Fun Facts

• The Great Movie Ride originally began development as a entertainment pavilion for EPCOT Center. For the full story, click here.
  
  
• The track is 1927 feet long (about 588 meters). This is the same year the real Gurman's Chinese Theater opened in Hollywood.
  
  
• The vehicles are meant to reassemble studio tram cars that give tours of Hollywood back lots.
  
  
• There are 107 celebrity hand prints in the forecourt, including Donald Duck. Some celebrities share a square.
  
  
• There are 59 audio-animatronic characters in the attraction.
  
  
• The ride lasts 22 minutes.
  
  
• The building is an exactly replica of Gruman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. It has the same entryway and layout as the original too.
  
  
• The movie props in the queue area are authentic.
  
  
• Prior to 2001, the Chinese Theater was the central focus point of the park. The vista of Hollywood Boulevard would have the theater in the horizon. For the “100 Years of Magic” celebration, Disney built the large Mickey's Sorcerer's Hat landmark directly in front of the theater, obscuring the view.
  
  
• Disney did not secure the rights to use the proper name of the theater. Instead of calling the building Gruman's Chinese Theater or Mann's Chinese Theater, its referred to as simply the Chinese Theater.
  
  
• There are several hidden Mickeys within the attraction. The most notable it the hieroglyphic of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the Indiana Jones area.
  
  
• Originally, the “Fantasia” scene was meant to be the tornado scene where Dorothy's house and the Wicked Witch, from “The Wizard of Oz”, would be flying around.
  
  
• Ever wonder why the room that shows the finale is so large? Originally the area was designed to become a replica of the Emerald City. Check out more of the original concept here.
  
  
• The opening scene of “Footlight Parade” had been more complicated. Originally the cake formation of the dancers spun and included streaming water jets, a diving board, and more water effects. Approximately a year after the opening of the ride, the scene was scaled down. The cake formation no longer rotated. The water, after repeatedly flooding the tram track, was no longer used. Eventually a wall of scrim was overlay on the scene and while art deco designs are flashed upon it.

Learn more about the attraction's building design >>