Theme parks to add Mickey ride, ‘Bourne Stuntacular’ this year
CORTESIA / DISNEY
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (steered by Goofy) will debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on March 4.
ORLANDO, Fla. >> Orlando’s theme park enthusiasts may not have new Kylo Ren or Harry Potter-based attractions to look forward to in 2020. But Disney has a not-so-secret weapon: Mickey Mouse.
Mickey &Minnie’s Runaway Railway, the first-ever ride-through attraction for the iconic rodents, is set to open March 4 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. It is being created inside the park’s Chinese Theater, which formerly housed the Great Movie Ride.
Disney has released some details about the ride along the way. We know that its characters are drawn in the animated style of the shorts currently seen on Disney Channel, that Mickey and Minnie have a perfect picnic planned and that we’ll go along in a train-inspired vehicle. Goofy is the engineer and things go, um, off-track.
In addition, Disney says Hollywood Studios will open Mickey Shorts Theater in March. From the artist’s rendering, it looks like the seats are a shout-out to Mickey’s shorts. Oh boy.
Beyond Railway — or should we call it MMRR? — exact opening dates are few. Here are some of the known additions coming in 2020.
>> Cirque du Soleil finally will be back in business at Disney Springs. Videos of rehearsals indicate that Cirque’s high-flying acrobatics will be involved in the animation-themed show “Drawn to Life.” Tickets are on sale for the production, which officially opens April 17, although previews begin March 20.
>> At some point in 2020, “HarmonioUS” will take over as the nighttime spectacular at Epcot, replacing “Epcot Forever,” which currently has the slot that was held for 20 years by “IllumiNations.”
>> In springtime, Universal Studios will open the live-action show “Bourne Stuntacular.” The new stunt show is based on the Jason Bourne character, and, according to Universal’s blog, “will blur the lines between stage and cinema in a hybrid form of entertainment that has never been seen before.”
>> Another coaster is rolling into town. SeaWorld Orlando plans to open Ice Breaker in the spring. “The steepest beyond vertical drop is just the beginning,” the park crows online. It will have four launches (backward and forward), and it’s being built near the Wild Arctic attraction and Bayside Stadium. Meanwhile, Aquatica, SeaWorld’s water park, is adding a dueling slide called Riptide Race.
