FROM: Because I Stinkin' Love Disney World Published Thursdays

Guides and Gangsters

Ashley talks about her love for the STARS of Disney Hollywood Studios Great Movie Ride. Getting a great guide means getting a fantastic experience.

- by Ashley Metz, September 9, 2011

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Hooray for Hollywood!  I love Hollywood Studios.  I feel like I am transplanted into a different era each time I grace the grounds of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  From the background music to the feeling of yesteryear provided by the memorabilia, I am in my zone on those beloved streets.  One of my most favorite rides at DHS is the Great Movie Ride.  While I have ridden many times, the animatronics figures of my favorite actors, actresses, and aliens give my heart a thrill each time!  I love the cheesy script and the twist provided with the gangster shenanigans.  Today I am going to be highlighting this portion of the Great Movie Ride.  Because the cast member playing tour guides and gangsters really do help to make your trip through the movies star worthy!  As they say on the ride, is everyone ready? Great because it’s show time…Action!

From the very minute you walk up to Disney’s version of Grauman’s Chinese Theater you are overtaken with a sense of glitz and glam.  Snaking your way into the holding room you see some of the highlights of cinematic history makers.  The doors open to and you and your group are situated on the ride.  It truly feels like you are on a Hollywood backlot somewhere getting ready to take a look at the stars in action.  Your tour guide hops on the ride and thus begins your tour.  For the new rider (or for the rider who likes to be in the center of the action) the front seats of the car are the place to be!  That’s because about 4 scenes into the ride you are put into the middle of a mob war.  Gun shots fire and times on the Great Movie ride get a bit tense when our tour guide goes to rectify the situation and the ride cars are taken over by none other than a gangster.  So, with a gangster heading up the role of tour guide we are left with no choice but to continue the ride through the lens of a criminal.  Things aren’t really that bad with good guys like John Wayne standing our ground but then things take a turn for the worst... aliens, snakes, and munchkins oh my! 
So what makes your guide to all things cinema a good one? What about the gangsters that take over for a bit?  Well,  I have found that guides and gangsters who are STARS make for a Great, Movie Ride...
Slightly over the top with the action scenes...

Okay, the best guides and gangsters are the ones who get down and dirty during the action scenes.  The best guide/gangster crew I ever rode with had me forgetting that the entire scene was staged.  I ducked during the gun fight, I turned over my valuables, I gasped at the skeletal remains and I cheered the triumphant return of the guide...okay that is over the top but you catch my drift!

Talks and interacts with guests...
I love sitting in the front with an animated guide or gangster.  They are in character and you get the entire experience.  I have seen hilarious banter between guest and gangster and that made me LOVE the ride even more!  Making the guests feel like they are part of the story keeps me coming back for more!

Able to stand extremely still...
Okay, if you are going to play the guide then you have got to be able to be extremely still during the Indiana Jones scene.  Swaying while playing the temple guard makes for a highly unbelievable scene.  Just sayin'.

Realistic gangster voice...
I think that only authentic sounding gangsters should be allowed to play this role.  I once had a girl gangster that sounded like she had fallen straight out of a mob movie from the 20s.  She was SO believable.  I loved her smart alec remarks and dry sense of humor.  Shea was great!

Supplements script with personal touch...
I can't stand to be read a script.  Have you ever experienced the dry , monotone, cold reciting at the hands of a guide or gangster?  I have.  I once rode where the guide literally and tonelessly said, "you looking at me.  You looking at me...."  I swear the live gangster counterpart had to use a defibrillator reawaken the flat lined fight.  A guide or gangster that makes you think they are legit makes the ride. 

   
I stinkin' love the Great Movie Ride.  I can't wait to see what STARS will line up on my next ride!

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