Where I think Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway should have been placed in Disney’s Hollywood Studios – DePaoli on DeParks
In early 2020, Disney’s Hollywood Studios got a brand-new ride called Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. But to make way for it the park lost its flagship attraction, The Great Movie Ride. I’m not convinced there wasn’t a better place to put the dark ride within Disney’s Hollywood Studios, allowing for both a new ride and saving a classic.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the story goes that guests enter the Chinese Theatre for the premiere of Mickey & Minnie’s cartoon “Perfect Picnic.” This was a great way of working the already existing Chinese Theatre into the story. At least that Great Movie Ride visual remains in the park. The Chinese Theatre lobby and queue is adorned with posters from other Mickey Mouse shorts throughout the years.
This concept works. There’s no question about that. But for an attraction all about an animated short, I can’t help but look at the Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios just a stone’s throw away and wonder why it wasn’t placed there.
The Animation Courtyard used to feature the main attraction, The Magic of Disney Animation. Now in that space remains the Star Wars Launch Bay. This was a fine way of hyping the eventual opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but the fact that it remains is a bit mind boggling. Disney’s Hollywood Studios now has a lot of Star Wars content including Galaxy’s Edge, Launch Bay, and Star Tours. That’s too much in my opinion. If an entire land is dedicated to a specific franchise, I don’t believe we need any more of it in the same park.
If Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway had been placed in the Animation Courtyard, it would have been a fitting, thematic piece in the now muddled land. Perhaps Animation Courtyard’s days are numbered and therefore they didn’t want to invest in that space, but I believe it would have been a nice fit while avoiding replacing The Great Movie Ride.
Some would argue The Great Movie Ride was simply outdated and needed to be replaced. I would have to disagree. I believe a refresh of that attraction would have given it a whole new life, but that’s a whole other topic completely. Let’s simply assume that with all the properties Disney now owns, The Great Movie Ride could have become The Epic Movie Ride if they wanted.
If Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway had been placed in Animation Courtyard, it could have had a similar storyline and queue as the eventual Disneyland version. In Disneyland, the attraction lives in Mickey’s Toontown inside the El Capitoon Theater. The story goes that the Toontown Hysterical Society is putting on a special exhibit showcasing costumes, props, posters and more from the toon world called “Mickey Through the Ears.” This same queue concept would have worked in the Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Overall, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a fun ride for the whole family and I’m happy it exists at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I just wish we didn’t lose an icon attraction for it, and there does seem to be a thematically better fit for it very close by.
What do you think? Do you like Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway being housed inside the Chinese Theatre? Would you rather it be placed somewhere else? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Jeff DePaoli is a producer and voiceover artist living in Los Angeles. He can be heard as the voice of Disney Trivia on Alexa as well as the host of “Dizney Coast to Coast,” the ultimate, unofficial Disney fan podcast. Get your FREE gifts of “America’s Hidden Mickeys,” “On the Rohde Again,” “Theme Park Comfort Kit” and more at DizneyCoastToCoast.com. DePaoli’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent Attractions Magazine.
BRAVO !!!! My thoughts, exactly !
Thanks for reading.
I agree that Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad should have been placed somewhere else in the park. The Great Movie Ride depicted so many classic films and was truly the best attraction in the park. It was very tragic when it was closed. I will always think of it fondly.
Agreed. I’ll never quite get over it missing. Perhaps we’ll get another version of it in a different park someday. One can dream.
I completely agree that it could have gone in the animation courtyard – it is now such a dead area. I also find it frustrating that they have a morsel of Star Wars here there and everywhere – even the star tours area should have gone in my opinion.
HS is currently my least favourite park – you are either queuing for hours to do some rides (I refuse to get genie plus on principle),
Or something is broken.
We are kindred spirits. I agree with everything you wrote (except for it being my least favorite park. I still love it.) Thanks for reading.
The Great Movie Ride probably had to end because of IP and lisencing (which is why it is no longer MGM studios). I wonder if it could have been rethemed. TGMR with Disney theme instead of MGM might be great.
But with Disney owning SO many properties now, I feel like they could have updated it with all Disney properties. Marvel, Fox, Lucasfilm, Disney, etc.
I was never thrilled with The Great Movie Ride so the fact that it isn’t their anymore really doesn’t disappoint me much. I do enjoy the Runaway Railroad ride quite a bit more. I always prefer more rides then less, so it would have been ok to keep both if a new location could have been found, but certainly would have liked to have seen a major update in the existing Great Movie Ride if it had stayed.
I would have loved to see a GMR update as well. There was apparently a big update in the works that never came to fruition.