Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is opening this week at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and though this park is still dealing with heavy crowds due to the popularity of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, there is plenty of excitement around this blockbuster opening on March 4, 2020! Here’s everything we know about this new attraction!
The setup: Walking into a Mickey Mouse cartoon
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway begins the moment guests enter the iconic Chinese Theater in the middle of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The setup is that everyone has gathered at the theater for the premiere of a new Mickey Mouse cartoon short, “Perfect Picnic,” which sees Mickey and Minnie setting off on a journey to find the best spot for a romantic picnic, taking their little red convertible for a drive through Runnamuck Park.
However, as you might expect, things go wrong pretty quickly, and guests are transported “through” the movie screen and into the cartoon world, where they join Engineer Goofy on a train ride on the Runnamuck Railroad, following Mickey and Minnie through the park on their quest for that perfect picnic.
On their way through the ride guests will be able to check out a number of environments and setups, including
- Stampeding through the Wild West
- Visiting a carnival
- Avoiding a swirling twister
- Escaping an exploding volcano
- Diving over a waterfall … and much more
A technological marvel
Though Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is still the most technologically advanced attraction in existence, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will be quite the unique attraction when it opens, blending classic Disney attraction design in a brand new way with cutting-edge technology to turn a two-dimensional cartoon world into a rich, vibrant environment. The attraction features a combination of physical sets, Audio-Animatronic figures, animated media and projection-mapping techniques, all while using the same trackless technology that powers Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
There will be plenty of fun references to spot!
Disney has announced that guests who ride Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway can look for special “hidden gems” that nod to Disney history. Here are a few to keep an eye out for:
- A newspaper features the headline “Oswald Wins!” – a reference to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the cartoon character created by Walt Disney that predates Mickey Mouse.
- The Iwerks and Uwerks Waterworks water treatment plant is named for Disney Legend Ub Iwerks, the animator credited with sketching Mickey Mouse for the first time.
- The 1401 Flower Shop is an homage to Walt Disney Imagineering’s headquarters in Glendale, Calif.
- The numbers 1901 and 1928 can be seen inside the attraction; these are references to Walt Disney’s and Mickey Mouse’s birth years, respectively.
A companion attraction is opening too!
The Mickey Shorts Theater, which will be only a few paces from the entrance to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will also be opening on March 4, will feature several Mickey shorts, including “Vacation Fun,” celebrating those true originals’ favorite vacation memories, plus a few new adventures. “Vacation Fun” is exclusive to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and includes new animation as well as clips from favorite “Mickey Mouse” cartoon shorts.
When guests leave the theater they will also have the chance to check out photo ops that allow them to step into life-sized versions of beloved animated Mickey Mouse shorts.
Though many were sad to see the Great Movie Ride close in 2017, it looks like Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will be an exciting new attraction that will use new technology to bring yet another cutting-edge ride to this park. Are you excited for this new attraction?
