The Great Movie Ride has been one of Disney's Hollywood Studios classic rides. Since the ride first opened in 1989 at the Walt Disney World theme park, tourists have been given a sneak peak inside motion picture history. Disney style, of course!
The exterior of the ride is a replica of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Once inside the ride, guests are taken through 12 classic scenes from cinema recreated by animatronic figures. You've never seen Singing in the Rain until you've seen a robot Gene Kelly sing Singing in the Rain!
The Great Movie Ride opened when Disney-MGM Studios (which Hollywood Studios was formerly known as) opened. It's been the last OG ride from the OG theme park to stay open. But that's about to change.
The Great Hollywood Ride closed on August 13th. Disney needs to make room for Mickey & Minnie's Runway Railway, so the Great Hollywood Ride has been sacrificed. Say goodbye to your childhoods!
It seems like sad news for those who loved the ride. But there might actually be some good news? So don't start crying your tears just yet! There's a silver lining!
Disney is selling limited edition T-shirts celebrating the closing of the Great Movie Ride. So now you can wear your nostalgia! It's a great way to pour one out for the Great Movie Ride.
The T-shirts, like the Great Movie Ride, won't last forever. They're only available until August 17th. So if you love the Great Movie Ride, you've got to act fast!
Mickey & Minnie's Runway Railway is expected to be a dark ride, similar to the Great Movie Ride. The ride will take guests into the world of the animated short. No word on if guests will scream out, "You're not the Great Movie Ride and you never will be!"
Good news for those who love the iconic replica of an iconic structure. Disney has not announced any plans regarding the Grauman's Chinese Theatre facade. The facade is, of course, the first thing guests see when visiting Hollywood Studios. We don't know if we'd be able to handle it if they changed it! Too much at once!
Disney announced that the Great Movie Ride would be closing at the D23 Expo. The bombshell was dropped on July 25th. So if you think this happened so quickly, it's because it did.
The Great Movie Ride was originally planned as the main attraction in a "showbiz" pavilion at the Epcot Center. However, the ride spawned an idea for an entire movie-themed park. And so, Disney-MGM Studios was born....
The Great Movie Ride has been a staple of Disney's Florida compound, but there's no equivalent in their California complex. Even though Disneyland sits a short drive from where the movies are made, tourists are unable to see a Hollywood Disneyland. So if they want to see Hollywood, they have to go to actual Hollywood.
Now that the Great Movie Ride is closed, what are we supposed to do if we want to experience movie history? Read a book? Watch a film? Cuddle up in our Great Movie Ride T-shirt?