The Great Movie Ride (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

This is the original spark for an entire theme park. As EPCOT raced towards completion, Michael Eisner had this idea for an EPCOT pavilion dedicated to the magic of movies. Though the proposed pavilion was eventually cut, the idea lingered in Eisner’s mind – eventually giving rise to an entire theme park dedicated to the magic of movies, Disney Hollywood Studios. At the core of the entire new theme park, however, was going to be one ride where the audience could ride through the most famous movie scenes of all time – The Great Movie Ride.

Housed in a replica of Graumann’s Chinese Theater (True story – the only movie I ever saw in the original Graumann’s Chinese Theater is Raiders of the Lost Ark. I remember walking into the theater carrying a large tub of popcorn and this giant boulder rolled right towards me, shaking the entire theater. GREATEST WAY TO SEE A MOVIE FOR THE FIRST TIME, EVER!) the Great Movie Ride is, quite frankly, great with displaying movies, but not so great as a ride.

First you enter a giant lobby filled with movie memorabilia and with clips from movies playing everywhere. Finally, at the front of the line, you board one ginormous tram and begin your slow moving tour through Hollywood history. The tram takes you past great replicas of fantastic movie scenes – Casablanca, Wizard of Oz, Alien, etc… - all put together with audio-animatronics and Disney magic. At one point you either enter the roaring twenties or a western town and the tour guide switches places with an actor from the movie that you’re in – with the actor taking youse (or y’all, depending) on the rest of the tour. If it sounds hokey, that’s because it is.

The problem with the ride isn’t with what it is. It’s fine the way it is. But it could have been so much better. I was really expecting something closer to a classic dark ride with an omni-mover system that takes you through several dozen great movie scenes. Instead, you get a glacially slow tram and a canned tour. It takes all the glamour out of Hollywood and kills most of the magic of the scenes you’re traveling through.

Still, a bad Disney ride is better than any day at the office. I’d ride the Great Movie Ride a hundred times a day if I could. If you’ve never done this ride, I totally recommend it. If you’ve done it before, and liked it, then I suggest you go back again.

And now for some links:
WDWIG
Laughing Place
MiceAge
Disney Shawn
Youtube
Disney (Official)
Surprise