Disney Imagineers Share 6 Secrets of This Hollywood Studios Ride

I am obsessed with Disneyland and Disney World history, as well as learning more about how Disney Imagineers create rides. There’s just so much thought and effort that goes into creating an attraction, and I find it absolutely fascinating.

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway

If you’re like me, and your favorite Disney+ shows are Behind The Attraction and The Imagineering Story, well, I’ve got some news for you…Disney Imagineering just dropped a new video with NEW behind-the-scenes details about Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opened in 2020 in Disney World and later in Disneyland’s Toon Town in 2023. The ride is a dark ride on a trackless system and was the first EVER Mickey Mouse-themed ride in a Disney theme Park (can you believe that?).

Nothing can stop us now…

Disney Imagineers recently made a video where they walk through the ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and point out some cool little details you may have never noticed. For starters, did you know that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway has MORE hidden Mickeys than any other attraction in Disney World? You’ll see these hidden Mickeys in light fixtures, the chandelier, and more. You’ll have to look for them all the next time you ride.

©Disney

Disney Imagineers also created something for this ride that they had never made before. The pre-show involves a cool illusion where you’re watching a screen and then that screen kinda’ busts through and invites you to step into it. The version of the ride in Hollywood Studios has two theaters for guests to step into for the pre-show, but one of those theaters actually served as the prototype for testing out that effect. It’s not just an effect, though. The screen really does tear apart!

©Disney

So there’s also some smoke that comes out during the pre-show, but there aren’t any indicators of where the smoke is coming from. Disney sneakily has the smoke coming from behind the “To Trains” sign…the sign moves so the smoke can come out, and then the sign moves back into position, right, you see it. Say what?

©Disney

Imagineers also gave up some secrets on how they created scenes by using the first scene on the ride as an example. This ride was the first time that Imagineers combined projection with UV prints and UV paint. In that first scene, Imagineers figured out what daytime would look like in blacklight, which is certainly a very different way of using blacklight than we’d seen before.

©Disney

The Imagineers worked from 2D concept art and then created flats for the elements closest to the ride, while things that are further away are projected. Then they used special techniques with color to make it all look seamless.

©Disney

So, have you ever noticed the crab that shows up in every scene in Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway? Well, you need to look for it, because it’s there! Her name is Crustacea, and she was one of the Imagineers’ “little pets” during the design of the tropical scene. They fell in love with her, so now, she’s in EVERY scene.

©Disney

The big factory scene incorporates pretty much all the tricks that Disney has used throughout the ride, except that it also uses projections onto moving parts.

Factory scene

The video also goes into some challenges that Imagineers face when they were creating the ride. This one is worth a watch if you love Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway as much as we do. There’s a lot of detail about how they had to adjust things to make everything look JUST RIGHT.

So the next time you ride Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, be sure to look out for those hidden Mickeys, Crustacea, and all the details that you probably never even notice when you’re on the ride. You’re sure to appreciate it in an entirely new way.

We’ll keep an eye out for more fun things like this from Disney Imagineering, so stay tuned to DFB for more.

4 Secrets Imagineers Hid in Disney World Rides

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What sort of things have you noticed when riding Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway? Share with us in the comments!