News Disney Not Renewing Great Movie Ride Sponsorship Deal with TCM ; Attraction to Close

[brb1006]

Why not keep the GMR and replace Fantasmic with the new E ticket, an extension of Sunset Blvd? Think of the cost savings if they scrapped Fantasmic.

But then there will be outrage of the removal of Fantasmic if that happened.

 

[Matt7187]

Don't worry guys it will be replaced with an interactive video screen based ride that is half the length and tied to a hot IP!!

Have you read any of the 33 pages?

 

[Tay]

Well if their closing this down after TSL, I think Slinky coaster and Aliens ride could replace GMR ride capacity but they seriously have to stop replacing rides until they build out the parks more. I would still love for a long overdue Mickey ride especially if it's trackless. I do think they should make ST into something else with the new land opening though.

It's time to get creative and utilize space. DL is more than 20 acres less than MK but will have 10 more rides than MK after SWL opens. Universal built Transformers an E Ticket, out of a building that someone stumbled across. It isn't half as good as Spiderman and shouldn't have so many screens but it's a whole lot better than a building I never knew existed. WDW doesn't have to have 50 rides in each park like Six Flags and Cedar Fair Parks but the other 3 should have at minimum 20, and MK at minimum 35.

 

[tirian]

In a perfect fan boi world they do a thorough update of Great Movie Ride and build this Mickey attraction elsewhere in the park. With that not happening though I am very pleased with this as a GMR replacement. I am not a fan of the current GMR even after TCM's updates. The ride needs 50% of the scenes swapped out and every scene needs substantial upgrades.

I got wind of this about a week ago—my info was clearly later than Lee's or Martin's—and I've had conflicting thoughts. Five years ago, the GMR was an embarrassing relic of the late 80s, hidden behind a giant plastic toy. The ride's pacing, broken FX, awkward script, and even more awkward CMs overshadowed the impressive sets and AAs. Then TCM stepped in as the all-too-obvious sponsor and financed a complete overhaul. Last time I rode it, everything worked. The AAs were smooth; the FX were functioning; the new prerecorded voiceover mostly covered for the bad CM acting. I could see the potential for future updates, and the ride didn't seem so moldy anymore. Most importantly, the ride introduced guests to some of the best movies ever made.

The Mickey attraction will be incredible. @marni1971 can correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I'm told, the cuts haven't been substantial; this thing will almost be Blue Sky. It will be a worthy E-ticket, although a bit too short.

As a kid, the GMR was pure magic. As an adult, I don't consider it an irreplaceable classic. The attraction was really good, but not on the level of POTC, HM, or Horizons. I just hope that Disney maintains the Golden Age of Hollywood in this park's transformation.

 

[tirian]

All four of the WDW parks need more attractions and activities. If the MK received one more E ticket to help absorb existing crowds, and maybe a D-ticket on the opposite side of the park, it could live without substantial new investments for 10–15 years (parades and pyro are exceptions). Epcot needs two more E rides and a few C- and D-level attractions, which could be extensive new exhibits in Innoventions. DHS and DAK are finally getting their overhauls, but if Disney keeps swapping rides instead of adding a net gain, DHS will soon hit the same roadblock where there's simply not enough to do.

Rides aside, SW land itself looks less and less compelling as details slip out of WDI. The area is inexplicably based on the most boring landscape in the movies. I speculate it's because the rockwork has to blend into FrL and Critter Country sight lines in DL. This won't be Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley.

Well if their closing this down after TSL, I think Slinky coaster and Aliens ride could replace GMR ride capacity but they seriously have to stop replacing rides until they build out the parks more. I would still love for a long overdue Mickey ride especially if it's trackless. I do think they should make ST into something else with the new land opening though.

It's time to get creative and utilize space. DL is more than 20 acres less than MK but will have 10 more rides than MK after SWL opens. Universal built Transformers an E Ticket, out of a building that someone stumbled across. It isn't half as good as Spiderman and shouldn't have so many screens but it's a whole lot better than a building I never knew existed. WDW doesn't have to have 50 rides in each park like Six Flags and Cedar Fair Parks but the other 3 should have at minimum 20, and MK at minimum 35.

 

[BrianLo]

my goodness i have no idea where they would fit a ride like that at disneyland

No, but I can't say more at the moment. It's not a totally done deal.

So you think it's something they would build while they are building out Frozen area?

Wrong park. There is a reason @marni1971 said Disneyland Resort.


Thanks, by the way, Marni! (And @MansionButler84 and @Lee)

I also feel somewhat troubled by @marni1971 hinting at a heavy presence of video screens. While a great ride, Mystic Manor IMO is already a bit too screen-centric for my tastes. And while I may be attacked for saying this, even the POTC at Shanghai (in spite of being a good ride with well implemented screens) went overboard on screens with too few animatronics for my tastes. Ratatouille looks like it completely crossed my threshold of tolerance, wouldn't like something like that at all.

Your wording sort of implies PoTC is similar to Mystic Manor in screen density, I don't think that's what you meant though. Mystic Manor is like 90/10, PoTC is more 50/50. I think your threshold may be zero percent... which is fine... but in no way would I classify Mystic Manor as a screen-centric ride. There is one for a transitional scene that some vehicles skip and a projection mapped room whose central focus is a giant AA. It is used extremely sparingly and in two drastically different forms.

I do think this ride needs some screens though. We as riders need to jump into the cartoon itself into the fully realized sets. It could make for a fun effect/transition.

 

[marni1971]

Well well.

This saga may run and run. There may be a chapter two.

Time will tell.

 

[Jones14]

I got wind of this about a week ago—my info was clearly later than Lee's or Martin's—and I've had conflicting thoughts. Five years ago, the GMR was an embarrassing relic of the late 80s, hidden behind a giant plastic toy. The ride's pacing, broken FX, awkward script, and even more awkward CMs overshadowed the impressive sets and AAs. Then TCM stepped in as the all-too-obvious sponsor and financed a complete overhaul. Last time I rode it, everything worked. The AAs were smooth; the FX were functioning; the new prerecorded voiceover mostly covered for the bad CM acting. I could see the potential for future updates, and the ride didn't seem so moldy anymore. Most importantly, the ride introduced guests to some of the best movies ever made.

The Mickey attraction will be incredible. @marni1971 can correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I'm told, the cuts haven't been substantial; this thing will almost be Blue Sky. It will be a worthy E-ticket, although a bit too short.

As a kid, the GMR was pure magic. As an adult, I don't consider it an irreplaceable classic. The attraction was really good, but not on the level of POTC, HM, or Horizons. I just hope that Disney maintains the Golden Age of Hollywood in this park's transformation.

How short is too short? Is it short in relation to DL Pirates/GMR or short in relation to Frozen Ever After? I ask because "too short" could still be accurate for what it replaces if the ride is eight minutes long, but an eight minute ride would be impressively long (to me) for a ride like this.

 

[BrianLo]

Well well.

This saga may run and run. There may be a chapter two.

Time will tell.

SWL phase two? Or DHS "phase four"...

 

[Jones14]

Well well.

This saga may run and run. There may be a chapter two.

Time will tell.

By chapter two, are you referring to the potential cloning for DLR, a second attraction for DHS, or a third option that I'm completely missing?

 

[tirian]

How short is too short? Is it short in relation to DL Pirates/GMR or short in relation to Frozen Ever After? I ask because "too short" could still be accurate for what it replaces if the ride is eight minutes long, but an eight minute ride would be impressively long (to me) for a ride like this.

Short in relation to the GMR. I've heard it could be close to Splash, which is a respectable length. Again, @marni1971 knows more about this than I do.

 

[Jones14]

Short in relation to the GMR. I've heard it could be close to Splash, which is a respectable length. Again, @marni1971 knows more about this than I do.

That's between 9-11 minutes! I feel like it's closer to 9 if anything, and though losing the Great Movie Ride is a tragedy, the more I hear about this, the more optimistic I get.

 

[marni1971]

SWL phase two? Or DHS "phase four"...

By chapter two, are you referring to the potential cloning for DLR, a second attraction for DHS, or a third option that I'm completely missing?

Nothing more I can say at the moment aside from some things are definite, some not so much.

 

[Jones14]

Nothing more I can say at the moment.

*goes back to comb through your posts since you've probably told us the answer outright anyways*

 

[yeti]

I also feel somewhat troubled by @marni1971 hinting at a heavy presence of video screens. While a great ride, Mystic Manor IMO is already a bit too screen-centric for my tastes. And while I may be attacked for saying this, even the POTC at Shanghai (in spite of being a good ride with well implemented screens) went overboard on screens with too few animatronics for my tastes. Ratatouille looks like it completely crossed my threshold of tolerance, wouldn't like something like that at all.

I miss the detailed setpieces and huge AA population from rides like Splash Mountain, following that ride's type of showscenes are what I would have wanted out of a Mickey Mouse ride. I'm even more concerned that they'll use CGI instead of traditional animation for the video (something they tried to do with Little Mermaid initially, and even recently for a Snow White's scene at Shanghai), which would be extremely inappropriate for classics.

It's when a dark ride goes full tilt into screens, like Escape from Gringotts or the beginning of Ratatouille, that it becomes boring; when you come to a full stop stationed before a screen, with nothing else, and the ride expects you to believe you're moving as fast as the action in the film in front of you, when usually you can see the roof or floor of the theatre quite plainly. Spider Man and Transformers manage to pull this off --ie screen portions with no sets-- and I think it's because you're still in motion so you have no time to become wary of the illusion. In Forbidden Journey (and I think Pirates of Shanghai, but I haven't been on it yet) they just hide the seams better.

It's tedious when projections are obviously a cheap alternative (to animatronics, as in some parts of the new Pirates; to dynamic lighting, as in the overused projection mapping effect seen everywhere). Like CGI it can be overused, but also like CGI, the technology is a natural progression for telling stories nowadays. My favorite part of the new Pirates ride is when the Kraken floats past the window behind Davy Jones, a subtle effect revealing how screens could be used as backdrops, complementing the scene but not telling it; not interactive.

 

[yeti]

Wrong park. There is a reason @marni1971 said Disneyland Resort.

This would be great in Paradise Pier, just saying.

 

[PiratesoftheHM]

This would be great in Paradise Pier, just saying.

It should go in Hollywood Backlot at DCA! It would then be along the same theme as the DHS one, heck they could even build the Chinese Theater.

 

[BrianLo]

This would be great in Paradise Pier, just saying.

Yes, but even better in Hollywood land, considering it's being built with that in mind for DHS. Sounds like a lot of land is being freed up on the North Western and South Western flanks of DCA, not all of it for Marvel...

 

[Cesar R M]

Yes, it is crazy given desperately DHS (and WDW in general) needs far more guest space and attraction capacity to accommodate the increased crowds over the years.

The parks need more than headliners. Now, I know opinions on GMR will vary, but at the very least it was a nice compliment to the more thrilling (and height restricted) rides that the park otherwise had. Sounds like the replacement will also be that way, but y'know "why not both"? If the crowds come for Star Wars as expected, they are going to need all the help they can get in the park.

Does the desire to replace over build new come from TDO? I have got to wonder if it is driven by a desire to limit operational costs -- more rides means having to pay for more maintenance and pay CMs to run it. And GMR was probably among the worse offenders there given that it involved life participants in the ride itself.

I think you can justify replacing GMR with a high quality Mickey ride as part of the park redo -- it just shouldn't be one of the major "additions". The park desperately needs a real, fleshed out Phase 3. Is there any chance they dust off Monstropolis and put it somewhere in DHS once the dust settles from the current stuff? Or, even better, a more generic Pixar Place featuring multiple C- and D-tickets?

I still wonder why so many people keep saying "new additions". When most of the things we're getting are just replacements.
replacements != additions. The net count attractions will still be the same.

 

[PiratesoftheHM]

Yes, but even better in Hollywood land, considering it's being built with that in mind for DHS. Sounds like a lot of land is being freed up on the North Western and South Western flanks of DCA, not all of it for Marvel...

That was my hope since I heard of this plan. Marvel behind TOT as originally planned and this ride + more Hollywood placemaking in the backlot.