Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway opens on March 4th, but we’ve gotten an early look at the newest attraction to arrive at Hollywood Studios!
We’ve got all the info on the queue, the pre-show, and what to expect when you actually board the train!
Spoiler warning in effect from here on!
Queue and Pre-Show
Located in the iconic Chinese Theatre in Hollywood Studios, you’re greeted with these friendly faces as you enter the line!
Upon opening, the ride will be offering both a Standby and FastPass line!
If you rode The Great Movie Ride, the early part of the queue will feel familiar. You’ll enter the world-famous Chinese Theater for the premiere of the newest Mickey Mouse short: The Perfect Picnic!
There are also other posters from some of the Mickey Mouse shorts we’ve seen in the countdown to the ride’s opening, including this one of Potatoland.
Along the way, there are plenty of Hidden Mickeys to discover! See if you can spot him in this awesome light fixture.
There are also plenty of smaller Hidden Mickeys throughout…
…including on the artwork in the queue!
Eventually, you’ll arrive at the theater to watch the premiere. The cartoon features Mickey and Minnie setting off in their red convertible to find the perfect spot for a picnic. But, what they don’t realize is that Pluto has stowed himself away in the trunk of the car!
When the car hits a bump in the road, Pluto flies out — and that’s when the journey really begins! The picnic basket from the car lands in the steam pipe of nearby Engineer Goofy’s train, causing an explosion that creates a hole in the screen, which guests will then walk through to get to the loading part of the queue.
Everything is designed to look like the cartoons, giving things a two-dimensional look. You’ll go through a bit more of a queue before boarding your train.
The Ride
The attraction uses a trackless ride vehicle, with a simulated locomotive.
Engineer Goofy is in charge of the train, with Mickey and Minnie driving alongside in their car. You can see him piloting through simulated windows on the screen, though you can bet he’s not going to be keeping things smooth for long.
This is where the journey really gets going. The front of the train disconnects, leaving you and the guests on a different path than Engineer Goofy. Your first stop is the Wild West, where Mickey and Minnie try and lasso you back on track. Then, you take a trip to a carnival — see if you can spot Donald at the Hot Dog Stand!
But then, a tornado hits the carnival, blowing your train car (as well as Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto) on to your next adventure!
The tornado takes you to the next scene — an exploding volcano! To escape from the volcano, you, Mickey, and Minnie are on the water, heading right towards a waterfall. Mickey and Minnie try to get everyone to shore with no luck, so you all head under the water instead.
The journey underwater is more relaxing than it sounds, with a trumpet-playing squid and singing sea creatures on hand to serenade you on your journey.
But, the water leads out the sewer to the city, where you encounter a familiar face — Pete!
You also almost run into Donald, whose driving a truck through the city. This leads you to one of our favorite parts of the ride — a dance studio, where Daisy Duck is on hand to give you a few quick lessons! She instructs each ride vehicle front, back, and side to side, not unlike Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters at Cars Land in Disney California Adventure.
Next up, you travel into a nearby factory, though Mickey and Minnie try to stop you as it’s a bit dangerous! In the factory, you narrowly escape going directly into the path of the dangerous “Smasher”, which Mickey is able to stop just in time. Luckily, from there you’re able to meet back up with Engineer Goofy, and Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto are finally able to have that relaxing, romantic picnic!
As you head back towards the station, you can catch a glimpse of the adorable Chuuby, an original character introduced for the ride! As things calm down towards the end of the ride, you’re treated to an original song for the attraction, Nothing Can Stop Us Now.
The ride combines animatronics and screens for a truly immersive adventure, and certainly one that isn’t like anything we’ve seen in Disney World before! It was also truly fun to see Mickey and the gang get their own ride, especially for such a cute, visually gorgeous attraction.
We’re excited to hear everyone’s thoughts when it opens to the public on March 4th in Hollywood Studios!
Are you planning on riding the new attraction? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Disclosure: We were invited by Disney to attend a media preview of the new Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway in Hollywood Studios. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.
Wondering about wheelchair accessibility. Do you have to transfer or can you stay in your chair?
Hi Laura! A Cast Member at the attraction confirmed that guests in wheelchairs do need to transfer at boarding for the ride.
What does Molly McCormack think about the ride look? I was SO disappointed in this sort of 90s, spastic, rubbery animation style that they used for the ride that it took the charm right out of it for me (mind you I haven’t been ON it, just watched a POV). I, like Molly mentioned in a previous post, just hate this style, especially Goofy. Poor Goofy looks like he has been through some ROUGH times. Meanwhile everyone else has been going nuts over the ride…I figured I couldn’t be the only one who disliked this style, but Molly is the only one to have written about it, that I can find. Molly….I feel you!