The largest expansion in Disneyland Resort history is finally ready. Between Buena Vista Street which I previewed yesterday and Cars Land which we will look at today the park has opened up around 12 acres for visitors. Cars Land is completely unlike the other portions of any other Disney park. Save for the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, this is the first time that the park has recreated a location from a film into a permanent attraction. For Cars Land the fictional town of Radiator Springs, set in Ornament Valley, from the feature film Cars is as close to perfect as you could imagine.
Cars Land actually has two major entrances, the main drag starting at the end of Buena Vista Street and one side entrance from Bug’s Land.
The entrance from Pacific Warf takes guests underneath a realistic stone archway.
There are three attractions in Cars Land. The first one is Tow Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. This ride is meant more for kids than adults. Parents can join their little ones as the small tractors tow guests around and dance to the music.
As you walk down the main street all of the locations shown in the movie are reproduced to scale. Some of the spots are shopping areas.
Just like Buena Vista Street there are many exclusive items that can only be found in this area of the park.
The attention to detail is amazing as the Imagineers did a great job at creating physical objects out of CGI data. The Cozy Cone Motel is a good place to get food for example, it is also the place to go if you want to get your picture taken with one of the Cars.
My mom and I got a picture with Mater. The tow truck actually interacts with guests, his exposed engine rumbles and he can look around and crack jokes. What is even more amazing is that the cars actually take turns posing with guests, as the mascot characters would in Disneyland.
When Mater’s turn was over hamming it up in front of the Cozy Cone, Lightning McQueen rolled over from backstage to give him a reprieve.
Eagle-eyed fans to the Cozy Cone could probably find a nod to another classic Pixar film…
Luigi’s Casa Della Tires is actually the location of the second attraction. The soon-to-be famous Flying Tires. The ride is actually an homage to a classic attraction, the Flying Saucers no longer in Tomorrowland. Unfortunately for us there was a problem with the air compressor and the ride was unavailable during our visit. I can’t wait to give it a spin though.
Right across from Luigi’s is Ramone’s Paint and Body Shop. This is the larger store for gearheads. Lots of clean automobile inspired designs on clothing and cool collectables can be found here.
More odds and ends can be found in Lizzy’s shop, and at the end of the street is the Fire Dept. and the fountain dedicated to Stanley, the town founder.
The major attraction for the expansion is Radiator Springs Racers. This attraction is part dark ride and part coaster but more on that later.
The queue is great as visitors get to see the original settlement in Ornament Valley and the actual bubbling Radiator Springs that the town was named after.
Guests buckle up six at a time in brightly colored cars with smiling faces.
Guests drive all over Radiator Springs and get a close look at the memorable locations featured in the film.
Suddenly visitors are plunged into the story of the ride. They experience almost point-for-point the same things that Lightning did in the movie. The animatronics on the cars themselves are breathtaking. The mouths move convincingly and eyes dance around as the massive vehicles bounce around just like they did in the movie.
Guests get warned by the Sheriff to stay out of trouble as they sneak out to go tractor tipping with Mater.
The ride then turns right down the middle of main street where full-sized vehicles talk to guests and each other.
The ride then takes one of two possible turns. Riders that go into Luigi’s tire shop are treated to a change of tires on their ride. The car lifts up and bounces around as the tires are swapped out. A mirror shows off the newly installed white wall tires before you are sent to talk to Doc Hudson.
The alternate route has guests go into Ramone’s where some mechanical arms “paint” the cars. It actually smells like paint as the mechanical arms spray a mist of water at riders. After the paint job riders see Doc Hudson giving them a final pep talk before they have to race against another car filled with guests. The race is pretty spectacular as both cars race side by side on banked turns and over large bumps. The race is rigged to create the illusion that riders are always in the winning car by the time they cross the finish line and end up back at the beginning.
The real charm of Cars Land happens at night. In a scene right out of the movie the town springs to life and tons of neon lights illuminate the streets as the song Sh-boom plays over the PA system.
I thought that scene was the best part in the film and it was humbling to see that it could be recreated for guests night after night.
Even the neon blacklight of Fillmore’s Organic Gas Hut and Sarge’s military surplus neon are just like they are in the film.
Expect to see a record turnout this weekend as locals and international travelers set their site on DCA.
The wait was absolutely worth it!
No comments:
Post a Comment