Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is OPEN at Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World and will open in Disneyland during 2022. Disney’s FIRST Mickey themed attraction promises new things we’ve never seen before at Disney. In 2-1/2 dimensions, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway includes a new song, classic sound elements, and loads of hidden mickeys! Here’s all the details on Disney’s newest ride.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is housed in the Chinese Theater at Hollywood Studios and aims to make guests feel like they have entered the cartoon world, right alongside Mickey and Minnie.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Ride Queue
As with all new rides at Walt Disney World, initial wait times in the first few months after opening are always tough. Tougher still is snagging a FastPass+ for these rides. Even when waking up early to book your FP on your first available day, there is always a good chance no fast passes will be available. That said here are things to know regarding Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway in the FastPass+ lineup.
As a Tier 1 ride for Hollywood Studios, this ride is one of the available choices to you from the Tier 1 lineup which also includes Smugglers Run, and Slinky Dog Dash. Personally, in a Tier 1 choice situation, we’d still choose Slinky Dog Dash, which still continues to see extremely long waits even though it opened more than a year and half ago on June 30, 2018.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a beautiful, fun and charming trackless ride, perfect for the whole family BUT, we don’t anticipate long waits after the first few months. At opening, the longest waits were around the 2-½ hour mark. In the future we’d anticipate waits to be closer to 30-60 minutes. Especially as other popular rides in the park – Slinky Dog, Rise, Midway Mania and Star Tours will still be competing for guest time.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Story Line
This ride brings guests into the world of a Mickey and Minnie cartoon called Mickey Mouse in A Perfect Picnic. The story opens up with our favorite power couple on their way, in their little red convertible, to a special place for a very perfect picnic. Then something unexpected happens. We hear Goofy gets hold of a train and all sorts of shenanigans ensue. Thankfully Mickey and Minnie have each other and teamwork gets them, and us, out of this mess.
The Ride
Much like how we saw in The Great Movie Ride, riders watch a short cartoon before entering the ride. The ride look and design is based on the 1930’s animation of the Mickey shorts airing on the Disney Channel now. Emmy award winning and currently in it’s 5th season, these cartoons share the perfect Mickey and Minnie dynamic with them as real partners. The ride aims to show that relationship in the same way. The design of the ride is meant to feel hand-drawn and aims to pull riders into the cartoon right alongside Mickey and Minnie as they go on their journey. This trackless ride will bring you through scenes familiar in the cartoons.
The Song and Sounds
Ready for a song as catchy as “It’s a Small World”? Christopher Willis, the genius behind the compositions currently heard in the Mickey shorts, has scored the ride. The goal? Give riders something sincere, simple and singable. “Nothing can stop us now” is all about how Mickey and Minnie can handle anything!
In addition to the catchy song, we’ll also get to hear classic sounds from the olden days of movie making. Lots of scrapes, bangs, and kabooms await. Even the whistle, used in the 1928 short Steamboat Willie will be used as the train whistle in this ride. And we’ll also be hearing the tabletop cranking device used for the train sounds in Dumbo. Disney has pulled out all the stops to make this ride feel authentic and classic. Lots of old school sound making and nods to classic Disney History here.
While this isn’t an example of what the ride will be you can get a feel for the graphics, Mickey and Minnie relationships and sounds in Nature’s Wonderland.
Hidden Mickeys
As Disney’s FIRST Mickey and Minnie themed ride, we’ve been promised more hidden mickeys in this ride than ever! Imagineers shared that they won’t even know how many there are after its all complete.
Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary
The new Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Ride is part of a larger project in preparation for Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary in 2021. Whatever is in store we are thrilled that Mickey and Minnie finally join the list of attractions at Walt Disney World! It’s such a FUN RIDE and one we hope to ride often as part of our regular Disney vacations.
