Give a Cheer
I did lots of journaling on the 2 page layout because I wanted to document it. The ride was permanently closed in Aug 2017. Photos from the Web except the one vertical one on page 1.
Trying for a 'Hollywood" feel for this layout so used gold accents.
Journaling: We decided to head to the Great Movie Ride to see if it was open. When we first checked it, it was closed due to technical problems. It is a dark ride attraction and located inside a replica of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, one of Hollywood's most famous movie palaces. The attraction employs 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.
It was a long wait – almost an hour but there is a lot to see. The queue winds through a recreation of the Chinese Theatre lobby past glass display cases containing actual costumes, props, and set pieces from various films. The lobby also features digital posters of various motion pictures. Then we enter into a small pre-show theatre where Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne provides insight and commentary about various motion pictures and film genres—such as musicals, adventure, science-fiction, westerns, romance, and gangster films— including those films that were featured within the ride. The queue line ends at a pair of automatic doors at the front of the theatre that lead into a 1930s era Hollywood soundstage where guests were loaded onto waiting ride vehicles.
The ride begins; "Hooray for Hollywood" plays overhead as we are informed via onboard narration that we would be taken through scenes from different classic films throughout history. The first genre of films introduced are musicals, and begins with a cake of starlets in a scene from Footlight Parade. The next musical scenes include audio-animatronic figures of Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) swinging from a lamp post from Singin' in the Rain, followed by Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) and Bert (Dick Van Dyke) singing on the rooftops of London from Mary Poppins.
The next scene was a tribute to gangster films. The ride vehicle passed through the dark and seedy backstreets of a 1930s Chicago and past Tom Powers (James Cagney) in a scene from The Public Enemy. Our vehicle was stopped when the traffic light changed to red, and while stopped, a live gangster showed up and got involved in a shoot-out with rival. During the shootout, the live gangster, Mugsy, chases away our tour guide and hijacks our ride vehicle. The ride then enters into a Western scene where we encounter the Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood) standing outside of a saloon and Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) sitting atop his horse. Our ride vehicle, being driven by Mugsy, continues past a shootout between the town sheriff and a bank robber which he ignores and we continue to the next scene.
The next scene is a darkened corridor of a seemingly abandoned spaceship, Nostromo, the doomed vessel from Alien. We pass Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) holding a flamethrower as she prepares to confront a creature lurking within the ship. We can hear the Nostromo's "Mother" computer warning of an imminent ship self-destruction countdown. Hearing this, Mugsy became nervous and sped our ride vehicle through the ship, but not before the Alien appeared and attacked us, popping out from both the ceiling and the wall.
The ride vehicle next enters a scene set in an ancient Egyptian tomb filled with snakes. Our narrator informs us that we are in a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, as figures of Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) struggle to lift the Ark of the Covenant. A second room within the temple features a large altar in the form of the ancient Egyptian god Anubis. Near the top of the altar, a large priceless jewel is being watched over by a cloaked temple guard. The gangster sees the jewel, stops the vehicle, and jumps off and runs to take it. Before touching the jewel, the temple guard gave a warning that those who disturbed the treasure of the gods must pay with their life. Ignoring the warning, the gangster reaches to grab the jewel. Suddenly, a plume of fiery smoke shoots up from the ground engulfing the temple altar. The temple guard is revealed as the original tour guide. When the smoke clears, the skeletal corpse of hijacker is seen and the tour guide boards our vehicle and continues on with the show.
The next film we travel through is an ancient burial chamber full of mummies, some of which had come to life. Then the ride leaves the tomb and enters the jungle from Tarzan the Ape Man. Here, figures of Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) swinging on a vine, Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) sitting atop Timba the elephant, and Cheeta the chimpanzee are seen. The vehicle continues past the final scene from Casablanca, featuring Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) as they stand in front of a waiting airplane.
Next, we pass a film projection of Mickey in his role as the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Disney's animated film, Fantasia. After that we enter into the Munchkin land scene from The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy's house landed on the Wicked Witch of the East. Munchkins appear from various places and sing as they welcome us to their home. However, a plume of smoke suddenly rises from the ground as the Wicked Witch of the West appears and asks who was responsible for killing the Wicked Witch of the East. After which she disappears in another puff of smoke. The Munchkins reappear from their hiding places and began to sing again as our ride vehicles follow the Yellow Brick Road out of Munchkinland past figures of Dorothy (Judy Garland), Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Man (Jack Haley), Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) and Toto standing in front of the Emerald City.
At the end we enter a dark theatre and came to a stop in front of a large movie screen. There the tour guide finishes the tour with a three-minute montage of classic film moments. At the conclusion of the film, our ride vehicle exits the theater returns to the 1930s soundstage where the ride concludes.
I wanted to document this ride as it is the last time we will ride it. It is the last original attraction left from Disney Studio’s opening in 1989 and was permanently closed in August of this year (2017).
Thanks for spreading positivity!
January 01, 2018
December 31, 2017
December 30, 2017
December 29, 2017
December 29, 2017
December 29, 2017
December 28, 2017
December 28, 2017