[the North arrow points down in the above photos]
The Great Movie Ride
At the end of Hollywood Boulevard, dead center, stands a magnificent reproduction of the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater, home to The Great Movie Ride. One of the Disney-MGM Studios' original attractions when it opened in May 1989, and presented by Coca-Cola, the Great Movie Ride is a 22-minute dark-ride journey into the history of the movies, with a cast of Audio-Animatronics characters re-creating memorable movie moments.
The facade was the symbol of the park until 2001 when a giant replica of Sorcerer Mickey's hat was built in front of the facade. Since then, the hat has served as the park's symbol. (It should be noted that the design of the theater is based on Grauman's Chinese Theatre. However, as the Walt Disney Company did not obtain permission to use the name 'Grauman' the proper name of the building is simply 'The Chinese Theatre'.)
The Queuing Area
Like so many of the great Disney Parks attractions that we all know and love, the queue of The Great Movie Ride could be considered an attraction in and of itself. The entry line winds through a Grauman's-styled lobby, with occasional display cases containing movie costumes, props, and set pieces. The queue then zig-zags through a small theater, where persons in line are shown a series of condensed trailers for various famous films. There the line ends, and riders walk into a 'studio' area to board waiting 'cars'.
Notable Props Currently Residing in the Queue
-Merry-go-round horse from Mary Poppins
-Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy's costumes from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
-A blue Elizabethan dress worn by Gwyneth Paltrow from "Shakespeare in Love."
Props that Formerly Resided in the Queue
-Blades and Monkey Heads from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
-The holo-chess board used on board the Millennium Falcon in the original Star Wars.
-The Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz.
-The dip machine model and bullet case from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
-Props from the movie Alien.
-Sam's piano from Casablanca.
-A dress worn by Maria in The Sound of Music.
-The title object from Cocoon.
Movie Trailers Shown in Queue
-Footlight Parade
-Casablanca
-Mary Poppins
-Raiders of the Lost Ark
-Singin' in the Rain
-Fantasia
-Alien
-The Searchers
The Dark-ride
Long tram cars take you on a slow but interesting journey through some of the world's most famous movie scenes. Just about every genre is represented: musicals, gangster movies, westerns, romances, action/adventures and horror flicks. More than 50 exceedingly realistic Audio-Animatronic figures bring it all to life, among them Gene Kelly, Julie Andrews, Dick Van ****, James Cagney, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Sigourney Weaver, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and the Wicked Witch of the West herself, Margaret Hamilton. In addition to the wizardry of some of the best audio-animatronics in Walt Disney World, guests on this tour are treated to one of two scenarios that get the Cast Member hosting your tram in on the action -- one involves a gangster plot, the other a cowboy theme. For the finale, the cars line up in a large, dark theater where a compilation of famous movie scenes & lines is shown for about 2-3 minutes. Some of the movies represented in the dark-ride portion of the attraction are as follows:
-Footlight Parade
-Singin' in the Rain
-Mary Poppins
-The Public Enemy
-Alien
-Raiders of the Lost Ark
-Tarzan the Ape Man
-Casablanca
-Fantasia
-The Wizard of Oz
Interesting Facts
-Opening Date: May 1, 1989
- Vehicle capacity: 70
-Audio-animatronics: 59
-Alien appears in the Great Movie Ride though it was released by 20th Century Fox rather than MGM. Disney had acquired the rights to use Alien from Fox several years earlier for a planned ride at
Disneyland that was based on the movie. While the ride was canceled, the overall concept later morphed into The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, though ultimately the creature from Alien was not used on the basis that it was "too scary".
-The Great Movie Ride directly inspired the creation of the Disney-MGM Studios. In an Imagineering book, it was revealed that the Great Movie Ride was actually going to be the main attraction in a show business themed pavilion at Epcot, but newly assigned Disney CEO Michael Eisner and WDI president Marty Sklar decided the idea was strong enough to lead an entire new theme park. The idea for the ride was expanded, and the Disney-MGM Studios went into official development.
- Many of the props in the lobby of the theater are authentic, such as the carousel horse from Mary Poppins.
-Gene Kelly inspected his AA likeness personally.
-Ingrid Bergman's daughter Isabella Rosselini has brought her children to this attraction to see their grandmother in the Casablanca scene.
-The entire Great Movie Ride attraction covers 95,000 square feet.
-This attraction is frequently the target of rumors saying that it will be replaced or significantly redesigned. As one of the original attractions in the Disney-MGM Studios, the ride can use some updating, but no official announcements regarding any changes have been made to date.
-Due to loud noises and several scary figures, small children are often frightened by this ride.
-Look for this "Hidden Mickey" - In the first part of Gangster Alley, Mickey Mouse's brown shoes (and his tail) poke out from under a James Cagney poster, "The Public Enemy," on the left side of the ride vehicle.