THANK YOU for recording this. I am the Tour Guide on this show, and I am incredibly proud to have performed the final Bandit show, and am honored that it is on UA-cam.
Great job Courtney, from a lover of all things Disney and former CM , this was a favorite ride , and will hold a special place in my heart , it was my late mother's favorite I will miss it , sadly I didn't get to ride it for the last time, so I thank you and UA-cam for showing it here in its glory
I was with you in spirit. I've put off watching this bc it hurt so much that it was gone. This was the closure I didn't know I needed. Lots of tears flowed and I'm ever so grateful that you did this. So glad you stayed to applaud the castmembers. I've closed down Illuminations, so I know the power of BEING THERE for those final moments. TY Tom and Team!
Man, the closure of this ride really depresses me... It was one of my favorite rides in Hollywood Studios. But alas, I haven't been able to get back to the park, since it was still known as MGM. This ride will truly be missed.
Aww, I'm going to miss The Great Movie Ride very much Hollywood Studios is not the same when this close. The Great Movie Ride I will miss you, you'll have a special place in my memories and heart! 😭❤
The Great Movie Ride was always our first and last ride of the day in Hollywood Studios. The last time we rode it was with Robert Osborne's wonderful narration. I was heartbroken when we went back and it was gone. As soon as we got home from that vacation, I created The Great Movie Ride Film Festival. On the first two nights, we watched a UA-cam video with all of Robert Osborne's pre-show films, and the next evening an amazing special 3-camera all scenarios tour of the ride with lots of closeups. Then once each of the following nights we watched in order every movie featured in The Great Movie Ride. It'll never replace my favorite ride in Hollywood Studios, but it helps.
Oh, please please PLEASE!!! Any way I can get a hold of Courtney and/or tell Disney how GREAT she was?? My husband and I did this ride this past Feb. 5th; my first time ever to WDW! She was our tour guide for this ride, and I LOVE the movies! I was so emotional (especially the Wizard of Oz part) that I got up and hugged my hubby sobbing like crazy, so happy for such a wonderful ride! Courtney came over to make sure things were okay, she gave me a big hug, and Brian asked if he can get our picture together! She was so awesome to oblige! She really brought us a magic moment to our visit that day! (Part 2 in my next post...)
(Part 2...) Imagine my complete heartbreak to find out just within the last week that my beautiful dreamplace, my awesome ride, was closing! I sobbed some more...but knew I had to try to find these "closing" vids and watch...IMAGINE our complete shock and happy surprise to see it's the same Courtney doing the last ride here!!! We jumped up and cheered! Yes, terribly sad, but it seemed like the magic was not over just yet! PLEASE, if anyone sees this and knows Courtney, Brian and I wish to thank her so much for making magic for us and everyone! We will never ever forget February 5th 2017...or last night, when we got to see her again! We're in tears, but we're smiling! We wish we can share the video and picture of her we have with her...I will never forget her or this incredible ride!!! :*)
Dawn Welch THIS IS ME!!! I am so incredibly happy that I could make your visit wonderful and memorable. It means the world that I could create an amazing experience and be a part of your adventure here at The Great Movie Ride.
Dawn Welch I just saw your reply! I'd love to connect with you on social media! If you have Instagram or Twitter we can connect and chat through those!
I loved seeing the final farewell. I enjoyed this ride and look forward to the new ride. I just wonder where all the great stuff from this ride will end up.
For all the dated aspects of this ride, I'm glad I got to ride it just a few months before the end. Still love the huge set pieces and the Wicked Witch animatronic.
there are now only 4 rides in the park. i hope all the expansion ends soon so the tiny park getting smaller aint crowded for no reason. im gonna miss making my parents go on this ride every trip. it was my favorite in the park an its sad knowing i can never go on it again. heres to hoping the mickey ride lives up to a cult classic.
I don't know when Mickey and Minnie opens, but it sounds like Toy Story Land will be open for next summer, and that will already give the park more capacity than it had this year. Star Wars is some way off--they're saying 2019 and I suspect it won't be early in 2019.
I'm sad that The Great Movie Ride is no more. It was my favorite ride at MGM Studios, since I first rode it back in 1989 and continuing until I last rode it in 2013. I will admit I'm glad my last ride on it did not include the TCM addition. It was much more enjoyable listening to the ride operator narrate the different scenes. Were the scenes old and outdated? Sure, it was almost 30 years old. However, there was just something magical about it and I loved all the animatronics.
I rode this many times as a kid and through my adult years. I think my first exposure to a lot of classic movies like Footlight Parade, Casablanca, The Searchers, Singing in the Rain, Alien, and Raiders of the Lost Ark came from this ride. If you think about it, it was pretty ballsy of Disney to heavily feature an R-rated movie like Alien pretty prominently in a ride aimed at families! It fascinated me as a kid and I still watch a lot of classic movies because of this ride. It was sad to see it go because there’s really no other ride like it existing today. I like Star Wars and Toy Story but I really miss when Hollywood Studios (I still call in MGM lol) was actually a celebration of movies and film making. You went there to step in to classic films and get a taste of how they were made. The original backlot tram/walking tour was amazing too because it was soooo in depth. If you did the entire tour including the walking, it was over two hours long. It was sad to see them cut it down over the years and eventually close it. The golden years of the original Disney/MGM Studios back in the 90s were incredibly influential to me as an animator. It was so cool that Disney made some of their best animated films there too and you could see the animators actually drawing and working on movies like Mulan and Lilo. I really don’t think I would have pursued animation as a career if it wasn’t for my experience at the parks and seeing up close how movies, both live action and animated, are made.
I wanted to be in this video, too... I begged and begged my mom, even got in a fight with her, ASKING to plan our departure flight home on Monday instead of Saturday. It was my college graduation wish. But she said, "No, we're going home Saturday because your dad has a tournament this weekend and we need to be home to take care of the pets". I wanted my last ride to be with everyone else singing along and screaming and all into it like I get. But I was denied that. We got some great tour guides instead on Friday night, but not many people in the "audience" with me who were as into it... I'm crying now. Feeling like I didn't really get what I wanted for graduation, even though WDW was still fun...
I think you should put the word impressive in heavy air quotes. I'll never be impressed by rides that primarily rely on "screen technology" as the basis of the ride. It's lame and it's a cop-out.
Matt McIrvin TG from the video here! The Bandit, I can assure you, did every single show exactly like that. His performance was lauded as the greatest of this "generation" of Movie Riders, and when we figured out who was closing that day, we all decided unanimously that he should be the one to be the final Bandit.
That would be a violation of Disney's contract with TCM and could open them up to a lawsuit, in addition to require all CMs go through retraining under the old narration spiel. They weren't going to do that.
First off, Disney if they wanted to could feign ignorance and just say ohh there was an issue with the playback of the TCM audio track. Secondly, there easily could've been a few CMs who were there during the old narration.
Starting at 17:34 when I was on the ride, I was able to recognize most movies shown on the screen immediately. I recalled back in September 2008 right after 18:42 that the next clip was Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Wow, that is more time than I'd have expected for a single ride. Then again, the interior of TGMR's ride building must be cavernous. If they're using all that space, it must be an ambitious attraction.
Josh Wise no, the last ride(s) was whichever guests happen to be waiting. It was pretty unorthodox to have this type of a setup for a last ride but there were guests with wheelchairs who needed to be accommodated in the back of the vehicle. The guest associated with WDWNT just happen to be at this point in the queue.
Dan Almont the vehicle needed to accommodate some guests who were using wheelchairs. There were a few other vehicles that were a bit fuller that dispatched before this, but to make sure that we accommodated those guests, the vehicle does look sparse. The audience I had was nothing short of amazing, though. It was an amazing last show, for me.
THANK YOU for recording this. I am the Tour Guide on this show, and I am incredibly proud to have performed the final Bandit show, and am honored that it is on UA-cam.
Great job, Courtney!
Those of us at PHS knew you'd be bound to be a great performer.
You did a fantastic job!
No no...THANK YOU!!! Thank you for being such a wonderful and understanding guide!! My husband Brian and I will NEVER forget you or that day!! :*)
Great job Courtney, from a lover of all things Disney and former CM , this was a favorite ride , and will hold a special place in my heart , it was my late mother's favorite I will miss it , sadly I didn't get to ride it for the last time, so I thank you and UA-cam for showing it here in its glory
Feels like we are losing an old friend. 😪 Thanks for all the amazing memories Great Movie Ride - you will be truly missed!!
The last remaining piece of the original MGM studios, we will miss u great movie ride! Thanks for the memories ❤️❤️
I was with you in spirit. I've put off watching this bc it hurt so much that it was gone. This was the closure I didn't know I needed. Lots of tears flowed and I'm ever so grateful that you did this. So glad you stayed to applaud the castmembers. I've closed down Illuminations, so I know the power of BEING THERE for those final moments. TY Tom and Team!
I am going to miss this ride so much. Here's hoping Micky and Minnie's Runaway Railroad is a worthy replacement.
... It won't be. They already showed us what it would be like. It's just another ride full of iPad screens.
CosplayCore Really? I never realized that?
Thanks for being there for all of us who couldn't make it! We loved the Great Movie Ride!
Thank you for filming this. Favorite ride in this park and have been going since 89.
Man, the closure of this ride really depresses me... It was one of my favorite rides in Hollywood Studios. But alas, I haven't been able to get back to the park, since it was still known as MGM. This ride will truly be missed.
This gave me tears... Thank you for the video. This ride was amazing when I was a child
Aww, I'm going to miss The Great Movie Ride very much Hollywood Studios is not the same when this close. The Great Movie Ride I will miss you, you'll have a special place in my memories and heart! 😭❤
The Great Movie Ride was always our first and last ride of the day in Hollywood Studios. The last time we rode it was with Robert Osborne's wonderful narration. I was heartbroken when we went back and it was gone. As soon as we got home from that vacation, I created The Great Movie Ride Film Festival. On the first two nights, we watched a UA-cam video with all of Robert Osborne's pre-show films, and the next evening an amazing special 3-camera all scenarios tour of the ride with lots of closeups. Then once each of the following nights we watched in order every movie featured in The Great Movie Ride. It'll never replace my favorite ride in Hollywood Studios, but it helps.
I really going to miss riding on the Great Movie Ride.
I had so many memories of that ride 😊
I'm going to miss this ride so so much😭
Oh, please please PLEASE!!! Any way I can get a hold of Courtney and/or tell Disney how GREAT she was?? My husband and I did this ride this past Feb. 5th; my first time ever to WDW! She was our tour guide for this ride, and I LOVE the movies! I was so emotional (especially the Wizard of Oz part) that I got up and hugged my hubby sobbing like crazy, so happy for such a wonderful ride! Courtney came over to make sure things were okay, she gave me a big hug, and Brian asked if he can get our picture together! She was so awesome to oblige! She really brought us a magic moment to our visit that day! (Part 2 in my next post...)
(Part 2...) Imagine my complete heartbreak to find out just within the last week that my beautiful dreamplace, my awesome ride, was closing! I sobbed some more...but knew I had to try to find these "closing" vids and watch...IMAGINE our complete shock and happy surprise to see it's the same Courtney doing the last ride here!!! We jumped up and cheered! Yes, terribly sad, but it seemed like the magic was not over just yet!
PLEASE, if anyone sees this and knows Courtney, Brian and I wish to thank her so much for making magic for us and everyone! We will never ever forget February 5th 2017...or last night, when we got to see her again! We're in tears, but we're smiling! We wish we can share the video and picture of her we have with her...I will never forget her or this incredible ride!!! :*)
Dawn Welch THIS IS ME!!! I am so incredibly happy that I could make your visit wonderful and memorable. It means the world that I could create an amazing experience and be a part of your adventure here at The Great Movie Ride.
+Courtney I wish I could send you the picture of us!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I wish it was not closing!!!
Dawn Welch I just saw your reply! I'd love to connect with you on social media! If you have Instagram or Twitter we can connect and chat through those!
I loved seeing the final farewell. I enjoyed this ride and look forward to the new ride. I just wonder where all the great stuff from this ride will end up.
My kids and I were talking about this. Wish I could have just 1 piece of any part of it
For all the dated aspects of this ride, I'm glad I got to ride it just a few months before the end. Still love the huge set pieces and the Wicked Witch animatronic.
Rip the great movie ride 1989-2017
Gone,But not forgotten
there are now only 4 rides in the park. i hope all the expansion ends soon so the tiny park getting smaller aint crowded for no reason. im gonna miss making my parents go on this ride every trip. it was my favorite in the park an its sad knowing i can never go on it again. heres to hoping the mickey ride lives up to a cult classic.
I don't know when Mickey and Minnie opens, but it sounds like Toy Story Land will be open for next summer, and that will already give the park more capacity than it had this year. Star Wars is some way off--they're saying 2019 and I suspect it won't be early in 2019.
I'm sad that The Great Movie Ride is no more. It was my favorite ride at MGM Studios, since I first rode it back in 1989 and continuing until I last rode it in 2013. I will admit I'm glad my last ride on it did not include the TCM addition. It was much more enjoyable listening to the ride operator narrate the different scenes. Were the scenes old and outdated? Sure, it was almost 30 years old. However, there was just something magical about it and I loved all the animatronics.
I rode this many times as a kid and through my adult years. I think my first exposure to a lot of classic movies like Footlight Parade, Casablanca, The Searchers, Singing in the Rain, Alien, and Raiders of the Lost Ark came from this ride. If you think about it, it was pretty ballsy of Disney to heavily feature an R-rated movie like Alien pretty prominently in a ride aimed at families! It fascinated me as a kid and I still watch a lot of classic movies because of this ride.
It was sad to see it go because there’s really no other ride like it existing today. I like Star Wars and Toy Story but I really miss when Hollywood Studios (I still call in MGM lol) was actually a celebration of movies and film making. You went there to step in to classic films and get a taste of how they were made.
The original backlot tram/walking tour was amazing too because it was soooo in depth. If you did the entire tour including the walking, it was over two hours long. It was sad to see them cut it down over the years and eventually close it.
The golden years of the original Disney/MGM Studios back in the 90s were incredibly influential to me as an animator. It was so cool that Disney made some of their best animated films there too and you could see the animators actually drawing and working on movies like Mulan and Lilo. I really don’t think I would have pursued animation as a career if it wasn’t for my experience at the parks and seeing up close how movies, both live action and animated, are made.
I wanted to be in this video, too... I begged and begged my mom, even got in a fight with her, ASKING to plan our departure flight home on Monday instead of Saturday. It was my college graduation wish. But she said, "No, we're going home Saturday because your dad has a tournament this weekend and we need to be home to take care of the pets". I wanted my last ride to be with everyone else singing along and screaming and all into it like I get. But I was denied that. We got some great tour guides instead on Friday night, but not many people in the "audience" with me who were as into it... I'm crying now. Feeling like I didn't really get what I wanted for graduation, even though WDW was still fun...
I held off crying until the end
What a magical night you get the feeling people didn't want to ever leave. Goodbye gmr you will be missed by many many people
Let's be real here. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is going to be extremely underwhelming, isn't it?
I think you should put the word impressive in heavy air quotes. I'll never be impressed by rides that primarily rely on "screen technology" as the basis of the ride. It's lame and it's a cop-out.
It's projection mapping. Lots of phsyical effects.
What I love this ride I'm glad I went on it this year one last time before they shut it down
Well, at least Final Cowboy played it with gusto!
He was great! And she was, too!
Matt McIrvin TG from the video here! The Bandit, I can assure you, did every single show exactly like that. His performance was lauded as the greatest of this "generation" of Movie Riders, and when we figured out who was closing that day, we all decided unanimously that he should be the one to be the final Bandit.
Really disappointed that in the last few days of this, they just didn't mute the canned narration track and let the CM's do the old spiel.
Peter Kirchner yea or at least bring back the old narration.
That would be a violation of Disney's contract with TCM and could open them up to a lawsuit, in addition to require all CMs go through retraining under the old narration spiel. They weren't going to do that.
goldenstate5 Well obviously but it still would've been cool.
First off, Disney if they wanted to could feign ignorance and just say ohh there was an issue with the playback of the TCM audio track.
Secondly, there easily could've been a few CMs who were there during the old narration.
Peter Kirchner see I was gonna say that but I didn't want to get in another argument lol.
Remember the time when I younger. I went on that ride one last time.
I'm not crying, you're crying!
Going to miss this ride. 😢
I will very much miss this attraction! 💔
I loved it since 1989.
Farewell Great Movie Ride we will miss you
THIS YEAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN 30 YEARS
Atleast it didn't breakdown like universe of energy on it's last ride
This is sad, all the greats ride going away.
I love this ride
🎬 See ya later Great Movie Ride!!!!!! 🎥 🎶🎶"Thanks for the memories..."🎶🎶
Me too well I never been too Hollywood studios before mickey and minnie mouse runway railway is worth the wait.
i never got to ride it. plz bring this back
i cried & im not even there
I'm going to Disney today, rip. One of my favorites at DHS.
So sad :( I am glad I rode 4 times on my last trip over there...
Okay, everyone, that's a wrap.
Starting at 17:34 when I was on the ride, I was able to recognize most movies shown on the screen immediately. I recalled back in September 2008 right after 18:42 that the next clip was Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
5:48 7:00 PM crush
Did that run on water
What is going to happen to all the original costumes?
Is it just me or do the moving theater cars seem to be moving slower than usual?
The attraction should never close if I can raise this issue with the imagineering would be glad to so
That's a wrap
8:10 Dory cry 9:30 Pm
I love Mickey mouse runway railway well be fun I am going miss great movie ride one in epcot
This wasn't the last car of guests, but at least you got a great show.
I think it will open before 2019. My guess is later this year.
2019
Wow, that is more time than I'd have expected for a single ride. Then again, the interior of TGMR's ride building must be cavernous. If they're using all that space, it must be an ambitious attraction.
I wonder if the cast members just rode it randomly for the days after it’s closing
Did they set aside the very last ride for media?
Josh Wise no, the last ride(s) was whichever guests happen to be waiting. It was pretty unorthodox to have this type of a setup for a last ride but there were guests with wheelchairs who needed to be accommodated in the back of the vehicle. The guest associated with WDWNT just happen to be at this point in the queue.
Josh Wise the VERY last vehicles to move were holding all the closing cast members from the Ride.
Interesting, thanks for the insight!
+Josh Wise my mother was in a wheelchair and we were in standby, we just happened to be the last wheelchair party.
10:46 Sydney 6:00 AM
TIS YEAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN 30 YEARS
22:21 Have Fun Explorers
10:35 Aaaggggggah 5:55 AM
14:50 Don’t Loud Loud Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 11:30 AM
10:31 hose 5:50 AM
18:04 Nemo Getting Out There Now
16:00 Fishy Aaaahhh
Disney's biggest mistake getting rid of this ride, and they replaced it with that crap Minnie's and Mickey's railroad.
What a joke.
16:28 Goodbye Dory
1:04 first day school 3:50 PM
This is sad 😕
Wasn't the last ride evacuated?
Pete Naegele that was Ellen's energy adventure.
Pete Naegele really?? What happen?
Moana's Lion King Pamphlet it was ellens energy adventure that got evacuated
Bianca Rivera ^
11:25 Scgone 7:00 AM
6:41 Aaaahhhhhhh 8:20 PM
The ABC-ification continues :(
19:56 CHEERING
10:24 time to let go 5:40 AM
6:20 Exit Buddy 8:10 PM
5:50 The Western
Cowboy Troy
I Play Chicken With The Train
Big & Rich
15:55 Fishy wake up wake up
11:15 Tank Is Clean 6:45 AM
14:15 Magic Mickey Mouse
10:59 Whales Gone 6:20 AM
11:52 Huh Darla 7:20 AM
Rip
4:40 Abysses 5:30 PM
2:50 Shark 4:30 PM
12:20 Bag 7:40 AM
13:23 pelicans aaah 9:00 AM
21:15 Time For School Time For School Get Up Let’s Go
19:46 Keep Swimming Breaks Anchor
10:42 Where a live 5:59 AM
15:17 all no not the trash can
12:00 PM
5:00 Scream 5:51 PM
10:20 waaah 5:10 AM
Looked kind of empty?!
Dan Almont the vehicle needed to accommodate some guests who were using wheelchairs. There were a few other vehicles that were a bit fuller that dispatched before this, but to make sure that we accommodated those guests, the vehicle does look sparse. The audience I had was nothing short of amazing, though. It was an amazing last show, for me.
Thanks, Courtney. Are you the CM that drove the boat?
So glad you had that opportunity.
9:22 Aaaaaahh 12:00 AM
1:38 4:00 PM boat
16:18 Fishy
3:50 Mary Poppins
11:52 Tarzan
😢😢😢😭😭😭😢😢😢😭😭😭