[PinkieBelle]

Howdy!

We've been to WDW and DHS many, many times but we usually go at a time of year that is less crowded. This means that, more than likely, they are only running the gangster at the Great Movie Ride. This year, however, we are arriving on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. So, I'm hoping to have an opportunity (or two or three) to see the cowboy on the Great Movie Ride.

What I need to know is what are my chances of seeing the Cowboy on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend? Should I re-arrange things so that we are at DHS on Saturday?

[IndyandMarion]

Little tip: When you get there. . . It doesn't hurt to ask if they are running that show.

[PinkieBelle]

Asking when we get there isn't really going to help me.

I don't want to go on Sunday only to find out they aren't running cowboy at all and we *should have* gone on Saturday.

I'm trying to find out the likelihood of them running cowboy on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Or are things too cleared out by then for them to run cowboy?

[darthstich]

Hmm... It depends on how many people they are expecting for the day. There has to be a lot of people coming to the park. Thanksgiving is a good bet, but possibly not

[IndyandMarion]

darthstich, on Jul 28 2009, 04:10 PM, said:

Hmm... It depends on how many people they are expecting for the day. There has to be a lot of people coming to the park.

Couldn't be any further from the truth even if it was tossed into the fifth dimension. Amount of people in the park have nothing to do with it.

[queenofthehouse]

IndyandMarion, on Jul 28 2009, 05:38 PM, said:

Couldn't be any further from the truth even if it was tossed into the fifth dimension. Amount of people in the park have nothing to do with it.

So how do they determine if they are having the Cowboy and/or the Gangster? Do they have them both running the same day? Do they switch off? Or does it have to be National Cowboy Day?

[QuickGold]

PinkieBelle, on Jul 28 2009, 03:03 PM, said:

Asking when we get there isn't really going to help me.

I don't want to go on Sunday only to find out they aren't running cowboy at all and we *should have* gone on Saturday.

I'm trying to find out the likelihood of them running cowboy on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Or are things too cleared out by then for them to run cowboy?

I would ask the Cast Member if you can experience the cowboy part and often I've found that they dont run cowboy all the time, but do throw it in there and they can accommodate you.

Certainly the busier the time of the year, the more likely they will need to run cowboy.

[HDLady]

As far as I know, (and anyone with "inside info" can correct me), Mugsey (the gangster) or his female counterpart is always around but Kit (the cowboy) works part time so it's a crap shoot. In the past few years, having been on GMR 30 or 40 times, I've only seen the western scene running maybe 2 times (even if you don't get the western show, you can tell when loading by the number of cars they load).

[IHeartTheStudios]

Whether or not they have it is based on the workload that gets entered into the system which is based on the estimate for the number of people they believe will be in the park. However it can be affected by lots of things like call ins or vehicles breaking down and so on. Close to Thanksgiving is probably a good bet. A night where there is Fantasmic or extra magic hours also will probably up your chances because there are usually more people in the park. Don't go to the ride before noon. They generally pull on vehicles through out the morning as the park gets busier. Also, don't wait until evening. The ride gets less busy (usually) towards the end of the night because people are going off to other things. So as the day goes on they will pull vehicles off again. So go in the middle of the day. Ask the Cast Member out front if they are running any "bandit" or "A" shows. This Cast Member may or may not know. If they say yes get in line and when you get through the pre-show and they ask how many are in your party say "We'd like to wait for a bandit (or "A") show please." If it's running they should accomodate you. It's not an entirely unusual request so you should find that the Cast are willing to help you out.

[ghost1000]

I've asked for and gotten the cowboy many times now. I normally have to wait, but the last time I rode they were loading the cowboy. Like IndyandMarion said, it doesn't hurt to ask.

[COH#1fan]

I think the reason why the Gangster gets more attention is because more people ask for that show than the cowboy.

[IHeartTheStudios]

COH#1fan, on Jul 31 2009, 07:15 AM, said:

I think the reason why the Gangster gets more attention is because more people ask for that show than the cowboy.

No it's because the vehicles trigger effects as they go around the track. There are 5 sets of vehicles that can go around the track at any one time. The sets can either have a gangster and a cowboy vehicle or just a gangster vehicle. The way the ride system is set up is that the gangster vehicle can start the effects AND end them (shut the doors behind them, etc). The cowboy vehicle can only start them. Except the finale film which only the gangster vehicle can start. So you can have a gangster vehicle without a cowboy vehicle but you can never have a cowboy vehicle without a gangster vehicle. That's why you will always have gangster shows running and the number of cowboy vehicles will vary.

[BuhAgego73]

Time does not pass quickly when in the presence of my MIL

I think if I can ride in the truck with our technician...even ToT would be a more gentle ride

kathi

[QuickGold]

IHeartTheStudios, on Jul 31 2009, 01:38 PM, said:

No it's because the vehicles trigger effects as they go around the track. There are 5 sets of vehicles that can go around the track at any one time. The sets can either have a gangster and a cowboy vehicle or just a gangster vehicle. The way the ride system is set up is that the gangster vehicle can start the effects AND end them (shut the doors behind them, etc). The cowboy vehicle can only start them. Except the finale film which only the gangster vehicle can start. So you can have a gangster vehicle without a cowboy vehicle but you can never have a cowboy vehicle without a gangster vehicle. That's why you will always have gangster shows running and the number of cowboy vehicles will vary.

A little late, but thank you for the explanation

[Mousekedude]

QuickGold, on Oct 26 2009, 10:47 AM, said:

A little late, but thank you for the explanation

Yeah. I never even knew why we would sometimes get both and other times only get the gangster, but I never thought to ask anyone.
Wow, I feel so enlightened now....
LOL....

[IHeartTheStudios]

QuickGold, on Oct 26 2009, 11:47 AM, said:

A little late, but thank you for the explanation

No problem.

[Hºoºwie]

unless you know a CM there who you can call early before you go you wont know; and when you do go and it is running, ask the CM at the inside entrance doors to the ride down in front by the movie screen that you would like the 'bandit' show - they like that more than the 'cowboy' show i am told lol;

[rdeacon]

Question is why don't they didn't design the ride alternate between the cowboy and the gangster. It seems it would be a better idea to design it so that it could have had either or. This would have lead to a better show experience. Or at least they should run the cowboy more often, so the show would seem random and not so canned.

[IHeartTheStudios]

rdeacon, on Nov 3 2009, 11:55 AM, said:

Question is why don't they didn't design the ride alternate between the cowboy and the gangster. It seems it would be a better idea to design it so that it could have had either or. This would have lead to a better show experience. Or at least they should run the cowboy more often, so the show would seem random and not so canned.

This was the original design. However, it quickly became clear that early in the day or late in the evening or during slow times of the year it was a waste to have a number of vehicles go out with a row or two of people or with no one at all. It's a waste of labor and cutting it down is a very effective cost savings tool that still allows the same number of people to ride the ride.

[Pirka]

I have always wondered what determined which path you got ('Cowboy' path or 'Gangster' path). My parents didn't even believe me when I told them there were two versions of the ride!
This year was actually the first time I ever got the 'Cowboy' path. It felt nice to prove that it existed

~ Pirka