doesnt look like a takes up a lot of space, but once you start moving through the line its hugh and takes a long time to get through. They dont have enough space to put it there. Not trying to diss the indy ride at all, but who wants to see the Temple of the Eye in the middle of MGM. I say..put the indy ride where the stunt show is and update the GMR. Its a good and classic ride, but it needs to be updated. As for the villans ride, i would think that would be too scary for little kids. I am going down to WDW in Augest, I will ask about this issue while i am down there.


1993-FW
1994-PO
1995-PO
1996- DI
1997 - PO
1998- ASM
1999/2000 - DL
2000- DCL
April 2001 - Offsite
July 2001 - DL - offsite
Augest 2001 - ASM

 

[Laurajean1014]

The GMR will be missed but there are many other "for all ages" attractions at MGM: How about "Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Fantasmic and Backstage to name a few?"

I agree with the rumors. Change is needed and that's what keeps us interested and coming back..................

 

[Let's Go On A Ride!]

The big sorcerer Mickey hat will indeed be the new icon for the studios. The cast at the studios at least should know this. Whenever you see the 4 park icons together on something (Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, Earful tower, Tree of Life) the hat will now take the place of the water tower on both merchandise and advertising materials.

Also, this talk about the removal of the movie ride; I work at the ride and I can say we haven't been told anything about a closure in the near future. This isn't a surprise however, since when something does happen the cast members usually don't know until very shortly before any actual closing or such takes place. The way the hat blocks the Chinese Theater so well though, one would suspect some truth to all these rumors of a departure for the ride. Also, it's a very expensive attraction to run and keep working all the time. With so many mechanical pieces and man hours to keep it running, there just aren't enough people visiting it to merit that kind of money put into it every day. Of course, that could be because that big blue wall around the hat makes it so hard to find the entrance for new guests. We'll all just have to wait and see if attendance picks up once the 100 Years of Magic Celebration begins. Maybe the hat will actually draw guests towards the ride. (You'll be able to walk right under it) You never know. But I sure hope so.

 

[Planogirl]

We did have some trouble finding the way into the GMR this June because of that hat. It just seems to block everything but I guess that it's because of the construction walls.

The hat may be attractive but isn't the primary purpose of it to house a pin trading center? Therefore, is a pin trading center about to become the new icon for the Studios or am I way offbase?

I also believe that often when attendance falls off for an attraction that an update is in order and not necessarily a replacement. There's been an awful lot of the "hurry up and replace" mentality lately and unfortunately the replacements often don't meet up to the standards of the original IMO. Why not refurbish the GMR and also add Indy? I would personally love both.

Also, how can a huge sorceror's hat be plopped down in front the GMR with the intention of tearing down the GMR? After all, the Studios will be the focus of Walt's 100th birthday celebration and how crass would it be to have the current icon undergoing demolition during or just prior to that?

 

[Disney Doll]

I would like to see them take the GMR and turn it into some sort of Fantasia type ride, maybe even keeping the same internal working of the ride itself and just redoing the scenery and the facade of the building. Fantasia is such that it could be broken into little sections to correspond with the sections already in the GMR.

I'd love to see the Indy ride like at DL go where the Indy stunt show is now...that's getting a little old!!!!!

 

[YoHo]

A fantasia ride would Certainly be interesting.



Hold on, I just have to sit here and revel in what I'll call Pre-landbaron Rumour goodness.


Personally, I'd hate to see the ride go. My concern however is less with replacing the ride and more with keeping the Studios on Theme. As I've been harping, The Studios has become Synergy Central. I really think they need to go back and look at what the real theme of that park is.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

Hold on, I just have to sit here and revel in what I'll call Pre-landbaron Rumour goodness.

HEY!! Come on!! I stay out of the 'pure' rumor threads. I don't usually play the 'what if' game.

Unless, of course, the room is dark, at midnight, and you say my name three times! Then I appear on your computer monitor and ….

 

[YoHo]

Oh, I know you play fair landbaron, I just think that the 20 page threads debating the minutia of EIsner's failures have scared the more frail of heart/Whimsical folk.

I just needed to revel in it, you know, go sit in the dandelions and forget the real world.

 

[Captain Crook]

Oh I don't know Yoho, I always thought I was whimsical...Or is that sad and pathetic?...Landbaron?

Regarding Fantasia, I'm sure all of the aging hippies and children of the 60's would love it...And you do know what I mean, I'm sure...Perhaps they could add Alice in Wonderland and make the trip complete!

 

[wdwguide]

The Fantasia dark ride is part of the Beastly Kingdom concept, and I think that's where it would look best.

 

[J. Thornhill]

Where can I find info on the Beastly Kingdom Concepts? I remember reading about a Unicorn maze or something like that but that's all I remember. Anyone got any links?

Thanks,
J.-

 

[wdwguide]

I don't know of a good web site about BK, but you can piece a pretty good picture from various books that touch on the subject, such as The Making of the Animal Kingdom and Imagineering.

 

[Mooobooks]

Because of the cost of building and maintaining attractions with lots of Audio-Animatronic figures, NO new attractions requiring lots of them will be built in the foreseeable future. NONE. ZERO.
That means no Disney-style signature rides like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Great Movie Ride, Spaceship Earth, Country Bears, Hall of the Presidents, American Adventure, etc.
So, don't gloat because this ride may be dismantled: it's unlikely we will see any other rides like it in the future.
While parts of the ride are less than effective, and some of the likenesses of actors and actresses are poor, there are certain scenes that are truly magical, like the big Wizard of OZ room WHICH PUTS YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOVIE!
I would really like to see it undergo a big rehab that improves it, and mixes AA figures with 3D films: that CAN be done!

 

[Jennasis]

I say buh-bye to TGMR...ONLY because it never ever changes, and it's getting a little stale, like It's a Small World.

Put the Spidey-style Villains ride ther (but please no Wicked Wirch from Snow WHite...she still gives me nightmares at 24 years old!)..

Then replace the lame-o stunt show with the Disneyland style Indy ride. Then we have the best of both worlds.

Making those changes could easily move MGM up a notch in my book. Right now it ranks way down on my favorite theme park list...I think IOA is better than MGM. But with a few key improvements, MGM could regain the crown!

 

[mrgoofy]

I'm not sure if any of you read the series on Laughingplace.com where they sat down and interviewed Paul Pressler. (If not I highly recommend reading it, given his reputation around these parts.) When he was asked about the Beastly Kingdom he said that they had something amazing in the works for AK:

LP: Recently Al Weiss at, I believe, a town meeting they had for Cast Members mentioned that they’d be adding a new land and a new E-Ticket attraction to Animal Kingdom in 2004. Is there anything you can say about that?
Pressler: Um, I can’t say anything about that other than I’ll confirm what Al said (laughs). We are looking at a new E attraction for the Animal Kingdom.

And he also mentioned about the submarine lagoon at DL, and new attractions at DCA:

LP California Adventure is certainly a park with lots of room to grow. How long do we need to wait before - I know Millionaire is coming - how long do we need to wait before we get one or two more big attractions?

Pressler: They are already on the drawing boards. We are pushing a little bit to see how fast we can get some of this done, but in terms of pure attractions you will start to see some things in '03 and '04. And we may even get there as early as '02.

LP: Going across the esplanade to Disneyland. The 50th anniversary is not too far off. I know that back when the Subs were closed there was talk about a new attraction going in there. What’s in the works as far as adding new attractions to Disneyland - not necessarily in the sub lagoon - in the next few years.

Pressler: Well the big news is that we are looking at is ... actually I’m not sure if we announced this yet ... so let's just say there is a new attraction planned for 2003 that I’m sure will be a huge crowd pleaser in terms of the character that we are focusing on. Have you heard about this?

LP: No I haven’t, would you like to give us an exclusive here?

Pressler: No I can’t give you the exclusive because 10 people would yell at me.

With all this going on I can't help but think that the replacement of GMR is a definate possibility, especially now that the Sorcerer Hat blocks the line of site between the attraction and the park entrance.

Check out the rest of the interview here: Paul Pressler Interview

And for those of you out there that disapprove of him here's a quote for you:

LP: On a more personal note, as you know, you have been vilified on the Internet for years - probably more than any other Disney figure. How do you handle that?

Pressler: You know what? I can only look at it and say I must be doing my job (laughs). Because it was interesting, I looked back at an article that was written in August of 1955 in which the critics just took Walt apart.

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

The new attraction at Disneyland is Pooh. It's supposed to be pretty much a clone of the WDW version. It will be the first new e ticket in five years, if you can call it an e ticket. It doesn't change my view of the Disney better faster cheaper strategy of recent years. Disneyland really really really needs a couple of barnburner attractions in Tomorrowland. Right now they have Space Mountain, Innoventions, Star Tours, and the Astro Orbitor.

They are replacing the Country Bears with Pooh. While I welcome the addition, I really don't like losing attractions that still work to get it. And it doesn't address the Tomorrowland issues which are a core problem. It's a compromise between cost and quality. Pressler is the guy in the crosshairs, but the reality is that Disney has simply lost it's vision of the "Show".

I still believe that Eisner is going to be embarrassed by TDS and stunned at the response. He may just shift a bit more back toward the "build it and they will come" approach that did him well for years. I hope so.

Leaders require three things......Vision, Communication Skills, and the ability to allign teams behind their goals. Which of those qualities does Eisner have anymore?