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

[PuppyJonathan]

I feel sad reading above, when I "said goodbye" in May I felt like that was my worst ride on it

 

[StrawberryChan]

honestly same here... it was really in a state of disrepair when i rode it in july, i'm sad it hasn't been upkept that well

 

[Sweettears]

Just watched the walk through video. First off what a great event to have been there. My first impression and ultimate concern is the extreme amount of attention that was paid to the ride. The walk view showed many elements that are often missed during a ride through. My concern is that this type of detail may disappear as Disney " reimagines" its rides. Even UoE paid some attention to detail. To me the lack of attention to the little things will ultimately have a huge impact on disney's competitive edge.

 

[umichigan10]

I was able to ride it my final time on Thursday and man what a bummer it's closing. It was in dire need of updating don't get me wrong but I don't feel that means it should be junked

 

[cavepig]

honestly same here... it was really in a state of disrepair when i rode it in july, i'm sad it hasn't been upkept that well

How has it not be upkept and in disrepair? It seemed just fine in April when I rode it, it wasn't falling apart?!?

 

[OSUPhantom]

I've been watching videos today about the ride and I feel my heartbreaking more and more. I really am so sad to see one of my favorite rides leave. It did need updating and some TLC but central theme of the ride is so fitting for the park and pays tribute to so many amazing movies. Ugh. I've depressed myself.

 

[jkh36619]

Just watched the walk through video. First off what a great event to have been there. My first impression and ultimate concern is the extreme amount of attention that was paid to the ride. The walk view showed many elements that are often missed during a ride through. My concern is that this type of detail may disappear as Disney " reimagines" its rides. Even UoE paid some attention to detail. To me the lack of attention to the little things will ultimately have a huge impact on disney's competitive edge.

As the age of simulators continues, you are absolutely right in my opinion. Its so much cheaper and easier to throw you in a seat and shake you around while you are watching a movie than to build highly detailed rides

 

[StrawberryChan]

How has it not be upkept and in disrepair? It seemed just fine in April when I rode it, it wasn't falling apart?!?

the vehicle seemed to stop and start a lot, the animatronics weren't really in sync for the shootout scene, and the acting cast members didn't seem too into it. i also feel like it loses a lot of the energy with the prerecorded narration. it wasn't my favorite ride as a little kid but it certainly seemed a lot shinier and energetic back then... might just be rose-tinted memories though. regardless, i think its closing is timely, since i'd hate to see it stagnate any more

 

[TheBigErn]

GMR is waaaaay past its expiration date. I like the ride but I'm it's time for it to go.

 

[rungoofy]

As the age of simulators continues, you are absolutely right in my opinion. Its so much cheaper and easier to throw you in a seat and shake you around while you are watching a movie than to build highly detailed rides

I think the closures (including Ellen) are NOT due to a desire to use screens, rather:
* long ride times (20+ for GMR, 40+ for ellen)
* (generally) low demand (i.e. Short wait times)
* ride vehicle issues; these two have basically hAve the same vehicle which I believe is problematic to keep operational (we didn't have a chance to ride Ellen last week because of at least two breakdowns in 3 hours).

 

[cavepig]

the vehicle seemed to stop and start a lot, the animatronics weren't really in sync for the shootout scene, and the acting cast members didn't seem too into it. i also feel like it loses a lot of the energy with the prerecorded narration. it wasn't my favorite ride as a little kid but it certainly seemed a lot shinier and energetic back then... might just be rose-tinted memories though. regardless, i think its closing is timely, since i'd hate to see it stagnate any more

oh ok that would have sucked, yeah it was all fine for us in April. I haven't liked the prerecorded narration at all though since they added it.

 

[PuppyJonathan]

I think the closures (including Ellen) are NOT due to a desire to use screens, rather:
* long ride times (20+ for GMR, 40+ for ellen)
* (generally) low demand (i.e. Short wait times)
* ride vehicle issues; these two have basically hAve the same vehicle which I believe is problematic to keep operational (we didn't have a chance to ride Ellen last week because of at least two breakdowns in 3 hours).

Ever since they put fastpass on the great movie ride it has never been the walk on it once was though. Ellen is actually a pretty screen heavy ride when you think about it

 

[ThistleMae]

How has it not be upkept and in disrepair? It seemed just fine in April when I rode it, it wasn't falling apart?!?

I looked at everything really closely when I rode, wanting to savor every last moment....I really didn't see anything that made me say "oh my god, it's falling apart!" And actually, I really didn't see any disrepair.

 

[ThistleMae]

I think the closures (including Ellen) are NOT due to a desire to use screens, rather:
* long ride times (20+ for GMR, 40+ for ellen)
* (generally) low demand (i.e. Short wait times)
* ride vehicle issues; these two have basically hAve the same vehicle which I believe is problematic to keep operational (we didn't have a chance to ride Ellen last week because of at least two breakdowns in 3 hours).

Well regarding ride glitches, I rode Frozen, which stopped several times due to boats jamming up and same in pirates. So don't consider this a problem because the ride is old.

 

[ThistleMae]

Ever since they put fastpass on the great movie ride it has never been the walk on it once was though. Ellen is actually a pretty screen heavy ride when you think about it

I love the Universe of Energy ride. It give you time to enjoy and relax for a bit. Same with Carousel of Progress.

 

[rungoofy]

Well regarding ride glitches, I rode Frozen, which stopped several times due to boats jamming up and same in pirates. So don't consider this a problem because the ride is old.

I think it's more "servacability" of the ride vehicle and the number of people you have to evacuate on a ride failure.

 

[ThistleMae]

I think it's more "servacability" of the ride vehicle and the number of people you have to evacuate on a ride failure.

I don't know....I guess it's just time to change some rides so folks will want to come back again. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy new rides but there are some, like GMR, that I'm sad to see go. The new Pandora is awesome and FOP is my new favorite ride....just grieving I guess.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I think the closures (including Ellen) are NOT due to a desire to use screens, rather:
* long ride times (20+ for GMR, 40+ for ellen)
* (generally) low demand (i.e. Short wait times)
* ride vehicle issues; these two have basically hAve the same vehicle which I believe is problematic to keep operational (we didn't have a chance to ride Ellen last week because of at least two breakdowns in 3 hours).

Great Movie Ride is also a very expensive ride to operate. I was talking with one of my old managers who worked there over a decade and he said that people don't understand how truly expensive that ride is, even when you are only running one vehicle per launch.

 

[Lee Matthews]

While I understand people will miss the ride, others including those from WDWNT are getting on my nerves with the constant moaning about it going.

Some people really would have Disney world be a museum if they could. Things sometimes have to move on so new generations can continue to enjoy WDW.

 

[Jeff Laughlin]

Just watched the walk through video. First off what a great event to have been there. My first impression and ultimate concern is the extreme amount of attention that was paid to the ride. The walk view showed many elements that are often missed during a ride through. My concern is that this type of detail may disappear as Disney " reimagines" its rides. Even UoE paid some attention to detail. To me the lack of attention to the little things will ultimately have a huge impact on disney's competitive edge.

In Pandora, the detail is there, but it's more in the queues and landscape than the attractions it seems.