Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway confirmed

[britain]

Or maybe the topic didn't speak to you....

I don't know how anyone can downplay the oz room... that was awesome

Everything great in the ride, even Oz, suffered from a poor calculation of scale. Everything was too small. I was expecting a Pirates or a Mansion.

Here’s a thought experiment: imagine traveling through Pirates or Mansion with all the animatronics removed. It would be obvious that something wasn’t right, but the spaces would still tease and play with your imagination. Now imagine the GMR without its animatronics. Other than the Alien/Raiders corridor, you never feel taken away to some other place.

I guess ultimately this is because the GMR was at its heart a celebrity wax museum, not really an adventure in the traditional Disney sense.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Everything great in the ride, even Oz, suffered from a poor calculation of scale. Everything was too small. I was expecting a Pirates or a Mansion.

Here’s a thought experiment: imagine traveling through Pirates or Mansion with all the animatronics removed. It would be obvious that something wasn’t right, but the spaces would still tease and play with your imagination. Now imagine the GMR without its animatronics. Other than the Alien/Raiders corridor, you never feel taken away to some other place.

I guess ultimately this is because the GMR was at its heart a celebrity wax museum, not really an adventure in the traditional Disney sense.

I think it may have just not been up your alley. I disagree with you assessment but that no longer matters.

I still think MMRR will be a wonderful ride, anyway.

 

[sedati]

I think the fundamental problem with Great Movie Ride was that it necessitated a level of animatronic that may not even yet be possible. Animatronics have come a long way and while the motions have become unnervingly realistic, the faces and acting still isn't there yet, at least when there is a recognizable face and performance to compare them to. The Wicked Witch and Jack Sparrow are exceptions, but I think this is due to how heavily made up those characters are. The Great Movie Ride really just gave us well crafted waxworks with minimal movement and little performance. While an upgrade would have had better and newer tech to play with, I think this would have landed us right in the uncanny valley and taken us from dated to disturbing.
Where characters like Tokyo Belle, the Seven Dwarves, and the Navi Shaman really wow us with what's possible, I think trying to recreate known actors would have the opposite effect and showcase how far behind we still are.
Anyway, just my thoughts. I loved the ride, especially my first time where I thought the twist with the driver switch and switchback was immensely clever. But I'd put this with World of Motion- I'm not really sad that I won't get to ride again. Looking forward to Mickey, and take the cloning of this as a great sign of confidence (they never did clone Great Movie Ride, but there were proposals. And come to think of it, outside of Magic Journeys and the circlevision films, did anything from EPCOT Center ever get reproduced?)

 

[The Empress Lilly]

If a refurb was all GMR needed, it needed it on day one.

Sorry, but I went on GMR within a year of its opening, and it was only okay. It was no Horizons, Energy, Spaceship Earth, Imagination, or World of Motion. Of all the 10 min+ AA-extravaganzas Disney ever built, GMR was probably lowest ranking of them.

I almost tend to agree....

Since closing, the GMR has been elevated into the pantheon of great Disney rides. But to be honest it never quite reached the dizzying heights of Mansion, Pirates and the EPCOT rides. It is simply difficult to engross your audience emotionally with different subjects every scene. SSE manages, but by maintaining the same tonality throughout, unlike GMR.

Having said that, for me the GMR was very much an acquired taste. I appreciated it more every time. I even, with the exception of the non-working fountain girls scene and the too large narration part of Osborne, thought the ride in its last reincarnation fit to last for years to come.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Everything great in the ride, even Oz, suffered from a poor calculation of scale. Everything was too small. I was expecting a Pirates or a Mansion.

Here’s a thought experiment: imagine traveling through Pirates or Mansion with all the animatronics removed. It would be obvious that something wasn’t right, but the spaces would still tease and play with your imagination. Now imagine the GMR without its animatronics. Other than the Alien/Raiders corridor, you never feel taken away to some other place.

I guess ultimately this is because the GMR was at its heart a celebrity wax museum, not really an adventure in the traditional Disney sense.

I do tend to disagree on TGMR's flaws...

I was transported by many scenes. Gangster Alley, Western too on the occasions where that was where the host got kidnapped. Oz as well. My favourite, Casablanca too. Even if that scene's weird curtain never was a good substitute for a fog effect. For one, it places a barrier between the rider and the show scene, thus by default making it impossible to be a part of it. Then again, it added a whiff of untouchability, a serendipitous perfect complement to the sad melancholy and distant nostalgic glamour of the movie and the parting scene at the plane.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Now imagine the GMR without its animatronics. Other than the Alien/Raiders corridor, you never feel taken away to some other place.

I always viewed it not that you were in Oz, but more that you were on that movie set. That sort of thing. It didn’t feel lacking to me — except when it fell into disrepair.

While I’m looking forward to this new attraction, our family will miss TGMR.

 

[flynnibus]

Here’s a thought experiment: imagine traveling through Pirates or Mansion with all the animatronics removed. It would be obvious that something wasn’t right, but the spaces would still tease and play with your imagination. Now imagine the GMR without its animatronics. Other than the Alien/Raiders corridor, you never feel taken away to some other place.

Couldn’t disagree more...

Munchkin land was taking you into the film...
The Casablanca scene was iconic (ignore the scrims)
The mob scene and western sets played their movie role just fine...
And the rooftop took you right into that Mary poppins number

I still argue the issue with the attraction was it was targeted at a dying breed. Once we got to the films of the nineties... no one cared about the old milestones and the golden age of Hollywood. Anyone born after 1980 barely knew what most of the film’s were... let alone be moved by celebrating their accomplishments

 

[Jones14]

And the rooftop took you right into that Mary poppins number

See, this was actually one of my biggest issues with the ride. Many of the scenes (Poppins being the most egregious in my opinion, followed by Oz) directed your gaze upwards, whereupon you’re greeted by wooden scaffolding and stage lights.

I get that they were going for a step in the film itself, a step in the process of making them feeling, but the ride continuously sent conflicting messages on how we were supposed to interpret what was happening. The Alien set makes you feel like you’re *in* the movie, with fully realized sets and effects, but Oz is very clearly in a soundstage setting, implying that you’re on the set of a movie. Even the dialogue struggled to determine whether we were going into the movies or seeing them being filmed.

Perhaps that worked for some people, but I always left feeling a little cold, because unlike exploring a haunted manor or escaping some pirates, I kind of escaped an alien and saw Indiana Jones, but possibly only witnessed the filming of those movies, or maybe just went on a tour of a wax museum.

I’m not so sure the ride ever really knew what it was, and maybe meta’s just not my thing, but to me it shares too much DNA with things like Mission: Breakout. I’ll miss it because of nostalgia and the capacity it gave the park, but on reflection, it was always something to do in the park rather than something to look forward to.

 

[FigmentForver96]

GMR earned its rank among the many great classics of yesterday. It’s right up there with Horizons, Imagination and WOM. It was unique and different and something that you will probably never see again.

 

[sedati]

Anyone remember the old rumored replacement for the Great Movie Ride that would have had characters jumping out of movie posters and battling- such as Darth Vader vs Indiana Jones via the cave technology?

 

[The Empress Lilly]

GMR earned its rank among the many great classics of yesterday. It’s right up there with Horizons, Imagination and WOM. It was unique and different and something that you will probably never see again.

GMR should've been untouchable, that's for sure.

It had meaning beyond the ride experience itself. All of the front half of the park culminates in the ride, communicates with it. GMR is where you see the Hollywoodland sign, where you hear 'Hurray for Hollywood', where you see the movie stars, where they put up the show, where you see a cinema, where it all comes alive. DHS feels orphaned now, incomplete. Something essential is lost.

Then again, Disney no longer wants you to think of Clint Eastwood, but exclusively of Buzz Lightyear. Replacing 'Hollywood' for 'The Mouse' feels like a conscious act.

 

[DinoInstitute]

The Casablanca scene was iconic (ignore the scrims)

The problem is, you can’t just ignore the scrims, because that was a big part of the show scene for some reason. That’s the thing about the GMR, a lot of the scenes weren’t immersive. This didn’t really bother me, I still loved the ride, but I could see how someone who didn’t “get it” would find it unimpressive.

See, this was actually one of my biggest issues with the ride. Many of the scenes (Poppins being the most egregious in my opinion, followed by Oz) directed your gaze upwards, whereupon you’re greeted by wooden scaffolding and stage lights.

I get that they were going for a step in the film itself, a step in the process of making them feeling, but the ride continuously sent conflicting messages on how we were supposed to interpret what was happening. The Alien set makes you feel like you’re *in* the movie, with fully realized sets and effects, but Oz is very clearly in a soundstage setting, implying that you’re on the set of a movie. Even the dialogue struggled to determine whether we were going into the movies or seeing them being filmed.

Perhaps that worked for some people, but I always left feeling a little cold, because unlike exploring a haunted manor or escaping some pirates, I kind of escaped an alien and saw Indiana Jones, but possibly only witnessed the filming of those movies, or maybe just went on a tour of a wax museum.

I’m not so sure the ride ever really knew what it was, and maybe meta’s just not my thing, but to me it shares too much DNA with things like Mission: Breakout. I’ll miss it because of nostalgia and the capacity it gave the park, but on reflection, it was always something to do in the park rather than something to look forward to.

I agree that this was a bit weird. I actually preferred when the 2015 refurb made the sets look a bit more movie-set-esque, but that was only to solve a worse problem with the ceilings taking you out of it. Unlike GMR, Pirates or Mansion for example had a lot of dark scenes so having just a plain black ceiling was fine, but I always found it really awkward when the show scene just ended with the black ceiling. Making it so that it feels more like you’re in a movie set helped for me, but that kind of muddled the story that you’re being literally transported to the world the movie created.

Now, GMR wasn’t an easy concept to pull off and they did a good job all in all. It still never should have been replaced, if for no other reason than the park’s already poor capacity. That said, if MMRR is as great as rumored, then I probably won’t miss GMR too much.

 

[flynnibus]

The problem is, you can’t just ignore the scrims, because that was a big part of the show scene for some reason

It provided the reveal... and also the backlit shadow look for the scene. It wasn't intended to be bright, visible and garish.. it was reminiscent of the dark and stormy night in B&W the scene was re-creating. The alternate presentation was used to keep the tone and feel.. instead of putting it under bright lights which wouldn't feel the same at all.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Here's looking at you, GMR

 

[marni1971]

It provided the reveal... and also the backlit shadow look for the scene. It wasn't intended to be bright, visible and garish.. it was reminiscent of the dark and stormy night in B&W the scene was re-creating. The alternate presentation was used to keep the tone and feel.. instead of putting it under bright lights which wouldn't feel the same at all.

This. The scrim was a viable way to introduce a permanent mist effect.

 

[marni1971]

The Alien set makes you feel like you’re *in* the movie, with fully realized sets and effects, but Oz is very clearly in a soundstage setting, implying that you’re on the set of a movie..

Which is true to how film sets are made. Some are designed to be shot from any angle. Some not. It’s the same today.

 

[Jones14]

Which is true to how film sets are made. Some are designed to be shot from any angle. Some not. It’s the same today.

I don’t doubt that, but for me it confused the narrative. Granted, I’m not the arbiter of what works and what doesn’t, but I wish that if they were gonna do exposed ceilings that they at least made more of an effort to keep us from looking at them.

 

[marni1971]

I don’t doubt that, but for me it confused the narrative. Granted, I’m not the arbiter of what works and what doesn’t, but I wish that if they were gonna do exposed ceilings that they at least made more of an effort to keep us from looking at them.

Must be me since I’m used to working in that environment. The stage was set (no pun intended) at load with its mix of sets and visible ceiling. This trend continued through the ride, although in areas like the Alien corridor the set is too long and the walls would be too short not to bave a ceiling.

 

[Jones14]

Must be me since I’m used to working in that environment. The stage was set (no pun intended) at load with its mix of sets and visible ceiling. This trend continued through the ride, although in areas like the Alien corridor the set is too long and the walls would be too short not to bave a ceiling.

I agree on the set-up at load, but I would argue that in most cases they did attempt to disguise the behind the scenes aspects. Singin’ In the Rain and Footlight Parade hid the lighting rigs, with dark ceilings partially obscured by set-pieces, the gangster sequence the same, Alien and Indiana with themed ceilings, and so on.

If they were going to show us Mary Poppins being filmed, show us the camera equipment with the director and the lighting rigs. If we’re going into Mary Poppins itself, give us a fading London skyline. The scenes where they tried to have it both ways were the ones that fell the most flat for me, especially since they were randomly scattered amongst fully-realized environments.

 

[marni1971]

I agree on the set-up at load, but I would argue that in most cases they did attempt to disguise the behind the scenes aspects. Singin’ In the Rain and Footlight Parade hid the lighting rigs, with dark ceilings partially obscured by set-pieces, the gangster sequence the same, Alien and Indiana with themed ceilings, and so on.

If they were going to show us Mary Poppins being filmed, show us the camera equipment with the director and the lighting rigs. If we’re going into Mary Poppins itself, give us a fading London skyline. The scenes where they tried to have it both ways were the ones that fell the most flat for me, especially since they were randomly scattered amongst fully-realized environments.

Fair enough.