This article has been UPDATED with NEW photos, videos, and the attraction song!
Say it with us… OH BOY!
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway NOW OPEN (March 4th, 2020) at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! We were able to enjoy a sneak peek of the all-new attraction. Here’s everything you need to know:
Runaway Railway is located inside Hollywood Studios’ re-creation of the Chinese Theater, which is the focal point of the park.
Runaway Railway’s predecessor, The Great Movie Ride, opened inside the theater with the park on May 1st, 1989. The Great Movie Ride celebrated old Hollywood and movie-making magic until it’s closure in 2017. Since then, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has begun a complete transformation, replacing previous “behind-the-scenes” experiences with new lands and attractions themed to favorite films such as Toy Story and Star Wars. There are still remnants from the park’s original theme, like Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and set pieces found outside of Star Tours, but with each new addition at the park, Hollywood Studios’ overall theme continues to evolve.
With Runaway Railway, you’re invited to step through the movie screen, joining Mickey, Minnie and the gang on a wacky, zany adventure in a cartoon world where mouse rules apply. What are we waiting for? Let’s take a look!
Everything You Need to Know about Runaway Railway
Runaway Railway is a trackless dark ride that features “2½ D” technology, no special glasses are required. Based on the recent award-winning Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts, Imagineers closely worked with Disney Television Animation throughout the project to ensure the authenticity of the characters and stories.
Believe it or not, after all these years… Runaway Railway is the first ride-through attraction to feature the Mouse himself at any Disney park, ever.
A catchy, new original theme song was created just for the ride, as well as some new characters. Like Chuuby, a cute little orange bird who has a starring role. (Chuuby was originally supposed to be named Chubby, but a spelling error stuck and it made more sense for the locomotive theme… choo choo… Chuuby!)
Runaway Railway Story
Based on the vibrant world of the newer, stylized Mickey Mouse shorts, Runaway Railway is bursting with color, music, fun, and surprising twists and turns! Here’s the official backstory:
“The darling duo are taking a leisurely drive to a picnic in their sporty roadster—with Engineer Goofy’s train following merrily along. Plot twist—you get to go, too! Climb aboard a runaway railway and embark on a whirlwind ride through a world where the rules of physics don’t apply. Prepare for unexpected twists, slapstick gags and mind-boggling transformations at every turn, as Mickey and Minnie try to save the day.”
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Ride Restrictions & Accessibility
- There is no height requirement for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Children under 7 years old must be accompanied by a person age 14 years or older.
- ECV/Wheelchair must transfer, audio description and handheld captioning are available.
- FastPass+ is available for this attraction.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Queue
Thankfully, upon entering the Chinese Theater, not much has changed to the beautifully intricate interior.
Some new details featuring Hidden Mickeys are found further into the theater’s queue!
Posters for several Mickey Shorts are featured within the queue: Three-Legged Race, Tokyo Go, Split Decison, Mumbai Madness, Wish Upon a Coin, Wonders of the Deep (a beloved short, filled with tons of 20,000 Leagues references) . . .
and our favorite, Potatoland!
…We need a Potatoland t-shirt, stat!
Just before heading into a theater room, you’ll see a poster of the short you’re about to become a part of!
After passing through the lobby and concessional area, you approach a small theater, now showing “Perfect Picnic”.
While Mickey & Minnie are on their way to a picnic, they drive alongside a train and find out that the engineer is none other than Goofy. Then, one magical moment lets you step into the movie and board Goofy’s train, the Runnamuck Railroad.
From there, you’re in for one wild ride!
We don’t want to spoil too much for you. So we’ll just share a few images of the ride itself below and invite you to watch the video if you’d like to see more . . . And away we go . . .
If you’d like to see more . . .
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Videos & Song (SPOILERS AHEAD)
Want to hear the adorable new song? We’ve got it for you:
We also have two videos of the attraction for you. One is just video snips of the attraction if you want to save some surprises for own visit:
the other video is our own complete ride-through (Major spoilers!):
Mickey & Minnie’s Trivia Game: Mouse Rules Apply
Found on the Play Parks app, a new trivia game was released to help soak up time spent waiting to board the Runnamuck Railroad. There are hundreds of new Mickey & Minnie-related trivia questions which are activated after entering the park, along with the queues for both Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and the Mickey Shorts Theater.
Make sure to update your Play Disney Parks app before heading into Hollywood Studios!
Runaway Railway Merchandise Collection
An exclusive merchandise collection will be available at Disney’s Hollywood Studios starting on Wednesday, March 4th. Here’s a peek!
Tips & Tricks
Runaway Railway has LOTS of re-rideability potential. The 4 trackless vehicles start off as one connected train, then split off on their own tumultous journies before returning to train-form.
Some cars stay longer in some scenes, taking in more dialogue and hidden details, while others move quickly onto the next. If you have the opportunity, we recommend riding in both the 4th and 2nd cars (since the 2nd ultimately moves into 1st place, also a great view of Engineer Goofy), and sitting on either the left or right of your chosen row for various views. Similar to Rise of the Resistance, sitting in the front or back row doesn’t really effect your ride experience much.
We’ve noticed several new details during each ride-through. Hidden Mickeys… GALORE. They’re fun for everyone to find. We’ve even found some that move about!
We’ve also discovered a few callbacks to the Great Movie Ride, including a ride poster in the Carnival scene advertising the Great “Moving” Ride (a PeopleMover and Great Movie Ride mashup).
Let us know what YOU can find!
Our Short & Sweet Runaway Railway Review
Similar to how we felt after first riding Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a game-changer. It’s a fun, out of control adventure with surprising twists and turns that truly left us speechless.
Amazing visual effects, mind-blowing transformations, cartoon-y slapstick gags, familiar characters . . . this is the next generation of Disney family dark-rides. Yes, there are a lot of projections, but they allow for a whole new kind of Disney experience that’s fun for the WHOLE family (and NO height restrictions)!
As much as we are going to miss The Great Movie Ride, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway surely deserves the center spot in the park’s iconic Chinese Theater building. We are adding this attraction to the list of top attractions created by Walt Disney Imagineering. Between the immersion, detailed props and sets, magical effects… it was a lot to take it in on one go-around, we are getting back in line right now!
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Let’s Hear From You
What do you think of Runaway Railway? Will you come to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to be one of the first to ride? Do you think the new cartoon style for Mickey and friends suits this madcap attraction or would you have preferred one of his other styles (original rubber hose arms, Sorcerer Mickey perhaps, classic chubby Mickey)? And please take our poll to let us know how interesting this attraction is to you and your family:
See ya real soon!
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This article was published on March 3rd at 3am (Pacific), updated later that same day with additional photos, and updated again on March 7th with a full ride-through video and the attraction song.
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