The celebration of the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company at Disneyland in Anaheim begins today with the opening of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, a new feature that marks the first time the beloved mice have starred in a ride-through attraction at the Resort.
The attraction is located in Disneyland’s Mickey’s Toontown, which will reopen March 8 following its year-long closure on March 9, 2022, for the land’s makeover.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway combines sets, audio-animatronics figures, animated media and projection-mapping techniques, all synchronized with trackless vehicles and a musical score calling back to Disney Television Animation’s Emmy Award-winning “Mickey Mouse” cartoon shorts.
The attraction begins at the El CapiTOON Theater – a pun on the Disney-owned El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard – where Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway transports guests into what is billed as “the wacky and unpredictable cartoon world of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, where they board a train engineered by Goofy and embark on a zany, out-of-control adventure with surprising twists and turns.”
Guests may see different details of the attraction depending on which vehicle they ride in and where they’re sitting within each vehicle.
The attraction also includes other iconic Disney characters such as Pluto, Goofy, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck and Pete and a new character created for the attraction, a little bird named Chuuby (pronounced “Choo-bee).”
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway features several sound effects created by Jimmy Macdonald for Disney animated shorts dating back to the 1930s. Some new effects were developed using Macdonald’s original equipment. The tri-tone whistle from Mickey Mouse’s debut cartoon in 1928, “Steamboat Willie,” was used to record the locomotive whistle sound for the attraction’s train.
Guests on the attraction will be required to join the complimentary virtual queue, accessible only via the Disneyland app. There will not be a standby line for the attraction upon its opening. Guests may also get quicker entry to the attraction with the purchase of an individual Lightning Lane arrival window, subject to availability.
Also new to the Resort is World of Color — ONE, a water and light spectacular makings its debut today. Located at Disney California Adventure Park, the water and light spectacular uses an array of fountains, lighting, lasers, fog and flame effects and music to tell the story of how a single action — like a drop of water — creates a ripple that can grow into a wave of change.
The 1,200 fountains in World of Color — ONE act as dancers, interpreting the various moments in the show. During the “Born to Play” sequence from Disney and Pixar’s animated film Soul,’ the jazz tune appears to be played’ by the fountains.
World of Color — ONE is the first Disneyland Resort nighttime spectacular to feature characters, music and stories from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, the Avengers and Star Wars in the same production.
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