One of the biggest controversies in the theme park world over the last few years (other than the use of virtual queues) has been the evolution of the screen-based dark ride. Of course, screens are nothing new, but ever since The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man revolutionized how screen and projection technology was used inside attractions, many have complained of diminishing returns inside this sub-genre, with attractions like Skull Island: Reign of Kong, Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, and Fast and Furious: The Ride, failing to excite theme park tourists.
While Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway does use some familiar screen based “tricks” that guests will notice right off the bat, this attraction does feel like an evolution of this medium in some critical ways, and is a solid addition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, even if it doesn’t exactly feel as “timeless” as the Great Movie Ride that preceded it inside the Chinese Theater show building.
FYI: we’re going to be discussing SPOILERS in this article, so if you want to experience this attraction without knowing anything about it, stop reading here!
If you don’t mind spoilers, continue on (and check out our filmed ride-through here!)
Perfecting “2 1/2 D”
When Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was first announced Disney said it was going to use “2 1/2 D” technology to transport guests inside the zany world of the Mickey Mouse shorts. And this attraction really succeeds with this, with massive floor to ceiling screens that create a backdrop upon which physical sets are built and projection-powered animatronics move, filling up the “frame” of your field of view with plenty of depth, immersing you in this “real” cartoon world.
The scope starts small as passengers board trackless vehicles behind a train conducted by Goofy. As you might expect, things go wrong immediately, and the four trailing vehicles behind the locomotive separate not only from the train’s front but also from one another, moving independently in a careful choreograph through a series of scenes with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and even perennial badguy Pete!
Setpieces are wildly varied and include a wild twister, a desert, an island paradise, a wild carnival, a dance studio, and a crazy factory! And while the transitions between these areas can feel a little rough (and the story can feel a little lost in translation), this ride is fun through and through, and really captures the spirit of the new Mickey Mouse shorts.
“Fixing” Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Though this attraction is a massive success on a technical level, it also serves a very important purpose at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: having a massive capacity. Based on what we saw opening day, it looks like there is a 60 second load time, with each 4-vehicle “train” holding roughly 32 – 40 guests, which would give this attraction a theoretical capacity of around 2,000 guests per hour, putting it far ahead of the 1700 guests per hour Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
The addition of this “people eater” attraction will hopefully help keep wait times down at this park, which has seen massive multi-hour waits for rides like Toy Story Mania, Slinky Dog Dash and more as Disney’s Hollywood Studios continues to grapple with shortened hours and the continuing popularity of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
On opening day, we saw wait times shrink around the park and it will be interesting to see in the coming days how the addition of this new attraction changes wait times around the park.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway definitely feels like a modern ride, that uses cutting edge technology to help guests feel like they are inside the world of the 21st century Mickey Mouse shorts. And while this really helps this ride feel like something that belongs in a theme park in 2020, we can’t help feel like this attraction may feel a bit 2020 in 2030 and 2040 as well, which could be a problem for the longevity of this ride.
But for the here and now, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a fun addition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and should delight Mickey Mouse fans both young and old!
