It has been said that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, and in a similar vein, no theme park attraction survives actually having to deal with riders. There are always unforeseen circumstances that will sometimes require changes to attractions. Sometimes it means shutting down brand new roller coasters for major overhauls, but usually it means just adding a new rule.
In the case of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, the new rule, as spotted by @DisneyScoopGuy on X, is that all personal belongings, including phones, must be put away before the ride begins.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland now requires you to have your phone fully stored while the ride is in motion. They won’t even start the ride if your phone is on your lap, it has to be fully put away. pic.twitter.com/vsiPC2L7oVAugust 19, 2025
Needless to say, a lot of people are bummed out by the new rule. If you had any interest in taking pictures of the attraction, or if you happen to be somebody who records ride-through videos or other theme park vlogger content, you’re kinda screwed. However, that’s exactly the problem, as several replies point out, with comments including…
- Any item that is dropped on the trackless ride system can stop the ride. Must have gotten pretty bad.
- That’s great! Dropped phones shut down the ride all the time.
- Guessing they have too much downtime due to lost items. Bet many people don't realize how much motion it has or wind effects. They expect it's more like a classic Fantasyland dark ride.
- I’m guessing this will happen at Rise, too.
Some people may want to get pictures of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, thinking it’s a simple dark ride, as one comment says, like something from Fantasyland. But it’s actually a lot more than that. The ride vehicles don’t run on a track, which means each one takes a slightly different path that can be unpredictable. This in turn means the odds of accidentally dropping your phone when you move unexpectedly are quite high.
Because the vehicles move all over the place, anything that gets dropped is a potential hazard, because everywhere is the track. This results in the ride having to stop so the track can be cleared.
The expectation that this rule could be implemented at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is a fitting one. Rise is also a trackless ride, so it has the same potential issue if people drop their phones.
It's understandable why phones at theme parks are so prevalent. People are on vacation at Disneyland and want to capture those moments forever. At the same time, watching Disneyland fireworks through a phone just isn't the same as watching them with your own eyes. As somebody who gets to call theme park visits work, I spend a lot of time capturing "content" rather than having experiences.
I’ve certainly taken pictures and video on both Rise of the Resistance and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. If I never can again, that is sad, as I’ll never get the visual reaction of somebody riding Rise for the first time on video again. That said, this is probably a good rule for everybody. Sometimes it's nice to put down the phone.
