The Great Movie Ride, which is slated to close August 13, 2017, was originally pitched for a different park.
Did you know this week’s Tiggerific Tuesday Disney Trivia?
Which Walt Disney World theme park was the Great Movie Ride originally proposed for? In the early 1980s, a team of Imagineers–which included the late, great Marty Sklar–were preparing ideas for a new Walt Disney World theme park called EPCOT Center, which would be a compromising way to bring Walt’s futuristic community concept to his beloved Florida Project. Two ideas were pitched for the Future World section of the park, Wonders of Life and Great Moments at the Movies. Wonders of Life did make it into the park in 1989 and was a popular pavilion that housed many exhibits, shows, and rides under one roof, all themed on biology, health, and fitness. It closed in 2007. However, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner set the movies attraction aside.
According to “The Mickey Wiki,”
The original plans for the Great Moments at the Movies, called for the pavilion to be placed in between The Land and the Journey Into Imagination pavilions[1]. The basic plot for the attraction which was to be housed within the pavilion would not only have given guest an inside look into how films were made, but it would have also allowed them to enter the films themselves[1]. The façade for the new pavilion was to feature a movie set backdrop with a ticket booth for an entrance. The façade was intentionally designed to look fake as a commentary on Hollywood itself. After seeing the Great Moments at the Movies concept, Michael Eisner decided that the attraction was strong enough to build a whole new park around[1]. Eventually, Disney decided to create the Disney MGM Studios, with the Great Moments and the Movies attraction as the new park’s centerpiece[1].
The rest, as they say, is history…or is about to become history! Sadly, this attraction has come to the end of its reel and will be closing permanently to make way for a new Mickey Mouse-themed thrill ride as part of Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney MGM Studios) expansion. While we’re excited to see what’s coming, we’re a little sad to say good-bye to a longtime favorite.
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