Disneyland Resort Update: Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway

Disneyland, Anaheim, CA

Happy Saturday! Remember when we said we'd stop doing Disneyland updates? That was only for construction updates. But when the park sees a momentous milestone, we'll go check out what's new.

Case in point, though this past Sunday saw the official grand opening of the revitalized, new-and-improved Mickey's Toontown, two months ago saw the debut of Disneyland's newest attraction, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway! This attraction--identical in ride layout to the version that premiered at Disney Hollywood Studios in March of 2020--is the second trackless dark ride in the park, tying it for most trackless dark rides in any Disney park with Disney Hollywood Studios (whose two trackless dark rides are the same as Disneyland's) and Tokyo Disneyland (which has the original trackless wonder, Pooh's Hunny Hunt, and the new Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast).

When Disneyland's Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway opened on January 27th, it helped kick off the Disney 100 celebration happening at the Disneyland Resort. It also marked the partial reopening of Mickey's Toontown, though no other attractions, stores, or restaurants opened with it. As such, today, we're going to take a look at the portion of Toontown that guests could take in prior to this past Sunday, plus the complete attraction experience itself. Sit back, buckle up, hold on tight when the railway runs away, and lets dive straight into the wacky cartoon ride!

(And of course, if you want to avoid spoilers for the ride, because you haven’t ridden it yet and want it to be a complete surprise, just stop reading this article now.)

The El CapiTOON Theater

At Disney Hollywood Studios, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is located within the park's recreation of Grauman's Chinese Theater, which formerly held The Great Movie Ride. In Disneyland, a new facade has been created from demolishing the old Toontown Five & Dime Store. In its place is the grand El CapiTOON Theater, playing off the real-life El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.

This new facade is the perfect (and dare I say, superior) frontage for Disneyland's latest ride. Its architecture fits in with the round, cartoony, almost anthropomorphic buildings that surround it, but it also has its own sense of elegance that distinguishes it from its more everyday business neighbors. A bold marquee features the ride title front and center, with side marquees touting its credentials to punny effect. "A modern mouse-terpiece," says one side. "The grand world prem-ear!" says the other. And on either side of the entrance doors are movie posters for the latest Mickey and Minnie Mouse cartoon, "Perfect Picnic."

Guests who come up close under the oculus of the entry canopy of the El CapiTOON will find a ticket booth with an attendant on break. But there are some fun details and Easter eggs to behold, and this provides a hint at the spectacular whimsy, cheesiness, and fun that awaits within.

Come nighttime, the El CapiTOON transforms into a glowing wonder, with the vertically oriented "EL CAPITOON" signage lighting up in a scrolling series, while the bulbs around the marquee and under the entry canopy evoke a classic Hollywood feel. This is a Toontown version of glitziness, and it is positively radiant. It's already become a favorite photo op of guests and Disney park fan photographers!

Mickey's Toontown

Initially, when the ride opened, the only access was via virtual queue or purchasing a Lightning Lane. This meant that guests couldn't even access the limited part of Mickey's Toontown that was open unless they had a reservation for the ride. However, not more than a month after opening, with the ride operating in a smooth flow and high capacity, Disney removed the virtual queue requirement, allowing guests to enter Mickey's Toontown whether they wanted to ride or not.

At the time, only a third of the land was actually accessible, but it provided a glimpse of the transformation that Mickey's Toontown had been undergoing for the past year.

Guests passing under the Disneyland Railroad bridge from Fantasyland into Toontown can see a new and more colorful and symbol-laden sign--still with its population ticker--welcoming guests. Once clear of the underpass, the El CapiTOON looms straight ahead. To the right is the updated landscape in front of Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin. The old Roger Rabbit fountain has been removed, and an open artificial turf area replaced it.

The area between Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin and the El CapiTOON Theater, including the Gag Factory facade, Post Office, Fireworks Factor facade, Fire Department facade, Toontown Post Office, and jail, is unchanged. However, the fresh new coat of paint that all the facades have received make everything look vibrant, new, and popping. This is what Tokyo Disneyland's Toontown is like--fresh, wonderfully maintained, and always colorful. The improvements are a welcome refresh, as Toontown had become a little rundown and under-maintained in recent years, with faded or peeling paint noticeable. This is not conducive to a themed land devoted to cartoons, which are inherently saturated in various hues.

To the left of the El CapiTOON, the civic area of Mickey's Toontown remains. There are facades for the City Hall, 3rd Little Piggy Bank, and Courthouse. The exit of Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, the EngineEar souvenir shop, also blends into the facade. To the left of the civic cluster are Cafe Daisy and Good Boy Grocers. Just beyond that are the restrooms, and that was the extent of the area open to guests prior to this past March 19th.

The Queue & Preshow

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is a spectacular ride, but at Disneyland, the experience before guests even get to ride has also been noteworthy. In addition to having its own, unique facade compared to its Disney Hollywood Studios cousin, the Disneyland version of the ride features an extensive queue chock full of all sorts of details, visual gags, fun Easter eggs, and delightful displays that will maintain plenty of interest for guests queueing up--even though the waits have actually been relatively reasonable and typically under an hour.

Guests have the option to enter the Standby line on the right or the Lightning Lane on the left. For those riding for the first time, the Standby provides arguably the better experience, as there are plenty of sights to take in. Beyond the initial movie diorama for the new Mickey Mouse feature, "Perfect Picnic," that everyone is here to see, there are a plethora of movie posters throughout the line, featuring a mix of advertisements for actual Mickey Mouse cartoons from the current Paul Rudish batch that has been churning out since 2013 as well as satirical posters of Hollywood movies featuring Mickey Mouse and his friends subbing in key roles. The Feisty Ducks, The Mouseketeer, and The Chipmunk Trap are among the fun alternates. There are also posters for historical Mickey Mouse cartoons, including The Prince and the Pauper, The Three Musketeers, Mickey's Christmas Carol, and more.

The posters are merely the tip of the iceberg of details in the queue. As guests proceed from room to room in the Standby line, they can see a variety of props and little sets that reference various Mickey Mouse productions throughout the past century of Disney productions. A museum-like fictitious history display of Toontown's theater kicks things off. The next room features a variety of supposed props and memorabilia from classic Mickey Mouse works, including "Plane Crazy," "Fantasia," "Lonesome Ghosts," and more. Here, guests who linger long enough or happen to be at the right place at the right time can witness dynamic moments with moving parts. Mickey's sorcerer's hat might start glowing and levitating. The plane above might sputter and spin its propellers. The mirror atop the dresser might receive a supernatural guest!

In the next space is a dual-lane hallway with more of Mickey's effects from his past films. A cake from "Mickey's Birthday Party" features a tongue-in-cheek signage. The beanstalk from "Mickey and the Beanstalk" sprouts up and through the ceiling, emanating noticeable cracking sounds as it pushes through the top of the room. A Christmas scene recalls Mickey's Christmas Carol and makes for a cute ambiance.

The energy picks up in the next room, as displays from Mickey Mouse Disco, The Prince and the Pauper, and even some Disney Junior shows come into view. The disco scene features songs from the 1979 soundtrack. The prince and pauper costumes are behind glass as though this was a museum. On days with longer waits, the line might overflow briefly into an exterior area before ducking back in.

More props and sets await as guests near the concessions stand. Here, the Paul Rudish creations are prominently featured, as Potatoland's President Spud, cuckoo clocks from "Yodelberg," a sarcophagus (with labeling that hilariously cannot spell the word) from "Entombed," and other items are on display. It's great to see the new Mickey Mouse cartoons given prominence. I personally love them and adore the over-the-top, absurd, sometimes-fourth-wall-breaking nature of the Mickey Mouse and Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse series.

If all of this wasn't enough, the concession stand features literal eye candy and a visual feast to enjoy. A variety of snacks (including some that I wish were real, like Power Limes candy and McDuck's Chocolate Coins) are featured for the fictional guests of the theater. Too bad, the real guests waiting to board the ride can't purchase these!

The condiment bar is also a highlight, with more silly gags like a container of Your Cheese next to one of Nacho Cheese. On the other side, there is BBQ Sauce, Secret Sauce that's plainly just mayonnaise, relish, haggis for some reason, and hot sauce that burns through the counter.

Another hallway or two, and guests finally arrive at their theater to watch "Perfect Picnic". However, this is actually a clever way to present the attraction preshow, which literally is guests gathered to watch the cartoon!

Mickey and Minne prepare for a wonderful day out in the park, aided by their trusty pal, Pluto, singing "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" all the way through. They throw all the food and supplies in the trunk, and Pluto as well, before embarking on a leisurely drive. Soon, Goofy rolls by, driving a locomotive and greeting his friends. After a brief salutation, Mickey and Minnie speed off to their destination, but a road bump tosses Pluto and an unfortunate pie out the trunk, with the dessert landing on Goofy's train, clogging its stack and causing an explosive crash inside a depot that is so intense that it literally blows the screen out!

This is the narrative device that allows guests to literally step into a cartoon world. The grand reveal can be discerned for guests with sharp eyes looking to see how the effect works, but for those going for the first time or not expecting it, the whole flourish is pretty amazing and an example of the type of Disney magic that can leave guests gawking in amused confusion.

Once guests step through the silver screen, the aesthetic changes to that of a flat, drawn cartoon. The final queue places guests onto locomotives on the way to Runnamuck Park, which seems to be a light reference to Walt Disney's original Burbank Disneyland Park design.

Here’s a gallery of all the movie posters I caught during my visits.

The Ride

Now in the cartoon world, guests board one of four cars behind Goofy's locomotive. After leaving the station, the first destination takes guests into Runnamuck Park, where they can spot Mickey and Minne driving along on their way to their "Perfect Picnic." The catchy theme song of the ride is inescapable as the attraction soundtrack, and one can't help but bob their head or sway along with the "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" melody.

Ducking into a mine shaft, Goofy opens up his locomotive window to greet guests and begin his tour spiel, and Mickey and Minnie putter up alongside the track, offering their salutations. However, distracted driving is never recommended, and Mickey pays the price when he accidentally crashes into a track switch. At this point, all heck breaks lose, as the cars detach from the train, and Goofy heads in one direction while the cars take on a life of their own and veer in another!

The bulk of the ride, then, is a series of meandering spins into various cartoon worlds, as the runaway railway shows no sign of stopping, and Mickey and Minnie need to figure out a way to stop the madness, save the day, and keep everyone together and in one piece!

The first room is a Wild West scene, with Mickey and Minney riding horses across buttes and canyons. They try to lasso the cars back together, but alas, the cars are too slippery. Too bad there wasn't a Cheese Wrangler to help collect everyone!

The scene transitions to a theme park, which seems fine at first, until the logo of the Twister roller coaster in the background becomes a real-life twister, creating a windy cyclone in the space and threatening to tear everything apart! This moment is very reminiscent of the climactic finale scene of Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Manor, which features simar ride vehicle movements. But the ride is only getting started, as everyone is thrown into Miss Fortune's tent--witnessing Mickey and Minnie be sucked up into a vortex, before being deposited into a tropical paradise.

Phew! Everyone can relax now, except a volcano erupts, sending turmoil abound. Rushing water directs the cars down a waterfall and into almost certain doom! A splashy landing saves the group from harm, but just as the group gets settled into the underwater serenity, a mischievous octopus pulls a bathtub plug and sends the cars careening down a sewer system and out onto a city scene!

Here, the frenetic metropolis is full of jarring sights and sounds, from speeding traffic to (Peg Leg) Pete drilling with a jackhammer. The energy is absolutely bristling here, and it very much feels like guests have been fully commandeered by the wild ride of a cartoon!

Peace transitions in briefly again as riders move into a dance hall led by Daisy, who conducts everyone in a lovely little waltz. Everyone takes so well to the lesson, though, that Daisy decides to up the ante. And suddenly, the train cars are in a shuffling conga into the next space!

The cars enter the factory, and Mickey is pulled into the machinery and gear as well. The stakes start to raise, however, as the cars fall onto a conveyer belt and move toward a junk smasher. Just when it seems everyone will be pulverized to smithereens, Mickey hits the shutdown switch, and everything transforms back to a placid and pleasant ambiance!

The cars exit the factory and link back up with Goofy's train, which joins from a side passage with the conductor wrapping up his spiel and being none the wiser at the adventure that everyone else just had. Goofy brings the train back through the mine shaft and into Runnamuck Park, where Mickey and Minnie and Pluto have finally settled into their picnic. As Mickey serenades his love on ukelele, a fireworks scene sends fiery bursts in the background. A chorus resumes the "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" tune for the uplifting finale, and the train returns to the barn to drop everyone off!

After riding Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway several times over the past month or so, I might actually like this ride more than Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance! Though the overall experience over in Galaxy's Edge is superior and more immersive, and the storyline is more linear and logical, there's just something incredibly enchanting and alluring about Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. It imparts a similar sense of childlike awe that I felt when riding Mystic Manor (still my favorite Disney attraction of all time), and it really feels like being trapped in the loony mayhem of a Mickey Mouse cartoon. The mix of 3D sets (which are really just forms that are projected upon) and the 3D mapping projection is pretty incredible. Disney has been using 3D projection mapping in attractions for a while now, but this is the most expansive and sophisticated yet, and it’s the perfect medium to really impart the unpredictable frenzy of the Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is a thrilling and fantastic addition to Disneyland Park. It's kind of unbelievable to know that it was added just a few years after Disneyland's last expansion, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, which was both the largest expansion in the park's history and the first major real estate add in a couple of decades! But Disneyland continues to grow more and more popular, and since the Walt Disney Company still insists on having park reservations in place, the only way to provide a better park experience while upping profits is to add capacity--something that this ride does exceptionally well.

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is the highlight of a transformation to Disneyland's second newest themed land, but now, Mickey's Toontown has three arguably can't-miss attractions in the park. Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin has always been a criminally underrated but high-quality dark ride. Gadget's Go-Coaster, now rechristened Chip 'n' Dale's Gadgetcoaster, is probably not exactly an E-Ticket but is one of the park's four roller coasters. With this refresh and newfound appeal and attraction, bright times are ahead for Mickey's Toontown, and that only helps make Disneyland an even more enjoyable park.

Nothing can stop it now! (Except a pandemic and/or overly aggressive price hikes!)