Great Movie Ride to Close?

[Mrs.Toad]

Thank you for the likes from the other posts. Wayne and Wanda just crack me up. Too silly. Oh, I would love them in HS. Would never happen but it would have been cute with the Old Hollywood theme.

Eh…let us do another one for the heck of it. They are too funny. Hopefully Sam is ready. And poor Wanda...

- Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I'm a bit perturbed that some would advocate the removal of GMR when the rest of the park has a LOT of room to expand. This land should be what is used to build on before repurposing a classic should even be brought into consideration (hell in this case it shouldn't even be brought up in the first place). The entire backlot area along with much of the rest of the park needs to be expanded and repurposed. Not a classic and still popular and loved ride. It's the centerpiece and crown jewel of the park. Any plans or pitches to do away from this ride are unnecessary and unwelcome.

 

[celluloid]

to earlier posts about Its location seems fine. Without the hat the location is equivalent to Cinderella Castle or Fantasyland as far as the focal point at the end of the main stretch.

 

[216bruce]

But are there enough GOOD Star Wars movies to fill a GMR ride. You've got Star Wars (I refuse to call it A New Hope), Empire Strikes Back, and.. uh... let's not talk about the other four.

What? No Ewoks "yub-nub" dancing as a grand finale to a SW Great Movie Ride? It brings a tear to the eye..kidding!

 

[Brian Swan]

unlikely....i could easily see a refurb where they would put a frozen scene in the finale though

catfury - just curious as to where you found your avatar. I'm the one who created that image in PhotoShop, and to the best of my memory (which is admittedly failing me at times), I have not posted it on this board. No problem - actually, I'm honored that you liked it enough to want to use it. Just wondering if it somehow went viral and I didn't know it

 

[Brian Swan]

I enjoy the GMR. I love classic films, and I can say I've seen every one that is highlighted in the ride. My issue is with the fact that the majority of them are MGM and not Disney. This made sense when it was Disney/MGM Studios, but with MGM no longer a partner, it seems a bit out of place. What I would like to see them do is to keep the ride system, but gut the sets and AAs and make it the history of DISNEY films. You could start with a nod to Alice and Oswald, move on to early Mickey and the Silly Symphonies, and then work through a chronology of features and shorts. There's NO shortage of materials. By doing this, they would have a high-capacity ride that would be a draw for both the adult population and the kids - even though the movies are 50-75 years old, kids still recognize Snow White, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo, Bambi, Sorcerer Mickey, etc...

 

[Beholder]

What? No Ewoks "yub-nub" dancing as a grand finale to a SW Great Movie Ride? It brings a tear to the eye..kidding!

Trust me, it would bring tears to my eyes...

 

[Dads 2 Boys]

GMR needs updating...period. Nostalgia is one thing but......if nothing else, add clips to the end that are more recent than a decade ago.

It's the only attraction on the entire property that my 16 & 13 yr old sons negatively commented on. They both get WDW and understand it's not a Six Flags style park but they actually said it was boring and lame. The only thing they said that about (and we do virtually every attraction on property).

 

[Goofyernmost]

Valid point. If they move it, they won't plop it down elsewhere due to its size. But you have to admit the park is hard to navigate and removing the clog could go a long way to solve some problems. Personally, I really enjoy the ride and I don't want to see it going anywhere. But, with everything else they are considering doing, I don't see them holding on to it and the valuable real estate it offers. If you're going to redesign the park, you redesign the park. Except for the area by ToT, RnRC, and Fantasmic, most of the park could be up for debate.

PLUS The Great Movie Ride.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I enjoy the GMR. I love classic films, and I can say I've seen every one that is highlighted in the ride. My issue is with the fact that the majority of them are MGM and not Disney. This made sense when it was Disney/MGM Studios, but with MGM no longer a partner, it seems a bit out of place. What I would like to see them do is to keep the ride system, but gut the sets and AAs and make it the history of DISNEY films. You could start with a nod to Alice and Oswald, move on to early Mickey and the Silly Symphonies, and then work through a chronology of features and shorts. There's NO shortage of materials. By doing this, they would have a high-capacity ride that would be a draw for both the adult population and the kids - even though the movies are 50-75 years old, kids still recognize Snow White, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo, Bambi, Sorcerer Mickey, etc...

Oh, there are all kinds of shortages of "Classic Disney Movies" to put in there. Only fans of Disney think that everything that they ever filmed was a classic. It was not. In order to get more diversity and more chance that people will see something that they either have seen or, at least, heard of, they need to stick with the types of movies that they have already.

I don't think that everything in there is MGM, but, if they are then they deserve that recognition. There are only two that I thought didn't belong there and that was Tarzan and (gulp) Fantasia.

I do agree that it wouldn't hurt to change the ending montage to include some of the movies that made big impressions after the ride was built. With all their equipment I would think that they could knock that out in a half a day and change the loop over night and like Magic (Disney magic, of course) there would be a "cheap", but, needed upgrade.

 

[Matt_Black]

My issue is with the fact that the majority of them are MGM

Incorrect. Only Singin' in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, and Tarzan the Ape-Man are MGM. If you want to say that the Tarzan scene represents ALL of the Tarzan movies, then that might push it to having the most represented, but currently, Warner Bros. has the most films as actual rides scenes, thanks to The Searchers, The Public Enemy, Footlight Parade, and Casablanca. Raiders of the Lost Ark was Paramount, Alien was Fox, and The Man With No Name films (Clint Eastwood) were released in the states by United Artists.

 

[Figaro928]

catfury - just curious as to where you found your avatar. I'm the one who created that image in PhotoShop, and to the best of my memory (which is admittedly failing me at times), I have not posted it on this board. No problem - actually, I'm honored that you liked it enough to want to use it. Just wondering if it somehow went viral and I didn't know it

Saw it on Instagram probably about two weeks ago...even asked the user if i could "borrow" it .

I love it... thanks for the fantastic work and thanks for letting me keep her!

 

[gmajew]

This is a classic ride for this park but if they are changing the them of the park then it needs to be updated or repurposed.

My guess is updated as they need rides and it is a hell of a lot cheaper to redo a show scene then gut the ride... Not all of it needs work... make a few simple changes and the ride is new and fun for a few more years.

 

[Tegan pilots a chicken]

I enjoy the GMR. I love classic films, and I can say I've seen every one that is highlighted in the ride. My issue is with the fact that the majority of them are MGM and not Disney. This made sense when it was Disney/MGM Studios, but with MGM no longer a partner, it seems a bit out of place. What I would like to see them do is to keep the ride system, but gut the sets and AAs and make it the history of DISNEY films. You could start with a nod to Alice and Oswald, move on to early Mickey and the Silly Symphonies, and then work through a chronology of features and shorts. There's NO shortage of materials. By doing this, they would have a high-capacity ride that would be a draw for both the adult population and the kids - even though the movies are 50-75 years old, kids still recognize Snow White, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo, Bambi, Sorcerer Mickey, etc...

My issue with this idea is that it would basically be Fantasyland under one roof in a different park.

 

[Matt_Black]

My issue with this idea is that it would basically be Fantasyland under one roof in a different park.

Yeah. At the very least, if you were going to do it all in company (a foolish notion, in my opinion), at least branch out with films from Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures.

 

[phatcatrun]

Incorrect. Only Singin' in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, and Tarzan the Ape-Man are MGM. If you want to say that the Tarzan scene represents ALL of the Tarzan movies, then that might push it to having the most represented, but currently, Warner Bros. has the most films as actual rides scenes, thanks to The Searchers, The Public Enemy, Footlight Parade, and Casablanca. Raiders of the Lost Ark was Paramount, Alien was Fox, and The Man With No Name films (Clint Eastwood) were released in the states by United Artists.

I'm not sure if anyone knows the answer to this but did Disney pay a one-time licensing fee to use those movies or do they have to renew that every so often? I would think that a decision to update the ride would hinge on what they would have to pay to pay in licensing fees to install a scene from a non-Disney owned movie.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I'm not sure if anyone knows the answer to this but did Disney pay a one-time licensing fee to use those movies or do they have to renew that every so often? I would think that a decision to update the ride would hinge on what they would have to pay to pay in licensing fees to install a scene from a non-Disney owned movie.

I'm not sure about this, so if there is a copyright lawyer present just speak up, but, I think that copyrights have a shelf life. After a certain number of years it becomes public domain and no additional fees are required. Again, I could be wrong about that since, contrary to my own belief, I don't know everything.

 

[marni1971]

a natural pathway back to Pixar Studios, similar to walking through the castle to get to Fantasyland. Just my thoughts...

There already is one. It's just 50ft to the right. No need for anything more even for the most stupid guest.

 

[marni1971]

I'm not sure if anyone knows the answer to this but did Disney pay a one-time licensing fee to use those movies or do they have to renew that every so often? I would think that a decision to update the ride would hinge on what they would have to pay to pay in licensing fees to install a scene from a non-Disney owned movie.

They walked away with the rights.

Aside from Bond which was MGM/UA and would need a separate licence.

 

[dreynolds1982]

Just to update on this, I heard from a reliable source (I know people say that a lot, but trust me when I say this is about as reliable as it gets) on GMR. They said, and I quote, "don't get too attached to GMR." They also advised me to "get your last rides in on it while you still can." They wouldn't provide me any more details than that as far as does this mean a complete tear down, a repurposing, retheming, etc. or any more details regarding time frame.

I will say, this is not surprising. Disney made the licensing deal with MGM originally because they didn't feel that they had the cinema library at the time to compete with Universal, but wanted to open a studios park none-the-less. Nearly all of the IPs in GMR are part of that original agreement, which is being phased out as Disney has the IPs themselves now and doesn't need the MGM ones.

My guess, and this is ONLY a guess, is that they use this space to expand the Pixar mini-land, which is located directly behind GMR. Again, that is only a guess.