The time is getting closer for a few attractions at Walt Disney World to have their last guest on board.  Over at Hollywood Studios it was announced recently that The Great Movie Ride would be closing down to make way for something brand new (opening in 3-5 years I’m sure).  This was a ride that has been around as long as I can remember, and I know that we went on in numerous times when I was young.  With my parents not being thrill ride people, these were more the family friendly rides we could all enjoy together.  I’ve been trying to figure out a time to go and ride this one last time before it closes for good on August 13th, 2017 and today was the day.

Located right at the end of Hollywood Boulevard the famous Theatre can be seen as you first walk into the park.  Word definitely has gotten around as the wait time for this ride has been over an hour the last week or so.  Disney even listed the blackout dates for some levels of annual pass holders so they can come and experience the ride one (or more) last time before it closes.  Luckily a fastpass is not hard to get, so I was able to walk right on with my wife, daughter Hanna, and my father.  Hanna had never been on this ride before but I really wanted to her experience it at least once.

We walked right through the queue, and were led towards our ride vehicle.  For the first time we were sat in the very front row beside our tour guide.

This is a trackless system which is kind of cool, and the idea is that we are going in side some of the most famous movies ever made.

Of course this being Disney we couldn’t forget one of the most beloved live action movies Marry Poppins.

I always loved seeing these detailed sets that you got to drive through.  Depending on the rotation the experiences can change.  There is always a moment where some action is taking place around the vehicle like a shoot out between gangsters or bank robbers in the old west.  On our tour our tour guide was removed and replaced temporarily with a gangster.  My daughter Hanna was not impressed.

Our trip continued through the jungle scenes from Tarzan and Jane.

Next was one of my father’s all time favorite movies Casablanca and the famous goodbye scene.

One of the last scenes we went through was following the yellow brick road through Oz.  But as you may guess we were stopped by the Wicked Witch.

Before we knew it our final ride was coming to an end.  It’s not the most thrilling ride, but the sets are still really cool to drive through and you can’t beat some of these movies you get to visit.  It will be sad to say goodbye when it finally closes, but at least we got one last trip.  After we headed outside I had one other stop to make.

Walking down Sunset Boulevard as if we were heading towards the Tower of Terror there is quite a row of souvenir shops down this way.  Just down near where the Beauty and the Beast stage show is situation is a gift shop called Once Upon a Time.

Inside this gift shop has the usual t-shirts, sweaters, coffee mugs, and tons of plush toys.  They also have a quite a lot of princess dolls but I’m sure that’s the same in most Disney gift shops.

Just inside one of the doors to the gift shop was the first of two new penny machines just placed on stage today.

Both of these machines are the 8-Design touch screen models that have taken over the parks.  They are growing on me despite the hardcore collector in me really wanting to use my own pennies.

The first set is a new numbers set of eight designs from Disney’s very first animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  The designs as you can probably guess include: Snow White, Grumpy, Dopy, Doc, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, and Bashful.

Across from the first machine is the second 8-Design machine that upon a quick glance looks exactly the same, but does include a different set of designs.

This second set is from Beauty and the Beast which is fitting since the stage show is right next door.  The designs in this set include: Belle & the Beast, The Enchanted Rose, Beast, Belle & her Prince, Lumiere & Cogsworth, Chip, Mrs. Potts, and Gaston.

It was getting a little late, and we were getting some rain and wind from nearby Tropical Storm Emily so we decided to call it a night.  These new machines were my excuse to finally come to the park and kill two birds with one stone.  New pennies and one last tour on The Great Movie Ride.

Click here to see my youtube channel video on this new machine.