Putting the "Great" back in The Great Movie Ride

[Escapay]

I love The Great Movie Ride. It's my absolute favourite ride in all of <strike>Disney-MGM</strike> Disney's Hollywood Studios and as a result, I've become very critical of how it's presented. It needs tour guides who actually say the spiel and mean it, and gangster or cowboys who can pull off the accent and attitude convincingly. And for the past few years, it seemed that whenever I went on the attraction, I never had any good tour guides or gangsters (and I haven't had a cowboy hijack the ride in a good 10 years or so). I'd taken to simply enjoying the animatronics and trying to tune out the castmembers because it seemed none of them ever actually "got it."

All that changed today.

As usual, we were in the queue line watching the same trailers play as they've been playing for the past 20 years (you'd think they'd rotate some out by now), and this was actually our second time on the ride (we went to the Studios on Monday too). Having much of the spiel memorized anyway, I was thinking about it in my head as we went from queue to the ride vehicles, and the whole NJ Trilogy slid into row five. A good spot, not too close to the tour guide and not too far that you can't hear or see what he/she is talking about.

The tour guide for this particular journey through the movies was an Irish Lad named Kevin, and immediately he became chummy with the guests as they were boarding. He was energetic and enthused, he looked genuinely happy to be there. Castmembers usually can tell when a castmember who's genuinely happy and one who is faking it rather well, and he was genuinely happy. It was surprising, especially as I could tell most of the other castmembers gave the "we're doing our job" vibe and didn't seem concerned that we were guests, not cattle.

Anyway, once all of us were loaded up into our 12 rows, he walked around and jumped up into his little driving area, and gave the usual spiel I've heard a thousand times before. Only this time, I actually paid attention, and it was because it didn't sound like a spiel. It sounded like he was talking to all of us on a personal level, that he was having pleasant conversation. That is usually the one thing I look for in spieled attractions: that the spieler not sound like they're spieling, but that they're just talking to you. And Kevin had it down pat. Throughout the ride, he spieled on in his non-spieling tone and for someone who's heard the spiel over and over, it felt like I was listening to it and experiencing the attraction for the first time.

When we hit the Gangster scene, I was geared up and ready for Lady Mobster to come out and ruin this perfect ride. Surprisingly, we actually had a male gangster this time (last time I rode it with a male gangster was probably 2005), and like Irish Lad Kevin, he played the part to a T, making the spiel not sound like a spiel, and pulling off the harder-than-you-think accent. It was almost upsetting to see him go, but on the plus side, it meant we could see how Irish Lad Kevin fared against the Wicked Witch of the West.

Before our trip to the Land of Oz, there is one vitally important scene that takes place: Casablanca. My favourite scene in all of The Great Movie Ride, and unfortunately, it is usually where all the tour guides just screw it up when they say the whole "best last line of a movie ever" bit. The line makes or breaks an effective tour guide, and by now you should already guess what I'm going to say.

The line made Kevin an effective tour guide. He did not screw it up. He delivered it as if he were with a group of friends seeing the movie for the first time, hearing the line spoken, and just repeating it, with the natural awe and wonder of "man...that was the best last line of a movie...ever" I was mightily impressed, and resolved that he possibly couldn't screw up Wizard of Oz.

And, of course, he didn't screw that up either. He made faces at the Witch, threatened her with the "Oh rubbish, you have now power her" bit, and sounded genuinely "why didn't I think of that?" when he said "why didn't I think of that?" in relation to Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

By this time, we reached the unfortunate end of The Great Movie Ride, and I wished it could have gone on longer (then again, I always do). But, like all good things, the ride eventually came to an end. We gave him the much-deserving round of applause, and rose dramatically to our seats and exited to the rear of our vehicle.

And that's where I saw her. The coordinator, carrying a clipboard and pen. As it turned out, this particular journey through the movies was Kevin's assessment, the day that he either earns his mouse ears or have to continue training. For all I know, this could have been his very first time giving the entire spiel. Either way, by my standards (and believe me, my standards are *high* for this attraction) he earned his ears with flying colours. So much so that while the rest of the family went to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid and The American Idol Experience, I went to Guest Relations and wrote a note nearly as long as this, explaining pretty much everything. That I've ridden the ride for 18 years and for the first time in a long time, it was with a castmember who wasn't just "phoning it in." That good ole Irish Lad Kevin did the impossible and gave a spiel and presented the attraction in such a way that it felt like I was viewing it for the first time. Most importantly, that it felt like an actual and magical journey through the movies.

But writing a note that would just be words on a page (albeit, very complimenting words on a page) to him when he received it wasn't enough. I went back to Great Movie Ride, asked the castmembers at the door if I could speak to a manager, and told her my story. She was glad that it was a guest compliment and not a guest complaint, and promised to fill out a Great Service Fanatic card to give to him.

Later on, I went back to Great Movie Ride again, intent on thanking him personally. I don't do that on many attractions, because many attractions don't have that kind of guest-castmember interaction. But Great Movie Ride is *my* ride, one of the few in the whole Walt Disney World resort that I'll willingly ride over and over until they drag me away kicking and screaming. So, with the help of another castmember, I was able to skip the queue and simply wait for his latest journey to finish. As they unloaded and he came up the steps, I simply stopped him, told him my story, and said thanks. He was very grateful, and repeated what I've heard all too many times: that working hard to make a guest's experience a magical one is often a thankless job, and it's not often enough that castmembers have guests come up and personally thank them.

So, Kevin from Ireland, if in the crazy off chance that you're a lurker/reader at UltimateDisney.com, thank you for that spectacular 22 minutes at The Great Movie Ride.

albert

[goofystitch]

That is awesome! I agree completely with you that the average guide at GMR is bored with their job and subsequently makes the tour boring. It's one of the reasons that I rarely go on it anymore.

Also, cowboys still hijack the ride, but only once an hour. If you ask a castmember in the front and tell them you want to be on a car with a cowboy, they are usually good about making it happen (unless it is really busy).

I had a friend who was trained there before Disney pulled him back to his previous position (not because he was bad, but because they became short staffed). He told me that part of the reason most of the tour guides are so bad is that Disney isn't allowed to ask them to give a spiel before they place them there. They used to, but the union stepped in and said that if they do that, then they have to pay them like entertainment performers. The reason they can't do this is that they each need to rotate and switch between greeter, loader, and then giving a show.

However, to become a cowboy or gangster, you have to be with the attraction for 6 months and then a trainer has to approve of your performance for that part. So not everybody gets to do that. Also, I heard that this role used to only be played by men until a cast member threatened to sue. I don't know if there is any validity to that, but someone told me that is why they hire more females for the role than men. They don't want someone accusing them of being sexist.

I think another problem is that most of the tour guides with talent want to be at Jungle Cruise where they are free to delineate from the script and make up their own jokes, provided that management approves of the new jokes, which they do if they aren't stupid or offensive. So perhaps the next time you go, you will have a better chance of finding Kevin at Jungle Cruise. Over there, they have their own solution to not being allowed to audition for the role. Instead, all cast members at Jungle Cruise are loaders/unloaders for the first 3 months. At that time, they are allowed to be trained to give spiels, but if they aren't good, they continue loading/unloading. They don't have the same kind of rotation system that GMR has.

[Escapay]

Also, cowboys still hijack the ride, but only once an hour. If you ask a castmember in the front and tell them you want to be on a car with a cowboy, they are usually good about making it happen (unless it is really busy).

Aw man, had I known that, I'd have gone back later in the day and asked for a cowboy show.

I think another problem is that most of the tour guides with talent want to be at Jungle Cruise where they are free to delineate from the script and make up their own jokes, provided that management approves of the new jokes, which they do if they aren't stupid or offensive. So perhaps the next time you go, you will have a better chance of finding Kevin at Jungle Cruise. Over there, they have their own solution to not being allowed to audition for the role. Instead, all cast members at Jungle Cruise are loaders/unloaders for the first 3 months. At that time, they are allowed to be trained to give spiels, but if they aren't good, they continue loading/unloading. They don't have the same kind of rotation system that GMR has.

I can easily see Kevin at Jungle Cruise, though unfortunately I don't think I will if he ever does. We left Florida today and right now are holed up in a Hampton Inn somewhere in South Carolina.

albert

[BrandonH]

Thanks for sharing that story, Albert! It's always nice to hear stories about great service and experiences.

[CJ]

That is a great story, Albert! I wish the Great Movie Ride had more tour guides like Kevin. Maybe if my group had someone like Kevin, they would have loved the ride as much as I do.

Unfortunately, I had the complete opposite experience as you, Albert. When we rode The Great Movie Ride, the tour guide was just awful. He didn't even bother to "phone in" the performance, he was just there. He had no emotion nor interest in his job. When the ride was over, he received zero applause. That apathetic performance really left a sour taste in the mouths of my group.

It's really a shame too, as it was my cousins (15, 14, 10) very first trip to Disney World and experience with The Great Movie Ride. Because of that performance, I couldn't talk my cousins into riding the GMR again, when we came back to the park two days later. That was disappointing to me, since it was just the four of us on the trip, and I would have liked to have given the ride one more chance before coming back home.

If we would have had someone like Kevin, I know my cousins would have loved the ride, and they would have been willing to ride it again. I just hope that if they ever get back to WDW, they will give the GMR another chance.

[Escapay]

Thanks Brandon and Ceej!

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad GMR experience, Ceej. I've come across some of those tour guides before, they definitely are awful. Like I said, I've grown to tune them out because even with a bad tour guide, at least the animatronics are fun to look at.

Maybe next time you and your cousins go to WDW, you can ignore the tour guide and admire the movie scenes.

albert

[CJ]

Like I said, I've grown to tune them out because even with a bad tour guide, at least the animatronics are fun to look at.

Very true! I have no problem doing that, and the GMR will always be one of my favorites.

I just felt it ended up being a big let down for my cousins, since it was one of the attractions I had built up as a must see attraction before the trip. Then again it had been 8 years since my last WDW trip, so they shouldn't have been listening to me anyway. Especially considering how many times during our trip I had to say, "I don't know what ____attraction/show is like, I have never been on that one." Hopefully they will have forgotten this one experience by the time of their next trip.

[Nala]

When we went on the GMR, we had a female tour guide and she was really into it. At the gangster scene, she was taken off and one of people dressed as a ganster took over as tour guide. Eventually she rejoined our group. It was a really fabulous experience.

[blackcauldron85]

Here's a neat article about the Great Movie Ride:

http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspenc ... ide_1.html
(via disneyreport.com)

[Prudence]

I had a great movie guide and a male gangster when I rode this in 2007. The guide's name wasn't Kevin, though, and he wasn't Irish.

[Escapay]

I had a great movie guide and a male gangster when I rode this in 2007. The guide's name wasn't Kevin, though, and he wasn't Irish.

I'm not surprised...given that the Kevin who was my tour guide was a new castmember this summer.

Also, thanks for the article, Ames!

albert

[blackcauldron85]

The Great Movie Ride Dinner at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/01/16/ ... d-studios/
(via disneyreport.com)

[DisneyJedi]

I think I had a similar tour guide to yours, Escapay.

Though I was in Disney in August.

[blackcauldron85]

Great Movie Ride parody...
http://attractionsmagazine.com/blog/201 ... ovie-ride/
(via disneyreport.com)

That's pretty awesome!