Wender·Vista
The Great Movie Ride
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
inside the Chinese Theatre at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Florida

The Great Movie Ride

— — the ride that walked you through the movies.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The Great Movie Ride lived inside the full-scale replica of Grauman's Chinese Theatre at the centre of Disney's Hollywood Studios, in Bay Lake, Florida. Trams rolled past Singin' in the Rain, Casablanca, Alien, and the Wizard of Oz, narrated by a cast-member host. It opened with the park in May 1989 and closed in August 2017. Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway took the building in 2020.

from the studio
The Great Movie Ride
— bring it home

The Great Movie Ride, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about The Great Movie Ride

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

The Great Movie Ride occupied the central building of Disney-MGM Studios, now Disney's Hollywood Studios, in Bay Lake, Florida. The exterior is a full-scale replica of Sid Grauman's 1927 Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, complete with concrete footprints in the forecourt. The ride opened with the park on 1 May 1989 and ran until 13 August 2017. Twelve tram vehicles, each carrying around seventy guests, moved through ten film-set scenes spanning roughly sixty years of Hollywood production, from Footlight Parade to Alien. A live cast-member host rode each tram.

— the year

For twenty-eight years the ride anchored the park's central hub at the end of Hollywood Boulevard. Coca-Cola sponsored the attraction through its first decade. Turner Classic Movies took over presenting sponsorship in 2015 and produced a new pre-show film hosted by Robert Osborne. The ride closed on 13 August 2017 to make way for Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, which opened in the same building on 4 March 2020. The Chinese Theatre facade was retained; the interior was rebuilt around the new attraction.

— the visit

The building still stands at the end of Hollywood Boulevard in Disney's Hollywood Studios, in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It now houses Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, a trackless dark ride. Visitors looking for traces of the Great Movie Ride will find the Chinese Theatre exterior unchanged and the forecourt footprints still in place. The park is open daily; admission is by Walt Disney World ticket. The nearest park entrance is the Disney's Hollywood Studios main gate off Buena Vista Drive.

— where
United States · Bay Lake, Florida
— within
Disney's Hollywood Studios
— position
28.3576° N · 81.5601° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
at the lake
Hollywood Boulevard
themed street
at the lake
Echo Lake
themed area
at the lake
Sunset Boulevard
themed street
at the lake
Tower of Terror
drop ride
at the lake
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
themed land
at the lake
Toy Story Land
themed land
N
The Great Movie Ride
Hollywood Boulevard
Echo Lake
Sunset Boulevard
Tower of Terror
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
Toy Story Land
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about The Great Movie Ride — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

An indoor tram ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida that moved through ten film-set scenes — Singin' in the Rain, Casablanca, Alien, the Wizard of Oz — with a live cast-member host narrating.

The Great Movie Ride opened with Disney-MGM Studios on 1 May 1989 and closed on 13 August 2017, running for twenty-eight years before its replacement was announced.

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, a trackless dark ride based on the Mickey Mouse animated shorts, opened in the same building on 4 March 2020.

The building is a full-scale replica of Sid Grauman's 1927 Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Disney rebuilt it as the park's central icon when Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989.

Coca-Cola sponsored the ride through its first decade. Turner Classic Movies took over as presenting sponsor in 2015 and produced a new pre-show film hosted by Robert Osborne.

The Chinese Theatre exterior remains unchanged at the end of Hollywood Boulevard, and the celebrity-footprint forecourt is still in place. The ride's interior film sets were dismantled in 2017 and 2018.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for someone who rode it before 2017 or who loves the early years of Disney-MGM Studios. The Chinese Theatre silhouette is unmistakable. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note works.

The piece sits well in Hollywood-Regency, Mid-century, and warm-traditional rooms. The deep reds and gilded ochres of the Chinese Theatre facade carry against panelled wood, dark trim, or rich plaster.

The palette aligns with the current return to warm, saturated interiors. Less Scandinavian-minimal, more the velvet-and-brass revival showing up in home cinemas and library rooms.

Above a sofa, a single Large or a 4-tile Mural carries the wall. Above a console, a Medium or a 9-tile Mural in a grid frames the room.

Yes. Order the same artwork in Dura Satin or Matte for bathrooms, kitchens, or any vertical install. The colour lives in the surface and shrugs off steam.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. Skip abrasive sponges and solvents. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so it holds up to regular cleaning.

Yes. Original to Wender Studios. Reid Wender curates every piece in the WenderVista atlas, and the tiles are hand-finished in the Knoxville studio. No licensing, no third-party prints.

— if this one stayed with you

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