Disney Imagineers, the creative minds behind Disney Parks, attractions, resorts, and cruise ships, are known to sprinkle extra Disney magic into their work. They did this in abundance when designing Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is an attraction that is located at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. This trackless dark ride is the first ride at Disney to ever feature Mickey Mouse. You may be surprised by how many secrets, fun facts, and Easter eggs that you pass by as you follow along with Mickey and Minnie through their exciting journey.There are many secrets and facts that have been inserted into this ride. In this article, I’m going to go over 10 Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway facts with you. Let’s take a look at some of the magic that Disney Imagineers have hidden in plain sight on this attraction.
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1. The Great Movie Ride
At Walt Disney World, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway replaced an attraction called The Great Movie Ride. While this ride was dated and getting to the point where younger audiences couldn’t relate, the news of The Great Movie Ride’s closure was disappointing for many. Luckily, fans of The Great Movie Ride can still enjoy nods to the extinct attraction while they’re riding Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.The first detail can be found in the Carnival Scene. Between the popcorn stand that Clarabelle Cow is in and the stand where Donald Duck is putting mustard on a hot dog, you’ll see a poster for The Great Moving Ride. This is a not-so-slight nod to The Great Movie Ride. On the poster, you’ll see characters in an almost stacked position as they’re lined up on an escalator. Their hands are also in an upright position. These characters are a reference to the pyramid of chorus girls that were found in the Footlight Parade portion of The Great Movie Ride.Another movie that was featured in The Great Movie Ride and referenced in Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is The Wizard of Oz. One of the most iconic parts of The Wizard of Oz is the twister. While the twister was never added to The Great Movie Ride due to licensing rights, it has now made its debut in Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. If you take a close look at the physical twister as you leave the Carnival Scene, you can spot a mailbox. On the side of the mailbox are the words “No Place Like Home”, which is a direct reference to the famous phrase from The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home”.
2. The Marquee Sign
The Walt Disney World version of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is located in Hollywood Studios. When entering the park, you’ll notice that Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard are both designed to give off a feel of old time Hollywood.At the end of Hollywood Boulevard, you’ll see an exact replica of one of the most iconic theaters in Hollywood history – Grauman’s Chinese Theater. This is where Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is located.When Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway first debuted, one of the most noticeable things about the attraction was the bright neon marquee that’s located right above the entrance of the ride. The design of this marquee looks almost exactly the same as a marquee sign that once hung at the real Chinese Theater from 1953 to 1957.
3. Mickey Mouse History
Since Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is Mickey Mouse’s ride debut, it’s not surprising that there are many references to him within the ride. The first one is a reference to Mickey’s public debut. In the Opening Scene, you’ll see the year 1928 located on a tunnel that your train goes through. The year 1928 marks the year that Steamboat Willie premiered, which was Mickey’s debut film.The next nod to Mickey can be found in the City Scene. Actually, this is a nod to the creator of Mickey Mouse. Looking for a reference to Walt? Think again. A common misconception is that Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse. However, it was actually Ub Iwerks who drew the first sketch of Mickey. In the City Scene of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, there is a business called IWerks & UWerks Water Works. This is a reference to Mickey’s true creator, Ub Iwerks.Before Mickey was created, Ub and Walt created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the rights to Oswald since he was created for Universal Pictures. Mickey was created essentially as a replacement character for Oswald. Oswald is also referenced in the City Scene on a newspaper that reads “Oswald Wins!”.In the City Scene, you can spot yet another nod to Mickey. On the side of a building, you’ll see the words “Maison des Souris”. When translated to English, these words read “House of Mouse”, which many of you may recall as a popular program on Disney Channel in the early 2000s.
4. Walt Disney References
Even though Walt Disney didn’t create the first sketch of Mickey, it’s still hard to think about one without the other. Walt and Mickey go hand in hand. Because of this, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway isn’t just filled with references to Mickey, but to Walt as well!In the Opening and Closing Scenes of the ride, you’ll see a directional sign. On this sign, you’ll see an area that’s called Yensid Valley. Yensid spelled backwards is Disney. However, the reference doesn’t stop there. Yensid Valley is actually what Walt Disney named a portion of his backyard. The area of Walt’s property, where his beloved miniature train and railroad track was set up, was called Yensid Valley.Another nod to Walt is made right as you enter the Sewer Scene. At the top of the sewer is the date 1901. This is the year that Walt Disney was born.While not a secret reference, if you look to the left as you’re exiting the attraction, you’ll have the opportunity to see a picture of Walt hanging up on the wall. This picture shows Walt enjoying time on a Disneyland train. Walt loved trains and I’m sure that he would have loved that Mickey’s first ride was themed around a train!
5. Ink and Paint
Referring to the City Scene again, there is a billboard where you’ll see the words Ink and Paint. In the 30s and 40s, the Disney Studio had a department called Ink and Paint. The Ink and Paint Department was made up entirely of women. At the time, this was specifically because this was the only role that the Disney Studio offered up to women. Only men were allowed to be animators. Women were given the task of tracing the sketches and adding color to the images.At waltdisney.org, we are given insight on these specifics by a rejection letter that women would often receive if they were to apply to a different position. The letter is quoted saying,“Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men… The only work open to women consists of tracing the characters on clear celluloid sheets with India ink and filling in the tracings on the reverse side with paint according to directions.”While we can now look at this as unfair opportunities within the workplace, we can also appreciate the beautiful work that was done by the Ink and Paint Department in the early days of Disney animation.
6. Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster
Within the queue of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, there is a nod to another popular Disney ride – Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. Ironically, this reference is located in the Disneyland version of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, not in the one at Walt Disney World that shares a park with Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.In the queue, you’ll come across a 70s-themed Disco Wall. On this wall, there are two records that were actually released by Disney in the 70s – Walt Disney Productions: Mousercise and Mickey Mouse Disco.Just to the right of these records, above the boombox, you’ll see that Mickey Mouse was awarded a Gold record for Mickey Mouse Disco. The plaque with the record reads,“Presented to MICKEY MOUSE To celebrate the MMC Certified Pyrite Sales of about 23 copies of MICKEY MOUSE DISCO”.On the right of the plaque, you’ll also see a logo of the record company that presented this award to Mickey. The record company is G-Force Records. Sound familiar? G-Force Records is the fictional record company of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. You are actually walking through G-Force headquarters during the first inside portion of the queue and for the pre-show.
7. Familiar Sounds
If you’re a Disney history buff and certain sounds on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway sound familiar to you, there’s a good reason for that! Many original sounds and equipment were used for this ride.One sound takes us all the way back to 1928 to Steamboat Willie. The train whistle that you hear on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was made with the same tri-tone whistle that was used for Steamboat Willie. This is yet another way that Mickey’s film debut and ride debut are tied together.Beyond that, many of the other sounds that you hear throughout the ride come from the 1930s Mickey Mouse shorts. These sounds were created by Jimmy MacDonald. Not only were these original sounds used, but new sounds were made as well. Jimmy’s sound equipment has been safely kept in the Walt Disney Archives. To create new sound effects for the ride, Imagineers used this same equipment, which helped these new sounds blend in perfectly.
8. Walt Disney Imagineering
The Imagineers even made sure to add in nods to Walt Disney Imagineering in Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.The first one can be spotted in the queue at the Disneyland location. In the El CapiTOON Concession Stand, in the candy section, you’ll be able to see Golly Pops. These are fun lollipops that have common toon expressions written on them like “Gawrsh”, “Hot Dog”, and “Oh Boy”. The nod to imagineers is made on the display box that the candy is sitting in. On it, you can see that the company that manufactures Golly Pops is called Flower Street Treats. Flower Street Treats is a reference to the physical location of Walt Disney Imagineering. Walt Disney Imagineering is located at 1401 Flower St, Glendale, CA 91201.There’s another reference to the Imagineers and this address on the actual ride. In the City Scene, there is a Flower Shop that has the same address number of 1401.
9. Mickey's Christmas Carol
In the queue for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland, you’ll see a prop desk from Mickey’s Christmas Carol. In the movie, Mickey plays Bob Cratchit. Cratchit works as a clerk for Ebeneezer Scrooge, who in Mickey’s Christmas Carol, is played by Scrooge McDuck.One of Cratchit's duties as a clerk is to keep track of who owes Scrooge money. On the prop desk from Mickey’s Christmas Carol, you can see the book where Cratchit kept this information. Inside the book, you can see a list that includes names of people who owe money to Scrooge, the date they became indebted to him, and how much they owe.The names, however, are not random. All of the names on the page inside the book reflect the actual voice actors from Mickey’s Christmas Carol. On the list you’ll see A. Young (Alan Young – Scrooge McDuck), W. Allwine (Wayne Allwine – Mickey Mouse), H. Smith (Hal Smith – Goofy), W. Ryan (Will Ryan – Willie the Giant and Pete), E. Carroll (Eddie Carroll – Jiminy Cricket), P. Parris (Patricia Parris – Daisy Duck), D. Billingsly (Dick Billingsly – Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse), and C. Nash (Clarence Nash – Donald Duck).
10. El CapiTOON Concession Stand
While we’ve already discussed one reference in the El CapiTOON Concession Stand, there are actually many more!
Candy
The first concession offering that you’ll see is candy. One type of candy that will instantly stand out is Power Limes. This sour lime-flavored taffy is a very obvious reference to Powerline from The Goofy Movie. On the packaging you’ll see the words “Stand Out with Power Limes They Set The World In Motion”. Stand Out is a song sung by Powerline while “set the world in motion” is a portion of lyrics from another Powerline song called I2I.Laugh-O-Grahams, which are a s’more-like treat, are a nod to Walt’s first film company, Laugh-O-Gram Studio. The image on the packaging features characters from the Laugh-O-Gram titled Jack the Giant Killer. On the packaging, you can also see that the treat is manufactured in Kansas City. It's no coincidence that Laugh-O-Gram Studio was also founded and based in Kansas City.
Behind the Counter
At the concession stand, there are two cash registers. The first shows a total of $11.18 while the other has a total of $19.28. If you combine all of these numbers and look at them as a date, you’ll get 11-18-1928. This is, again, a reference to Mickey’s film debut. Steamboat Willie came out on November 18th, 1928.Behind the counter you can see a popcorn machine. If you take a close look at the popcorn, you’ll notice that it’s not shaped like regular popcorn. Instead, these popcorn pieces are shaped like Mickey, Minnie, and Donald!
Condiments
Once Guests of the concession stand get their food, they of course need condiments! Luckily, there are some available at the El CapiTOON Concession Stand. On the containers, you can see that the condiments come from a company called Begorra Orchards. This is a reference to the leprechaun, Patrick Begorra, from the book “The Little Man of Disneyland”. Not only can you learn about Patrick in this book, if you look close enough in Adventureland, you can also see his home inside of Disneyland! Here’s a hint – Take a look at the trees closest to the tree holding the Indiana Jones Adventure sign. You’ll be able to see a little leprechaun home built into the trunk!Another nod within the condiments can be found on the BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce container describes the sauce as having a “Classic Smoke Tree Flavor”. This is a reference to Smoke Tree Ranch, which is where Walt had his vacation home. Walt was often seen wearing a tie that had the Smoke Tree Ranch logo embroidered on it. He’s even wearing this tie on the Partners Statue!
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About Rebekah Brown
Rebekah's love of Disney and passion for writing is what led her to Mickey Visit and Disney Dose. Her first visit to Walt Disney World was when she was a young child. Now she enjoys her Disney vacations with her own two children, husband, and parents. Rebekah will keep you up to date on all things that have to do with Walt Disney World. As a frequent visitor, Rebekah will share both her knowledge and personal experience with you through her articles.
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