Cars Land is a themed area of Disney California Adventure, inspired by the Disney·Pixar franchise, Cars, and Route 66 in America. The 12-acre (4.9 ha) area, built as part of Disney California Adventure Park's $1.1 billion expansion project, opened on June 13, 2012, a year after the release of Cars 2. It contains three rides as well as shops and restaurants, all situated in a replica of Radiator Springs, the fictional town in which most of the first film's events take place. The area's main attraction is Radiator Springs Racers, a racing ride that uses the technology of Epcot's Test Track.
Cars Land is themed to race day in Radiator Springs. The story goes that Lightning McQueen and his friends from Radiator Springs invited cars from all around the world to come celebrate race day in the town where it all began. The town decorated to welcome in the cars (and drivers) from everywhere. Mater pulled out a jukebox to provide the music for the race, but it attracted some tractors instead. Luigi invited his cousins from Carsoli to visit and they are dancing to celebrate race day.
History[]
Most of the present-day site of Cars Land had been used as the "Timon" parking lot since 2001; the lot had been designated as future growth space for Disney California Adventure when it was originally designed in the 1990s, and was partially built over with The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Flik's Fun Fair section of A Bug's Land. A small portion of Cars Land was built over the site of the Bountiful Valley Farm, one of the park's original attractions.
As revealed in The Imagineering Story, initially the park was going to be called "Carland" and would be themed after the automobile in general. It was not until after Cars was seen as a viable franchise that it was rethemed and renamed "Cars Land".
Concept art for "Carland" appeared in the "Dreaming" section of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 Annual Report, released on December 12, 2006, six months after Cars was released in theaters. The concept art depicted a racing simulator ride, but provided no specifics; Disney CEO Bob Iger stated at the time that the concept art depicted projects at various stages of development, and that some of the projects depicted "may never be built."
On October 17, 2007, Disney announced a 5-year, $1.1 billion renovation and expansion plan for Disney California Adventure. The plan included a major overhaul of several existing areas of the park and the addition of Cars Land, an area themed to the 2006 film; Cars Land would be anchored by Radiator Springs Racers, a Cars version of Test Track, a ride at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort. Cars Land along with the re-designed entrance plaza, Buena Vista Street, were the last features of the 5-year project to be completed, and opened on June 15, 2012.
Attractions[]
Radiator Springs Racers[]
Radiator Springs Racers is the biggest attraction. It's 6 acres big out of the 12 acres total, half of Cars Land. You ride in cars, one racing with another. One of the cars will be yellow, and the other will be red.
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree[]
A C-Ticket attraction in the style of a whip ride and the Mad Tea Party, at Disneyland, without spinning out of control. The attraction is themed to Mater's Junkyard and also the fields with tractor cows from the first film. Mater will be the Master of Ceremonies of the Jamboree. The vehicles will be tractors with pull cars attached to them that move around with the music.
Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters[]
The ride is a trackless ride, similar in function to the Aquatopia at Tokyo DisneySea. The major difference is that the Rollickin' Roadsters ride vehicles look like cars on a paved surface, rather than boats on the water. (In reality, the water on Aquatopia is only a few inches deep, and the ride vehicles are not floating, but running on wheels.)
Former Attractions[]
Luigi's Flying Tires[]
This attraction was an updated and safer version of the original Disneyland attraction Disneyland Flying Saucers and featured the distinct theming of the movie Cars. Guests queued in the Casa Della Tires shop. A play area featuring a tire jungle gym, slide and kid-sized cars were located next to the attraction.
Restaurants[]
Cozy Cone Motel[]
The Cozy Cone Motel features five different cones, each with a very different menu of food and drinks, including churros, ice cream, snacks, pretzels, and popcorn. The motel office in front is not accessible to guests, although the interior is decorated as it was in the films. Additionally, the front and side entrances of the motel is a common space for character meet and greets, with guests being able to meet Lightning McQueen, Mater, and, most recently, Cruz Ramirez.
Flo's V8 Cafe[]
Flo's V8 Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert with traditional American homestyle fare. Part of the indoor dining room is located inside of Doc Hudson's Ornament Valley Medical Clinic, while guests can also dine outdoors underneath the gas pumps and at tables behind the restaurant. Decor inside pays tribute to the "Motorama Girls" story from the Cars Storybook and deleted scenes, and to the Fabulous Hudson Hornet's Piston Cup titles.
Fillmore's Taste-In[]
Fillmore's Taste-In is a quick-service snack stand serving pre-packaged snacks and drinks.
Entertainment[]
- Red the Fire Truck brings imprompt water fun at the Courthouse in Cars Land.
- DJ gets you hip-hoppin' with bass beats that are pumpin' through his neon-blazin', thumpin' subwoofers and sweet speakers.
- Don't miss the transformation of Radiator Springs at sunset when the streets shimmer from sparkling lights and music pulses through the night air.
Shopping[]
- Radiator Springs Curios (renamed Radiator Winter Curios during Christmas)
- Ramone's House of Body Art
- Sarge's Surplus Hut
Layout[]
The layout of Cars Land from the guest's perspective is one of looking down the main street of Radiator Springs, USA, as seen in the original Cars film. There are references to the events of Cars 2 (2011) throughout the land, such as a billboard (seen when entering from Avengers Campus) that gives Mater the title of "Sir," and a signed photo of Finn McMissile with Luigi and Guido in Luigi's Casa Della Tires, in addition to souvenirs from their World Grand Prix trip in a display case.
The main street is Route 66 coming in from the Golden State area, across from the Golden Vine Winery and Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar. There is one other entrance is a street from Ornament Valley from Pacific Wharf which is called Cross Street. At the end of Route 66 is the courthouse/firehouse where the street splits. To the left of the split is a backstage access gate. To the right of the split is the entrance to Radiator Springs Racers. In the distance, the Radiator Cap and Ornament Valley Range can be seen. The eastern edge of the Ornament Valley Range includes the Cadillac Mountain Range that consists of Cadillac tail fins that are 125 feet (38 m) high and covers 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2).
Trivia[]
- Luigi's Flying Tires had 6,714 air vents that blow over 1.86 million cubic feet of air per minute.
- In November 2012, Cars Land was decorated with Christmas ornaments for Christmas. Those decorations included a snow-car at the entrance, a Christmas tree made out of cones at the Cozy Cone Motel, and even a new entrance sign.
Gallery[]
Cars Take Flight[]
Cars Take Flight is a competition where people make videos of themselves saying their favorite Lightning McQueen or Mater's lines from the Cars Toons episodes Air Mater and Moon Mater to win a vacation to Cars Land. The videos have to be under 30 seconds. The competition ended October 7, 2012.
External links[]
References[]
- Staggs, Tom (2012-03-07). "Taking a Tour of Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and Carthay Circle Theatre – Opening June 15 at Disney California Adventure Park". Disney Parks Blog. Retrieved on 2012-03-08.
- ↑ Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career, by Kevin P. Rafferty, Disney Editions, 2019
- ↑ "2006 Annual Report". The Walt Disney Company (2006). Retrieved on June 28, 2011.
- ↑ Los Angeles Business (17 October 2007). "Disney engages in mass renovation of California Adventure". Retrieved on June 28, 2011.