We had been able to ride Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway at Disney Hollywood Studios in early October of 2021, and we loved the ride. I was so excited when I heard that it was coming to Disneyland, so I've been eagerly awaiting its opening. Luckily, we were able to get a preview ride with a limited crowd before the ride opened. The major difference between the ride at Disneyland and the ride at Walt Disney World is the queue. The queue in Toontown at Disneyland is all new, and it's really amazing. The queue is pretty much half the experience of the entire attraction, even moreso than on rides like Star Tours and the Indiana Jones Adventure. There are even more fun things to look at than in the queue for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.
You can see some elements in the queue if you use the Lightning Lane entrance, but you have to go through the regular stand-by queue if you want to see everything.
Following are pictures from the things in the queue that most caught my attention, as well as pictures of the outside of the attraction and the surrounding Toontown area. I hope you get to experience it all for yourself in person.
A slightly different look for the entrance to Toontown. This picture was taken the day before the official opening of Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, during the time when cast members were given an opportunity to preview the ride, with the press event that evening.
The former area with the Roger Rabbit fountain has been turned into a little park / play area with artificial grass and some benches. Very pretty. In subsequent days when Runaway Railway no longer required a virtual queue and entrance into Toontown was not restricted, families with children definitely took advantage of the area to let their little ones run around and have fun, as well as burning off energy.
For our preview, it was exciting on our walk towards Runaway Railway. Construction walls were up as the rest of Toontown is not yet open.
I love the attraction logo for the ride. This was on signs just at the entrance of Toontown.
Walking up to Runaway Railway, and there is the El Capitoon in all her beauty!
I'd bought an El Capitoon spirit jersey at the D23 Expo last year, so I made sure to wear it to the preview.
Before you even enter the inside queue, the outside box office has so many things to look at!
This is the ticket window for the El Capitoon. I love that they made the facade a theatre a la The El Capitan in Hollywood. Really an ingenious idea.
You could be eligible for a Mickey Mouse Club discount. Remember your sweater!
There are so many things to see just on the desktop alone. I turned one of the pictures upside down to make some of the items easier to read. Looks like the Beagle family has a history of writing bad checks. And it looks like someone was in such a hurry that they forgot to put their lipstick away.
Some post-its on the wall. I use post-its to remind myself of things too. Or just to write random notes for other people.
The front post-it is one of my favorite non-ride things about this attraction. Love the shout-out to Tilly, who is the ticket taker at the Main Street Cinema on Main Street U.S.A. in Disneyland.
Here's Tilly. She has different seasonal outfits during the year. She is currently sporting her Disney 100 attire, complete with name tag.
Being the sign and credits nerd that I am, this is my absolute favorite non-ride thing about this attraction. That first paragraph is required and can be found on all attractions. That second paragraph is decidedly NOT! It's like the legal disclaimer at the end of the movie "Airplane" that ends with "So there." I love it because it's the kind of thing that most people don't read at all, so for those of us that do, you get a bonus laugh.
No weird additional language in this sign. It's just to let you know what kind of ride it is and what you might be mindful of.
A plaque for the El Capitoon Theatre. Read all the way to the end!
Carpet with the El Capitoon logo as you step into the foyer of the theatre.
One of the many brilliant posters showing a Toon adaptation of a live-action film. Who wouldn't love to buy this poster or have this art on a t-shirt or magnet?
Just inside the foyer, you can oftentimes choose to participate in or skip the photo op for the Perfect Picnic animated short you're about to see. So cute!
The El Capitoon emblem at the top of the columns in the foyer. See the Hidden Mickey in the popcorn around the middle just above the bucket line? There's a circle that's above and in the middle of, from the left, the fourth and fifth dots at the top of the bucket. That's the Mickey head. There are then two mis-shapen ears on top of the circle. And the bucket in the logo looks like a film strip. (Raise your hand if you know what a film strip is...)
As you make your way through the queue, you encounter this display of El Capitoon history.
The hot dog is my favorite part of the entire El Capitoon history board. It looks pretty fresh for being so old!
The wheel from Steamboat Willie and the accompanying sign. You can actually turn the wheel, though it doesn't move easily.
A prop from the animated short "Plane Crazy".
A prop drum from the animated short "Band Concert".
The Sorcerer's book, with water damage from the flood caused by apprentice Mickey. I attended an event with a few of the Imagineers who worked on this project, and one of them said they were having a hard time getting the absolutely perfect look while using PhotoShop and other programs. So they used ink to write on paper and then dunked the papers in the sink and bathtub in their own homes, and then they dried out the papers and scanned them in to figure out how to get the proper look. They even held up some of the said papers. It was fantastic.
The sign for the Sorcerer's book.
For personal reasons, the inclusion of Sorcerer Mickey in almost anything brings me joy and tears of sadness at the same time. This one has a special effect in that periodically, the hat levitates.
Pile of books on the Sorcerer's throne.
Props from the animated short "Brave Little Tailor". Yep, puns galore everywhere!
Prop cake from the animated short "Mickey's Birthday Party". They tested out the cake so you don't have to.
On a speaker in the Mousercise section, I noticed that it's the Sorcerer's choice.
"The Wrong Door" is the name of one of the other movies supposedly being shown at the El Capitoon. It's also an inside joke for Imagineer Allie Wong. There are lots of personal references throughout the queue for various Imagineers, per custom / practice. For instance, in the scene from the Christmas party, the cards on the fireplace mantle are the names of the children of some of the Imagineers. There is also a reference to another of the Imagineer's children in the candy at the snack bar. Oftentimes, when you see a mix of two letters and numbers, that's a reference to someone's birth date. There are lots of those in the queue for Star Tours, including references to George Lucas and John Williams.
Since I have a personal affinity for Potatoland, I really enjoyed seeing the props.
The snack bar of the El Capitoon is chock full of treats and other surprises.
You can buy a tub of cotton candy or a tub of cotton! The cotton could come in handy if you're seeing a movie that will make you cry since cotton is so absorbent.
Witch Hazel nut candy. That could be tasty. Or deadly. Or both!
Chocolate chip (and dale!) cookies. I feel like they should have acorns in them too.
I don't know why there was a container of chocolate candies with a cat shaped one in it, but I'm here for that.
Hmmm, can't make a purchase here.
The amounts on the cash registers show the release date of the iconic animated short "Steamboat Willie". Pet peeve of mine - no, he's not named Steamboat Mickey.
Oh, here are the acorns to go with the chocolate chip (and dale) cookies!
Poppy on the popcorn container looks really cute and reminds me of the snowgies from "Frozen 2".
There are Hidden Mickeys and hidden other things in this bin of popcorn.
Just like in Disneyland proper, the popcorn machines have themed workers.
Free candy offer, but it's not good in February because it has fewer days.
I was too excited to see the Potatoland poster.
Having one of each spelling on containers made me laugh because yeah, I've wondered. Love the reference to Figaro! On a different note, did you know that catsup / ketchup hasn't always been made of tomatoes? That's why, though tomato ketchup seems redundant, it's not.
The play on words here made me laugh too.
At first glance, it looks like your normal array of condiments. (I do hate when people make a mess on the snack counter at the movies. Clean up after yourselves, folks!)
BBQ? Not really sure what you'd put that on. I'm not sure I'd enjoy that on a hot dog. I defnitely wouldn't enjoy that on popcorn, at least not BBQ flavor in liquid form. Maybe a topping you shake on would be ok. Love the shout-out to Smoke Tree Ranch.
Shhhh, don't tell them that "secret sauce" just includes mayonnaise! Ignore the expiration date - they do!
Relish is always good on a hot dog. Some might not prefer the dill version, though.
Ummm, is this for the hot dog, or the popcorn, or the nachos?
How do you keep this on a dish or in a container if it burns through the countertop?
It's time for us to see our movie! Read the little bit under "theater 3".
Such a lovely poster for "Perfect Picnic". I love the colorful hues and cheery nature - how could anything go wrong? Nothing can stop us now!
I like the *other* orange bird too, but I *REALLY* like this orange birdie. It's so cute!
Orange birdie on the ride. Depending on what part of the cycle you see, you might see little birdies hatch and then fly away.
"See ya 'reel' soon." Do people know what film reels are?
Not-so-hidden Mickey in the reels at the exit.
Lots of people might miss this - after you exit the ride and head back through the blown-up screen, turn around to see "The End"."
In EngineEar Souvenirs, Professor Ludwig Von Drake can teach you some train talk.
When you enter EngineEar Souvenirs, turn around and look up to see the Toontown railway schedule. After what you just went through, do you want to get on another train? Maybe check to make sure the engineer isn't Goofy first.
Maybe I can catch a train to Endor. I tried to take a starspeeder, but it never made it there, and I'm so late for a meeting.
After our preview ride, I expected to be deposited into the corresponding store, but I was shocked to see that it wasn't open yet. It didn't open with the opening of the attraction, and it has recently opened with limited merchandise, with more promised for the grand re-opening of Toontown on March 19.
The puzzle pieces on the floor of the store were interesting.
EngineEar Souvenirs sign on the floor. Oh, that's where we are.
What can you expect to see inside EngineEar Souvenirs? Miniature railroads and full-scale fun! When it opens completely.
The view of the EngineEar Souvenirs store facade next to the ticket booth for the El Capitoon Theatre.
A closer look at the EngineEar Souvenirs store sign.
Look at the train on top, with Mickey in the cab. How cute! Love the "Toonliner"!
Cinema staff only inside the El Capitoon ticket booth.
Love the labels on the trash cans.
The nearby buildings are going through their own changes, with some new businesses moving in.
The El Capitoon and the Toontown hills at night.
Look carefully at the hills, and you'll see Walt's Barn and a tribute to the windmill from the animated short "The Old Mill".
Even the construction walls have not-so-hidden Mickeys.
I was really disappointed to see that they'd changed the restroom signs in Toontown. Even if they wanted to change it from Jessica and Roger Rabbit, they could have found something else to theme it to. Instead, they decided to echo the muted colors of the new hills. I have the unreasonable hope that this was a temporary change, just so they could have the restrooms open for guests going on Runaway Railway, and that brighter and more fun signs will debut with the actual re-opening of Toontown, but I don't want to set myself up for further disappointment. So many things done right, but this was definitely a giant miss.
The outside of the El Capitoon is even more gorgeous when it's nighttime, and the lights come on.
Should it be "Mickey's and Minnie's Runaway Railway" instead of "Mickey and Minnie's"? I'm never sure about that when there's a compound noun. Maybe it depends on what you want it to mean. If it's "Mickey's and Minnie's", it's individual ownership as separate entities, so it's 50/50 ownership. If it's "Mickey and Minnie's", then it's treating Mickey and Minnie as one entity, so it's joint ownership. (See now why I love that little extra bit on the ticket booth?)
Here's some video of the gorgeous facade of the El Capitoon with the changing lights.
I loved the El Capitoon facade all lit up, but I was even more fixated on the lighting changes on the sign itself.
Some video of the changing lights on the El Capitoon sign.
Walked around a bit after our rides, and it was nice to see Bennie the Cab and the Roger Rabbit sign again - freshly painted and so pretty and sparkly.
The dalmatian puppy is still keeping watch at the fire house. Ever notice that the fire house number is 101?
Here's that park area at night. So peaceful. Well, it was at that time. Not so much nowadays, I expect.
The poster for Runaway Railway. Love all the included elements from the ride.
I always like the graphics that are developed to accompany a ride that has a virtual queue. For the first few weeks, when you were able to get into the queue and your group progressed through the wait, here was some of what you'd see. I love that the train pulls in front of the El Capitoon when you're good to go. And then you pulled up the bar code to be scanned to enter the El Capitoon.
Hope you've enjoyed the tour!
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