Customize your own racetrack and hit the pavement as Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy.
This week marked the launch of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway: Adventure Kit, a painfully adorable interactive AR experience based on a new Disney park attraction which launched this past March at Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Available to play free via the DisneyNow app on iOS and Android, the kid-friendly experience puts you in control of three iconic Disney characters—Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy Goof—as you drive your way throughout three augmented environments inspired by classic Mickey cartoons. And when I say classic I mean classic.
Once inside these nostalgic AR arenas you can then customize your surroundings with a variety of cars, buildings, power-ups, and props to create your ideal racetrack. From there you can then use touchscreen controls to drive various cartoon vehicles, such as cars and trains, throughout your newly-crafted world; for a better look simply move your phone closer to the action. The controls are a bit wonky at first, but honestly I could spend an embarrassing amount of time simply running into objects and watching them topple over. Perhaps this is just a testament to the overall quality of the experience.
There’s also a non-AR mode which features an additional timed race mode which has you battling Disney characters to see who can collect the most picnic basket items. These items can be traded for additional ramps and objects for your next session. In order to fully immerse players in the cartoon, this timed race mode will not be available in AR.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway: Adventure Kit is available now via the free DisneyNow app on iOS and Android. You do not need to provide any information regarding your cable provider in order to access the experience; simply download the app and head to the “Games” tab located on the main home page.
Below is a video of the actual Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction at Hollywood Studios on which the experience is based.
Image Credit: Disney
