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On March 4th, 2020 Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
in Walt Disney World.
This trackless dark ride incorporates state of the art technology that transports you
right into the wacky cartoon world of a Mickey Mouse short.
It’s a really fun and since each ride vehicle takes a different path, there are 4 separate
experiences you can have.
Technologically there’s lot that goes into this ride but when you look other newer Disney
rides, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is jam-packed with the most hidden details
we’ve seen in a while.
There’s probably a lot you haven’t noticed or didn’t know.
So today we’re gonna talk about some Disney history as we count down the Top 10 Secrets,
Details and Easter Eggs in Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
Number 10 From the moment you enter the park, you can’t
help but notice the Chinese Theatre and the gorgeous neon marquee sign.
Neon is used a lot on Hollywood Blvd and Sunset blvd as its authentic to era of the golden
age of Hollywood.
The theatre is an exact replica of the Graumans Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California which
opened in May of 1927.
To promote the Cinemascope format of film, this neon sign was installed at the front
of the theatre in 1953 and remained at the forefront until 1957.
Imagineers based the marquee right off of this Cinemascope sign.
You can see the neon at the top of the sign is almost an identical replica of the original
design including this same curved section.
Imagineers also used pink, yellow and turquoise colours as were seen on the original sign.
So itty fun to know the authenticity of the Chinese continues right into the Marquee sign
for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
Number 9 When it comes to a Disney Dark ride, sound
plays an important role.
Part of the sound design for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway includes a catchy new original
theme song.
{Singing} Nothing can stop us now, I don’t know how we could have any trouble.
It goes back to the old school days in the Disney theme parks when a lot of the attractions
were created with original songs like the Tiki Room, Pirates and Haunted Mansion.
So in terms of sound it’s really great Disney went back to these roots but they also went
even further back into the roots of Disney animation history.
In the attraction you have conductor Goofy driving the train whistle you hear throughout
the ride experience is actually made from the same tri-tone whistle that was used in
Steamboat Willie in 1928.
Using the same whistle is even more significant since SteamBoat Willie was Mickey’s big
screen debut and Runaway Railway was Mickey’s big ride debut.
Now if you watch the Mickey Mouse Shorts, sound effects are used a lot to help tell
the story and on the ride its no different.
Some of these sound effects are the original sound effects created by Jimmy MacDonald for
the shorts in the 1930s.
In addition to the existing sounds, Imagineers created some new sound effects using his original
equipment from the archives.
So there’s a lot of Disney animation sound history right here in this brand new ride.
Number 8 One of the most impressive illusions on the
ride and my personal favourite can be found in the pre-show.
So the pre show is the premiere of the brand new Mickey short called Perfect Picnic.
If you wanna avoid what I think is a spoiler then skip ahead to the next segment.
When you enter the screening room, there doesn’t appear to be any other way out other than
the way you came in.
You soon realize that you’re able to step right through the screen and into the cartoon
world.
{Goofy} Ahhhh.
Excuse me, you there!
{Cast Member} Who Me?
{Goofy} Do you mind helping these good people into the cartoon while I fix this here locomotive?
So what’s the secret..how does Disney do this?
Well the illusion is all masked by the smoke with a few different simultaneous movements.
First you have the screen itself pulling upwards to reveal the hole.
While that’s happening, the bottom black portion of the base opens horizontally revealing
the jagged edges on the side.
This some mainly covers this horizontal moment.
Then lastly the edges of the screen curl up and it’s time for you to walk through the
screen into this zany adventure.
It’s truly a portal into the Disney magic.
Number 7 Before Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway,
the Chinese Theatre was home to the Great Movie Ride.
It was an opening day attraction at Disney MGM Studios in 1989 but on August 13th, 2017
the Great Movie Ride closed to make way for Mickey.
Although this beloved attraction is no longer with us there are some Great Movie Ride Easter
Eggs hidden in this new ride.
The first one is pretty obvious and can be found in the Carnival scene.
On the left hand side you can find a poster for the Great Moving Ride which is obviously
a play on words to the Great Movie Ride.
You can see that the characters in the poster all have their hands up.
Without a doubt that’s a little reference to the Footlight Parade scene with the chorus
girls, but that’s not the only Easter Egg.
In this same scene you encounter a Twister.
In the Great Movie Ride, just before you approached the Wizard of Oz scene there was a video of
Sorcerer Mickey but it was supposed to be the Twister scene from the Wizard of Oz.
The outline of this black shillouette is actually a twister but due to licensing rights, Disney
was only able to use 3 minutes of the films dialogue which was all taken up in the full
show scene.
So this Twister could very well be a reference to the extinct attraction, and if that wasn’t
enough, once exit the carnival scene you’ll see the twister on the left hand side.
Amidst the debris there is this mailbox and on the mailbox it says “No place Like Home”
which is a line from the Wizard of Oz.
Twister.
No place like Home.
Wizard of Oz.
Great Movie Ride.
It all ties together.
I did try to take a photo of the mailbox and failed miserably, but when you’re riding
in person its much easier to spot, I promise.
Number 6 Every ride has a story.
The main plot of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway follows Mickey and Minnie as they
travel through Runamuck Park on their quest for the perfect picnic spot.
But this is the first time a Disney ride has been created with a B-Plot and this secondary
story involves Pluto’s journey.
In the pre-show we see Minnie placing Pluto in the trunk then once they hit the bump he’s
thrown out!
But what happened to Pluto?
Well a keen eye can follow his hidden journey on the ride as he tries to catch up to Mickey
and Minnie to get them the picnic basket for their picnic.
After the pre show, the first time we see Pluto is right here in the carnival scene
with the basket in his mouth.
Things are still calm.
If you aren’t on one of the right cars though you’ll probably miss it.
But as you make your way through the twister you will definitely see Pluto wrapped up here
in the mayhem.
He’s really trying and losing some food.
Hopefully there’s enough for that picnic.
Then after your ride vehicle leaves the pod of the underwater scene, Pluto is shot out
of the submarine and swims on through the ocean trying to get that much closer to his
pals.
Then in the city you can see him scooping out the area up here in the windows trying
to find Mickey and Minnie who are actually behind him; he’s so close.
Then in the finale we find out he safely got the picnic basket to the park and everyone
is safe and sound.
And as the song says nothing can stop them now….well maybe there are some things that
can stop them.
Number 5 A cast of familiar characters are featured
in Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway which include Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald,
Pete and Daisy.
Some other characters make small cameos but there’s one brand new character that was
created specifically for the ride.
This here is Chuuby spelt C-h-u-u-b-y, similar to Cubby but not quite.
He’s a resident of Runamuck Park who is a bit of ham and a broadway song and dance
kinda bird.
He has quite the personality.
His name was actually supposed to be Chubby but during the design process there was a
little spelling mistake at Imagineering.
Instead of two b’s there were two u’s and they decided that leaving his name as
Chuuby was a better fit since it suited the look of the character and the whole train
theme.
You know, Cho Cho, Chuuby.
Its like it was meant to be.
Number 4 Without Mickey Mouse there wouldn’t be this
new ride, and even though he’s already front and centre, Imagineers still hid many easter
eggs pertaining to Mickey’s history.
Starting at the beginning, one of the most noticeable details is the year 1928 found
in the opening scene of the ride which represents the year Mickey made his big screen debut
in Steamboat Willie in 1928.
Now many people associate Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney but Mickey was actually drawn
by Ub Iwerks and a tribute to him can be found in the City scene.
If you look to the right at the sewer tunnel you’ll see the Iwerks & Uwerks Water Works
which pays tribute to Ub Iwerks.
Then in this same scene as you’re about to enter into Daisy’s Dance Studio there’s
a newspaper stand on the left with the cover that reads Oswald Wins.
In 1927 Ub and Walt created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit but they didn’t have the rights to
the character since he was created for Universal Pictures.
Walt needed another character then Mickey Mouse was born.
Another Mickey Easter egg is this French phrase here on this building which reads Maison de
Soeures which translates to House of Mouse; which used to be a program on the Disney channel!
Number 3 Ultimately there would be no Mickey without
Walt Disney so you know there has to be Easter eggs relating to Walt.
The first one can be found in the opening and finale scene on the directional sign in
the park.
You see one of the places it points to is Yensid Valley.
Yensid is Disney spelt backwards and Yensid Valley was actually the name Walt Disney gave
to an area in his backyard.
Walt Disney loved trains you could say he was obsessed and Yensid Valley was the plateau
of land where he had his miniature train set in the backyard; its a special easter egg.
Then after you leave the underwater scene and head into the sewer, you’ll see the
year 1901 on top and that’s the year Walt Disney Was born.
Also as you exit the ride you can find this promotional picture of Walt Disney in one
of the Disneyland trains.
Number 2 There’s a lot of madness in the city scene
and Imagineers hid even more Easter eggs here relating to the Walt Disney Company.
The first one you’ll spot is on the billboard on top of this building.
Whats most noticeable is the hidden Mickey which we’ll get to those in the next segment
but on the bottom of the sign you’ll notice it says Ink and Paint.
Back in the days of hand drawn animation like in the original Mickey Mouse Shorts, the Ink
and Paint Department was responsible for adding color into the animators drawings.
So this pays tribute to these artists.
Although this shot is a bit blurry, next here on this sign it says Retlaw Parking.
Retlaw is Walter spelt backwards.
Retlaw Enterprises was the corporation that the Walt Disney Family created after WED Enterprises
was sold to Walt Disney Productions.
Retlaw used to own the Monorail at Disneyland as well as the Disneyland railroad until they
were bought back by the Walt Disney Company in 1983.
Another easter egg can be found on this Flower Shop sign and it pays tribute to the Imagineers.
Walt Disney Imagineering is located at 1401 Flower Street in Glendale California and that
gave us the Flower Shop with the address 1401!
Number 1 Now what’s a ride based Mickey Mouse without
hidden Mickeys.
You can learn all about the history of hidden mickeys here in this previous video but I
wanna say there’s more hidden Mickeys in this ride than any other Disney ride.
So here are some of my favourites… as we start in lobby before you enter the pre-show
there’s this gorgeous light fixture with a full Mickey hidden right in the design.
In the pre-show room, the large lighting fixture has hidden mickeys placed all around the perimeter.
From paint splatters in the queue to these clouds here on the ride…they also look an
awlful lot like hidden Mickey’s don’t you think?
Then in the city scene there was that Mickey up on the billboard.
There’s the Hidden Mickey made out of the ice cream then there’s also a Mickey shirt
hidden here on the clothes line.
But that’s not all.
On the way into the factory through the alley there’s this hidden Mickey on the left behind
the trash can.
Then in the Factory many of the gears are also make mickeys shillouette.
There’s a lot in here then in the finale all the fireworks are hidden but not so hidden
mickeys as well.
So the moral of the story with this ride is to keep your eyes peeled cause you never know
when you’ll see the mouse or any of the other hidden details and easter eggs in Mickey
and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
So what are your thoughts on the new ride.
Do you think it was worth losing the Great Movie Ride for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway
Railway?
I’d love to know!
Leave a comment down below to start a conversation and don’t forget to hit that like button
if you enjoyed the video.