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

[raymusiccity]

The TCM overlay is not bad... It barely changes the ride at all and gives a little context for the scenes...

It's not so much the overlay, as it is with the prerecorded narration. It just peels away some warmth and sponteninity from the experience. Sort of what happened to Living With The Land when they removed the guides from each boat. Can you imagine what that would do to Jungle Cruise!!

 

[Mike S]

I disagree and feel it changes the entire ride. The narration doesn't flow well with the guide and just leaves the ride a complete mess. The finale scene is also crap and shouldn't have been messed with. It's time for a change as this one isn't working for me any more.

It would be easy enough to change it back to what it was before TCM you know.

 

[Biff215]

I disagree and feel it changes the entire ride. The narration doesn't flow well with the guide and just leaves the ride a complete mess. The finale scene is also crap and shouldn't have been messed with. It's time for a change as this one isn't working for me any more.

Well there you have it, the attraction should be closed immediately as it doesn't work for you anymore...

While not perfect, the TCM narration is at least consistent and audible. Even though it's cheesy, I don't think the CM guide could be taken away because let's be honest, that would have been done long ago if so. I suspect management is already looking forward to the significant savings in CM labor replacing GMR will provide, and probably a reason they're not building it elsewhere in the park.

 

[38053WDW]

As with others, with the name change coming I just don't see this "park" being anything to do with Hollywood/MGM "per se" anymore.. Water tower gone/ back lot gone / stunt show gone ... TCM was bound to be next .. Sad but ...

 

[Bocabear]

As with others, with the name change coming I just don't see this "park" being anything to do with Hollywood/MGM "per se" anymore.. Water tower gone/ back lot gone / stunt show gone ... TCM was bound to be next .. Sad but ...

I guess they will do what they did with Paris... Name it Disney Studios, no references to classic movies or movie making, just a celebration of Disney IP movies...and that is that... Mickey Mouse ride will replace TGMR, Star Wars will fill in the "Movie making" portion of the park along with the incredibly lame Toy Story Land area...and that is that. I imagine "Hollywood" will be leaving the neame of the park as well... and eventually they will probably find a reason to get rid of Sunset BLVD and retheme both attractions there as well...

 

[wdwfan22]

Well there you have it, the attraction should be closed immediately as it doesn't work for you anymore... .

Well I am entitled to my opinion it is a discussion board after all

 

[Biff215]

Well I am entitled to my opinion it is a discussion board after all

Didn't say you weren't, it's just the way you said it that comes across bad IMO. There are plenty of attractions that might not "work for me anymore", but I wouldn't expect Disney to replace those as they might still be serving the majority of other guests well. To me (and many others), GMR is far from the first attraction needing replacing, especially in a park hurting so badly for matte actions right now.

 

[Mawg]

Yes, it's true.

But it should not be at the expense of what it's replacing. GMR should be sympathetically updated. Mickey should be a new build as an added attraction with added capacity.

Only the foolish would think otherwise.

I find it interesting that you say this. You probably know more than anyone on here the new direction of this park. For the rest of us it appears that this park will become nothing more than a collection of IPs. The Great Movie Ride seems like a very studio centric ride. If they were to leave this ride in the center of the park how should it be updated? Should it be a collage attraction of IPs that can be traded out to meet what's classic and what's current? Seems like that could work. I can see the argument that they should be building new instead of replacing and there's no reason not to have both. But, if a theme or ride no longer fits the direction of the park I could see why they would want to replace it. I guess they have not been very good recently at keeping theme so it's probably not a good argument on this is why they are getting rid of it. When this news broke, I figured that they had good reason to replace it. It sounds like you believe this is nothing more than a cost savings measure to get rid of a high employee cost attraction and replace it with a new without having to build new. Do you see any other reason they would want to get rid of it?

Edit: I understand if you can't say what the end goal here is or if you don't know what it is? I'm just wondering if there is another end goal in mind other than cost savings.

 

[marni1971]

The GMR, like Energy, needs a lot of work doing to it. Guest polls have also - apparently - rated it low in various areas. This got notice. Whether a big overhaul and update of the current theme could remedy this I don't know. I'd like to think so. But the company are going in a different direction.

GMR also costs a lot to run and maintain. An LPS ride system isn't cheap, but the overall running and staffing costs would be much less than the GMR.

 

[Horizons '83]

why?

I am assuming because its a IP? I wouldn't really have a problem with it there.

 

[Mike S]

I guess they will do what they did with Paris... Name it Disney Studios, no references to classic movies or movie making, just a celebration of Disney IP movies...and that is that... Mickey Mouse ride will replace TGMR, Star Wars will fill in the "Movie making" portion of the park along with the incredibly lame Toy Story Land area...and that is that. I imagine "Hollywood" will be leaving the neame of the park as well... and eventually they will probably find a reason to get rid of Sunset BLVD and retheme both attractions there as well...

Walt Disney Studios Park FloridaTM

I am assuming because its a IP? I wouldn't really have a problem with it there.

The modern city setting is what would clash with the rest of the park. Avatar is also an IP but imo is a great fit with the parks message.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Yes, it's true.

But it should not be at the expense of what it's replacing. GMR should be sympathetically updated. Mickey should be a new build as an added attraction with added capacity.

Only the foolish would think otherwise.

I'm all for replacing The Great Movie Ride provided additional rides are coming over and above SWL and TSL. Alternatively I would support a real update to the attraction where whole scenes are swapped out, the audio is fixed and the actual ride narrative is changed.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Ive been to Tokyo Disney several times, most recently this spring, and don't see why people who live in America hold it as the gold standard (unless they haven't been there). Disney Sea is amazingly themed but doesn't really have any attractions that are better than we have. Journey to the Center of the earth, while beautiful, is pretty short and not much happens. Its not as good as it looks. Then there's Tower/Indy/Toy Story Mania and soon the be Soarin: all stuff we have here and have done a thousand times (and Tower/Toy Story Mania are lowest capacity versions even though they ALWAYS have long lines which is frustrating as hell). Also their Fantasmic is pretty crappy compared to both American versions. And Raging Spirits is just a clone of that horrible Indiana Jones coaster in Paris.
Tokyo Disneyland park really isn't much different than MK except for Pooh which is better, the Monsters Inc ride which kinda sucks and always has a huge line, and Star Tours which is at DHS.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy TDR and am happy to visit it whenever possible, but to say it's as good as WDW is crazy. WDW has so much more to do, and saying that we got jipped when we are getting Avatar/Star Wars lands, both of which look way better than Frozenland, is kind of ridiculous.

TDR is the entirety of the resort that's done well. Tokyo Disney Sea is a flawless park. It has unique attractions, but I'm not sure I'd trade any of them for the best of WDW or Disneyland. Animal Kingdom is still my favorite park, but Tokyo Disney Sea is a truly amazing place. I think it's more awe inspiring that anything stateside. The layers in that park are absolutely incredible.

 

[RSoxNo1]

What about Pooh's Hunny Hunt?

Pooh's Hunny Hunt is a great attraction, as is Monster's Inc Ride and Go Seek, but they are single attractions. It really is the entirety of these parks that make them great, TDS especially.

One of my wife and my favorite things was actually Aquatopia. It's probably a B ticket attraction, but we had a lot of fun on that.

We struggle to find signs of fatigue/cleanliness issues in Tokyo. The best we could find was faded posters at Toy Story and chipped paint in the Stitch Encounter queue.

Some things that people praise like Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20K, Sindbad, Hunny Hunt, Monster's Inc, Big Band Beat and Tower of Terror are all great but I wouldn't trade any of them for my personal favorite, Kilimanjaro Safaris. I imagine that most WDW and DL fans would feel the same way about their favorite stateside attraction.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I would have agreed with you until TCM took over. They ruined that attraction to the point it's just not worth doing anymore. The narration is horrible along with a guide that looks so out of place trying to compete with the narration. I welcome a new experience.

TCM's narration is worse, but the narration was already awful. The narrative is a detriment to the attraction.

 

[Mike S]

Pooh's Hunny Hunt is a great attraction, as is Monster's Inc Ride and Go Seek, but they are single attractions. It really is the entirety of these parks that make them great, TDS especially.

One of my wife and my favorite things was actually Aquatopia. It's probably a B ticket attraction, but we had a lot of fun on that.

We struggle to find signs of fatigue/cleanliness issues in Tokyo. The best we could find was faded posters at Toy Story and chipped paint in the Stitch Encounter queue.

Some things that people praise like Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20K, Sindbad, Hunny Hunt, Monster's Inc, Big Band Beat and Tower of Terror are all great but I wouldn't trade any of them for my personal favorite, Kilimanjaro Safaris. I imagine that most WDW and DL fans would feel the same way about their favorite stateside attraction.

I wouldn't be surprised if those were fixed in short order and would be long gone by now.

You can skim this thread quickly to see that from when it was posted to my first hand account on the last page nothing was done about this in WDW and it was almost a full month.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/show-keeps-getting-worse.913883/

 

[doctornick]

I am assuming because its a IP? I wouldn't really have a problem with it there.

IMHO the main issue with Zootopia at DAK is that Zootopia is very fictional -- it's animals acting in very non-animal ways. I think any of the anthropomorphic animals (like Robin Hood or Chicken Little) aren't good fits for DAK.* I'd rather see stuff like Bambi, Jungle Book, Fox & the Hound, Lady and the Tramp, etc where the animals are animals, but we just understand them. Zootopia is somewhat incongruous with how nature is celebrated in the park and the urban environment would be an odd contrast to the rest of the park.

Pandora thematically fits the conservation message and is still a depiction of nature, albeit a made up natural environment.

That all said, DAK will need additional expansion for the longer hours and I'd welcome Zootopia if the alternative is nothing. Though live action Jungle Book definitely deserves a ride in Asia as well.

*Yes, Mickey and company also fit this bill. I'm okay with them appearing in minor things like M&G's just because they at the center of the company, but would have the same complain if (say) the Mickey ride talked about in this thread was planned for DAK.

 

[Cesar R M]

I can't say I like the idea of the modern city of Zootopia in DAK. I would think Jungle Book would be a better fit. Where would this go?

The Backlot Tour we can all agree with. GMR being replaced by Mickey isn't the worst thing in the World but the park needs more new rides rather than replacements after BLT. Epcot feels like a lethal injection for a park that used to have an amazing identity all its own.

Suggestion..
move the mickey ride to Epcot..
but has a technology showcase. of how Animation and computer graphics have evolved.
Also include other stuff, like CGI from modern movies vs the old sets/practical effects.

 

[Cesar R M]

Even a fool like Chappie should be able to see the long term sense in building The Great Mickey Ride on one of the park's expansion pads.

These fools also thought my magic and fastpass would somehow prevent the need of getting new attractions.
They are only listening to budget cuts, "efficiency" and "synergy".

 

[Cesar R M]

It's amazing they waited so long to give Ariel a dark ride and then it wasn't even well executed

at least the outside theming is amazing. even if its a monstrously big queue.