The original ark of the covenant prop used in 1981 movie Raiders of the Lost Ark is now on display in the queue area of the Great Movie Ride inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios, reports Walt Disney World News Today . However, like the ride itself, it isn’t expected to stay there forever.
In 2015, the Great Movie Ride Attraction received a new partnership with Turner Classic Movies that gave the attraction a bit of a facelift and a new movie clip section at the end of ride, but that partnership with Walt Disney World will end in 2018, and the ride as we know it is expected to shut down. However, the replica Chinese Theater building that the attraction sits in is expected to stay. In addition, rumors have been circulating that the building could be home to a new Mickey Mouse-themed ride .
Numerous movie props have been featured at The Great Movie Ride in the past including Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz , costumes from Gone with the Wind and the space chess table from Star Wars: A New Hope . Hopefully, the Walt Disney World theme park will find another suitable place to display movie props in the future.
The Great Movie Ride’s structure is also in the news in that it will serve as a backdrop for the park’s upcoming Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! Christmas show. The new outdoor presentation will serve as a replacement for nine-year tradition of the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights display which went dark after last year’s holiday season due to major changes to Hollywood Studios that took out the Studio Backlot Tour and the Streets of America. These changes have allowed the Walt Disney World theme park to expand in different directions with new Star Wars and Toy Story sections.
In true Walt Disney World fashion, Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! will be more than just a light show. It will feature state-of-the-art projections of Disney characters projected onto the Chinese Theater’s facade front. The show will feature fireworks, special effects, and, believe it or not, snow. The content of the show features the elves Wayne and Lanny from the Prep & Landing TV Christmas specials, who will be on a search-and-rescue mission to find Santa (aka The Big Guy) and get him back to the North Pole in time for Christmas Eve. Of course, other Disney characters will be featured as well, including scenes from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, Pluto’s Christmas Tree, and Mickey’s Christmas Carol .
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is also offering a Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! Holiday Dessert Party that includes reserved viewing, a variety of desserts, specialty beverages, and each guest will receive a pair of 3D HoloSpex glasses to use during the show. “The glasses create spectacular holographic illusions of gingerbread men, candy canes, snowflakes and ornaments on any bright point of light,” says Victoria Lim, Managing Editor of the Disney Parks Blog .
Disney’s Hollywood Studios announces new holiday show to replace Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights https://t.co/fVF8jRKmlu
— Inside the Magic (@InsideTheMagic) October 14, 2016
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The new show is another attempt by Walt Disney World to keep visitors coming to the Hollywood Studios during its major facelift. The park has closed a number of attractions while it builds new ones in hopes of keeping the park fresh for visitors, but it may not be enough. Just today, DIS Unplugged released a new video highlighting what they deem as “Three Terrible Attractions” that, in their opinion, should be shut down immediately. The “offending” attractions are MuppetVision 3d, Star Tours,and the Beauty and the Beast stage show. However, these critics visit the parks on a regular basis and may not represent visitors who only come to Disney’s Hollywood Studios once a year or less.
[Featured Image by Theme Park Tourist/Wikimedia Commons]