Toms Honest Review of Disneyland's Mickey & Minnies Runaway Railway 

It's really nice that Toontown got some love. It's been forgotten for so so long. The hills were peeling forever.

One prime example of a PERFECT marriage between prop and screen is the masterful scenes from the Bourne Stuntacular. There are scenes with the crowds or the light house where you CANNOT tell what part is the screen and what is a built out prop. Kudos to them.

I love how the new queue contextualizes the ride itself. It not only shows highlights from Mickey's whole career, but it retains the evolving art style as well, whether that be traditional animation, CG, or the modern TV cartoon style. I feel like the Florida version will inevitably feel dated when this iteration of Mickey fades away. But it seems like it will age better in California since it's presented as one of many iterations of Mickey throughout his career.

Totally agree that The Great Movie ride should have been updated with all classic Disney movie scenes instead of being replaced. This version of Runaway Railway did not replace a ride and has improvements over the studio version. What a nice combination!

One nice thing about the Mansion & Pirates is that they have "loop scenes" which we call it. Where the scenes keeps on playing & showing the samething so you'll never miss a thing.

As neat as Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is as an attraction, nothing can ever replace the Great Movie Ride. The attraction is weirdly placed in the middle of Disney’s Hollywood Studios and it’s part of this ongoing issue I have of the theme park itself with this seemly weird identity crisis of what it is in terms of theming. It’s really become a confusing hodgepodge of Disney owned IPs placed at random in a park that used to be about the celebration of movie making. The attraction in my opinion works much better in Toon Town at Disneyland because 1) Mickey and Minnie are cartoons and 2) It’s adding to that section of the park rather than replacing anything, even though it’s nearly identical to the one in Florida.

I think having this ride book ended with Roger Rabbit and the meet and greets plus the new playgrounds will truly be a wonderful escape for families with small children. I also love the way the Disneyland Railway drops you at the front of Toontown! Great review I agree the El Capitoon theatre is a museum to the Mouse that Disneyland deserves.

I prefer physical animatronics as well. However, with M&MRR, I actually prefer the projected faces as it really adds to the drawn-by-hand visuals. I think the projected faces also work well in Radiator Springs. But yeah, I don’t like the projected faces anywhere else.

The Runaway Railway is cute the first couple of times you ride it then it becomes a ride you can easily skip on future visits. GMR was re-ridable for decades. I never got tired of GMR. I was a tour guide there in the 90s. I am a little partial I guess.

I was waiting for this to be a two second video where they play the wdwnt logo, Tom comes on screen, says, "It stinks" and they play the logo again.

Knowing how Tom feels about the original version, I’ve been waiting for this Honest Review hahaha

I’ve always felt like the ride would really benefit from having projections or extra detail on the ceilings for the scenes…Every time I ride the ride, the cutoff between the projection and the roof has always taken me out of it. Great review😎

I so appreciate Tom’s honest reviews. He is so passionate and detailed that it caused me to want watch this video 2x.

I agree with you about the FL version, I’ve ridden it 4 times and I still have no idea what the “story” is! Why are we on a train? Mickey & Minnie are in a car, trains don’t go down waterfalls, then all of a sudden we’re in some mirrored pink room with an audio animatronic Daisy leading dance lessons? And we’re still in train cars??? What??? I’m hoping this will be the last trackless screen based ride at WDW. I don’t think I like it, or the animation style. Maybe one day I’ll get it…

"And that is why I wear pants and Pluto doesn't."

I hope they don’t ruin Tiana’s ride with screens/shortcuts. They have one chance to get it right and need to keep cute animatronics. That’s what fans love. We can watch screens at home.

I love Tom’s honest reviews! I love listening to you talk about Disney with passion. I feel like people praise anything Disney does good and bad. Hearing you talk about the faults is amazing. How will the company grow if all they hear is the good stuff. Please keep this series going!!

You have made me so excited to go on this ride. Disneyland is my home resort and I love Toontown. I cannot wait for it to reopen and to go on this better version of this ride.

Great review. Makes a lot of sense. I just hope they keep learning (or really re-learning) what makes Disney and Imaginering great. Thanks for the review Tom.

No apologize for quality! Appreciate you getting the video out quickly and it seems extra special to hear from someone still at Disneyland that just experienced the ride!

No need to apologize! Your honest reviews are always appreciated.

It’s so weird to see some people have a completely opposite reaction to the same ride. We love runaway and it is probably the biggest amazement we’ve seen from our 2 year old

I don't hate the Minnie and Mickey's Runaway Railroad, but I really miss the old Great Movie Ride. I have a GMR pin in my collection, and the story of how I got it is amazing. It came to me two years after GMR went away. I was at Magic Kingdom, and I wasn't feeling very well. The day before, when we were in the queue for Rise Of The Resistance at Galaxy's Edge, my wife got a phone call telling us her mother had passed away. A Cast Member noticed I was not very happy, and asked me why. I told her and she pulled that GMR pin out of her pocket and gave it to me. Honestly, it's not like it turned my day around completely, but the gesture was so kind and sincere that it really made a difference, and I will never forget it. Disney Cast Members are the BEST!!!

Tom, love the room you're in. Best backdrop. DL Pirates is far superior to the rushed Florida version. MM Runaway in DL is an example of how the sequel out doing the original. Look @ how ALL the Pirates evolved in storytelling, pacing, even boat/visual technology. Walt was a great storyteller. The frustration of Walt was not enough $$$, but when he got some, he'd come up with new techniques and with new tools, tell a better story. He knew when when a piece of "business" got in the way of telling a good story. Yep! basic stuff, like NOT showing "how" the magic is done is key to proper Imagineering. Thanks Tom + the Mickey shirt.

Tom, regardless where you film these reviews, the community appreciate it :) Being in the UK, it's great to hear your thoughts on this attraction, as well as others that you've done reviews for in the past. Might I add, I love the mini rants on News Today :)

Thank you for your fantastic, and honest review. The attraction is still a meh for me overall, but I like the Disneyland version slightly better than the WDW version.

Same thing happened with guardians of the galaxy cosmic rewind instead of animatronic they just have screens! And there are scenes with one screen and it feels soooo empty

Yes, it is called Pluto‘s Christmas Tree. Those candles on top of the mantel looked amazing! I would have teared up too.

Was looking forward to this and you did a great job with it! They really did knocked it out of the park with the queue and I'm glad the DL Imagineers got the budget and time to really do it well and also improve on the WDW version. Looking forward to the exit shop and the rest of the land.

I would love this ride a lot more, if they just built more of it physically. They could still use projection mapping to add a layer of cartoon which couldn’t otherwise be added. But instead, they just threw up a flat wall with a little bit of depth, and called it a day. I think the ending Park scene is a prime example of the power of the technology!

Hoping to get a honest review of Wondrous Journeys and World of Color - One!!

22:55 The way Tom's eyebrow goes up is perfect here. Also, this is the best Honest Review yet! I can't say I agree or disagree (since I haven't ridden either version), but my opinion is that the Disneyland version is certainly far superior in every way. I am a huge train fan, so the fact that the original Disneyland Railroad drops guests off at the Toontown station, only for them to ride Runaway Railway and exit through the EnginEar giftshop with a model railroad running around the ceiling is pure bliss.

Not gunna lie, this reminds me of what my brother said when we first got off! He called it clever which for him was one of the biggest compliments something can receive. For reference, he is a massive Star Wars nerd and his review of Rise of the Resistance was that it was "ok, it was fine" where as my review (being more of a Trek fanand actually not liking Star Wars at all) was that it was amazing and a must do when the wait is reasonable (so like below 75 minutes). Him saying Railway was clever was a glowing endorsement for this ride!

Great review, Tom! I'm glad this Runaway Railway is an improvement over the Studios one overall.

Great video and review Tom. Always appreciate your honesty.

Yes, I appreciate you putting up the video as soon as possible. I was waiting for this,

50 minutes of honest review??? Sweet!! Ill comment again after i listen.

Great review! Thank you! For all you guys do!

Was waiting for this review! Thank you, Tom, always for keeping us informed.

I need a Playlist of Toms Honest Reviews & rants

I pretty much agree with you. Thanks for your honesty. I to would love to see more dimensional sets. Universal is catching up with details.

Thank you so much for showing us the "new and improved" RR. We were feeling resentful for taking out Roger Rabbit sort of like your feeling of booting GMR, but at least they put some more effort in it. Resembles the care and detail that was put into the Art Deco details in CA ADventure, even in the stores. We could see and hear the emotion in your voice for the cue that told us that we would adore the Mousekateer era scene and the photos of Walt since that was our time. Now that it is open here, we're moving to FL so, oh well. We can come back and visit. Just know you probably had a part in inspiring and lobbying for these great upgrades. Let's hear it for ZANY!🤪🐭

I just rode it for the first time tonight and the queue is gorgeous. It’s the perfect homage to Mickey and a jewel in the new Toontown refurbishment. Just what it needed. 👍🏻

What a great, thorough, and enticing review, Tom! I totally trust your opinions and sensibilities as it concerns all things Disney. My GOSH you are so freaking GOOD at your JOB!!! Thank you. I’ll be at Disneyland in May to see for myself.

I actually really love the ride. I think it’s cute and fits perfect in Disneyland.

The queue looks exactly like it was made to fit perfecrfly in Walt Disney Studios Paris, let's hope the rumors are tre 🤩 I love your honest reviews

Thank you sir for your thoughts and history with this ride. Did see your vidoe of the queue and was very impressed that it was so steeped in the history of Michley Mouse and really brings his career to life. Now hopefully DWorld's Tron coaster provides an improved experiece over the original.

The problem with the ride animatronic figures is simply that this new animation style just doesn't translate well from 2D. I think that going with this style was a big mistake.

Well done Tom! Always dig the honest review series

Solid honest review. People need to chill and understand that’s it’s all subjective and it’s ok to disagree. As a 40 year park goer myself. I can appreciate his point of view

Please. PLEASE tell me there was a reference to Epic Mickey in there. I saw the Mario Kart ripoff, they HAVE to have Epic Mickey!

It's like runaway railway doesn't fit in place well in disney world, but in disneyland it fits right in toontown. Splash Mountain fit slightly better in Disneyland Critter Country than Disney World Frontierland, but the difference is amplified with Tiana'a Bayou

The style of the new Mickey cartoon shorts makes me think of Steamboat Willie. Honestly this version of Mickey feels more like the original Mickey than the 80s/90s Mickey.

That Christmas part remind me so much. I almost forget that short I love to watch in my childhood. The first time I saw that part, I feel familiar but can’t really think what it is until I saw the mini Santa. It such a great detail

Thanks for making the trip to the Original and largest Disneyland. Wish I had run into you. Maybe next trip from the SoCal to Florida.

I agree. I got to go on GMR once, while I thought it was old looking and needed updating, I loved it. I thought of the Alien part after quite a bit. I rode Railway the year it opened in studios, when we walked out we said, aw it was cute and that's it, never thought about it again. I totally noticed the large rooms and bright eyes too. I truly wish they would stay with the details, the originality, the love, and the experience like before. That stays with you always.

Are we not going to talk about how the window in the train where we see Goody has a curved top but it is clearly just a TV monitor with Goofy on it. It is cut off on the top. Easily fixable with a larger screen with the physical prop blocking/masking the edges. They did it better with the living seas with Nemo.

I agree the Mickey & Minnie in these rides are AWFUL! They cheaped out (Cheap-EK era). This ride needed to be a separate ride like it is in DL. It will eat up more riders. Unlike WDW where it doesn't. Also The GMR was designed to be upgraded & it wasn't. So when you don't do what you said, then complain that the ride is dated, the company has nobody to blame but themselves!

"I do not make films for children... or, at least, not primarily for children." "You're dead if you aim for kids." "We design the films to appeal to ourselves." "The adults have the money; ... children don't have any money." - Walt Disney

Those little details really show you where the love is in the company. Definitely Disneyland receives the details and love.

I rode the ride three times on my latest vacation, and honestly it's a great ride and I don't see why people hate it so much. I know, most of it ARE screens but to me the characters have depth on the screen which blew me away. It felt like this was a real lived-in world with all of the amazing animation. It's really nice to look at, and I don't think it's lazy at all. Also, why are people so upset about the story? That's not the point, really. Not every ride needs to have a Rise of the Resistance level of plot where the riders are integral to a plot, and this ride shines when it's just being a fun cartoon ride. My family is full of pessimist and we were all extremely happy after getting off. If you don't like it, fine. But I do, and that's what matters to me. :)

That video montage part was one of my favorite parts of the ride - I love old movies too and agree TCM is great.

Tom your so right about pacing on this ride. If your in the first car you only see the beginning of the action and in the last car most of the action is over. We realized the last time we rode it that if your in one of the middle cars it’s a much better ride. What a difference. Can’t wait to ride the West Coast version

I was there on Friday Tom. Once again, we didn't get on a new attraction because of the stupid boarding pass. How you got on twice is amazing. I'll probably get on Mickey's railway in about 2 years, which is how long it took to get on Rise of the resistance. I just wish Disney would dump the whole thing. It's no fun being on my phone all day...Keep up the great work!

Listening to your appreciation of the details in the cue made me sad remembering a time when everything at Disney had lavish care. May this be a turn around. And a pox on those jagoffs who've been nickel and diming it to death while living like drug cartel capos on their bonuses.

I can't wait for your Wonderous Journeys and WOC reviews!

I don't think I'll never not be a little sad that we didn't get The Great Muppet Movie Ride. That Miss Piggy/Busby Burkley scene would've been an amazing animatronic.

A queue ranking video would be awesome

Great Movie Ride was the best ride ever, and I hope they build something like it in the future.

The queue sounds amazing! I am in CT but would love to make another trip west and include this ride in my visit. I still mourn The Great Movie Ride but love Mickey & Minnie. But I was sorely disappointed my first ride on Runaway Railway in Florida. Its an ok ride but should never have replaced TGMR but given its own building and a not so boring queue. Thanks for the review Tom.

Take us with you when the gift Shop is open, please. And Roger Rabbit Cartoon spin also.

I'll be honest my favorite thing about florida MMRAR is that it did away with the just *dreadful* TCM overlay on the great movie ride. That overly really broke the magic for my enthusiasm towards the old ride and it's concept. The things I loved about the ride were clearly not sustainable, being the cast member & guest interaction, the feeling of being an active participant in a movie about movies. Other then that, I think it's a very cute attraction. It's sensory overload for me and the like 5-6 times I've ridden it, I've always been spotting and appreciating new things in the projections. I just really like the ride. I can't wait for someday to see the queue of the California version, it sounds like a real treat.

Fantastic review! Living in Southern California, I now know to pass the Chinese Theater when in Florida. Stick to my local version.

I took my mom on the ride in HS and we where the last car. I knew what the ride was all about and knew the story but for my mom was so lost. You hardly get any of the actual story when your in the back.

Wasn't Buzz Lightyear the first animatronic with a screen face? It was spectacular when the technology was new. Thank you for pointing out the "props" in the queue. What a brilliant idea.

38:40 when i first saw this was in the ride queue, i thought of the shorts from playhouse disney or disney junior called mickey mousekesize, but now i think "not to be confused with those exercise-focused shorts" since that is not from my childhood

Thank you for the review tom... The que area look very good better than DS version.. if I would go out , I would just do the que and tell them I don't need to do the ride....still as good as a best buy video room...again thank you... WIGS. 👍❤️👍❤️👍

The Great Movie Ride was my daughter’s favorite ride at HS too.

I'll have to go see it in person, but the El Capitoon theater seems to be plumb, with fairly straight lines, as opposed to the extremely "cartoony" curves of the Joe Lanzisero-designed 1993 Toontown. I think if I'm right, this demonstrates the problem with the current group of head Imagineers. Most of these Imagineers just don't seem to get it.

That film montage…. Gave me goosebumps it was soooo good!

Here in California we don’t always get better clones of Florida rides. (Thinking about Tower of Terror.) It is good that they upped their game here.

Tbh I love the concept but Tom has valid points about it feeling like a large empty room with just screens. I’m also not a fan of the new cartoon style. Like exactly what Tom said about the animatronics is so true! Mickey and Minnie remind me of the jack in the box head. I don’t like the look of the art nor the voice of the new Mickey 😢

Thank you Tom for your honest review. The Great Movie Ride was my favorite ride and I agree that it should have been updated or overhauled. Not replaced the way it was. I agree 1000% with everything you have said 🙂

My daughter is not a fan of rides that rely heavily of video screens. My problem with Runaway Railway is the lack of cohesive story. The dance studio scene, for example, makes no sense and certainly has NOTHING to do with a railroad train. I think it would be more fun if the runaway train cars went through chaos around a fictional cartoon city, like Mr. Toads wild ride

It’s so nice to have Tom Corless back!

The great movie ride is one of the most fondest memories of my childhood. It lit a fire within me. Sad my children will never have the same experiences. I am not one for vapid experiences.

Thank you for this review. I never knew quite why I didn't care for Runaway Railway. This was like a light bulb moment. It's because every time I got off the ride, I felt like I didn't see half of it. It passed by in a blur. Thanks again.

Kali River ride WDW also does an excellent job of setting the stage as you move through the queue

Thanks for the review, Tom! I am with you. I do not see anything in M&MRR in Florida. I still see the same issues with the ride in California, but I agree with you that the setting is more appropriate and the queue looks amazing. Disneyland definitely seems to have the better version, but I still do not feel like it’s a ride I must do when I go to Disney.

I thought the Disneyland ride was very enjoyable, but I did notice the weirdly shaped projection faces on the 3D character faces. Those faces were probably my only complaint. Other than that, I know it's a projection onto a screen, but I found it fun.

I agree with you. I think they should have kept The Great Movie ride and just updated it and added new movies to it. Would have made more sense to the overall theme especially at Hollywood Studios in FL.

I absolutely hate this ride at Hollywood Studios, because it seems like a Disney-fied Universal ride and you can spot all of the mechanics of the ride elements. The Imagineers didn't even seem to try to hide any of the ride mechanics, especially the waterfall scene.

I’m going to Disneyland for the first time in October and I can’t wait to see toon town. Tom thank for another unbiased review.

I was a Tour Guide at the Great Movie Ride in the mid 90s. Taking my kid's to the Studios without it in April destroyed me. But I couldn't agree more. The GMR absolutely needed an update. But think about all the IPs they own. It could have been the ultimate 'advertisement' for the entire cinematic world of Disney while keeping the uniqueness of the Movie Ride intact. And while I think MMRR is a nice addition at Disneyland in Toontown, I will never get over the fact that the GMR is gone for good....

How many people will look at the Laugh-o-Grahams and not get it? It is probably the greatest reference in the whole queue. Laugh-o-Gram Studio was Walt Disney's very first studio and it failed. People should remember he initially failed. (They should also remember that his next studio was called Disney Brothers Studio. Roy had great humility and great love for his younger brother. There would be no Walt Disney company without him.) I also think it's neat that the movie posters are all based on live-action films. The whole story would have been much improved if Pluto had accidentally ended up in the trunk instead of Minnie kicking Pluto into the trunk in an act of gratuitous violence and animal abuse! Disney is supposedly so concerned with the messages they send and yet Minnie kicks the dog ON PURPOSE and everyone calls it entertainment?!

Thank you! I would definitely love to see an easter egg video!

No need to apologize your reviews are always welcome

I appreciate your even-handedness with these extensive reviews, but I still had to laugh at the comment about it being Bob Chapek's only real "big" ride. Not because it isn't true, but because it overlooks the fact that Disney doesn't build "big" rides all that often. Bob Iger's first big ride at Disneyland was Smuggler's Run in 2019! (Remember he started in 2005. In these 14 years the only rides of worth at Disneyland were Buzz Lightyear [opening the year he ascended] and Finding Nemo [a light retheming of the Submarines]. Bob Iger greenlit TWO rides at Walt Disney's flagship park.) Certainly things were better at Walt's second park, Magic Kingdom... right? Well yes, his first big project was New Fantasyland, which didn't open until 7 years after his arrival. Well to be fair, Under the Sea opened 7 years after he took the position, New Fantasyland wasn't done until the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train opened two years later, for very important reasons, I'm sure. (The Monsters Inc "Laugh" Floor opened 2 years after he ascended, but I doubt he was involved in that atrocity.) He WILL soon get to see a major ride that he probably greenlit in 2005 though: Tron. (I kid!) (Wait, do I?) As you know, this is basically the same story for all the American parks. Disney's Hollywood Studios got Toy Story Mania in 2008 and then suffered through ten years of nothing more than new shows, parades and character experiences before finally getting an under-budgeted Toy Story Land (with TWO rides) in 2018, an under-budgeted Galaxy's Edge (with TWO rides) the following year, and then your favorite ride the year after that. Which seems like a lot, but remember those TEN YEARS OF LETTING THIS ONCE-GREAT PARK WITHER AND ALMOST DIE. Speaking of withering and almost dying... Animal Kingdom, fresh off Everest in 2006, promptly opened Pandora... in 2017! And nothing since. He literally greenlit TWO RIDES here in 15 years! For a park that still takes half a day unless you are fascinated by animal kites. Speaking of withering and I think ACTUALLY dying... Epcot got Soarin' in 2005 and... I just can't. Adding cartoon characters to the only two rides in World Showcase is NOT innovating. That's an episode of "If Children Ran Epcot"! And those children wouldn't have put the Three Caballeros in there because that thing was before MY childhood! Also, two of them aren't even "Mexican" and now the title of the ride has like 50 words in it and only THREE are actually Spanish! How has a company that prefers "updating" attractions to actually building new ones managed to keep the park with the fewest attractions to update so UN-updated?? Oh yeah, they're getting stuff now. But, as usual, budget cuts have decimated the most-interesting project - Mary Poppins - for one involving another cartoon character that nobody was raving about when it was greenlit for Epcot. (But he would fit in France!) It must've really annoyed Iger to be adding to the ride count with Ratatouille, which is the only reason I can imagine Guardians was put in the Energy Pavilion instead of, I don't know, into the long-forgotten Wonders of Life pavilion WHICH IS STILL A THING! (Yes, Ellen needed to go, but the dinosaurs didn't.) DCA is really the only park that really benefited from the Iger years. It limped right out of the gates in 2001, got its first big band-aid in 2004 (a budget-deprived Tower of Terror) and didn't get its next one until 2008 (Toy Story Midway Mania, which had a surprising conception-to-reality time, mostly because both parks it went into desperately needed something). Still dying on the vine, DCA got World of Color in 2010, Under the Sea in 2011 and Cars Land in 2012. I have a hard time crediting Iger too much with this though. John Lasseter was basically THE man during this time. Which is why we got a land straight out of the Cars movie and after he was gone we got lands NOT out of any Star Wars or Avengers movie. Still, I have a hard time hating too much on a park that finally fixed the Tower of Terror's story issues. (Do NOT makes dead people do things they did not agree to! Especially one who was a great writer known for creating spectacular endings and you have the nerve to reanimate him and make him appear in a ride which is 99.9% setup and 0.0000000% ending! Get this poor man out of Florida! He's spinning in his grave) This is not meant to be an Iger rant. Eisner did the same thing when he built DCA and up until he left. Chapek did the same thing, which he learned for five years under the master. Because, make no mistake, Iger was worse than both of them COMBINED. He did it throughout his entire 15 years at the top, slashing budgets like they were zombies in a George Romero movie. It's what Disney has become. Eisner started it. Iger perfected it. Chapek just took it a little too far. And I say "a little" because Disney knows they no longer have to serve a premium product to charge premium prices. Iger will make these little nods to appease the ones throwing their money at the Mouse - did Iger stop Chapek's ticket price increases? - but the simple fact is the parks made $28 BILLION last year. They are not the problem with the Disney company. At least not to the shareholders, and they are who Iger is trying to please here.

Runaway Railway is my favorite ride of all time. Can’t wait to ride at Disneyland

BTW -- the first projection face for a character was Buzz Lighyear in the Asro Blaster attractions.