Five Things to Know About Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (MMRR) is the first ride-though Disney theme park attraction to feature Mickey Mouse (and Minnie!). The look and feel of the experience are drawn – literally – from the new Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts. Below, we’ll take you on a tour of 5 things you need to know about this popular ride at Hollywood Studios. But if you’d like to jump the tracks and head straight to the whys, wheres and hows, here’s your shortcut.

1. You board the train in a theater.

You catch your ride in Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Chinese Theater, right at the end of Hollywood Boulevard. The grand entrance facade of the Theater is almost an exact replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. At Hollywood Studios, it’s the first thing you see in the distance as you walk through the tapstiles, and really sets the vibe of the park.

You’re invited inside to view the cartoon feature, “Perfect Picnic” starring Mickey and Minnie. Entering, you’ll see that much of the queue is styled in keeping with an old-timey theater, with plush reds and carpet. (And actually, the queue wasn’t restyled all that much after the theater’s former movie-themed occupant, The Great Movie Ride, moved out!)

You enter a small theater area where the cartoon begins. The story it tells sets up your ride: Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto are going for a drive. Unfortunately, Pluto gets packed in the car’s trunk! They head out and pass Goofy, who’s the conductor of a train. Chaos ensues (don’t want to spoil the plot), but the cartoon ends as Goofy’s train blows a hole through the movie screen, and you’re invited to step into the cartoon world yourself! You walk through the hole to board Goofy’s train, but as you might expect, the chaos has just begun…

2. Nothing can stop you now!

Engineer Goofy welcomes you aboard for a ride around Runnamuck Park. (That name alone should tip you off that you’re in for an adventure!) Almost immediately, all of the train cars separate – and Goofy doesn’t even notice that he’s lost all his passengers! Your car will ride through cartoon vignettes, where each scene uses a clever combination of cartoon drawing, video projections, and audio-animatronics to immerse you in the cartoon world.

In the end you return to the station, safe and sound, but not before Daisy Duck teaches you how to cha-cha! The really amazing part is that this trackless ride ensures that you’ll have a different experience every time. Depending on which car you’re riding in, you’ll be afforded a different view of each scene you pass through. Which also means that you’ll always have a chance to see something you hadn’t seen before.

Each scene is so heavily laden with Easter eggs, hidden Mickeys, and fun characters, it’s impossible to catch everything on only one or two rides. And while the main plotline features Mickey and Minnie doing their best to help all the train cars reunite with the engine, there’s also a secondary plot you can follow, with poor Pluto trying to get the picnic basket back.

3. How the cartoon world came to life.

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was announced in July 2017 at the D23 Expo; construction began in August of the same year. The announcement mentioned that the ride would feature “2½ D” technology, so there would be no 3D glasses required to enjoy all the effects. At the time, Disney Imagineer Kevin Rafferty said, “This is one of the boldest…most impossible things I’ve ever worked on in almost 40 years of being an Imagineer. And you know what? That’s what I love about it. Well, that, and Mickey,” […] “This is not going to be a small attraction, it’s going to be game-changing.” And he was absolutely correct!

The ride’s look and feel is styled after the new Mickey Mouse Shorts headed up by Paul Rudish on the Disney Channel. And to ensure you would truly feel as if you entered this cartoon world, the team that worked on the new Mickey Mouse shorts collaborated with the Imagineers to create the amazing sets and scenes you’ll experience.

The groundbreaking attraction finally opened on March 4, 2020, and was the last ride at Disney World to offer Fastpass+. The version that opened at Disneyland in January 2023 used the new Lightning Lane system. At Disneyland, the ride itself is identical to the one at Disney World, but the queue is a bit different, with a few more of the punny movie posters and a slightly different “lobby” feel.

4. Easter eggs, secrets, and more – oh my!

⭐ The locomotive whistle you hear is the same whistle you hear in Mickey Mouse’s debut cartoon in 1928, “Steamboat Willie.” It’s the original whistle that was used back then, nearly 100 years ago!

⭐ MMRR utilizes several other sound effects created for Disney cartoons as far back as the 1930s. They were the work of Disney Legend Jimmy Macdonald, who was also the official voice of Mickey Mouse from 1947 to 1977. Some new effects were created using his original equipment.

⭐ The posters you pass in the lobby were created by the Disney animation team that worked on the cartoon shorts.

⭐ There’s a lot going on in the city scene. But sharp eyes can spot a newspaper headline that reads “Oswald Wins!”, referring to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the character Walt created prior to Mickey. And a parking garage is labeled as “Retlaw Parking.” This is Walter spelled backward, one of several nods to Walt Disney throughout the ride.

⭐ There’s a little orange bird who appears toward the beginning and end of your ride. Created for MMRR, Chuuby was supposed to be named “Chubby,” but a typo misspelled the name, and it stuck.

⭐ Look for the little tiny crab that peeks out at you in nearly every scene! Hard to spot in some cases, but definitely there!

⭐ “Nothing Can Stop Us Now” was written by the award-winning composer Christopher Willis and his wife, Elyse Willis. Catchy and upbeat,  it rivals “It’s a Small World (After All)” as one of those Disney earworms you can’t seem to shake even long after you’ve left the attraction.

5. The Nuts and Bolts.

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, smack in the center of the park at the end of Hollywood Boulevard. The big marquee out front ensures you’ll find it easily. Since the ride is indoors, it doesn’t close for weather. But when the line is at all long (which it often is), it spills over into a covered area outside which is exposed to the elements. The whole ride lasts around 4½  minutes.

The ride vehicles are hard bench seats with a single pull-down lap bar. There are 4 train cars, each with 2 rows of 3-5 people, depending on size.,so about 32 people can ride on each train.  There’s a very small step up and then down to enter the car.

There’s no height requirement to ride MMRR, so the whole family can enjoy the attraction. There are also no health and safety warnings for the ride, but it’s worth noting that some passengers find the occasionally zippy motion of the ride vehicles, combined with screen technology, induces motion sickness. It’s not as common on MMMR as it is with rides that use 3D glasses. Wheelchair and ECV users must transfer to board the ride. Handheld Captioning and Audio Description Devices are available.

Runaway Railway is one of the most popular attractions in Hollywood Studios. Consequently, there are long lines all day long. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is open for Early Theme Park Entry, and also for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours when Hollywood Studios hosts them. For a shorter wait, Lightning Lane access is available with Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Premier Pass.

The Bottom Line.

We rate this attraction as not to be missed. After riding it several times, I’m convinced there’s so much going on in some scenes, you could ride MMRR a dozen times and still miss something. It’s that layered, that good, and that much fun!

Will you ride the Runaway Railway? If you have, how many hidden details have you spotted? Tell us in the comments below.

(Originally published October 5, 2023. Last updated/republished November 6, 2025.)