Day 1218: The Studios Problem

I've seen a lot of changes to the Disney Parks over my years, and with that, I've changed my mind about a lot of things to. I used to have an extreme dislike for MGM/Hollywood Studios, mostly because I couldn't find much to do there that wouldn't either leave me terrified or sick, and after they removed much of the Backlot back in my younger years, I sort of lost respect for the park for a while.

Until these past few years when I finally grew to actually like Hollywood Studios. I have the feeling it had something to do with Star Wars and Indiana Jones becoming a huge part of my life, but either way, I really got around to spending more time and enjoying what was left of the Backlot. Now, of course, that's gone too, removed as a part of the expansions for Toy Story and Star Wars, and we're sort of left with a problem: is Hollywood Studios a full day park?

A while back I read somewhere that someone managed to ride all the major attractions in just over three hours, and while you could go see several of the shows from there, that still only puts you part of the way through the afternoon, with plenty of time to transfer to one of the other parks. It's no question that once the expansions are added it'll be a full day park once again, but for the moment, there really isn't much to do, and where I found myself spending more time there a few years ago, I find myself spending less time now. It's incredibly easy to do everything at the Studios in a day now, and since I found the update to The Great Movie Ride to be extremely lacking as well, I rarely even head on that anymore.

Is this a long term problem? No, not really, and following the updates I'm sure Hollywood Studios, or whatever it will be called at that point, will become one of the most popular parks, bringing in guests intent on seeing the updates of Star Wars, as well as families looking to find family friendly attractions in the Toy Story area.

For now, you'll find me fawning over Indiana Jones as usual, waiting out the expansion and wondering if it will bring life again to a park that's very different from what it was opening day.

Have a magical day!

Day 1137: The Wonderful Wizard

You may not know this, but The Wizard of Oz was easily one of my favorite movies as a kid. I remember the days of watching it constantly, and one of the earliest presents I remember was a VHS copy of the film all my own. Granted, my love of The Wizard of Oz hasn't really continued, at least not in the force it had when I was three, and it also happened to instill a terrible fear of thunderstorms and tornadoes in me. Still, when I found out my high school theater program was doing a production of the musical version of The Wizard of Oz, I was pretty excited. It's not a terribly complicated musical, and I loved their production of it...which I apparently have no pictures to prove I went.

The musical version, if you don't know much about it, is a bit different from the film or the book, although personally I still think the movie is the way to go if you really want to experience The Wizard of Oz. As you can probably imagine, the musical features a couple additional musical numbers, including The Jitterbug, which does its job of getting stuck in your head for what seems like forever.

It's also funny though because in the matter of two months I'll see four different musicals: I saw CHICAGO here at SNC, Newsies on tour, now The Wizard of Oz at my high school, and finally I'll be heading to see The Little Mermaid at another local high school in March. Talk about a lot of music, right?

Have a magical day!

Day 694: The GMR Montage - A Tribute

I can bet you right now that there are few people in the world sadder than I am about the changes happening the Great Movie Ride. As was announced a few weeks ago, Disney is changing the Great Movie Ride, just a bit, although I'm pretty sure greater changes will come in the future, as a part of a new sponsorship. I think that updating the attraction a bit is a wonderful idea, but YOU DO NOT TOUCH THE MONTAGE.

Let's back up a step though, just for me to calm down, and actually talk about the changes they're intending to make. According to the release, it sounds like they're making changes to the queue and then the montage at the end, as well as possibly adding some sort of photo option? That part's a bit fuzzy. Regardless, these aren't major changes at all, as for right now they're not touching any of the scenes on the inside of the attraction.

However, I have lived so much of my life based on the Great Movie Ride Montage. Literally, it's one of my goals in life to watch through every single movie in that montage, which is probably going to take me a really long time. When I realized that Star Wars ends the montage? Well, you remember that. I freaked out about the Great Movie Ride several times back in the first year of my blog, and things aren't any different now. It's definitely my favorite attraction at Hollywood Studios, and it killed me when my friends and I didn't get on it in June.

Which brings us to our next problem. It's said that these new changes will be in place sometime in January, and we're going in January. So will we go and be able to see the regular, old version one more time, or have I witnessed my last ride through of The Great Movie Ride as we know it? This is literally a Maelstrom situation all over again, and it's NOT FAIR! I feel even more for you guys that lost Maelstrom now, as if I didn't before. What in the world would I do if I wasn't going in January and had even the chance to ride one last time with the montage I know and love?

Well, I'd cry, for one.

So let's just take a moment to watch, for about the 5th time on this blog, the Great Movie Ride Montage:

That was nice, wasn't it? Now why can't it stay? Brace yourselves. If the new one isn't better, I'm going to be severely disappointed. 

Regardless, have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 12 due to Finals).

Day 657: Yensid

Many of you know that I generally enjoy educating my friends about Disney. It's completely true too, and as we progress through life I think we find two things. 1. My knowledge of Disney seems to be incredibly random and seriously infinite and 2. There's a lot they still don't know.

Yensid is one of those things.

Those of us who are Disney fans are like "Oh yeah, Yensid! Who doesn't know that!" and all it takes is one trip through The Great Movie Ride to know this fact too. But as we watched Once Upon A Time tonight (SPOILER ALERT...KINDA) and the Sorcerer's Apprentice showed up we got around to talking about Yensid and I confused my roommates by talking about him.

Who is Yensid you may ask?

Well, in Fantasia, Mickey plays the part of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, and the Sorcerer he serves is named Yensid. It's a little hidden Disney fact that we like to tell people because it's pretty darn cool. Still haven't figured it out? Ok, let's put it in all caps: YENSID. There's a hidden word here, and that's what I'm getting at.

Alright...if you haven't gotten it yet I'm just going to have to give it to you. Spell Yensid backwards. What do you get? Disney! Yep, Yensid is actually just Disney spelled backwards, and like I said, it will take you one trip on the Great Movie Ride to learn that information since it's been a part of the script since...probably forever.

And that's what I educated my roommates on tonight. I taught them about Yensid. I can't say I blew their minds because they're still alive, but I do love sharing Disney facts with them as time goes on. It's just entertaining to watch other people learn what I've known for so long, especially when I get to see their reaction to it!

Did you know about Yensid? And if you watched OUAT tonight...how about that date, huh?

Have a magical day!

Day 389: FAF: The Great Movie Ride

Time for another Featured Attraction Friday, and this time we're headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I've talked plenty about The Great Movie Ride before (remember that day that I realized the Hologram table from the Falcon was in the queue and Harrison Ford touched it?), and honestly it's become one of my favorite attractions! But I'll talk more about that later!

For now: LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

What's On The Map: 

Journey into some of Hollywood's most famous films on the ever popular Great Movie Ride. "Stroll onto a soundstage designed to recall 1930's-era Hollywood and board a tram for a captivating tour of some of Tinseltown's greatest film scenes. Glide beneath a flashing movie marquee and cross over into a world that could only exist in the movies.

Be part of such classic films as: Alien, Casablanca, Fantasia, Mary Poppins, Raiders of the Lost Art [!], Singin' in the Rain, Tarzan the Ape Man, The Public Enemy, The Wizard of Oz.

Your informative tour guide will set the stage for the scenes you'll visit. Just don't be surprised if something unexpected happens along the way. Keep telling yourself, it's only a movie" (WDW Website).

A sketch of the original design for The Great Movie Ride at EPCOT. 

A Brief History Lesson: 

This week's history is from Studios Central and Walt Dated World!

The history of The Great Movie Ride is another kind of interesting one: at least I think so. And believe it or not, it holds a very close connection to Epcot of all places! Originally though, the idea goes all the way back to Walt Disney himself, and his ideas for Disneyland. It was a tram tour at the Universal lot that got Walt's mind going. Of course, we all know that he didn't make a lot tour, but instead broke ground in Anaheim and created Disneyland.

So in the early 1980's, when "a team of Imagineers led by Marty Sklar and Randy Bright had been given an assignment to create two new pavilions for EPCOT Center's Future World section," they came up with two ideas: The Wonders of Life Pavilion and The Great Movie Ride Pavilion. This is where I'm sure you're just like "WHAT?!?" because that was just about my response too. The Wonders of Life was created as planned, but the idea for the Great Movie Ride was caught by Michael Eisner.

"Originally to be placed between The Land and The Journey Into the Imagination pavilions, The Great Movie Ride pavilion was designed to look as a movie set background. With a soundstage background and a small ticket booth entrance, the falseness of Hollywood was embraced int the project's facade." However, the attraction would never make it to Epcot, as Eisner decided to create not only a new pavilion, but an entire park around the idea of film.

Each of the parks opened with a focal point. For Magic Kingdom, it was Cinderella Castle, and for Epcot, Spaceship Earth. Later, Animal Kingdom would open with the Tree of Life. Therefore, The Great Movie Ride was changed in scale, and it was crafted after one of Hollywood's greatest landmarks, Grauman's Chinese Theater.

The Great Movie Ride opened in May of 1989 with the rest of the then named Disney-MGM Studios. In the late 1990's, Disney built a large replica of Mickey's sorcerer hat from the film "Fantasia," a decision that is most likely due to legal issues concerning the theater (I actually didn't know that!)

Fun Facts: 

• As you approach the Chinese Theater, look down. Many visiting celebrities have left their signatures and handprints in cement squares. See if you can find George Lucas, Dick Van Dyke, Roger Rabbit, C-3P0 and others. You may even find the distinct prints of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. [OR HARRISON FORD!!!!!!!!!!]
• The Great Movie Ride offers two distinct scenarios, one with a cowboy theme, and the other with a gangster theme, so if you have a preference, ask a Cast Member to direct you to the correct line. 
• If you opt for the gangster version, notice the license plate number on the car in the shootout scene. It's 021-429, a variation on February 14, 1929, the date of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago. 
• The town you travel through in the cowboy version of the ride certainly recalls Tombstone, Arizona, "The Town Too Tough To Die." Cochise County Court House (indicative of the county where Tombstone is actually located) is on your right, covered in Wells Fargo posters offering rewards for the Most Wanted Outlaws. 
• Guests with an exceptionally quick eye may notice some of the hieroglyphics on the walls in the Egyptian scene have some rather surprising icons. See if you can located R2-D2 and C-3P0 from the Star Wars movie or Donald Duck as an Egyptian Servant offering a slice of cheese to Pharaoh Mickey Mouse. 
• In the Alien scene, if you are sitting on the left side of the tram, you may be able to read the computer monitors if you peer over the edge of your vehicle. The screen titled Crew Status Roster shows a listing of the Imagineers and designers of The Great Movie Ride. Notice each crew member's current status; some are listed as missing while others have humorous notations next to their names. 
• You may recall having seen the rear half of a Lockheed Electra 12A Airplane as you made your way around the Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom, and you certainly can't miss the front half, which features prominently in the Casablanca scene. It isn't the original plane used in the movie, however. The Lockheed Electra 12A in the movie was actually a mockup, not a real airplane. 

My Thoughts: 

As I said earlier, I love The Great Movie Ride. As a kid, and still today actually, I am terrified of the Alien portion (when I'm with my dad I literally put my head so I'm basically looking into his shoulder. When I was a kid I HAD to sit next to him so the alien wouldn't get me. One of those good memories from when I was a kid...even if I was terrified the whole time). In fact, it's one of the few attractions that gets the honor of being one I would love to work for, right up there with Spaceship Earth and the Jungle Cruise. I'd just really enjoy going through the movies...even if I do have a specific script to follow. It still sounds fun to me! 

I also feel it's a good point to mention that because of The Great Movie Ride, I've found some of my all time favorite films. It is because of the attraction that I first watched Singin' In the Rain, and that's now one of my absolute favorite movies, just as it is for many of my friends. 

Also, I literally freak out every single time I go through this attraction and there is any reference to Harrison Ford. I may also love Colin O'Donoghue and Jennifer Morrison, but come on, let's be real here: my favorite actor will always be Harrison Ford. 

Which brings us to the end of another Featured Attraction Friday post. You know, now that I've gotten going on these I kind of enjoy it. Learning about the different attractions and stuff. Each one takes FOREVER to work on though...so I'm going to make sure I get ahead and then just go from there. Once March comes around I'm not going to have time to sit all day and work on my blog when I get behind! But hey, I'm going through my Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World book again and that means that there's plenty of stuff I want to go find when I go in March! Super excited! 

Have a magical day!

Day 276: Making Movies, Kind of

The Disney Blog the other day featured a blast from the past about Disney's Hollywood Studios...then Disney's MGM Studios, and about the making of it. It was a promotional item for the park way back from who knows when, but I assume sometime around 1989 when it opened.

Of course, when I was sick this past week I just had to sit down and watch it because I didn't really feel like doing anything else, that's for sure. That's kind of what I do when I'm sick. Sit and watch stuff about Disney or TV or movies because I don't feel like living otherwise. It's really hard to do your homework for music theory when you feel like you're head is going to explode. It just doesn't work.

So here's the video, if you wish to watch it...

The entire video talks a bit about Disney World in general, but then goes into deeper detail about the Studios. I think it's really really interesting to see how much stuff has changed...and how much hasn't changed. For instance, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is featured in this video. That's still there today. As is The Great Movie Ride. Neither have really changed much at all since opening day. But then there are things completely missing, like Star Tours and the Muppets. 

And then there's the Backlot area. That lovely portion of The Studios that was still there when I was a kid that I really miss now. 

But the question asked on The Disney Blog is "If you were in charge of an extreme makeover for DHS, what theme would you give it?"

It's a tough question, it really is, and honestly I don't know what my answer would be. I talked about this a while back, and I still agree with what I said then. I don't want to see a Carsland at Walt Disney World, and I really don't wish to see a giant Star Tours land either. I don't think it would fit. So what does that say about what I think would fit? If I had to change Hollywood Studios, I turn it around. Go back to what it was originally. 

I'm not saying that it needs to be a movie studio anymore. Not a complete one at least. But make new, thrilling attractions that excite people about movies. I love movies, I really do. So let's make it a big mix of it, right? It seems that, in general, the idea of educating people about how movies are made is fading, and it's fading quickly. There's talk of Indy going, and I really hope to never see that. Unless they have plans for a new Indiana Jones attraction that's just as thrilling but different from the wonderful things at Disneyland. 

So take some of the most famous movies and make them into a bigger thing. Make Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard a really Hollywood. Bring it back to walking right onto the set of a movie. More street actors, and make it a community of Hollywood. 

But most of all. GET RID OF THE STUPID STAGE AND HAT. 

I never thought I hated it so much, but the more and more I look at the Great Movie Ride, the more I find the beauty in it. In fact there's an entire portion in the video just about creating the building, and they go back and forth from the real Chinese Theater and the one at Disney and YOU CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE except for it tells you. Why in the world should all of that beauty be covered up? And with the use of the Chinese Theater, why not make the entire area different from Buena Vista Street by making it the Hollywood of the 1950's instead of the Hollywood of the 1920-30's. It would be completely different and authentic. It would be beautiful with the theater at the end. 

Then refurbish the entire Backlot Tour. Make it exciting again. Super exciting. Bring in new movies that are popular now. I don't know what, but something. Not movies from 10 years ago or longer, movies that were made this year or last year. And then relate those stunts to that. Remake Catastrophe Canyon, but use some of the same technology. Get the audience involved, and make for less walking! Bring back real people instead of a recording! 

Actually, now that I'm getting into it, there are so many things I would change. Things I would keep, take away, bring back or invent. But all I know is that the Studios of today is a far cry from the spectacular place imagined in 1989. 

Here's today's Disney History: 1971: Peter Pan's Flight opens at Walt Disney World, on the park's third day in business. Based on the 1953 animated film, guests board vessels (Attached to rails above) and "soar" over the skies of London. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 12 because I was sick).