Putting the "Great" back in The Great Movie Ride
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:30 pm
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
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
I have no problem doing that, and the GMR will always be one of my favorites.