Disney News

Tag: Hollywood Studios

  • New Mickey Mouse Attraction Now Open at Disney World

    New Mickey Mouse Attraction Now Open at Disney World

    Last night, Disney’s Hollywood Studios threw a red-carpet premiere nearly a century in the making with a special dedication ceremony for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and today the attraction has officially opened to the public at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

    Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is the first ride-through attraction in Disney history starring Mickey and Minnie. You’re invited inside the park’s re-creation of the Chinese Theatre to see the premiere of “Perfect Picnic,” a new “Mickey Mouse” cartoon short written by Walt Disney Imagineering and produced by Disney Television Animation.

    With a little Disney magic, suddenly you’re taken through the movie screen and into the “Mickey Mouse” cartoon world, where “mouse rules apply” and anything can – and does! – happen. Engineer Goofy invites you aboard Runnamuck Railroad to join Mickey and Minnie on their search for the perfect picnic spot in Runnamuck Park. And with Goofy at the controls, what could possibly go wrong?

    “Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a crowning achievement in the multiyear transformation of Disney’s Hollywood Studios,” said Walt Disney World Resort President Josh D’Amaro, who participated in the ceremony along with Mickey, Minnie and lots of other Disney pals. “What was once a theme park that took you behind the scenes, now puts you in the center of your favorite stories.”

    Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a vibrant, joyous adventure the whole family will enjoy – from grandparents to grandchildren and everyone in between. Tonight’s celebration featured song, dance, fireworks and a bit of Disney magic worthy of this historic new attraction.

  • BREAKING: Disney Adds FastPass Service for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

    BREAKING: Disney Adds FastPass Service for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

    Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will open March 4, 2020, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and now Disney has added FastPass+ service for the new attraction for visits beginning March 4.

    FastPass+ reservations for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway just became available in the My Disney Experience app for guests visiting on or after opening day (March 4).   When the attraction opens, you’ll be able to enjoy the amazing world of Mickey using either FastPass+ (as available) or a standby line.

    As many of you know, at Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway,  you’ll enter the NEW Mickey Mouse cartoon short “Perfect Picnic” for a one-of-a-kind adventure where anything can happen.  Why? Because here, mouse rules apply!

    And when making FastPass+ plans for up to three experiences at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can select between either Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run or Slinky Dog Dash.  Then, you can add additional experiences to plans, including Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Fantasmic! and more.

  • Disney Makes Changes to Virtual Queue and Boarding Groups for New Star Wars Ride

    Disney Makes Changes to Virtual Queue and Boarding Groups for New Star Wars Ride

    The newest attraction, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disney World has gotten off to such a popular start that Disney has made some new changes to its virtual queue system and boarding groups that they hope will make things run more smoothly.

    “As more and more guests ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, we’ve been testing new ideas to make the overall experience the best it can be, according to Disney Parks Blog. “We’ve been learning so much and are focused on continuing to make the process of getting into the park and onto the attraction even better every day and want to ensure all of our guests know what to expect when visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios.”

    Here’s what to know:

    • Virtual queue will be available at the published park opening time. We may welcome guests onto Hollywood Boulevard prior to opening the rest of the park, and limited nearby locations will be open for your convenience. This includes Trolley Car Café where you can pick up a beverage for your own personal “jump to lightspeed,” and if you need to grab a few galactic gifts, Keystone Clothiers will be available.
    • At the park’s published opening time, the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opens along with offerings throughout the rest of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guests must be in Disney’s Hollywood Studios to access virtual queue in the My Disney Experience app.

    Due to the incredible popularity of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Disney will continue to distribute backup boarding groups after the initial planned groups have been filled. Backup boarding groups will only be called if all of the initial planned boarding groups have been called back and there is capacity for more riders that evening. If we are able to accommodate boarding groups that evening, guests will be notified through the My Disney Experience app by a push notification (if enabled). 

    For anyone with questions or needing a hand with the virtual queue, the members of the Guest Experience Team are available throughout the park to assist. And while people wait for their turn to rise up with the Resistance, there’s plenty to do around Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Here are a few of our recommendations! 

  • VIDEO: First Look at Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Coming to Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort

    VIDEO: First Look at Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Coming to Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort

    During the Disney Channel holiday special, “Disney Channel Holiday Party @Walt Disney World,” viewers got a special look at Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway rolling into Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida on March 4, 2020.

    As we’ve previously shared, this will be the first Disney ride-through attraction featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse that will draw guests inside a Mickey cartoon for a fun-filled adventure where “Mouse rules apply” and anything can happen.

    Check out a first-look video below, hosted by Disney Channel’s “ZOMBIES 2” stars Meg Donnelly and Milo Manheim.

    Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway opens at Disneyland park in California in 2022.

  • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Debuts at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Today

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Debuts at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Today

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance made its public debut Dec. 5, 2019, inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida and this is the Disney attraction you’re looking for!

    After years of anticipation for this groundbreaking new attraction, guests will now become heroes of the Resistance in a climactic battle with the First Order.

    During a special dedication ceremony Wednesday night inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Bob Chapek lauded the attraction’s immersive storytelling and technological innovation.

    “Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance sets a new standard for what a theme park experience can be,” Chapek said. “Tonight, we’re welcoming the world to experience the Star Wars galaxy like never before, with the opening of the most ambitious, immersive, advanced, action-packed attraction we’ve ever created.”

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is one of the most ambitious attractions ever created for a Disney park. The thrilling action takes place in massive sets that give guests the feeling of stepping inside a Star Warsfilm as they elude the clutches of Kylo Ren and the First Order in a mad dash through a Star Destroyer.

    The new attraction adds to the adventures that await inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the 14-acre land that opened earlier this year at both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guests become part of their own Star Wars stories as they take control of the fastest ship in the galaxy in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, sample galactic food and drink, craft their own lightsabers and build their own droids in interactive retail experiences, and encounter some of their favorite Star Wars characters.

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is the latest chapter in the collaboration between Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilm Ltd., a global leader in film, television and digital entertainment production, including the Star Wars franchise. The work on Star Wars between these two creative powerhouses dates back to 1987, when the groundbreaking Star Tours attraction opened at Disneyland.

    As a reminder, guests at Disneyland park in California can begin enjoying Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance when the attraction opens there on January 17, 2020.

  • New Passholder Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway MagicBand Coming to Hollywood Studios

    New Passholder Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway MagicBand Coming to Hollywood Studios

    Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will open March 4, 2020, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and of course that means lots of merch and today Disney revealed a new Passholder exclusive MagicBand that is just perfect!

    The new MagicBand will be available along with all of the other ride exclusive merchandise when the attraction opens in March.

    Take a look below at some of the other amazing merch being released for the opening:

    This will be the first Disney ride-through attraction featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, that will draw your guests inside a Mickey cartoon for a fun-filled adventure where “Mouse rules apply” and anything can happen! 

    Stay tuned to Disney Dorks for more updates on the transformation happening at Walt Disney World, as the Most Magical Place on Earth experiences its most significant period of growth in the past two decades. 

  • NEW Green Alien Holiday Ears Land at Disney World

    NEW Green Alien Holiday Ears Land at Disney World

    Oooooohhhh!!! The claw has dropped some festive new Mickey Ear headbands at Hollywood Studios and they are going to light up your night!

    The new ears have buzz and woody Christmas ornaments on both ears as well as a cut Green Alien themed ornament. These ears also light up! With a quick flip of the switch on top you can light up the night with holiday cheer!

    You can find the ears in Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios and they will cost you just under $20.

  • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Attraction Opens Thursday at Disney World

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Attraction Opens Thursday at Disney World

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opens tomorrow at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios and the force is strong with this attraction!!!

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance sets a new standard for what a Disney theme park experience can be, as guests become heroes of the Resistance in a climactic battle with the First Order.

    In one of the most immersive, ambitious and technologically advanced attractions ever created for a Disney park, guests launch into space aboard a transport shuttle, only to be captured by a Star Destroyer and pursued by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren as they frantically search for a way to escape the clutches of the First Order.

    This new attraction inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge draws guests into a sprawling Star Wars narrative that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, as jaw-dropping sights brimming with vivid detail create surprises around every turn. In one of the longest Disney attraction experiences ever, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance delivers thrilling action driven by cutting-edge technology and innovative design that gives guests the feeling of stepping inside a Star Wars film.

    Join the Resistance

    • Guests exploring Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge find the Resistance’s temporary encampment in the forested area along the outskirts of Black Spire Outpost on Batuu.
    • The gateway to the encampment is marked by a large turret. From there, a pathway leads deeper into the forest toward towering cliffs and the crumbling remains of an ancient civilization. Guests weave through low stone walls, timeworn pillars and tight corridors as they progress farther into the base, hearing military communications chatter along the way.
    • In a makeshift briefing room, Rey – a hero of the cause – appears via holo-transmission alongside dutiful droid BB-8 to welcome the new Resistance recruits. She shares a plan to reunite with General Leia Organa at an off-planet location that must be kept secret from the First Order.
    • Guests then board a nearby Intersystem Transport Ship (I-TS) and have to make their rendezvous quickly to avoid a First Order Star Destroyer on its way to Batuu. They should have a bad feeling about this …

    An All-Encompassing Attraction Experience

    • Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance throws out the rulebook for traditional attraction design, eschewing and/or blending industry notions such as “queue,” “preshow” and “ride” to create a seamless, holistic experience full of rich details and breathtaking excitement on a cinematic scale.
    • When guests board the I-TS, they’ll feel as if they’re lifting off the surface of Batuu and blasting into space alongside Poe Dameron in his signature black-painted X-wing starfighter, Black One.
    • Before the I-TS can make the jump to lightspeed, it’s caught in the tractor beam of a Star Destroyer and pulled into a massive hangar bay.
    • Guests make their escape from the Star Destroyer aboard eight-passenger First Order Fleet Transports piloted by reprogrammed R5-series astromech droids.
    • The attraction features grand set pieces – including the hangar bay that is filled with 50 menacing stormtroopers and a docked TIE fighter. At various points, guests dodge blaster bolts from stormtroopers and AT-AT walkers, scurry past huge turbolaser cannons, and stumble into the Star Destroyer’s bridge.
    • Throughout their journey, guests are hunted by Kylo Ren, who uses the Force in an attempt to pry from their minds the location of General Organa’s secret base. Guests feel Ren’s tremendous malevolent power as they narrowly avoid his attacks.

    Authentically Star Wars

    • Actors from the current Star Wars film trilogy reprise their roles for new scenes and dialogue in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, including Daisy Ridley (Rey), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) and Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux). Many scenes were filmed at the same time “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” were in production.
    • Poe Dameron’s X-wing is one of several vehicles from the Star Wars galaxy appearing in the attraction.
    • Disney cast members adopt personalities of First Order and Resistance troops throughout the attraction to further deepen the immersive experience for guests.
    • Walt Disney Imagineering worked hand in hand with Lucasfilm in writing the attraction’s script, ensuring characters and storylines were properly integrated into the broader Star Wars
    • The attraction introduces a new featured character: Lieutenant Bek is a Mon Calamari Resistance officer who helps guide the Resistance recruits through their harrowing journey.

    Cutting-Edge Technology Powers Immersive Storytelling

    • Walt Disney Imagineering combined multiple ride systems to tell the story of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. In one sequence, a new simulator experience gives the sensation of falling from space to crash land on Batuu.
    • The trackless ride vehicles in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance are some of the most advanced ever used in a Disney attraction, with a sleek, low profile and the ability to move in all directions.
    • Disney A-1000 Audio-Animatronicsfigures appearing in the attraction provide a deep level of immersive storytelling through their lifelike and dynamic movements.
    • To fully realize this Star Wars story, Imagineers created thousands of special effects, from slashing lightsabers and whizzing blaster bolts to exploding walls and massive star fields – just to name a few.

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opens Dec. 5, 2019, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida and Jan. 17, 2020, at Disneyland Park in California. 

  • BREAKING: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Set to Open March 4, 2020 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

    BREAKING: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway Set to Open March 4, 2020 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

    In a special presentation Tuesday at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Bob Chapek announced Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will open March 4, 2020, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

    On this new attraction, guests step through the movie screen and join Mickey and friends on a railway adventure as they take part in the wacky and unpredictable world of a Mickey Mouse Cartoon Short.

    This will be the first Disney ride-through attraction featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, that will draw your guests inside a Mickey cartoon for a fun-filled adventure where “Mouse rules apply” and anything can happen! 

    Walt Disney Imagineer Kevin Rafferty came on stage during the Walt Disney Parks & Resorts panel during last year’s D23 Expo and described Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway as a zany, out-of-control adventure with unpredictable twists and turns, dazzling visual effects, and mind-boggling transformations that happen during the scenes.

  • New 360° Tiny World Magic Shot Available in Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

    New 360° Tiny World Magic Shot Available in Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

    Disney PhotoPass Service is a perfect way to capture and relive your adventure inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, especially with creative new offerings like the new 360° Tiny World Magic Shot!

    Available by visiting a Disney PhotoPass photographer near the Milk Stand, this unique photo puts you right in the center of Black Spire Outpost and its surrounding landscape with a single 360° image! Sometimes the world DOES revolve around you. 

    During your visit to Batuu, also be sure to check out two of our Super Zoom Magic Shots, which provide amazing angles from high above and a one-of-a-kind video. 

    The Tiny World Magic Shot is available exclusively during daytime hours in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and is available for download as part of the Memory Maker and Memory Maker One Day products. Or, you can purchase a digital download of the photo for $16.95 at Disneyworld.com/PhotoPass.  

    Don’t miss the chance to capture one of the most spectacular vantage points on the planet!