Remembering The Great Movie Ride

Last month marked one year since we said goodbye to a classic. On August 13, 2017, The Great Movie Ride in Disney’s Hollywood Studios had its final curtain call. It was an OG ride, there on opening day – May 1, 1989 – and was the centerpiece for Disney MGM Studios. Yeah, I still call it MGM from time to time, and my kids even know it as MGM. Come at me.

We were there that day. No, no, not opening day. On August 13th, pay attention!

It was hot – the type of hot that makes you wonder why Florida doesn’t always permanently smell like beef jerky (thanks for that one, Ve6a5) – but it was a beautiful day. The skies were a crystal blue with a lonely cloud seldomly wandering about. And being someone who is always taking pictures at Disney, that’s noticeable because it’s almost always cloudy. Anyway, it was the last weekend or so before the kids went back to school, so if you have been paying attention here recently, you’d know that was staycation time. We were staying in Disney’s Pop Century Resort, which is considered to be one of their value resorts, but still, really nice to get away to something Disney. We planned it out to stay there that weekend for the sole purpose of being closer to the parks so we can wake up at the crack of dawn and experience The Great Movie Ride one last time.

It was a ride we always tried to ride when we visited. Yeah most of the time it was a 22 minute long escape from the hazardous environment we call Florida, but still, that wasn’t the only reason. We always loved the ride. Always enjoyed it for what it was – a trip through the movies.

Something about it all was great to experience. The audio-animatronics mixed with the amazingly cheezy, so-bad-you-want-to-look-away-but-can’t-because-it’s-so-good real-life actors, along with Robert Osborne’s soothing voice narrating everything. It was a ride that seemed boring to some, but it was oh so magical.

The kids always enjoyed it too. 

When the youngest was in pre-k and I was walking him into school, he would always stop at a light pole in the parking lot and twirl around it singing “I singing in the raaaaaain.” It took us a while to realize he was mimicking the ride.

For some reason the oldest liked the Alien part as we strolled through the corridors of the spaceship. The Xenomorph jumping down from the ceiling always spooked me as a kid so no idea why he dug it. Freaking kids and their extreme likes.

Me, I was always partial to the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy and Sallah were excavating the Ark. It was such an iconic scene, and being able to ride through the snake infested Well of Souls always made me giddy as an Indiana Jones fan.

The wife, of course, enjoyed the Wizard of Oz scene in the Munchkinland where the Wicked Witch of the West appears and confronts the riders. Just thinking about this all makes me sad all over again that it is gone forever.

I mean, movies are a part of life. You may know people who are all like “Naaaaah, I don’t like movies.” Or my favorite, “I don’t watch T.V. so I don’t have a favorite movie.” Listen, I’m not here to call you on your BS, it’s already obvious. I will say though that everyone has a favorite movie. Even those anti-T.V. watching hipsters.

At one point in our lives we’ve all seen at least one movie that inspired us and made something happen inside. It moved us, touched us, made us feel, or dream, or give us the will to fight for something.

Made us see the world in a completely different light.

Movies can do that. And I feel like that’s what The Great Movie Ride was all about.

Taking us on a ride through so many memorable scenes that shaped and molded Hollywood and the way we see movies today.

I’m no snob, I don’t go to film festivals and scoff at a summer blockbuster just because it wasn’t filmed by my favorite indie director and his one, solitary vintage camera. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate films for their worth.

I have a lot of favorite movies, there ain’t no way I can ever pick just one. If you want a general idea though, go peek at my About Me page and you’ll see some of my favorite quotes littered through there.

I could sit and talk about movies for hours. And I think that’s why I loved this ride so much. Not for the air conditioning, that was always just a plus. But because of my love for movies and what they can do to you. To shape who you are and define you.

At the conclusion of the ride, we were greeted by Robert Osborn again. And he introduces a montage of many different films from many eras. It opens perfectly with Charlie Chaplin and continues with clips from dozens of classics ranging from Casablanca to Disney’s own animated films. It’s something I was hoping to record because I always loved watching it thanks to the feels it gave me. Especially Robin Williams’ “Goood moooooorning, Vietnam!” which in itself is enough to get me teary. Go ahead, check it out for yourself (on my spiffy new YouTube channel that I just created for the blog!).

And if you’re curious, I found this video for The Great Movie Ride’s last ride ever. Inside the Magic on YouTube was there and put together this vid. It’s not the ride in its entirety, but the quality is great and you get to see the emotion of the crowd and crew and it’s just sweet to watch. Check out Inside the Magic’s site as well, they have a ton of cool theme park stuff for you to dig into. Enjoy.

So goodbye, The Great Movie Ride. All I have of you now are memories, and a cup of you. Oh the cup! And the rest of the pictures! Here, have some more pictures. Various shots from inside the ride, the queue, which by the way was about 4+ hours long the entire day. We got there when they opened the park and good thing too because it was absolute madness the whole day. It’s like everyone came out to show how much they loved it when it was too late :(. Anyway, here are a bunch of pics.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So here we are. All sad again, remembering the good ol’ days. But hey, at least my kids got to ride it and experience it and actually enjoy it numerous times. What will be replacing it is Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, it’s the first Mickey-themed ride-through attraction. Truth be told, I’m rather fond of the Mickey Shorts the new ride will be based on and I’m very much so looking forward to what they do, despite my love for the original inhabitant of Disney’s replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. It’s the way life is for rides. Theme park attractions will always come and go. But there are some that will always linger with you and you can only hope the memory of them will stay with you forever. The Great Movie Ride was one of those rides.

…See you in the movies.