Disney Issues Warning Effective Immediately, New Policy Separates Guests

Disneyland’s version of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway was plagued with issues after its opening last year, including broken animatronics, missing queue prop pieces, and excessive downtime. The ride was Disneyland California’s version of the popular attraction that opened in Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in 2020, which replaced the Great Movie Ride.

The attraction is the first official Disney park attraction to feature Mickey and Minnie Mouse and is based on the popular modern cartoons, or Mickey Shorts, starring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. The Disneyland website describes the ride as guests:

Step into the whimsical universe of a Mickey Mouse short and hitch a ride on Engineer Goofy’s train. What could possibly go wrong?

Cue hilarious hijinks! A relaxing train ride suddenly turns into a zany, free-ranging romp through ever-changing and rearranging cartoon scenes. You’ll quickly learn that anything can happen in this out-of-control animated world.

But don’t worry, with friends like Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, you’re bound to get back on track. All aboard!

Mickey & Minnie’s utilizes a similar ride vehicle to that of Great Movie Ride, with several rows of bench-like seating per ride vehicle. However, the attraction seems to have recently enacted a new policy that will affect its seating arrangement, forcing guests to sit five to a row, despite being with the same group or not.

In a post shared to X/Twitter, @nateyagi states, “New to me ride ops for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. They’re siphoning off parties of 1 & 2 and queuing to the side to fill empty rows,” along with a picture of the new rule which states, “5 guests per row. Lap sitting permitted. Be prepared to sit with another party.”

New to me ride ops for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. They’re siphoning off parties of 1 & 2 and queuing to the side to fill empty rows. pic.twitter.com/NjMB1x5hQK

— Nate goes to Disney (@nateyagi) February 15, 2024

In a follow-up post, Nate shares an image of the seats, which now appear to have seat dividers painted on to indicate five distinct seats. The policy is already highly controversial and unpopular, with many pointing out its flaws. “They show a mix of children and adults in the diagram. 5 adults will not fit comfortably together,” @Alexandriathred points out.

“My unpopular opinion,” shared @MJAlex2020, “One waits in line for a very long time to ride. During that time, I’m hot and sweaty and fat. I don’t want to squeeze into row and spend the whole ride worried I’m grossing out the person next to me instead of enjoying the ride.”

“Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t want my legs literally touching complete strangers on a ride with no extra room in a row,” replied @parkhopperzach, “Especially something like Runaway Railway where the dance studio scene is tossing you into the people next to you.”

“Catch me never riding this ever again lmfao,” @lavenderfiggly promised, while @bae_yardo simply said, “Ew.”

While several Disney attractions will often group together smaller parties or utilize a single-rider line, it’s typically high-demand, lower-capacity rides that need to fill as many people as they can in order to keep the lines moving consistently. Something like Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is already a high-capacity ride while being high-demand, and this new rule seems likely to bring more discomfort for guests than waiting an extra few minutes would.

The style of this particular attraction features guests sitting next to each other without any form of physical divider while the ride vehicle jerks around, occasionally slamming guests into each other. It isn’t hard to imagine being thrown into a stranger next to you, both of you sweaty and exhausted from walking around the parks all day. It’s unclear exactly why this policy has been put into place, although some comments did mention this always being the case, just newly reinforced with obvious signage. Either way, it’s already unpopular, so it remains to be seen just how strictly Disneyland decides to enforce this particular policy.

What do you think about this new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway policy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.