FastPass+ Available for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Walt Disney World has opened FastPass+ reservations for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for opening day (March 4, 2020) and beyond! In this post, we’ll offer attraction info, revised DHS FastPass strategy, and what to do if FastPass+ is currently unavailable for your dates. We’ll also share new photos of the ride marquee, which was just installed in the park!
For starters, the hugely positive news is that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will offer both FastPass+ and a standby line. In our recent FastPass+ Tier Changes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios post, we speculated that either there’d be FastPass or the ride would be standby-only at opening. Nevertheless, there were lingering questions about whether it would use a virtual queue and boarding pass system.
While we’ve found that approach works well for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance–an attraction that remains in high demand, while also being unreliable and prone to breakdowns–it’s definitely not ideal for all attractions. Moreover, the fact that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is not using the same system should speak volumes about its projected uptime and reliability…
For those who are unfamiliar with it for some reason, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is the new trackless dark ride coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Grauman’s Chinese Theater, formerly home to the Great Movie Ride, will serve as the home of the attraction–and magical portal into the cartoon world.
There, Mickey and Minnie are premiering their newest short, “Perfect Picnic.” Before you enter the cinema, you’ll experience a special exhibit created by the Toontown Hysterical Society featuring costumes and props from the toon world. After going through this queue, theatergoers will then enter the pre-show, and literally step from the human world directly into the cartoon world.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway puts you inside the wacky and unpredictable world of Disney Channel’s Emmy Award-winning “Mickey Mouse” cartoon shorts. Once you step into the cartoon world of Mickey and Minnie, you’ll board a train with Goofy as the engineer. Then, one magical moment after the next leads you to a zany, out-of-control adventure filled with surprising twists and turns.
We were at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this morning to test out new strategy for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance now that the park is opening at 8 am (stay tuned for that tomorrow).
While there, we got our first look at the attraction marquee for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Below is a wider look, showing how it looks in the context of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater facade.
Like anything new that Walt Disney World does, this signage has been met with a mixed reaction. Some Walt Disney World fans love it, others hate it.
Perhaps dual signage where the Great Movie Ride marquees used to be would’ve been better, but we both really like this as-is. (It’s also worth noting that this pays homage to an actual movie premiere signage style that the actual Grauman’s Chinese Theatre featured decades ago in Hollywood, California.)
With the addition of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, FastPass+ tiers change once again at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You can still make FastPass+ ride reservations for up to three experiences at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, choosing one attraction from tier 1 and two attractions from the second tier.
Tier 1 attractions are Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and Slinky Dog Dash. Tier two attractions are Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Star Tours: the Adventures Continue, Fantasmic, Frozen Sing-Along, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, MuppetVision 3D, Disney Junior Dance Party!, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, and Beauty and the Beast — Live on Stage.
As for strategy, we recommend that anyone who is eligible to make FastPass+ selections for March or April 2020 use their Tier 1 selection on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. As with anything new, Runaway Railway will be incredibly popular regardless of whether it garners the same critical and guest acclaim as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
However, this is tentative and won’t necessarily be our advice for Summer or Fall 2020. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway purportedly has very healthy hourly capacity, meaning its standby lines could be shorter than Slinky Dog Dash in a few months. We doubt this, though.
First, because the “new attraction smell” doesn’t wear off that quickly. Second, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway should be a crowd-pleaser that appeals to the entire family thanks to its lack of a height restriction. By contrast, Slinky Dog Dash has a height restriction–and roller coasters don’t appeal to everyone. Still, which to prioritize should be a fairly close call, and it’s also worth considering the fact that Runaway Railway has a mostly indoor, air-conditioned queue, whereas Slinky Dog Dash does not.
While Slinky Dog Dash is a good alternative pick from Tier 1, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is not. Its lines get really bad in the morning, but they always subside later in the day. The ride is basically a “consolation prize” for those who don’t score Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding groups. Smugglers Run is a good attraction to do mid-afternoon or later, or via the Single Rider line.
Additionally, we recommend Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith as your two selections from Tier 2. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is also a good back-up option if one of the above Tier 2 FastPasses is unavailable. Anyone with an upcoming trip that booked under the old tiers should swap out their previous Tier 2 picks for these if possible, as you’ll save far more time with these rides than the shows you likely picked.
If you’re attempting to book FastPass+ reservations for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway right now, we’d stress patience and persistence. Tons of people are simultaneously going to be logging onto the My Disney Experience app, and whenever that happens, My Disney Experience comes to a crawl, crashes, and has various errors.
Additionally, even if you do not want a FastPass+ for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (for some odd reason), you might want to check out My Disney Experience to “improve” your other FastPass+ selections. A lot of people are going to be dropping Slinky Dog Dash for this, so availability for that roller coaster should open up for March and April 2020.
If there’s no FastPass+ availability for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway by the time you read this, we’d encourage you to keep checking. People change their plans and cancel ride reservations all the time and Walt Disney World also releases more FastPass+ availability from time to time.
This is something we’ve seen numerous times with new attractions in the past few years. There’s a reasonable chance that Walt Disney World will allocate more of the attraction’s capacity to FastPass+ after its first week of operations. This has happened with other new attractions shortly after they debuted; if you’re visiting in late March or April 2020 and couldn’t get a FastPass+ for Runaway Railway, don’t lose hope.
Again, persistence and patience are the names of the game. If that doesn’t end up working out, be prepared to arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios early to rope drop Runaway Railway in the weeks and months after it debuts. (We’ll see you there!)
We’re actually somewhat surprised that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway isn’t debuting as a standby-only attraction. For one thing, the 60-day booking window already passed, so this is effectively being opened to on-site guests, Annual Passholders, and off-site guests all at the same time. (At least for the initial opening week dates in March.)
The other reason is crowds. This is something we went through prior to the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but it never really came to pass. Now, with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance open and drawing a ton of guests first thing in the morning, it’s actually becoming an issue.
FastPass+ effectively allows guests to be in two places at once, whereas the standby line is an effective and efficient way for the park to soak up crowds. In an undersized park like Disney’s Hollywood Studios, this can be a crucial means of crowd control. While we haven’t seen the park’s capacity tested yet, that could happen once Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is added to the mix. At this point, we’re not talking phased closures or anything like that—more like unpleasant congestion and overcrowded restaurants.
Overall, it’ll be interesting to see how things go with Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. We are really excited for this attraction, and hope it’s as good as the hype suggests. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is a really tough act to follow, but if this attraction is even close to that good, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will have arguably the best ride lineup in Walt Disney World. Who would’ve seen that coming ~5 years ago?!
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Your Thoughts
Were you able to score a FastPass+ for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway? Excited for this new attraction? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
People must have dropped Slinky Dog and Smugglers Run cause both were unavailable when we made our 60 day fast pass reservations this past Tuesday, but I was able to grab up a Slinky Dog fast pass today.
We haven’t done Slinky Dog yet, so I opted for that instead of Mickeys Railway. W were able to get Smugglers Run later on in our stay.
Think the 8am opening time for Hollywood will stay on the 13th? I remember you had earlier predicted that these would be moved up to 7am at some point but it seems like that hasn’t happened this week. I’ll be happy for the extra hour of sleep if so.
THANK YOU! Got the FP for our trip in April. This type A loves a good plan.
Thank you Tom! I love your blog. Because of your email, we got our fast pass for March. I love reading all you do and it makes me miss Disney a little less when I hear of your adventures. You say so many good things and sound just like we do. Keep up the great work!
What is likelihood of a soft opening the week before as I’llbe visiting then?
Thank you Tom! Because of you I was able to get the railway for our March trip. I never would have known otherwise. We are so excited!!!
Just dropped Smugglers Run for M&MRR on 4/7. Thank you for the heads up!
Tried to book within an hour of your email and they are already gone! I have a three day window. March 5-7. Should I keep trying? Will they typically add more? Otherwise I’ll have to rope drop it!! Thanks!
It never hurts to keep checking – opportunities can even pop up day of on occasion!
“For one thing, the 60-day booking window already passed, so this is effectively being opened to on-site guests, Annual Passholders, and off-site guests all at the same time.”
this is what i continue to not understand. why they keep making announcements inside the major booking windows. yes, i realize not everyone stays on property, but if you do, there are 2 major booking windows- dining and fastpasses. the windows do not change. but yet they continue to make big announcements causing people to have to alter their plans. they did this to us when announcing the pushed up opening of SWGE. everyone assumed that “late fall” window was going to be in october or november. we were going first week of september and i had our dining booked, and 2 days later came the announcement. would it have been that difficult for someone to look at a calendar to accommodate the on-site guests who were making ADRs and make the announcement a week earlier or even just a few days, to give people time to plan? they’ve done this with new restaurants too.
and this is now twice a family member for their upcoming spring break trip has had to redo their itinerary after having already made fps because they opened up fps for smuggler’s run and now mickey and minnie after the 60 day mark. that doesn’t make any sense to me. start the fastpass booking even just a few days before the 60 day mark for a new attraction. by doing it within the window, it’s just jamming up the system more because the people who have already made their initial fastpasses are trying to get in and redo and are competing with the people making their first.
disney cruise line already does this- they make announcements for the upcoming cruise itineraries, then booking opens a few days after that, starting with platinum and on down. it gives people a chance to research and plan with the least amount of stress. it’s one thing rearranging your ideal fastpass schedule on paper- it’s another thing to go in trying to redo fastpasses already booked and risk losing something on accident when trying to replace it with something else. on-site guests are being put at a disadvantage here having to compete with everyone else when normally they wouldn’t have to if it was more than 60 days out.
Yesterday was our 60 day mark, and booked Smugglers Run with our fast pass tier 1. It is the week before Easter, so I’m worried that we drop Smugglers Run, and then can’t replace it with M&MRR, and then cannot get any Tier 1s. Thoughts, please?
yeah i don’t think it’s right to open up fastpasses for new rides within the 60 day window, that’s unfair and a headache.
You just need to go in and “modify” your current selection and it won’t delete what you already have until you confirm the new selection. Another words, if you go to “modify” Smugglers Run and there isn’t anything available for M&MRR, then you simply cancel the request.
My wife and I went in the afternoon and waited in stand by for about 30 mins for smugglers run. Great ride, but I would do the FP for the railway.
I think if you go into your fastpass reservations and hit the modify button for your smugglers run fastpass, it will show you what is available. If Mickey and Minnie Runaway train is available then you can switch it right then. If not, just close out of the modifications tab and keep your Smugglers Run fastpass.
Thanks! Another question. If my husband and friend’s husband want to do Smugglers Run, could my friend and I drop that fastpass for us and the kids, and take them onto MMRR instead?
Scored FP+ for 3 days Ende March/beginning April. Will be 9 days of disney and my Kids will be so happy to do this ride. Thanks for your quick Update so I Could immediatly adjust Plans
I love the new marquee, its colors and how well its design has been thought out to blend with the Theater’s facade. Looking forward to seeing some nighttime shots. I also am a fan of the new Mickey Cartoons’ aesthetic, so this all does it for me visually. Won’t be betting on scoring a FP in August, but will try diligently as always. This park has surely transformed–getting the love it deserves.
I immediately went to My Disney Experience…nothing available. That’s from March 4-7. Maybe something will pop up later.â€â™€ï¸
Hi Tom –
Is it safe to assume at this point that there won’t be an AP preview for the ride? We booked a trip for March 1-3 to try and “luck” into a preview slot.
Thanks Tom, snagged mine for 3/10 and can’t wait!
Do you know if the Runaway Railway will have a moving floor to board? My mom can’t do those, so that will make a difference on if I go for the Fastpass+ for this ride or not. Thank you!
I believe they stop the floor if a guest can’t board with it moving.
Yes but they often don’t stop it when getting off the ride. My mom has had so many close calls with moving floors that she just refuses to do them now.
Thank you for posting! Grabbed 2 fast passes for March!
Snagged a fastpass this morning for the ride on March 4th! There were lots of times available when we booked. I did have to drop Smugglers run, but we did that two weeks ago with a 30 minute standby. Can’t wait to get back to Disney the first week of March!
This is such a game changer! Definitely will be moving HS day to the very end of our 5-day on site summer trip to maximize the odds of getting a FP (which still might not be good enough to get one). It is so crazy how many times they keep mixing up the plans last-minute for people planning trips this spring–makes me worried they are going to drop another bombshell about Ratatouille after I’ve made all my Epcot FPs.
I did think they would go the Virtual Queue route to offset demand for ROTR at rope drop, but I do think FP makes more sense than standby for Runaway Railway. The bulk of the demand for this ride is going to come from parents with kids too small for the mostly height-restricted rides at HS, and those parents can’t wait in a 2 hour standby line.
I have not heard of an opening date for Ratatouille yet. Have you?
They have announced “summer 2020”–my worry is they will spring it last minute on us like all these other changes. They really do not seem to care much about letting people plan ahead.
Just grabbed our fast past for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway for March 5. So that is a big relief for how it was going to work. Being there that week we have March 2 to try for Rise of the Resistance and Smugglers run fast pass. March 5 is our second try for Rise and was planning on being in the line for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway but now can relax a bit.