A Trip Through Mumbai: The Disneyland Railroad

I was SO lucky to receive opening day tickets for Mumbai Disneyland, Disney's latest theme park! Although I'm planning on writing a larger-scale review later, I want to talk about my all-time favorite attraction... the Disneyland Railroad!

OK, not going to lie. When I first heard they were "re-imagining" the Railroad, my all-time favorite attraction, I was concerned. The Railroad is good as is. And I will admit, a few of my concerns stand true. There's very little empty space on this track, which to most may be a positive, but I've always enjoyed the slower bits and pieces. Still, I think the positives will ultimately out weigh the negative.

ALL ABOARD THE MUMBAI RAILROAD!!!

I'm going to do something a little bit different than before for this post. Instead of posting my exact thoughts, I want to let you decide. Yes, instead I'm going to describe the journey, and let you make up your mind below. I loved it!

No country has such a rich history and undeniable appreciation for the railway as India. At Disneyland Mumbai, this history has been taken into complete consideration, and the result is an attraction that combines the classic Walt Disney spirit with something even deeper.

The track consists of four evenly-spaced stations, around a perfect oval. They are the Small World Station, the Adventureland Station, the Fantasyland Station, and the Tomorrowland Station. There are five trains on the line, though only four will ever run at a single time. On peak days, the trains run perfectly in sync, departing from each of the four stations together, and arriving at the next station at nearly the same time.

Beginning our journey outside Small World Station, we exit the iconic structure and head on a straight path towards the jungle. Before we leave, two “It’s a Small World” Dolls wave us farewell, under a cover in the event of rain.

We are now entering the Jungle. Exciting music plays, but we can see nothing besides trees. Then, the trees open up to reveal a noticeable cliffside. The train clings the top of the rock wall, passing over the Jungle Cruise below. If you’re lucky, you might catch a Skipper cruisin’ along.

Past the short interaction with the Jungle Cruise, the train arrives into a cave: where showrooms for both the Jungle Cruise and Fire Mountain are present. The train tries to avoid these attractions. Instead, it has its own showroom: a Crystal Cavern.

After this dazzling room, the train emerges from the caves unscratched. Light temporarily blinds us. Finally, we see it: Adventureland. The train is now elevated ever so slightly, giving us a great view of the land which surrounds us. After this short segment, we enter another showroom: the Latin American-inspired Haunted Mansion! Neon lights emit from the friendly skeleton singers and dancers, centered around a gigantic neon chicken tuned to “Un Poco Loco”.

Leaving the mansion, we approach Adventureland Station. An Indian Parrot and Indian Mongoose (a reference to Riki Tiki Tavi) wave us welcome, behind the sign “Welcome to Adventureland”.

ADVENTURELAND TO FANTASYLAND

Our next journey takes us from Adventureland to Fantasyland. Thanks to the perfect oval, the train has to pass through a giant empty plot. To do so fluidly, the train will pass through a vast, albeit temporary show building. When the park inevitably expands north of Adventureland, the show building comes off, revealing a train track right in line with whatever theme is chosen.

Disneyland Mumbai will open in 2022, the 75 anniversary of Indian Independence. In honor of their independence, the show building will contain a patriotic, Disneyfied retelling of the struggle for independence.

INDIA BEFORE CONQUEST

We are whisked away to a cartoony jungle, similar to it’s a Small World in design, but without any of the humans. The animals (all Indian) are dancing to traditional beats.

Because of the fact this is a train, the “story” of this ride will be less dependent on independent animatronics, and more large-scaled rooms with general ideas.

ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH

At the end of this room, a new character appears. A group of Lions has arrived on wooden boats. They roar at the surrounding animals, asserting dominance.

The two symbols of India, the Bengal Tiger, and the Peacock, follow right after. The Tigers are very angry, roaring back at the Lions. The Peacocks appear worried of what is to come.

After this first room (roughly the size of the Grand Canyon Diorama) we are taken to the second scene… with the world on fire.

VIOLENT UPRISINGS

The Tigers have responded to the Lions rise to power with war. They led the fight with the other Jungle animals, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. The jungle is now aflame, and the Lions are stronger than ever. Throughout the scene, there are various Peacocks hiding nervously. The scenes are replicated, slightly different but all conveying the same message, to make sure everyone on the train gets the same idea. The violence hasn’t helped.

FOUNDING OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

In the next scene, the Jungle is back to normalcy, but everywhere we can see Lions dancing on tall rocks while the other animals rest on the floor. There is a giant gathering around a river, this time led by a Peacock. On the rocks are the following words, printed in various languages:

“NO FIGHTING”

The other animals look up hopefully.

THE SALT TAX

On the other side just after the gathering, the Lions have gathered up a line of the other animals. They have a wooden stand with a salt shaker painted over the banner. Once again, the Lions dance while the other animals shake their heads defeated.

THE SALT MARCH AND INDEPENDENCE

In the third room, we see a massive conveyer belt containing dozens of animal animatronics, all doing a Conga Line around the jungle. They are led once again by the Peacock. Near the edge is a watering hole, where a sign shows a painted salt shaker. Some elephants are taking in the water and squirting out what appears to be salt into empty containers. Far away, the lions look on angrily.

At the end of the room, all the animals are celebrating, holding up the Peacock. The Lions are leaving, back into their boats. But right before the scene ends, we see a Peacock giving a Lion some of their salt, a token of goodwill.

FINALE: INDEPENDENT INDIA

A repeat of the first room, only this time the animals are dancing to the Indian National Anthem, and are joined by the Lions. The other animals have decided not to repeat mistakes by treating the Lions as equals. Everyone is happy.

As we exit, we see the humble Peacock bow respectfully.

The train now returns to the park proper. After this massive showroom, we are just outside Fantasyland. The remaining portion of our journey gives us good views of this fantastical land that awaits.

FANTASYLAND TO TOMORROWLAND

The journey from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland doesn’t provide much a window to see the park, but this isn’t a huge problem. This is a good part to relax (sidenote: thank god!)

For those that need something to see, there are small “Fantasyland Fairytales” within the forest. These are short common fairytales told with a few animatronics and mostly still props. This was inspired in large part by Efteling Park, which just received a $250 million dollar expansion earlier this year.

Although half the stories are European (as this is what most of Fantasyland is based upon), the other half are Indian in tradition. This is the perfect blend between the two themes.

Again, these little scenes will not be as dominant as the other scenes before. This is more subtle, and only there for those with keen eyes.

TOMORROWLAND TO THE CROSSROADS

The last steps of our railroad express take us through a more permanent show building (compared to the temporary Indian Independence scene). Welcome to something rather different from idyllic Tomorrowland. Welcome to Andromeda Station.

Andromeda Station is a really weird place. It takes a fair deal of queues from Thor Ragnorak’s Sakaar, but is more warm-hearted: everyone here is very friendly to the passing train.

In contrast, the natural areas of the station are built up like the planet Pillio, from Star Wars: Battlefront II’s campaign.

As we enter the showroom leaving elegant Tomorrowland’s station, we arrive in a small “hyperspace” transition room, before arriving amidst the natural canyons of the planet Andromeda.

On the planet, we see a group of red and blue aliens jumping up and down. Moving further down, we see they are cooking a bonfire in the “Habitat Protection Zone”. Momentarily after the Space Police arrive.

It’s too late, however -- a big monster turns out to be waiting just behind a large pile of rocks. After looking around a bit, the monster turns around, and the aliens and police are safe.

Moving a bit further, we see enter the city proper. A large group of aliens are about, buying goods from street vendors of questionable trustworthiness. In the center, a group of aliens are performing street tricks to a crowd, dancing around.

The next area is the spaceport. Various Sci-Fi ships are at the hangar bay, tended to by fixer robots. Unfortunately, none of the ships are working, and the robots keep getting hit by the various parts, before smashing at the broken down ships madly.

We are next taken into a large skyscraper, cut in half so we can see what’s going on inside. We see robots under various stages of construction, being built by other robots.

Towards the end, some robots are acting a bit out of order. One starts randomly spinning, and the other begins punching its own face. A nearby alien, dressed in a lab coat, is worried.

It all culminates with two massive robots fighting each other, amidst a ruin of tangled wires and electrical shorts. So much for a safe working environment! The blue and red robots go at each other, striking countless blows but never accomplishing anything because they’re the same model, hence, evenly matched.

After this climactic (and silly) moment, the train departs Andromeda Station and returns to the Crossroads of the World. We see two it’s a Small World dolls (different from before) waving us welcome as we complete our round-trip journey at Mumbai Disneyland.

Thank you for journeying with us on the Mumbai Railroad! Whether you are a railroad / Indian history enthusiast, enjoyed the various pavilions, or just journeyed with us to relax, we hope you enjoyed your trip on the Mumbai Railroad.