GMR is closing. Are you excited about it? What is your age range?

[KBLovedDisney]

Odd Poll request I know, but I am really curious about something. I am seeing a mix of people who want this ride to stay and others who are ready for GMR to go.

In the category you fall in, for example, if you want GMR to STAY select STAY along with your age range.

I want to see the generational (not sure if this is the right terminology) similarities (if there are any) for the desires of the ride to stay vs the ride to go bye-bye.

This is meant for fun!

PS. I don't work for Disney, lol. This is just my own idea.

 

[TheOrangeBird01]

I'm excited for Runaway Railway, but I would like to see the Great Movie Ride stay.

 

[belledream]

I say STAY because I'm a nostalgic sap. It wasn't my favorite ride by any stretch of the means, but it was familiar and pleasant.

I'm interested in Runaway Railway just because it's something new, but I wish it was the classic styled cartoons!

 

[Goofyernmost]

I always have ridden it since the park opened and I really enjoy it, however, I also enjoy new things and GMR is getting long in the tooth for those of us that have seen it over and over. I am looking forward to the new ride. I'll be 70 years old this time next year and I hope to be able to go when it opens.

 

[Goofyque']

I have been going to Disney Parks since nearly the very beginning. I really enjoy all the old rides, but know there is always time for change. LOVED GMR, but super excited for Mickey!

 

[Debbie]

I still feel they could kept GMR a great attraction using Classic Disney Movies.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

I say STAY because I'm a nostalgic sap. It wasn't my favorite ride by any stretch of the means, but it was familiar and pleasant.

I'm interested in Runaway Railway just because it's something new, but I wish it was the classic styled cartoons!

Took the words right out of my mouth. I relate identically.

@KBLovesDisney awesome idea! Can't wait to see who feels what at what age. There may be some interesting data here...

 

[Musical Mermaid]

I see a lot of stays for the 31-40 group, which is also my age group. I was a child when this opened and I found it to be one of the most wonderful rides at that age. I was in awe just from the exterior of the building, so large and beautiful and then there was this queue filled with all sorts of neat stuff. The only movie I recognized from the trailers on my first visits was "The Wizard of Oz", but I loved watching the trailers for the musicals and Casablanca as well, they seemed magical to me.

Then the ride: I loved the bubbles and pyramid of girls, I was intrigued by the mysterious man singing in the rain ("Why is he so happy he'd do that?"). I absolutely believed our vehicle was getting hijacked by a gangster or a bandit, unsure if I was scared, but I was definitely excited. I was truly scared of the alien coming out of the ceiling, but then came the part where our hijacker got his/her comeuppance. Again, it was magic to me. I don't know if I ever got a thrill out of Tarzan, but Casablanca intrigued me, and then the Wizard of Oz? Again, back in a land of magic! The final montage always gave me many emotions, even though I had never seen most of the movies.

Then, I got older, watched many of these movies, learned to appreciate many of them and notice the details in this attractIon. New technology is great, but when it's relied on more than the story or the details or the soul of what you're working on, you're left with an emptiness. I wish this ride had been updated instead of left to get dusty and unappreciated by people who would just discard it for something completely different. I'm a bit skeptical, because I've seen newer movies, I've ridden many of the newer attractions and something seems to be missing. I don't understand why people will wait 3 hrs for the seven dwarfs' coaster and less than a third of that time on Big Thunder Mountain...

Sorry for the length, but I thought that a lot of my experiences may be similar to others in my age group and that's why we voted 'stay'. Not that I would keep it exactly as it is, but the Mickey ideas look so bad in my opinion and like a slap in the face.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Kinda off-topic but wow looking at this poll it is amazing the diversity of age groups that co-exist here on these forums. Like it's actually something that I think is really uncommon across most internet communities, to have people ranging from teenages to seniors interacting with each other regarding the same topic.

 

[Chef Mickey]

If you say GO, you're wrong regardless of age.

 

[ShoalFox]

I think it's a travesty that the ride is being torn out. It was my favorite ride at MGM, and I'm going to miss it a lot.

 

[becca_]

I've said this in multiple threads, but I am optimistic for the new ride, even if it means losing GMR. Some things are not meant to last forever, although I do wish we could have had both.

But I don't make the plans! So out it goes, thanks for the memz, GMR

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Okay, I'll be that guy.

I think The Great Movie Ride is terrible, and it's 100% the fault of the cast members. I know cast members are sacred and we're not supposed to say anything negative about them, but they absolutely ruined my experience on the GMR time and time again. I think that the Jungle Cruise skippers do a marvelous job, but the GMR cast simply don't get it. I think casting is to blame, frankly. I don't know if they were trying to be PC, but if you're casting the role of a mobster, cast Anthony Scaramucci, not Tinker Bell. It's hard to buy the tough guy gangster shtick when the cast member pirouettes on and off the ride vehicle.

 

[becca_]

Okay, I'll be that guy.

I think The Great Movie Ride is terrible, and it's 100% the fault of the cast members. I know cast members are sacred and we're not supposed to say anything negative about them, but they absolutely ruined my experience on the GMR time and time again. I think that the Jungle Cruise skippers do a marvelous job, but the GMR cast simply don't get it. I think casting is to blame, frankly. I don't know if they were trying to be PC, but if you're casting the role of a mobster, cast Anthony Scaramucci, not Tinker Bell. It's hard to buy the tough guy gangster shtick when the cast member pirouettes on and off the ride vehicle.

100000% agree

 

[Amidala]

I think it's kind of inevitable that people are going to idealize the WDW they experienced as a child. I'm on the younger side of the 21-30 range, and GMR was my favorite ride at DHS. I was obsessed with classic films as a kid (I was raised by my grandmother who was born in '26, and TCM was on 24/7), and I've seen most of the movies featured in the ride because the ride excited and intrigued me so much at the time.

All that being said, I'm ready to part with it. I agree that the GMR isn't generating the excitement that it did when it opened (GMR is already overshadowed by RnR, TMM and ToT, I would hate to see the state of its queue after two new lands opened at DHS), and in order to create that excitement again, the ride would need a massive overhaul–an overhaul that would probably involve heavily altering or outright removing many of the elements we love about the ride. I've seen the idea of a Mickey "revamp" of the GMR tossed around, but switching out some animatronics (like w/ the Frozen ride in Norway) or demolishing the GMR and creating a visually and mechanically similar ride (this time based on Mickey) doesn't make much sense to me...This would put a lot of pressure on the new ride to surpass the original, and I tend to doubt that it would. I would rather see GMR taken out and replaced with something new while we're still able to look back on it fondly, and I'm excited for the new ride (including the source material).

Plenty of "classic" rides (HM, POTC, Splash Mountain, ToT) still attract massive crowds. I spent six months at WDW (including the busy Christmas holiday season) and GMR was consistently a walk-on. So on top of everything else, I can see the logic in wanting an E-Ticket at the center of DHS inside the park's "defining" monument.

And RE: the ineffectiveness of the CMs on GMR, this is hit or miss for me, and I think it has very little to do w/ the gender/appearance/etc. of the actors, and more to do with the wooden delivery. This is a symptom of assigning these roles to attractions CMs rather than trained actors. Some will find the CMs charming (I do, and I don't think GMR is the kind of ride that requires extremely precise and convincing acting to work well) and others won't.

 

[Christian Fronckowiak]

I'm sure the new ride will be wonderful, but I will miss the Great Movie Ride. It has the potential to be, and should have been, updated to showcase Great Moments at the Movies.

 

[Beacon Joe]

My first time riding it was in 1990. I never had any desire to ride it again. What is Disney putting in its place?

 

[KBLovedDisney]

I don't know if they were trying to be PC, but if you're casting the role of a mobster, cast Anthony Scaramucci, not Tinker Bell. It's hard to buy the tough guy gangster shtick when the cast member pirouettes on and off the ride vehicle.

Haha! That actually happened on a couple of trips we took not too long ago. I don't want to offend the CMs (I couldn't do their job for the life of me!).

However, I know that CMs can or do rotate and the woman possibly played a Princess character.

So, IMHO, I think the Princess was just taking the day off from Princess-ing. But I do agree, it kind of gives you that "Ok, you are doing your job, but I don't think you are quite right for the role" kinda thing.

 

[Driver]

I still feel they could kept GMR a great attraction using Classic Disney Movies.

Yep.... to me it's one of those classic favorites

 

[MissPixie]

I rode it this last trip in July and I am glad I did because shortly after that I heard it was closing. Now it definitely isn't my favorite ride in WDW or even DHS, but it was a nice ride. I am also the type of person that is up for new things so I am excited for what is to come. So it is a heartfelt go for me.