The Great Movie Ride
| The Great Movie Ride | |
|---|---|
| Disney MGM 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 |
| 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 | |
The Great Movie Ride was a dark ride located at Disney MGM 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.
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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and later Turner Entertainment. Turner subsidiary, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) 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.
The Great Movie Ride closed on August 13, 2017, becoming the park's last opening-day attraction to permanently close. The attraction was replaced by Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, which still uses the Chinese Theatre replica.