The final session of this weekend’s D23  Destination D: Celebrating Mickey was a discussion about the upcoming attraction Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, opening in Fall 2019 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

The program, “Catching Up with Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway,” was led by Imagineer Kevin Rafferty, who has worked on numerous attractions in his 40-year career with the company, including Toy Story Mania and Cars Land.  He was joined by Charita Carter, who worked on Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, among other projects. The two shared some insight on the work that has gone into developing this new attraction, billed as the first ride-through Mickey Mouse attraction.

According to Rafferty and Carter, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will push the limits of immersion for the Disney experience.

“Our goal,” said Carter, “is to place you in a Mickey short.” And not just any Mickey short — but one of the Mickey animated shorts that is currently being aired on the Disney Channel.

Rafferty added that they would accomplish that by using “every theatrical trick in the book.”

The new attraction will be housed in the park’s iconic Chinese Theater. Why the theater? Rafferty said you may well ask. It is because the show starts with the audience going to the theater to see Mickey’s latest cartoon, which will be called, “Perfect Picnic.”

Once in the theater the audience actually becomes part of the show, and is seated on a train whose conductor is none other than Goofy. What could possibly go wrong?

The new original story is accompanied by an original theme song and music by Chris Willis, who is also composer for the Disney Channel’s Emmy Award-winning “Mickey Mouse” cartoon shorts.

In fact, sound plays a very important part of this attraction. As Rafferty and Carter explained, they are creating a soundscape for the attraction in a very “old school” way. Using props constructed decades ago by Disney Legend and sound effects guru Jimmy Macdonald (also former voice of Mickey Mouse), Rafferty said they are lovingly creating all the sound effects for the attraction by hand. They are then integrating these classic sounds with modern sound design using current technology. The result is a multi-layered effect that further enhances the audience’s experience.

To drive home the point that sound and music are key to this attraction, Rafferty and Carter had several props to show. One was a gadget that Macdonald used to create the sound of a locomotive so many years ago. The others were actual whistles that were used in Mickey’s 1928 debut, “Steamboat Willie.” The whistles will be used once more as the whistles for the runaway railway.

Unfortunately, no photography was allowed during the presentation and no new artwork was revealed.

There was, however, some new merchandise released during Destination D bearing the Minnie and Mickey’s Runaway Railroad motif.

Guess we’ll just have to wait to learn more until Fall 2019 when Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is slated to open!

You can read more about Imagineer Kevin Rafferty in Chuck Schmidt’s “Still Goofy About Disney” blog.

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