Two versions of the Great Movie Ride?

sbkline

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I went into WaldenBooks today and there was a book in the Travel Section about hundreds of WDW Secrets. One of the ones mentioned is that when one does the Great Movie Ride, there is a choice between a gangster version and a cowboy version. In the 4 times that I have visited that park, I have never been aware of two versions of the ride. I have only been on the gangster storyline. Is this true that there is a cowboy version? Or is that info out of date? This is the first I've ever heard of it. :shrug:
 
kcnole

kcnole

Well-Known Member
The cowboy side isn't always used though. Its only used when the ride is extremely busy so if you go during slow times, the only option you'll see is the gangster side.
 
Atomicmickey

Atomicmickey

Well-Known Member
I've seen both . . . you go through both areas in the ride, either way.

It's just that you stop in one or the other, for the extended scene where you "lose" your main CM for a while.

If you've been in the gangster scene, look in the Cowboy area when you
go through, you can see scorch marks where the bank catches on fire.

I honestly can't say that one is better than the other. So, you're not losing out if you get one, or the other.
 
Monty

Monty

Brilliant...and Canadian
In the Parks
No
When they do the Western scene, they load two sets of cars, the front set does the Western scene and the rear set the Gangster scene. Each set of cars have their own "driver/narrator". I have never actually seen the Western scene myself, though it was running early in the day when we were there, when we went back they had reduced to loading only one set of cars. If they're only loading one, it will always be gangster.

I don't think there are different "sides": I'm pretty sure the forward cars stop in the western scene [which is immediately ahead of the gangster scene] while the rear cars do the normal stop in the ganster scene. All the cars load into the Wizard of Oz scene at the same time and are together in the movie collage room at the end of the ride.

The guide that goes for popcorn in the gangster scene rejoins in the Temple scene were the gangster gets fried by the curse. I don't remember what the next scen is, but presumably the guide from the western scene would rejoin his/her cars there.

Somebody who's more familiar can probably confirm and fill in details...
 
SirGoofy

SirGoofy

Member
MontyMon said:
When they do the Western scene, they load two sets of cars, the front set does the Western scene and the rear set the Gangster scene. Each set of cars have their own "driver/narrator". I have never actually seen the Western scene myself, though it was running early in the day when we were there, when we went back they had reduced to loading only one set of cars. If they're only loading one, it will always be gangster.
Click to expand...

Actually, if you request the bandit, they will do the bandit for you. I did it twice my last trip.:wave:

MontyMon said:
The guide that goes for popcorn in the gangster scene rejoins in the Temple scene were the gangster gets fried by the curse. I don't remember what the next scen is, but presumably the guide from the western scene would rejoin his/her cars there.

Somebody who's more familiar can probably confirm and fill in details...
Click to expand...

Both of the guides re-meet the vehicles at the temple. The bank robber car goes slightly faster to accommodate the other vehicle.
 
Phonedave

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
They were running both a few weeks ago. We ended up on Gangster though.

I have been on Bandit once or twice. As others have said, its no great thrill.

-dave
 
SirGoofy

SirGoofy

Member
MacRtst said:
Personally, I am a big fan of the bandit scene. It has more action going on.
Click to expand...

While I like the actual bandit scene better, I've found the CMs have an easier time acting as the gangster, and there fore the gangster gives a better overall ride.

:lookaroun

I ride GMR a lot when I'm at the Studios.
 
rsoxguy

rsoxguy

Well-Known Member
After countless rides, I've only seen the cowboy one twice. They seem to favor the gangster scene in a big way. I don't really prefer one over the other myself.
 
Slipknot

Slipknot

Well-Known Member
Gangster is better, IMO. Of course that is from my POV of being a Gangster. Being a Gangster is one of the best ways to interact with guests, especially when you don't have to go by a script off mic. I miss it a lot.
 
micknminnie

micknminnie

Active Member
I've seen both also. In my past three visits, I've caught the bandit scene only once. I've always wondered what it was like behind the scenes for the cm's to get from one section of the ride to the other when doing the scene.
 
Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
MontyMon said:
I don't think there are different "sides": I'm pretty sure the forward cars stop in the western scene [which is immediately ahead of the gangster scene] while the rear cars do the normal stop in the ganster scene. All the cars load into the Wizard of Oz scene at the same time and are together in the movie collage room at the end of the ride.
Click to expand...

When people mention "side" in terms of the GMR, it's usually referring to which side of the queue you're in.
When they're running both scenes, the right-side of the queue will load into Bandit (Cowboy) and the left-side will load into Gangster. Usually if they're running only Gangster, they'll only use one side of the queue.

Of course, you could always end up in a situation like I did back in June... By observing the way the lines were moving (it was pretty sporadic... sometimes a lot of people, sometimes not as many), it seemed like they were alternating between loading both trams, and then only loading Gangster. When they were only loading Gangster, the Bandit queue was used to load into the front car of the Gangster tram, and the Gangster queue was used to load into the rear car. It was very frustrating, because I'd specifically chosen the Bandit queue because it was open. Normally I'd ask to wait for the next Bandit set, but we were running out of time and needed to leave the park immeidately afterward to head back to our hotel for DME pickup.

As for why they run Gangster instead of Bandit when it's slow, I'm sure Gangster is considerably less expensive to run, as it doesn't have Bandit's flame effects. (I wonder if they've ever had a time where something vital to the show was broken in Gangster, so they ran just Bandit...)

-Rob
 
KeithVH

KeithVH

Well-Known Member
Done both and, while it's a toss-up in most cases, I find that the gangster character seems to be more difficult to pull off. We've had great CM's and meh CM's trying to come across with their Chicagoland-style persona. But I've never had a bad Bandit.
 
sbkline

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for all the replies, everyone. Maybe I'll try to do the bandit one next time, just for something different.
 
Slipknot

Slipknot

Well-Known Member
micknminnie said:
I've seen both also. In my past three visits, I've caught the bandit scene only once. I've always wondered what it was like behind the scenes for the cm's to get from one section of the ride to the other when doing the scene.
Click to expand...

Nothing more than a very narrow hallway cutting across the building above your heads.
 

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