Disney’s Hollywood Studios Archives Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show Reader Reviews

THE SHOW OFFICIALLY OPENED MAY 2005 and CLOSED APRIL 2, 2016

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APRIL 2005

Alice G.: We went to see Lights, Motors, Action at MGM last week and we were not really pleased. We did the Fastpass for the 2:55 show, but it still took over 40 minutes to get into the statium. We were told where we had to sit when lower seating was available we had to go almost to the top of the stadium.

The show is long and very drawn out. The driving is good and how they do the stunts was interesting but not for the long wait.

When the show was over there was no organization in exiting and everyone had to go out the same way. Going down the stairs with no hand rail was not that much fun. It took us almost 45 minutes to get out.

The show is great to go to once but we will not be going to it again. It took over 3 hours out of our day where we could have gone to the other shows that we had to miss.

Barbara Cobb: Just returned from the "Kingdom"! We were treated to a special showing of the Lights, Motors, Action show. I have been visting WDW for over 25 years, and this is the best show I have ever seen. Do not miss this!

Ashley: Lights, Motors, Action was an amazing stunt show. It was action packed, and filled with a lot of suprises. It was awesome getting to see the preview of ths show, since it doesn't officially open 'til May. We got lucky and happened to walk by the entrance to find that they were showing a preview, and immediately got a Fastpass for the show. We showed up about 10 minutes before the Fastpass time and we got amazing seats. We were right in the center, about 30 rows up. Since we got to the show about half an hour early, I was worried we were going to be bored but while they were getting everything ready they have a big screen monitor that quizzes the audience on the car knowledge. That was pretty entertaining. Then when the show started, we were on the edge of our seats watching the stunts that they performed. I'm not sure if they will be doing this during their normal showtimes, but they stopped to explain everything they were doing to us, showed us little tricks, and played back videos from different angles. I definitely recommend that if they are having a preview show, that you go and see it!

Ed Sindoni: Well worth the trip. We were there on 4/3, and noticed cast members monitoring the Fastpass machines at the gates. NO announcement was made anywhere else in the park that this event was open. All those who had the Fastpass were allowed to enter before the standby line. The pictures shown on line do a great job showing what to expect, but no photo can duplicate the sense of speed and smell of gas and rubber that even make the show more exciting. Add to this the show explanation as to how the stunts are done, and we have a winner here. Enjoy the show and get your Fastpass as soon as you enter the park.

Chris Rowe: My family and I just came back from WDW from spring break. We saw the Lights, Camera and Action stunt show and was impressed. The small cars driving around the building fast was actionable and entertaining. Great show for boys of ALL ages. I would recommend to see it. We saw it twice as my son who is 11 thought it was "cool"
and was impressed by the drivers driving backwards – well that was what he thought until….won't give it away, you'll just have to see it.

MARCH 2005

Sharon Harrington: We saw Lights, Motors, Action, last week (3/22) and it was
great! They have a huge stadium and it was mostly in the shade. The show is very long however, and the benches are too close together for adequate leg room. So after an hour, you get sore and hot. The queue area is poorly thought out as it is not covered until you are under the stadium, so in the hot or wet weather you will be miserable. They
also pack you in like sardines before dropping the ropes. BUT the show itself is well worth all of that! It was awesome! A must see by all!

Barbara Todisco: Regarding Lights, Motors, Action, I visited the park this past Sunday (Easter) and they had three shows that day. After waiting in line only a short time (no fast pass) we were admitted to the stands, only to wait 35 minutes for the show to start. As one of your previous previewers said, the show was enjoyable – to a point.
I think it last much longer than 35 minutes (which in itself is too long). The seats are hard metal with no backs, it was a very humid day and all the fumes from the cars and motorcycles hung in the air and did not evaporate.. .I and several other people I heard in the stands were starting to feel queasy from the smell. We tried to leave early, but were not permitted to leave the area until the show was over anyway. (Admittedly, it was for safety reasons, but a few people looked a little "green" and needed to get to the restrooms! I think the show was nice to see once, but it is definitely not the kind of performance you would ever see more than once. But it is a good way to get several thousand poeople off other rides for a while! All in all, I'd give it a "C".

Keri D.: We saw the stunt show at MGM on March 22, 2005. We loved it! The show was really awesome! The wait time, however, was not. I had no idea that after we got our Fastpass it would be nearly an hour wait to see the show. We had two children in our party that had the most difficult time waiting in line. We had fun answering the
questions on the screen prior to the show after we were seated. In our performance, they asked for some audience participation which is always fun to watch. They needed a "driver" and chose a boy in the audience about 9 years old. It was really interesting to find out how the stunts are performed. It seemed like a long time would pass between each set of stunts and we would basically look around at the set. I would wait in line again to see the show, but perhaps not with our toddler!

Sarah M.: We were able to catch the "dress rehearsal" on March 16th! Like was mentioned by someone else, there were about two actual stunts, the rest of the show being driving and motorcycle riding. There were quite a few times where my husband and I said "How do you learn to drive like THAT?!" The precision of the movements of the cars was amazing and the sequence they called the "Ballet" chase, was just like that. Very graceful . . . if you can call driving "graceful."

We found out about the show when my husband and his father got FastPasses for Tower of Terror. Another FP-like ticket came out with it saying something to the effect of "Come get your FastPass for the Lights, Motors, Action! Show", so we did . . . our return time was between 2:30 and 2:45 or something like that. We got there right at
2:30 and followed the throngs of people returning with FP's. We were corralled with the rest of the people then were let in. There was an announcement while we waited stating that those with FastPasses were guaranteed a seat and would be seated first. Standby would not be guaranteed entry or a seat. We only stood in the queue for about 5 minutes before we were being led under the stadium and then through the middle and into the stands. We sat about halfway up on the bleachers, above the control booth, but we had a slight obstruction in the way of a large post in front of us. We saw everything really well though, considering. I do wish that there were backs on the benches, especially considering how long the particular show we saw ran… 45 minutes.

The bad part of the whole thing was walking out of the stadium… it was THE WORST crowd EVER!!! It was like a giant herd of cattle. It took about 5-10 minutes just to get our stroller then get through the crowds and enter the Streets of America area! It was
insane, but the show was worth the struggle at the end! You can bet, though, that if you decide NOT to see the show, lines for any and all shows and rides should be short to non-existent between 3:00-3:30pm!

All that being said, Lights, Motors, Action! is a GREAT addition to Disney's Hollywood Studios and for those of you who don't get to see a preview show, it is well worth the wait to see! You've got to check it out!

Billie Medoff: We did the the Lights, Motors, Action! show last week (3/24). It was good. I thought it went a little too long. While the driving was pretty neat, it got a little old towards the end – the engine revs and tire burning are exciting for only so long. My
husband and kids really enjoyed it though. We sat about halfway up and the view was good, except for the steel beam that got in the way occasionally. All in all, I think it is something everyone should see. I'm just not sure it will be an "every trip" attraction for me.

David Turner: My family and I were lucky enough to catch a preview of lights, motors, action on Sunday March 13th. We were on the backlot tour and saw the entrance to the new attraction. We spotted the placard with the notice about catching a preview of the show today. We headed right over to the attraction and got fastpasses for a 12:45 showing with entry at 12:05 to 12:15. As we entered and got in line they made several announcements that we could barely hear about technical difficulties that the show could be delayed up to 30 minutes. We were told they were doing a preview for MGM Studios cast members who were allowed to enter the inside queue first. Whatever was
causing the problem kept us under the seating area for about 20 minutes packed together like sardines. When announcements were made over the speakers we could not hear what was being said. That was the only negative and we chalked it up to a new attraction not quite ready for prime time. The show lasted about 40 minutes and was fantastic. It felt to me more like a real stunt set because of the pace of getting things ready for the next "shot". The tricks were great, the seating area was huge. We decided to sit pretty far up and to the left side facing the stage and it was still awesome. The only issue that could be raised, there are a few steel columns that are needed to hold up the roof of the stadium style seating area possibly blocking some guests views. It was well worth the extra time we spent to experience this great new attraction.

Jack S. — March 30, 2005

Lights, Motors, Action showed three times today (noon, 2:55, and 5:40). It was listed on the tip board on Sunset Blvd. and it's listed on the Times Guide for March 27 – April 2, 2005.

At 11 a.m., they were still distributing FastPass for the noon show. According to a Cast Member, they have yet to fill the theater for a show. But, unless a guest notices it on the tip board, or on the Times Guide, or walks by the theater, they wouldn’t know about the show. It isn't being publicized.

They are still making the announcement that it is "in rehearsal."

When we went to the show before, we were allowed to sit anywhere in the theater. Cast Members were suggesting sitting near the top, but nothing was forced. Today, they were seating certain sections of the theater first, then would move on to another section. Unless you walked in at the right time, you wouldn't get the section you wanted. If you asked to sit in a specific spot you were told "no." That spot was later seated – just general seating, but later arrivals. Of course, since they want to fill a 5,000 seat theater to capacity, this isn't too surprising.

Boris Beckert – March 21, 2005

We just viewed a preview performance of "Lights, Camera, Action" and I thought I'd give you a few comments.

The other reports are accurate, but I'm going to give a different spin (pun intended). We attended the Noon preview, and were given the usual dress rehearsal comments. My impression is somewhat mixed. I really liked the stunts. The driving is quite amazing. On the other hand, here's what could use some improvement.

Timing. The show took too long. There was quite a bit of chatter from the "directors" between each stunt segment. I felt that they pushed the idea of "we are making a movie" too much. Everyone knows this isn't a real set, it's a stunt show. If they concentrated more on just showing us the stunts, and then discussing how they are done, and less on the idea of this being a movie set, the show would flow more smoothly.

Food. The cast members announced that no food or drink was allowed, yet they were selling food and drink from carts right outside the entrance to the stadium. Many people just put their food into their backpacks and brought it out during the show. The CM's never said anything about this. The stadium is similar to the Indiana Jones venue, so I don't really see how refreshments would cause a problem.

Overall, this is a nice addition to MGM studios. With a little more polish, I think most people will find this show enjoyable.

Beth Korkuch – March 20, 2005

I was in WDW last week and i got to see the Lights, Motor, Action stunt show!!! What an increadible show. At first I though, oh it'll just be some stupid stunts, but,I was very impressed and got chills while watching the show.

We went right to the FastPass after riding the Back Lot tour and being told that there would be a performance for that day. We got a FastPass for 2:20 to 2:30. We went back at around 2:10 and waited around, only to find out that they weren't checking the fast passes.

We walked into the waiting area where there were 4 or 5 sectioned off rows. We walked into the 3rd row and stood there forever! The 1st and 2nd row moved several times over the next 40 minutes of us waiting there so finally some guy went and asked what was going on. Aparently they moved the other two lines to another waiting area and we would just walk right into the theater. FINALLY after waiting for 40 minutes, we were in the theater (I guess they were running late cause it was already 3:00 the time the show was supposed to start).

We sat rather close (my mom's afraid of heights and they suggest for best viewing to sit high up) and we still had great seats! The show started with the producers telling us that it was a dress rehersal and the show may stop to redo a scene (this didn't happen). Then the fun really started. The cars came out and did some great stunts, jumping ramps, hairpin turns, backwards driving (with a surprise to be revealed later about the reverse driving), high speed chases, and last minute breaking to avoid colisions. Later, they did more jumps and driving on the two side wheels (I swear I saw the car tip just a little to much, but it stayed up!)

They then did some motorcyle stunts and a couple of human stunts with fire and jumping off a building. Between all the different scenes, the producers came out and explained exactly how it was done and introduced the drivers. They even got the audience involved with a stunt and another surprise revealed in at the end!

At the end everyone came out again for their applause. OH! Did i mention there's a special guest appearance by a movie star! I think the show was great, definitly a 10 in my book. I think the show gives this little bit of extra excitement that many of the attractions cant give. This show is live, no tracks involved, which leaves room for some very serious accidents to occur. Just watching them gave me chills and I would definitly wait the hour I did for this show the next time I go to WDW!

L. Freeman – March 2005

We were able to see the new show last week. I don't think that I would do it again. We got a FastPass to see it. We stood in line for almost an hour. Then we were herded like cattle onto the seating area. The show was OK but it took two full hours out of our day. Maybe when they are up and running it won't be so much wait time.

AllEarsNet.com's CC files this report on the new
Lights, Motors, Action show at the Disney's Hollywood Studios
March 18, 2005.

First, it's an enjoyable show. It lasted 35 minutes today.

In terms of being a "stunt" show, it is 99% driving – cars and motorcycles. There is one "man on fire" and one "fall/jump from a high roof" stunt. Other than those two items, it's all driving. But it is amazing driving. They explain how they are able to do such driving – beyond the obvious abilities of the drivers, the cars are not your standard cars. For example, there is only room for the driver inside, and the engine is placed in such a way as to balance the car.

In the front of the theater is a billboard identifying the show. But, surprise, it is really a big screen TV. Before the show, they have a few trivia questions and answers. During the show, it's used to show close-ups of what you can't see from the stands.

Seating: The theater holds 5000 people. The seats are benches with no back support. Cast Members kept telling us that the best view is from the seats higher in the stands. We sat about 1/3 of the way up, immediately behind/above the control booth. We were pleased with our seats.

FastPass: Today, there was only one show, at 3:00 PM. When we got to the show area around 11:00 AM, we got a FastPass with a return time of 2:20 to 2:35. Later, we noticed they were giving out passes with 2:30 to 2:45, then 2:35 to 2:50. I believe this is so that not all 5000 people arrive at the same moment. HOWEVER, they did not check the times on our FastPasses as we came in, so anybody with a FastPass was admitted.

When they actually opened the turnstiles, we walked to the front of a queue area. There were 6 lines side by side – and each line was wide enough to hold 4 or 5 people across. Four lines were for FastPass, and two were for Standby. They let the FastPass people enter before the Standby, but the theater wasn’t completely full, so everybody got in.

I saw two general areas for Wheelchair guests. One was near the bottom of the seating, accessible via ramps. The other was about half way up, accessible via an elevator. It’s only as I type this that I thought there might have been additional seating at the top, but I never went up there, so don’t know.

No food or beverage is allowed into the seating area. No concessions in the theater itself