Great Movie Ride closes for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway

[bookgirl2632]

I'm just seeing this. Have there been any firm dates mentioned for this ride closure? We're going in late September/early October, so I'm hoping we get to ride it one last time.

 

[Madonna3]

Hubby and I rode this 2 weeks ago since we knew it wouldn't be around for long. We also wanted to remind ourselves on our opinion of it. We both agree it's a very well done ride. We also noticed that a lot of people seemed very bored. I always get roasted when I say this stuff, but it's not relevant to younger generations. Our 15 year old only knew about the Indiana Jones movies. He's never seen a lot of the movies that were portrayed in this ride. As the demographics change so must the entertainment, imo. Disney has to appeal to its audience.

 

[rteetz]

Hubby and I rode this 2 weeks ago since we knew it wouldn't be around for long. We also wanted to remind ourselves on our opinion of it. We both agree it's a very well done ride. We also noticed that a lot of people seemed very bored. I always get roasted when I say this stuff, but it's not relevant to younger generations. Our 15 year old only knew about the Indiana Jones movies. He's never seen a lot of the movies that were portrayed in this ride. As the demographics change so must the entertainment, imo. Disney has to appeal to its audience.

Yeah I wish they would just update it rather than get rid of it. Leave a couple scenes but change our others.

 

[Madonna3]

Yeah I wish they would just update it rather than get rid of it. Leave a couple scenes but change our others.

Oh, that's not what they're doing?

ETA: for some reason I thought they were just going to redo it. I don't know where I got that from. Maybe because like you, I wish they'd do that.

I think it would be sorta cool to end the stunt show and put in the Indiana Jones ride.

 

[rteetz]

Oh, that's not what they're doing?

ETA: for some reason I thought they were just going to redo it. I don't know where I got that from. Maybe because like you, I wish they'd do that.

I think it would be sorta cool to end the stunt show and put in the Indiana Jones ride.

No if GMR closes it will close for good for something new and different.

 

[Trimmie]

Hubby and I rode this 2 weeks ago since we knew it wouldn't be around for long. We also wanted to remind ourselves on our opinion of it. We both agree it's a very well done ride. We also noticed that a lot of people seemed very bored. I always get roasted when I say this stuff, but it's not relevant to younger generations. Our 15 year old only knew about the Indiana Jones movies. He's never seen a lot of the movies that were portrayed in this ride. As the demographics change so must the entertainment, imo. Disney has to appeal to its audience.

I hope this doesn't sound like roasting b/c that's not my intent. Just wanted to mention that most kids haven't seen these movies if they weren't exposed to them at home, so naturally those kids are gonna be bored during this ride. Doesn't mean we have to tailor Disney to only their exposure and interests (not that that is what you are implying). I agree, though, as demographics change so must the entertainment be expanded to include them but not at the expense of forgetting other demographic groups that appreciate the older classic rides at Disney, like this one.

My DD is 14 and has had a love for older movies (and new ones too) since she was little b/c she was exposed to it... Wizard of Oz, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, White Christmas, ET, Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the original Parent Trap, etc. My husband even got her to watch Dirty Harry for the first time a few weeks ago and at the start she thought it was lame and then she ended up really liking the movie and Clint Eastwood's character, lol.

I guess it's just like I mentioned earlier, classic movies are just like classic books, they are classics for a reason. It's neat when my DD reads a classic book in her honors Language Arts class and we can share our thoughts with each other on it. Same with the movies... It's cool to see her take on a movie I loved as a kid and as I got older. It's a way to bring the generations a little closer together.

As I also mentioned earlier, I hope the new ride will have staying power and become a new classic with new technology but sad to see TGMR go instead of being updated a bit to include newer classics.

 

[Trimmie]

Oh, that's not what they're doing?

ETA: for some reason I thought they were just going to redo it. I don't know where I got that from. Maybe because like you, I wish they'd do that.

I think it would be sorta cool to end the stunt show and put in the Indiana Jones ride.

Yeah, I wish they would redo it too.

Also, I agree, an Indiana Jones ride would be a cool idea. For some reason, I never got into the stunt show much.

 

[Madonna3]

I hope this doesn't sound like roasting b/c that's not my intent. Just wanted to mention that most kids haven't seen these movies if they weren't exposed to them at home, so naturally those kids are gonna be bored during this ride. Doesn't mean we have to tailor Disney to only their exposure and interests (not that that is what you are implying). I agree, though, as demographics change so must the entertainment be expanded to include them but not at the expense of forgetting other demographic groups that appreciate the older classic rides at Disney, like this one.

My DD is 14 and has had a love for older movies (and new ones too) since she was little b/c she was exposed to it... Wizard of Oz, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, White Christmas, ET, Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the original Parent Trap, etc. My husband even got her to watch Dirty Harry for the first time a few weeks ago and at the start she thought it was lame and then she ended up really liking the movie and Clint Eastwood's character, lol.

I guess it's just like I mentioned earlier, classic movies are just like classic books, they are classics for a reason. It's neat when my DD reads a classic book in her honors Language Arts class and we can share our thoughts with each other on it. Same with the movies... It's cool to see her take on a movie I loved as a kid and as I got older. It's a way to bring the generations a little closer together.

As I also mentioned earlier, I hope the new ride will have staying power and become a new classic with new technology but sad to see TGMR go instead of being updated a bit to include newer classics.

Absolutely, I think they could have appeased all demographic markets by doing just that.

 

[Trimmie]

^ I'm glad you didn't think I was roasting you. Sometimes the written word comes out wrong, so that's why I put some happy emojis in my post.

 

[Phicinfan]

I too am a huge fan of GMR, the only one in my family. I have rode it each time we went to WDW.

That being said, I am really excited for this new ride.

Per Magicfeather at WDWMagic.com:

Hmm... LPS, Preshow rooms, queue extension will be needed, load is in load, this is the Cousin of Alcatraz, a happy balance of screen and set... Yeah, I think that is all I can give away at the moment... Oh right, you get animatronics!

So new ride system with perks!!!

 

[PuppyJonathan]

My whole family lives this ride. I do too but I understand wholeheartedly that it's time for it to go. It's an amazing concept and really helped me get into classic Hollywood but it never adapted with the park as it grew. It should've been like spaceship earth where every couple of years it got a new scene in addition to the updated finale film. I also think the tour guides should've been allowed to improvise but can't help but think this would've went badly. It's going to be missed by me that's for sure, but I'm a tad too excited for the replacement

 

[smiths02]

I hope this doesn't sound like roasting b/c that's not my intent. Just wanted to mention that most kids haven't seen these movies if they weren't exposed to them at home, so naturally those kids are gonna be bored during this ride. Doesn't mean we have to tailor Disney to only their exposure and interests (not that that is what you are implying). I agree, though, as demographics change so must the entertainment be expanded to include them but not at the expense of forgetting other demographic groups that appreciate the older classic rides at Disney, like this one.

My DD is 14 and has had a love for older movies (and new ones too) since she was little b/c she was exposed to it... Wizard of Oz, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, White Christmas, ET, Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the original Parent Trap, etc. My husband even got her to watch Dirty Harry for the first time a few weeks ago and at the start she thought it was lame and then she ended up really liking the movie and Clint Eastwood's character, lol.

I guess it's just like I mentioned earlier, classic movies are just like classic books, they are classics for a reason. It's neat when my DD reads a classic book in her honors Language Arts class and we can share our thoughts with each other on it. Same with the movies... It's cool to see her take on a movie I loved as a kid and as I got older. It's a way to bring the generations a little closer together.

As I also mentioned earlier, I hope the new ride will have staying power and become a new classic with new technology but sad to see TGMR go instead of being updated a bit to include newer classics.

I understand what you are saying about exposure, but exposure to old movies is harder nowadays. I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. We had cable sometimes, we eventually had a VHS player.
Anyhow, my point is that if we wanted to watch something, we either saw it in the theater, waited for it to come on tv, or maybe went to the video store to rent (as I got a little older). Some of us had video game systems and eventually PCs, but many of us did not have those as options all the time. I watched a lot of reruns. I know when my mom was younger (60s and 70s), they would even re-release movies often in the theater.

My kids, though, when they want to watch something or are allowed to watch something...have infinite choices on demand. Not to mention all the good shows and movies that have come out in the last 20 years. And not to mention the things the apps, video games, videos that aren't movies, etc. that they can watch (I mean how can Wizard of Oz compete with watching some guy play Minecraft or a lady opening Easter eggs on YouTube? lol).

Anyhow, long story shorter, I can see how people under say 30 might not be as interested in the classics, and I think it is more of a whole cultural/technological shift than just exposure.

 

[fdefulvio]

"I mean how can Wizard of Oz compete with watching some guy play Minecraft or a lady opening Easter eggs on YouTube? lol".

You just described my 8 year old DD! She has recently replaced watching Minecraft videos with watching people open up, and play with little trinket like toys.

 

[Shadowcat70]

With all the land they own, I never understood why they just don't refurb older rides instead of completely gutting them and turning them into something different. I get that they must do that sort of thing at Disneyland because of the lack of space, but why at WDW? As a previous poster said, they could replace a couple of scenes with newer films, and freshen up the existing ones with their latest tech, but I don't think they need to be replacing existing rides (Ellen's/Norway/etc...). More rides means more crowd distribution.

Just my two cents.

 

[Madonna3]

With all the land they own, I never understood why they just don't refurb older rides instead of completely gutting them and turning them into something different. I get that they must do that sort of thing at Disneyland because of the lack of space, but why at WDW? As a previous poster said, they could replace a couple of scenes with newer films, and freshen up the existing ones with their latest tech, but I don't think they need to be replacing existing rides (Ellen's/Norway/etc...). More rides means more crowd distribution.

Just my two cents.

Agreed, but more rides also equal more operational cost and maintenance. The older the ride, the harder it is to maintain.

 

[rteetz]

Agreed, but more rides also equal more operational cost and maintenance. The older the ride, the harder it is to maintain.

With that said, GMR is a people eater and DHS needs that. The new ride would not have that aspect.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I understand what you are saying about exposure, but exposure to old movies is harder nowadays. I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. We had cable sometimes, we eventually had a VHS player.
Anyhow, my point is that if we wanted to watch something, we either saw it in the theater, waited for it to come on tv, or maybe went to the video store to rent (as I got a little older). Some of us had video game systems and eventually PCs, but many of us did not have those as options all the time. I watched a lot of reruns. I know when my mom was younger (60s and 70s), they would even re-release movies often in the theater.

My kids, though, when they want to watch something or are allowed to watch something...have infinite choices on demand. Not to mention all the good shows and movies that have come out in the last 20 years. And not to mention the things the apps, video games, videos that aren't movies, etc. that they can watch (I mean how can Wizard of Oz compete with watching some guy play Minecraft or a lady opening Easter eggs on YouTube? lol).

Anyhow, long story shorter, I can see how people under say 30 might not be as interested in the classics, and I think it is more of a whole cultural/technological shift than just exposure.

Here's the problem with tacking on an age thing with this broad "younger folk" thought-process....I'm 28 will be 29 next month. My husband is 27 will be 28 in July. We enjoy GMR-it's not our favorite but it's not unliked either. I assure you as be under 30 (even right at the cutoff) those classics are what I grew up with. My iffiness with GMR is usually the inconsistencies I felt when it came to the CMs doing our tour not with the lack of interest in the theming.

I think people forget that the whole technology boom with cell phones, youtube, wii's, xboxes, all of that stuff that we now associate so much with the younger generation aren't all that old really.

I didn't even have a personal computer til I was 10 and I didn't have a cell phone til I was 18. Facebook wasn't even around until 2004 and then wasn't opened up to those 13 and older until September 2006. I started college in August of 2006 to give reference points. When I first joined Netflix when I was a sophmore in college the plan I was on you had a 2 hour limit per month streaming!! Can you believe that!? And that restriction wasn't lifted until January 2008 (that's only 9 years ago).

My opinion though is the ride doesn't need everyone to have seen every movie it is paying homage to in order to enjoy it. If anything I think perhaps the execution of being in a slow moving vehicle is what can contribute to boredom;maybe it's just the lack of things that make you jump, things that have a little bit more thrill to it that lead to boredom (I like a mix of slow rides with some thrill rides personally for theme parks).

*End tangent lol*

ETA: I do agree though (and I might have in the past IDK lol) with Madonna3 in that a mix of newer and older scenes would be much more ideal than removing the ride entirely for a new ride.

 

[Jfsag123]

Just for another take, my kids are 6 and 9 now, but were 2 and 5 on their first trip to WDW and both of them have loved GMR since the first time they rode it. We actually rode a second time on our trip last year at the request of my then 5-year old son. Before we rode it the first time the only movies represented that they had seen were Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins. However, scenes of movies they were unfamiliar with prompted them to become interested in seeing more of the movies represented. They now love seeing how many they can recognize from the clip at the end. Bonus for me: they now love Singin in the Rain, which opened the door to them watching more classic musicals. Just an alternative perspective to the "all kids must be bored because they don't know the movies" point.

 

[Sammi & Mittz]

This makes me so sad! It has to be one of my favorite rides in Hollywood Studios.

 

[wwffan7385]

New board member here. Is there a definite closing date rumor that was talked about previously?