TCM teams up with Disney to refresh Great Movie Ride

Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
WildernessLodge said:
its a cute ride but it would be nice if they really changed it up
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While it could use some upgrading to better Animatronics, at least in the front half, it is still a good ride and the movies are meant to be sort of a tribute to the films from way back when. I did notice this week that they have actually changed the ride speed just a little. They have stopped in more spots. For example, Casablanca has always been a drive by. You could hear a few words from the movie and you were gone. This time they actually stopped in front of it so you could hear all the dialog. They did the same thing with a couple of other ones as well, like Alien. Made it much more interesting, I thought.

I know that it is fashionable to think that Disney should just tear out things and replace them whenever a group of folks get tired of a scene, but, even though Disney is about Fantasy, thinking that this would be workable on a steady basis is as much Fantasy as anyone could possible have.
 
Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
While it could use some upgrading to better Animatronics, at least in the front half, it is still a good ride and the movies are meant to be sort of a tribute to the films from way back when. I did notice this week that they have actually changed the ride speed just a little. They have stopped in more spots. For example, Casablanca has always been a drive by. You could hear a few words from the movie and you were gone. This time they actually stopped in front of it so you could hear all the dialog. They did the same thing with a couple of other ones as well, like Alien. Made it much more interesting, I thought.
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It depends on the timing of the other trams through the ride and whether you're in the first or second set of cars.

The vehicle speed is controlled entirely by the on-board CM. The lever at the driver's seat has multiple positions to set what speed the tram goes. The only time the ride itself stops the vehicle is when the car is approaching one of the show stop points (Load, Gangster/Bandit, Annubis, Oz, Finale). No matter what speed the tram is set for, it'll slow down and stop at its pre-determined location so that the battery charging plates line up.

Along the route there are red/green indicators at floor level that work just like a train signaling system. A driver is only supposed to continue if they have a green light. (I'm not sure if the car would e-stop like a monorail would if it runs through a red light, though) So if there's a delay at Load, the vehicles behind them can't leave the Finale room, the vehicles behind *them* can't leave Oz, and so forth. A major delay in any one spot quickly backs up the entire system. Since the block before Oz is the Casablanca scene, a tram can't leave Casablanca and proceed to Sorcerer's Apprentice until Oz is clear.

Now, there's also the matter of the front and rear trams going at different speeds through different parts of the attraction to allow for them to each see their Gangster/Bandit scenes by themselves, as well as reunite their tram drivers in the Annubis scene without the other tram seeing it. So the front tram will drive normal speed through to Bandit, while the rear tram goes a little slower to allow them to get ahead and then they see Gangster. After the Bandit tram reunites with their driver at Annubis, they cruise into Tarzan and then slow to a crawl through Tarzan and Casablanca to allow the Gangster tram to catch up. Meanwhile, the Gangster tram slows to a crawl in Alien until it's clear to leave Alien and proceed to Annubis. It then reunites with the front tram so that they're both cruising into Oz one right after the other. So if you're in the Bandit tram, you see a LOT of Tarzan and more of Casablanca than the Gangster tram does. If you're in Gangster you hear more Alien alarm horns.

It's a very complex choreographed system that's quite like a mechanical ballet, really.

-Rob
 
DisneyGentleman

DisneyGentleman

Well-Known Member
WondersOfLife said:
That honestly goes for Spaceship Earth as well! Even in its current state. It's still remarkable.

You'd think by now, it'd be a planetarium. Because in the background.. Disney's going..

"Bruh.. There's this massive ball dark ride in Epcot.. I thought we were done with that? Let's just go ahead and put a giant screen in there.."
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It would never be something quite so esoteric as a planetarium.

It would be more like "Folks think it's a giant golf ball, so let's make it a driving range".
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Rob562 said:
It depends on the timing of the other trams through the ride and whether you're in the first or second set of cars.

The vehicle speed is controlled entirely by the on-board CM. The lever at the driver's seat has multiple positions to set what speed the tram goes. The only time the ride itself stops the vehicle is when the car is approaching one of the show stop points (Load, Gangster/Bandit, Annubis, Oz, Finale). No matter what speed the tram is set for, it'll slow down and stop at its pre-determined location so that the battery charging plates line up.

Along the route there are red/green indicators at floor level that work just like a train signaling system. A driver is only supposed to continue if they have a green light. (I'm not sure if the car would e-stop like a monorail would if it runs through a red light, though) So if there's a delay at Load, the vehicles behind them can't leave the Finale room, the vehicles behind *them* can't leave Oz, and so forth. A major delay in any one spot quickly backs up the entire system. Since the block before Oz is the Casablanca scene, a tram can't leave Casablanca and proceed to Sorcerer's Apprentice until Oz is clear.

Now, there's also the matter of the front and rear trams going at different speeds through different parts of the attraction to allow for them to each see their Gangster/Bandit scenes by themselves, as well as reunite their tram drivers in the Annubis scene without the other tram seeing it. So the front tram will drive normal speed through to Bandit, while the rear tram goes a little slower to allow them to get ahead and then they see Gangster. After the Bandit tram reunites with their driver at Annubis, they cruise into Tarzan and then slow to a crawl through Tarzan and Casablanca to allow the Gangster tram to catch up. Meanwhile, the Gangster tram slows to a crawl in Alien until it's clear to leave Alien and proceed to Annubis. It then reunites with the front tram so that they're both cruising into Oz one right after the other. So if you're in the Bandit tram, you see a LOT of Tarzan and more of Casablanca than the Gangster tram does. If you're in Gangster you hear more Alien alarm horns.

It's a very complex choreographed system that's quite like a mechanical ballet, really.

-Rob
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Yes, I agree with what you said and I was in the first tram (with the western stop) but I have been in that one many times and never remember it stopping at other scenes. This was new and, as you say, is a choreographed show. Whatever the reason it was a noticeable change for me and if that is what it is supposed to be like then it is a good show.
 
rct247

rct247

Well-Known Member
Not sure if anyone else has posted this but a little birdie suggested to me that the ride would be refurbished while continuing to operate. From what I gathered, it could mean that some scenes could be covered one at a time for refurbishment but they wouldn't shut down the ride because the park can't afford to lose another attraction.

Anyone else heard this or more?
 
SnarkyMonkey

SnarkyMonkey

Well-Known Member
rct247 said:
Not sure if anyone else has posted this but a little birdie suggested to me that the ride would be refurbished while continuing to operate. From what I gathered, it could mean that some scenes could be covered one at a time for refurbishment but they wouldn't shut down the ride because the park can't afford to lose another attraction.

Anyone else heard this or more?
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I hadn't heard this but it makes sense.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
rct247 said:
Not sure if anyone else has posted this but a little birdie suggested to me that the ride would be refurbished while continuing to operate. From what I gathered, it could mean that some scenes could be covered one at a time for refurbishment but they wouldn't shut down the ride because the park can't afford to lose another attraction.

Anyone else heard this or more?
Click to expand...

So far the only thing we know for sure is that the pre and post show would be getting updated and this would be easy to do without having to close the ride.
 

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