After several years of anticipation, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway has finally opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. But is it any good? Are there boarding passes available? What about Fastpass? What’s the line like? Any nods to The Great Movie Ride? Is it better or worse than its predecessor? Let’s talk about all of it.

The Queue:

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway replaced The Great Movie Ride inside the Chinese Theatre at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Once inside the building, guests walked through winding pathways surrounded by Chinese-style architecture. Along the way, guests saw real movie props and/or famous costumes on display. The queue for Runaway Railway is pretty much the exact same as the queue for The Great Movie Ride, minus the movie props and costumes. Guests still get to walk around to see the beautiful interior design based on the real Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.

The Pre-Show:

You then step into a large theatre room with a huge screen. A cast member has the guests fill in the remaining space. Then that screen comes to life with a modern cartoon starring Mickey Mouse, called “The Perfect Picnic.” Viewers watch as Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto prepare for a relaxing picnic. But of course, something goes wrong. They drive over the train tracks, which results in Pluto getting ejected from the car with the picnic pie! Pluto is okay, but the pie ends up in Goofy’s steam locomotive exhaust system. So, Goofy crashes, but he wants to take us all on his train anyway. This spot used to be the same spot where guests watched an introduction to The Great Movie Ride and the films it celebrated.

The Ride:

Once you board the train, it starts driving forward through a colourful cartoon park, complete with a singing sun. Riders head under a tunnel labelled “1928.” If you didn’t already know, 1928 is the year that “Steamboat Willie” debuted and therefore is Mickey Mouse’s birthday. Then, the conductor's door opens to reveal Goofy himself! He welcomes you aboard before we see Mickey and Minnie driving in their yellow car on our right-hand side. Mickey reveals that Goofy accidentally hit the track switch, resulting in each of the train cars breaking off from each other and conductor Goofy.

That is the moment when the chaos truly begins. All of a sudden guests find themselves in the Wild Wild West with Mickey and Minnie, then at a carnival before a tornado sweeps Mickey and Minnie away. This is actually a nod to The Great Movie Ride scene with Sorcerer Mickey and the tornado after the Wizard of Oz segment. Fun fact about that old scene: the twister was originally supposed to be part of the Wizard of Oz portion of the ride and would showcase Dorothy’s house flying through the air, but MGM Studios didn’t approve it. As Imagineers had already built the tornado, Sorcerer Mickey was placed on the scene instead. Now, Mickey still finds himself in this tornado but this time Minnie and Pluto join him.

Another nod to The Great Movie Ride: Right next to the station where Donald is working at the carnival is an advertisement for “The Great Moving Ride.” Then Mickey and Minnie find themselves in a jungle, falling down a waterfall, and then under the sea. The train cars head through a drainage tunnel labelled “1901.” This was the year Walt Disney was born. Riders drive through the hustle and bustle of a large city before entering a dance class taught by Daisy Duck.

Riders exit the dance class through the dangerous mechanics of the train track system. Mickey and Minnie save the day and reconnect the train cars to the engine. Goofy thanks everybody for coming and Mickey and Minnie can be seen finally enjoying their perfect picnic.

What To Expect:

  • A very long line: Since there is no boarding pass option available for this new attraction, the standby line is extremely long.
  • Screens, screens, and more screens: Even though The Great Movie Ride relied almost solely on animatronics and live props, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is mostly a 360-degree screen attraction.
  • Trackless: This is easily the coolest part about the new ride. It is the first dark ride in the US to use a trackless system, a la Ratatouille in Disneyland Paris or Mystic Manor in Hong Kong. The trackless system was highly anticipated and did not disappoint.
  • Modern Character Graphics: If you are a fan of the 1990s version of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy, you may be disappointed to see that Runaway Railway uses the “Millennial Mickey” style of animation.