Take a stroll into Disney's Hollywood Studios and walk all the way until you see the giant sorcerer's hat. And behind that hat sits one amazing ride. That ride is.............The Great Movie Ride.
The first thing that you will notice about the ride is that it is inside of Grauman's Chinese theatre. So out front you will be able to walk around and see all of the celebrity feet and handprints. It is really cool to walk around and see some of the people that have left their mark. There are some big names that your kids will notice and then there are many that they will not. My favorites are the Muppets and R2-D2 and C3-Po.
When you first walk into the theatre you are greeted with movie memorabilia from many different Disney Films. The carousel horse that Julie Andrews rode in Mary Poppins is in there a long with a few costumes. In the peak season you might get the opportunity to walk through the whole lobby. In the off season you will just be able to walk right in and go into the theatre.
Here is where you will see a real treat. In the theatre there are winding rows for you to walk to get into the vehicles area. But you are treated with trailers for many different movies. Don't be surprised if you hear some people singing along with the trailers. There are are trailers for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mary Poppins, Fantasia, Singing in the Rain, Casablanca, and Alien to name a few.
From there you walk through double doors into the backstage area. It is the picture at the top of the blog. You get into your vehicle and then the journey begins. You will travel through memorable scenes from many different films and all types of different genres. The animatronics are something to be seen. Especially when you make it to Munchinland and you see a certain wicked witch.
There is a live tour guide taking you through all of these movies and driving the ride vehicles. So there is a little bit of interaction with them and a few other hidden surprises.
Most of the scenes that you will go through are not that scary but you do go through the ship that was used in Alien and there are a few Aliens in there that will pop out at you. They have tamed it down from what it used to do. But it could cause some anxious children or adults. It is certainly no Dinosaur.
The culmination of this fun ride is movie montage at the end. That is by far my favorite part of this ride. Sitting there and watching all of the clips that they have put together. Ranging from Charlie Chaplin to Finding Nemo and everything in between. With a great score. It is not to be missed.
This has always been one of my favorite rides at Hollywood Studios. I will go on it every time that I go there. And while there are some people that will say that this ride is getting dated and that the movies don't have as much relevance as they once did, I will totally disagree. This ride is timeless. While some of the people might not know all of the films, they are all important to the history of movies. Would I be mad if they updated a few of the scenes with newer movies? I would not. But there are some that you have to leave in there because they are not represented in today's movies. The movie musical had been gone for some time, now it is starting to make a comeback. But none will ever have the charm as Singing in the Rain or Mary Poppins.
So give it a chance and ride the Great Movie Ride. I don't think that you will disappointed.
