While Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is getting closer to its March 4th opening, many of us are still deeply mourning the loss of The Great Movie Ride. That being said, it’s nice to see at least one piece of the ride has found a good home!
In a new political endorsement video for Bernie Sanders, Dick Van Dyke can be seen with the audio-animatronic Bert from the Mary Poppins scene of the ride!
The Great Movie Ride opened on May 1, 1989 and closed August 13, 2017, almost three years ago. The now 31-year-old audio-animatronic still looks great next to his living counterpart, though he seems to be missing part of his chimney sweep.
We are counting down the days until the grand opening of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on March 4! This first ever attraction featuring the cutest Disney couple – Mickey and Minnie of course – is said to be well worth the wait. Check out Cast Members’ impressions below from DisneyParksBlog:
All aboard! The #DisneyCastLife series continues as the opening team cast members take their first journey aboard Runnamuck Railroad. Experiencing a brand-new attraction that takes you off the rails and into the world of Mickey and Minnie where mouse rules apply? Not bad for a day of work!
By riding the attraction, cast members help put the finishing touches into place, culminating years of partnership between Walt Disney Imagineering and the team that operates the attraction.
“As an Imagineer, we’re always being challenged to do things that no one has ever done before,” said Project Engineer, Antony Capstick. “For this attraction, you are going to be in the cartoon world and anything is possible.”
Check out the video below to hear what the railroad crew had to say and stay “tooned” as we prepare for the opening of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway on March 4 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
The “Monsters, Inc.” meet and greet inside Walt Disney Presents at Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened just last year, but now it looks like one of the dynamic duo will soon be retiring.
Mike Wazowski will meet guests through Saturday, February 22, 2020, but beginning Sunday, February 23, the meet and greet will only feature Sulley.
This meet and greet took over the former space of the Star Lord & Groot and Moana meet and greets which were previously located inside of the attraction. A “Monsters, Inc.” meet and greet was offered for many years at Hollywood Studios near the Backlot Tour attraction, but it was removed for the construction of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land in 2016.
The show must go on, and now, Miss Piggy is finally ready for her close-up outside of Muppet*Vision 3D, where the beloved Muppets Courtyard fountain has been restored after refurbishment.
Refurbishment on the adjacent attraction led to having the famous fountain dismantled, but Miss Piggy has returned dressed as the Statue of Liberty once again.
We did notice that the boat with the two fishing rats is gone, potentially furthering the trend that they are simplifying the fountain by removing as many characters as possible.
Starting in late 2016, the fountain became a planter to accommodate Galaxy’s Edge construction, and when it did return as a fountain, the moving elements and a number of character statues had been removed from it as part of the Grand Avenue makeover of the former Muppets Courtyard.
With Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance now boarding guests and all phases of Galaxy’s Edge now open, it seems that Star Wars presence throughout the rest of Disney’s Hollywood Studios will slowly begin to diminish. Disney has confirmed that the “Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away” show will be ending its long run soon.
No official end date has been announced, but it’s believed that with the opening of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway on March 4, it would be ideal to have the area in front of the Chinese Theatre cleared for any potential crowds. We expect the stage show to conclude its run by then. (Currently, times are still showing through March 14, but entertainment calendars are prone to change.)
Since 2016, the stage show has showcased Star Wars characters, movies, and music, with updates added throughout the years to introduce new characters, like Rey, in 2017. On July 6, 2019, the show’s companion “parade” element, the March of the First Order with Captain Phasma, concluded in preparation for the opening of Galaxy’s Edge. Disney claimed that the First Order was “redeploying their troops to patrol Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.”
With the presence of Star Wars diminished throughout the rest of the park, there is hope that additional entertainment offerings will be added to Galaxy’s Edge, like the roaming droids that have been on the backburner since the land opened, or even additional roaming characters and extended stage shows. (Currently, Kylo Ren makes a few appearances throughout the day to briefly force choke a First Order officer, but that’s about it.)
