How It Works: Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway

This is a remastered and rerecorded How It Works video on Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway works. With new information and theories I've re-edited the video into one that's, hopefully, a bit better. Enjoy. :)
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Video Credits:
Below are the clips I used during this video that were graciously given by these lovely people. Please go check out these amazing channels. Thank you all for your help!
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Runaway Railway OPENING DAY INSANITY
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FULL RIDE POV of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Walt Disney World - DSNY Newscast
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FULL RIDE POV - Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Walt Disney World. EXTREME LOW LIGHT 4K OnRide
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FULL POV - Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
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TAGS: #Mickey #HollywoodStudios #DisneyWorld

[@AmusementLabs]

We're now on Patreon! If you would like to support us and get early access: www.patreon.com/amusementlabs As always patronage is.never required, but highly appreciated.

[@E501-miso]

I was impressed to notice that the length of the video is 19:28. That's the same year Mickey & Minnie were born.

[@KeepCalmContemplateYourChoices]

I just realized the video is 19:28 minutes long. 1928. The year Mickey was created.

[@AmusementLabs]

Lol, that wasn't intentional, but a good catch!

[@dratelectasis]

Why the fuck isn't this comment on the top?

[@RichyJFilms]

@@dratelectasis karen chill

[@faizramadhan102]

@@dratelectasis swore

[@scoldedegg11yearsago17]

its funny cus its not

[@IndependentGuides]

This is such a great video - and Disney really blew me away with this one. Never expected it to be as good as it turned out. It’ll make an excellent addition to Disneyland too!

[@AAAAAMMM]

we rode this ride for the first time last week on new years, we were FLABBERGASTED when the screen busted open and had lots of conversations on the car ride home about how we think they did it. Turns out none of us were right, it's so interesting to see how unreliable my memory was in the thick of it, it really seemed like the hole appeared out of nowhere!

[@canis9178]

Thanks for including an excellent map of the layout

[@tinathielman4573]

Just rode this for the first time and I have to say you answered every "how in the world did they do this" question I had in such a clear and entertaining way. The effects on the screen seemed like such a small part of the ride and its so cool how much engineering and thought went into it.

[@trevorshaw-mumford2150]

My wife and I sorely missed The Great Movie Ride when it closed. This ride isn't our cup of tea, but I can absolutely see why it's so popular and the technology is incredible. It's really like being thrown into the cartoon!

[@christopherthedisneydude6621]

You did an amazing job on informing us on how this ride works. It truly is amazing how they do it, and how you are able to figure out how they do it. I would have never come up with how Donald works. Bravo!

[@JediJuniper92]

I’ll admit, I went on this just out of curiosity and because I’d been on all the other rides I wanted to go on today. I ended up being SO incredibly impressed. I’ll def ride it next time I’m there.

[@davidmichaelharwell3187]

What a cool story! Love the personal touch of your own experiences and journey at the end! Your videos are incredibly interesting and inspiring. Cant wait to see more! Thank you! 🤘

[@phototristan]

This ride is pure joy and is timeless and classic. For these reasons, it's a hit!

[@lucky07621]

Just found your videos after my first trip back to the parks since 2015. These are so good and I’m really like your style of videos.

[@spydersoup8447]

I'm amazed at how Mercury Filmworks, the studio who did the animation of the Mickey Mouse shorts that begun in 2013 by Disney Television Animation which the ride is based on, was able to make animations for 360o projections and holograms for an attraction.

[@RaeAnn_1202]

Amazing video Explain a wonderful ride. Thank you for all the work that went into this video.

[@theodoreking8605]

I was so excited for this video. thanks man

[@eric_in_florida]

Great video. I was very curious about the exploding screen but once you see it it's so simple.

[@alextirrellRI]

It was finally open on my recent visit. Really charming ride -- I enjoyed it a lot!

[@dsnyguy1]

Quite incredible! Thanks!

[@mikemckeedrummer]

Fantastic! Thanks so much!

[@GMoney-B]

This is so incredible. I love how Disney rides are made to be people eaters too in terms of capacity.

[@tasha26100]

thanks for making amazing videos! love these 😁

[@AmusementLabs]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@ralelunar]

Runaway Railway is better than Kong: Skull Island, Fast and Furious: Supercharged, and Jimmy Fallon's Race Through New York combined. Universal got quite lazy with their projection systems while Disney really stepped up their game.

[@Chipserz]

Lol, recently it feels aside from screens, universal is doing much better than Disney

[@svis6888]

@@Chipserz mmmh

[@JediTheQT]

@@Chipserz Nah, Disney has just been pumping out new stuff while I feel universal is rlly rlly slow

[@evansaifman1497]

Yea but transformers and spider man compete with it. Also velocicoaster and hagrids are better than any Disney ride

[@tatemorrison5999]

@@JediTheQT have you seen the new jurassic world ride in Beijing???

[@AndrewTan88]

This is one of your best videos.

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

We're going to Hollywood Studios tomorrow, definitely going to check this out.

[@namewithheldnamewithheld2725]

Great video. Thank you.

[@rickd3777]

Me, as a railway enthusiast, looked for everything about railway in this channel...... Gotta subscribe!

[@willmcc4070]

looking at the projections reminds me just how expressive 2d animation is, and especially what it can be with modern tech. I wish disney would go back to it, at least sometimes, for their films

[@kato223]

I think that is awesome how they got the LCD panel to work like that. The very first time I saw something like that was when I purchased my 1st and 2nd Casio TwinCept watches. I don't know exactly when they were made, or when exactly I purchased them, but I do know I was much much younger when I bought them brand new. They are the Casio ABX-20 and ABX-23. Both were made with this same technology that this ride seems to be based on. They have analog hands in the back with a clear LCD panel in the front. The ABX-23 also has a backlight that works to see both the hands and LCD panel in the dark. So, it definitely appears as all the light for the Donald in the house and Goofy on the train with the light coming from behind is a huge factor in how the colors of the LCD panel also work.

[@TheRealDavidVideos]

Next Episode: How King Crimson Works

[@danopticon]

lol, wut? Like, the group Robert Fripp plays in?

[@eat2861]

@@danopticon you don’t wanna know

[@ma.belle.evangeline]

There is one thing I don't understand when I watch videos of this ride. Why oh why is Goofy's hat cut off at the top when you see him at the back of the locomotive? Am I missing something?

[@AmusementLabs]

It's a rectangular screen from a TV and cause the roof is right above it and is curved they couldn't fit the screen all the way to the edge. I agree that it looks weird though. They should put like a little ribbon curtain to block it out.

[@ma.belle.evangeline]

@@AmusementLabs I had my suspicions it must be a square peg round hole situation. It feels so un-Disney-like to just leave it like that. Thanx for your excellent videos!

[@Primogen16]

@@AmusementLabs Or they could have used a larger screen or smaller curved "window".

[@warpedg]

I totally agree. I could easily see Disney executives asking repeatedly for them to fix it. Every time I see that I can't help but focus on it now.

[@roboman34]

Brilliant Love it ....# nothing can stop us now .....nothing can stop us now !! ##

[@JeroldBoy0407]

Does anyone else think that this should’ve been at Main Street USA instead of replacing The Great Movie Ride?

[@elliott7568]

Say runaway railway 10 times in a row lol, can be a tounge twister lol, especially having to say it so much in the narration lol

[@GMoney-B]

I can’t. After a few times it just turns into way way way way way way way lol

[@dsnyguy1]

Incredible!

[@madmudd96]

I have a friend who was doing DCP when COVID hit and this ride finally opened just after she was sent back to Kansas City! 🥺

[@Zhh566]

Nice touch how the video is 19:28 long

[@AmusementLabs]

That was totally by accident, but nice catch!

[@8-bithaunted525]

going to disney this september cant wait to ride these rides and have you done one on peter pans flight?

[@jackpijjin4088]

If you're gonna do a 'projection ride', this is how you do it,

[@roman_is_gone]

Awesome vid again lol. Turn down your gain abit tho, your voice is peaking alot

[@AmusementLabs]

Ok

[@fel4009]

this ride pulls a double troll, first making you think it's a premiere of a short, then making you think it will be a "chill ride"

[@no-oneinparticular1256]

I miss the great movie ride but this video helps me appreciate the new ride

[@HeronicStudios]

Very interesting!

[@HD4amian]

6:11 I thought that in your previous vid about Rise of the Resistance you said that ETF provided the vehicles. Great vid, keep up the good work and stay safe! ;)

[@AmusementLabs]

That was a mistake. Someone contacted me with the broucher showing that Roush made them. ETF is more of a distributor for other things like Midway mania.

[@TheSockMonkeyGuy]

Well done! Even better than the first version. The ride floor plan is an excellent addition. The new mic and slower vocal pacing are helping a lot. Keep working on it, and I'm looking forward to watching your next video!

[@AmusementLabs]

Thanks, will do!

[@TheSockMonkeyGuy]

@@AmusementLabs P.S. Subscribed! 😀

[@henrykent4768]

I found gears at 0:51, 7:33, 13:39, 14:20 and 18:05!

[@AmusementLabs]

Yay! You'll get a shout-out in the next video! 👍

[@sunshinepurple1043]

I could never experience projection mapping because of my phobias I am grateful for these videos

[@Robbedem]

While not easy, phobias can be overcome. So maybe one day, you could actually experience it irl. ;)

[@pupu4234123]

Awesome😳👌🏼

[@AnxiousWreck21]

I love the edition of Brayden from MickeyViews on here!!

[@keeleon]

Would love to see a breakdown of the magic door in the Beauty and the Beast show at Magic Kingdom. That and the Lumiere Animatronic are some of the most undersung impressive tech on my last visit.

[@marciadamelio7244]

I’ve watched the mirror reset and I still can’t wrap my brain around how it works!

[@brycevo]

This technology is so amazing. I really enjoy learning more about this amazing attraction

[@Itz_Twistyy]

This is my favourite ride at Disney (all parks)

[@thefantasticdrill788]

Your voice is really improving my guy! Keep up the great work!

[@thatguynathan5816]

I see this as the beginning of a future where a theme park is just a projected trackless hellhole. Literally same effect with a VR headset and motion rig

[@strike171]

I got to ride this two days after it opened and I thought it was really cool!

[@ComicAuzi]

I just did some digging into transparent screens, and one peice of next-gen tech (being shown off by Samung this year) may be the answer to the colors: Micro-LED displays. These displays provide a much richer, more opaque color pallete than the OLED screens before them. They would still require another display for black as mentioned, and two displays would likely explain why the backgrounds are so dim and blurry behind Donald and Goofy. However, I still have a problem with the two screens answer. If there are two screens use to display the effect, how do they avoid color spilling outside the lines from seeing the effect at slightly different angles?

[@jonathanvanboskerck2693]

Thanks.

[@ciscoduncan838]

Thanks for the video. Still liked the great movie ride. 👍🏾✌🏾

[@charlesramsey8131]

Projection rides get old.

[@ciscoduncan838]

@@charlesramsey8131 yeah but unfortunately that’s what we’re getting.

[@Galadhatan]

We rode this recently and really enjoyed the ride, but they didn''t have the preshow going, since that was a Covid no-no, so we didn't get to see the effect of the screen exploding. Also they installed plexiglass between the front & back seats of each car, which interrupted the immersion. Great if you were in front, not as great if you were in back.

[@AmusementLabs]

I saw. That was a real big disappointment that they could run the preshow cause the effect is so nice. Weird that they were fine running Rise of the Resistance with the preshow in a far more confined room...

[@dechha1981]

I think they should do something similar with a Roger Rabbit attraction. Eddie Valiant can be an animatronic similar to Pirates of the Caribbean, and Roger can be like Goofy here, Benny can have animated eyes and the Weasels can be like Micky and Minnie. Haven’t figured out how to do Judge Doom. the duelling piano scene is out of the question unless the replace Daffy Duck with someone else. One of the muppets maybe?

[@TheWASHINGMACHINEBOY]

i see you changed this video's thumbnail to the disneyland version of this ride since that version of runaway railway works the exact same way

[@themed_entertainment]

What are the gear things that pop up every once in a while?

[@guachulei912]

Best ride Disney has ever had!

[@kbhasi]

(12:00) If so, they'd likely use a commercial display, not a regular consumer TV like what other viewers of this video might think. Also, are those white ⚙️ symbols in some of the clips from the original videos? (Edit: it wasn't, but was for a mini contest)

[@TheWASHINGMACHINEBOY]

i wonder if this ride in disneyland will also have you watch a cartoon; it's likely you will because you enter the el capitoon theater update: you do

[@MJPRODUCTIONS8972]

i don't think you are right about how donalds appeared like that maybe it was a peppers ghost effect having a pane of glass and a screen with donald on it projecting it onto the glass making it look like he is there

[@AmusementLabs]

Panasonic, who provided a lot of the equipment makes transparent OLEDs

[@sil8127]

I love all this videos, thank you. But I dont think I'll ever visit just due to the cost and the queues! Also, id want you sat next to me pointing all this stuff out!

[@jasonparker3925]

When I went on the ride, me and my friends were anticipating another way into the cartoon world, such as a two door opening or even Pepper’s Ghost. So when the screen just bursted open, we couldn’t help but laugh at how anticlimactic/unexpected it was.

[@thejokerking9268]

I think the same technology in this is at HOUSTON’s museum of natural science’s Weiss energy hall.

[@bhakti235]

0:36 ok that's hilarious, because of course we were known as Bombay at that time

[@swisskristin12]

At what time?

[@PatThePerson]

4:40 it's actually surprisingly simple Didn't know crave had a thing for Disney

[@AmusementLabs]

?

[@unrellated]

The engine you reconnect with at the finale is not the same "copy" that you left the station with. Every time one of them goes through the bypass, it skips ahead 3 groups of cars.

[@AmusementLabs]

I mentioned that.

[@unrellated]

@@AmusementLabs Not specifically. You just said how many engines and groups there were.

[@Drebe73]

Rode it opening morning and absolutely love it. Can’t wait to ride it again someday.

[@maxxmanzi3116]

I actually saw the hole coming up

[@STSGuitar16]

Still upset that they destroyed the Great Movie Ride for this mess of projection screens. An updated GMR would've been a million times better than this.

[@evantgse]

Can I buy the models you use or 3D print them

[@_smallfry_]

Runaway railway is cool but the great movie ride has a load of nostalgia

[@jfh400]

I wonder if anyone has tried filming that Donald effect (the potential next-gen transparent LCD thing) with a high-frame-rate camera, or just the slow-motion mode on a smartphone camera. Maybe that would give some kind of additional clue about how it works.

[@AmusementLabs]

Pretty sure it's a monochrome OLED behind an LCD. There was a frame I saw where the goofy screen was not synced up and you could see either the oled or lcd lagging behind and it was just a silhouette of white.

[@paulmandel]

Found this paper from Disney Research that might also be how they do it: la.disneyresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/A-Switched-Emissive-Transparent-Display-with-Controllable-per-pixel-Opacity-Paper.pdf

[@FlamingoKicker]

Actually Goofy is the engineer, not the conductor cause he is "driving" the train. The conductor handles collecting of tickets of passengers and such.

[@minemapNL]

In this video you said that the vehicles are made by Roush and that they also made the vehicles for the rise of the resistance. But when I watched that video you said that etf made the vehicles, so what is it?

[@AmusementLabs]

Etf is a distributor/consultant as it turns out. That was a mistake.

[@sturm7260]

The big question is where does the front of the train go after it “detaches?” And how does it meet up with the rest of the train at the end of the ride?

[@AmusementLabs]

There are only a couple of engines since you're without it for most of the ride. They take a left and through a little bypass that ends up right next to you when exiting the 2.5D scene.

[@sturm7260]

@@AmusementLabs that’s pretty cool! Thanks for the reply!

[@evantgse]

Also boiler explosions on steam locomotives have happened and they are dangerous

[@jonbutcher4079]

I love your content! But, way Too many monetized commercials though... Like every 45-60 seconds.

[@CasualLemmonJuice]

0:47 chuuby. The yellow birds name is chuuby

[@AmusementLabs]

Yes, Chuuby the merchandise bird! 😅

[@stephenkostiak3929]

How about you show us how Stitch’s Great Escape works at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World in Florida from 2004-2018?

[@AmusementLabs]

To an extent I already have.

[@joeyfendrich4178]

Bring back great movie ride is my favorite ride

[@msoto933]

Nothing will make me angrier than goofy having a flat screen top but a rounded top practical door.

[@exiledrabbit]

I still don't understand what is going on at the factory at the end

[@dinodumbo1365]

Please do a "how the haunted mansion works'

[@AmusementLabs]

That might be around October.

[@adventurekitty1016]

I almost lost my face mask during the tornado scene. I somehow temporarily got Spider-man reflex’s because I caught it before it was even fully off my face. Lol

[@AmusementLabs]

Good that you caught it, may have delayed the ride had it fallen.

[@SpeedyCrabbit1533]

Quick Question: is the locomotive a moving prop or a animatronic prop?

[@AmusementLabs]

It's another trackless vehicle, but unoccupied.

[@fireline4765]

Imagine if this ride was done in a Bindy and the Ink Machine style.

[@AmusementLabs]

Endless stream of crying kids and parents. XD

[@user-yg9ug3fl6e]

Definitely turn your mic gain down, peaking a lot and sounding distorted.

[@AmusementLabs]

I upped the gain cause people said last time they couldn't hear me.

[@beastnews3877]

@@AmusementLabs Its not the gain its your annunciation.. I'm a professional voice over artist, I sent you an email offering help and you never responded. So I'm assuming you didn't need it. When you are doing voice over you need to be slow and over annunciate.

[@beastnews3877]

Eric - LMFAOO. Eric you’re just jealous that you’re just a waste of oxygen. A complete waste

[@AmusementLabs]

@@beastnews3877 oh that was you? I'm sorry. I did listen to it, but unfortunately I'm just not in a position to be hiring people at the moment. But thank you for your help. Sorry for the confusion.

[@beastnews3877]

Amusement Labs I didn’t want to get hired for anything. I was just offering to voice things for you need be. 🙂

[@GamerGuyProductions]

Not my kind of ride but it is impressive

[@samplautz5586]

Two questions. How did the fountain work? When Donald is seen the second time in the truck, it seems to me that screen must be placed at a 45 degree angle5, be a use you can see him through all sides of the truck. Am I right?

[@purpleish285]

for fountain in first scene it was a protector on the ceiling projecting image onto the white surface

[@purpleish285]

For second question, the scene in 15:13 is similar to the one in 10:49

[@purpleish285]

also 17:07 for the same effect again

[@darrendowling3893]

Really love your content man, but I couldn't watch past 4 mins because of the peaking audio. Please fix it for the next video.

[@AmusementLabs]

Darn, okay. This was the new mic so I'm still trying to get use to it.

[@AmusementLabs]

You may find the original to have less peaking then. Though you'll probably need to up the volume.

[@Clay3613]

Roger Rabbit deserved this ...plus I'd still rather have the Great Movie Ride despite how impressive the tech is.

[@AmusementLabs]

Yeah, the chaos you'd expect from Roger Rabbit I think would benefit well from this. However, maybe the 2 seater vehicles Roush made for Rollickin Roadsters would be better suited cause of clearances.

[@vdofxmel]

Did this ride two weeks ago was I credible it's like you are inside cartoon

[@dorseylandria6119]

hang on.......... i was just there today and NO PRESHOW

[@lexie680]

they have not been doing the pre-show for social distancing reasons because of COVID😇

[@DrewDavidYT]

OMG 0:51 IM IN THAT

[@liamb.9964]

Did anyone else see mickey views right there

[@JavaCake]

Nice