Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway began previews for Cast Members today and we have some first impressions of the ride.
There are spoilers ahead, so stop reading now if you don’t want to read about specifics.
The queue follows much the same pattern as the Great Movie Ride. A small exterior line to the side of the building leads into the lobby, FastPass+ appears to enter from the front of the building.
The lobby area is virtually unchanged from the days of The Great Movie Ride. The old props have been removed and in their place are Mickey Mouse posters on video screens.
Leaving the lobby area you enter into the old Great movie Ride pre-show room, still with switchbacks.
The actual pre-show then takes place in the same place as the Great Movie Ride pre-show, but groups are split into two theaters with two sets of doors to each. The pre-show sets up the story of Mickey and Minnie heading to the picnic. It is just under 1.5 minutes long, and sees guests pass through the movie screen with special effects and into the animated world of the Mickey Mouse short.
The load area is a train station, featuring a short series of switchbacks before boarding the train.
The ride seating is a train comprised of 4 vehicles, each with 2 rows accommodating 4 guests. The restraint is a single lap bar for all guests in the row.
A basic animatronic Mickey and Minnie appear at the start of the ride in a car riding alongside the train, using projections for the faces. The figures are not fully articulated figures, and are quite basic.
Goofy is the driver at the front of the train and appears on a screen. The train breaks apart, with Goofy and the engine going one way, riders going the other.
A Wild West scene comes next, with the cars now broken up and operating independently.
Next up is a carnival scene where a tornado hits the cars. The seats rumble, and the cars spin around.
The tornado then spins the cars into a tropical rainforest type environment.
Each car of the train enters one of four rooms for an encounter on the edge of a waterfall. After a narrow escape with the waterfall, the car reverses back out into the tropics and then heads into a drain pipe to ultimately reach a dance studio, cars do a dance around the studio. Daisy leads the dance, with a projection based animated figure.
The cars then pass through a city alley and into a factory, Mickey saves the day and return to the park with animated figures of Mickey, Minnie and Pluto.
At unload, guests pass back through the movie screen and reach the exit hallways to the outside, just like with the Great Movie Ride.
Total ride time is 4 minutes and 30 seconds from start to stop.
Overall impression is that its a great family ride, and despite the polarizing animation style of the new-look Mickey, it will be a huge hit. The scenes are made up of multiple layers of flats, giving it a somewhat 3D look, but overwhelming making it feel like you are inside the cartoon. The trackless ride system is impressive and moves smoothly through the scenes - Rise of the Resistance style. The story is somewhat confusing, but its a fun trip that will be a must-do to ride over and over
We'll be back with a full review when the ride officially opens March 4.
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