| The Great Movie Ride | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Disney's Hollywood Studios | |
| Area | Hollywood Boulevard |
| Coordinates | 28°21′22″N 81°33′38″W / 28.356232°N 81.560483°W |
| Status | Removed |
| Opening date | May 1, 1989 |
| Closing date | August 13, 2017[1] |
| Replaced by | Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway |
| Ride statistics | |
| Attraction type | Backlot tour dark ride |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Theme | Motion picture history |
| Music | "Hooray for Hollywood" by Richard A. Whiting (load area only) |
| Length | 587 m (1,926 ft) |
| Vehicle type | Automated guided vehicles (AGV) |
| Vehicles | 2 cars per ride vehicle |
| Riders per vehicle | 70 |
| Rows | 6 per car |
| Duration | 22 minutes |
| Audio-animatronics | 59 |
| Sponsors | Coca-Cola (1989–1998) Turner Classic Movies (2015–2017) |
| Pre-show host | Robert Osborne (2015–2017) |
 FastPass+ available | |
 Must transfer from wheelchair | |
 Assistive listening available | |
The Great Movie Ride was a dark ride located at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, United States. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the attraction employed the use of Audio-Animatronic figures, practical sets, live actors, special effects, and projections to recreate iconic scenes from twelve classic films throughout motion picture history. The attraction—which debuted with the park on May 1, 1989—was located inside the park's replica of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, one of Hollywood's most famous movie palaces.[3]
The Great Movie Ride was originally developed by Disney as a cinema-themed pavilion for the Future World section of Epcot. Under the direction of Michael Eisner and Marty Sklar, the concept was expanded into a new theme park devoted to motion pictures that included the dark ride as its centerpiece. To accurately represent a broad spectrum of American film, Disney also incorporated films from outside of its own library, mainly through its licensing agreement with MGM and later Turner Entertainment. Turner subsidiary, Turner Classic Movies sponsored the attraction for the final two years of its operation, with TCM film historian Robert Osborne serving as the attraction's host during that time.[4]
The Great Movie Ride closed on August 13, 2017, becoming the park's last opening-day attraction to permanently close.[5][6][7] The attraction was replaced by Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, which still uses the Chinese Theatre replica.[8]
- ^ Smith, Thomas. "First Mickey-Themed Ride-Through Attraction, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios". Disney Parks Blog. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ "Great Movie Ride Trivia". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016.
- ^ Lambert, Marjie (December 3, 2019). "From Great Movie Ride to Rise of the Resistance: How Star Wars changed a Disney park". Miami Herald. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
TCMwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Bevil, Dewayne. "Hollywood Studios: Magic of Disney Animation closing next month". OrlandoSentinel.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015.
- ^ Stein, Mitchell (August 13, 2017). "Guest Editorial: The closure of The Great Movie Ride is the end of an era in Disney themeing". Attractions Magazine. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ Shane (March 25, 2014). "Return to Opening Day: Disney MGM Studios 1989 - Parkeology". Parkeology. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016.
- ^ Lambert, Marjie. "50th anniversary present: New attractions at 3 Disney World parks". Miami Herald.