WAMG Cruises to Disney California Adventure Park’s CARS LAND

By Melissa Thompson and Michelle McCue

WAMG recently visited the newly opened Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, and boy did we have a rip-roaring good time in Radiator Springs!

First of all, the look is amazing, You walk into the Radiator Springs right out of the Disney/Pixar movie CARS. No detail was left out. From the “herd” of tractor used hilariously by Mater for “tipping”, to the psychedelic hippie hangout of Fillmore, the VW bus from the 60’s, it’s all there.

The best attraction by far is the Radiator Springs Racers. The line was long, but well worth the wait. We pile 8 at a time into zippy little racecars and head off towards Radiator Springs. They have done a great job of making you feel like you are right in the movie while you are in the indoor portion. And once you are cleared to race, you speed off onto the track for an exciting rollercoaster of a race!

And last but not least, the attraction that all Disney parks seem to do best – characters interacting with the guests. Life-size moving and talking tow truck Mater and speedster Lightning McQueen make periodic scheduled appearances throughout Radiator Springs and the kids just light up. They look and sound so real, you almost forget they aren’t.

As a permanent addition to Disney California Adventure, Radiator Springs is going to get great mileage for years to come. The Happiest Place on Earth got even happier – you AUTO stop by.

In a colorful grand reopening ceremony hosted by Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, along with his pal Mickey Mouse, Disney California Adventure Park welcomed guests in mid-June to the premieres of two highly anticipated themed lands, Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, home to the Carthay Circle Theatre. The ceremony celebrated more than 20 new attractions and shows that have been added to the Disneyland Resort during a five-year expansion.

The ceremony was held in Disney California Adventure in front of the iconic Carthay Circle Theatre on the new Buena Vista Street, which transports guests to the California that attracted Walt Disney in his early days as an animation pioneer. Ceremony highlights included music, fireworks and a flood of Disney and Disney•Pixar characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck.

Cars Land and Buena Vista Street celebrate a five-year expansion that has brought more Disney and more experiences to guests of the Disneyland Resort, a world-class, family vacation destination with two theme parks, three hotels and the Downtown Disney shopping and dining district.

The largest piece of the five-year expansion at Disney California Adventure Park, Cars Land adds 12 acres of immersive excitement to the park and offers freewheeling fun for everyone as it brings the town of Radiator Springs to life, just as guests remember it from the blockbuster movie.

“The crown jewel of our Disney California Adventure expansion, Cars Land is the extraordinary result of a close collaboration between the gifted filmmakers at Pixar Animation Studios and our talented Imagineers and cast members,” Iger said. “It’s also a spectacular example of our ability to take our characters and stories and bring them to life in new and unexpected ways.”

“While I love all of the movies we’ve made at Pixar, the ‘Cars’ films are particularly close to my heart, so seeing Radiator Springs come to life at Disney California Adventure is a dream come true,” Lasseter said. “The artistry and attention to detail throughout Cars Land is absolutely incredible, and I couldn’t be more proud of the teams at Pixar and Walt Disney Imagineering who worked side-by-side to make this project a reality.”

The thrilling additions of Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and the Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge at Disney California Adventure add to the storytelling magic of the Disneyland Resort, a world-class, family vacation destination in Southern California with two theme parks, three hotels and the Downtown Disney shopping and dining district.

Cars Land invites guests to explore “the cutest little town in Carburetor County,” where they will enjoy three family attractions showcasing places and characters from the movie: Luigi’s Flying Tires, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Radiator Springs Racers, one of the largest and most elaborate attractions created for a Disney theme park.

Themed shops and restaurants also look familiar to fans of the movie, including Flo’s V8 Cafe, Cozy Cone Motel and Ramone’s House of Body Art. The Radiator Springs locals are at home, so Lightning McQueen and Mater make appearances and pose for photos near the Cozy Cone Motel.

“We want guests to think they are on this great road trip and, in a way, almost like they are going home,” said Kathy Mangum, executive producer of Cars Land. “Cars Land will feel very familiar in so many different ways. I can’t tell you how many people have seen it and said ‘I can’t believe I am in Anaheim.”

Each attraction and facility will have its own personality, allowing guests to get to know more about the characters who live in Radiator Springs.

“A lot of the places you will find only inside Cars Land, so we took the theming and storytelling all the way through, in a way that guests will feel as if the town is being operated by the characters,” Mangum said. “Everywhere you look there is a funny little car nod. After all, it is a land built by cars.”

Many of the automotive winks were inspired by a research trip Imagineers took along Route 66. Others were inspired by working with the animators from Pixar.

The “Cars” gang gathers to prepare visitors for the big race in Radiator Springs Racers, the high-octane, indoor/outdoor adventure that revs through the beautiful mountains of Ornament Valley. Guests board cars, each with their own personality, for a scenic road trip that takes them through Radiator Springs, with a stop at either Luigi’s Casa Della Tires or Ramone’s House of Body Art. After getting some final racing tips from Doc Hudson, the cars zoom over the roadways in a nose-to-nose, high-speed race, never knowing which car may win.

Elsewhere in Cars Land, Luigi invites guests to test-drive his new shipment of Fettuccini-brand “Cuscino D’Aria” tires – which are just like riding on air (or being on an enormous air hockey table). At this festival of flying tires, riders lean left and right aboard Luigi’s Flying Tires, floating and bumping along in a 21st century attraction reminiscent of the classic Disneyland Flying Saucers attraction. Music plays and giant inflatable balls glide along the floor, adding to the fun.

Mater provides his own unique siren song, courtesy of a Junkyard Jukebox that has lured baby tractors into Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. There, the tractors dance to Mater’s hoedown tune, swinging guests around in trailers they are pulling behind them. It’s a “tow-si-do” square dance to a playlist of seven songs sung by Mater.

The streets of Radiator Springs are humming with entertainment, too. DJ, the ultimate party car – a big road-trippin’ mobile boom box with giant speakers and built-in disc changer – invites his crew to “DJ’s Dance ‘n Drive,” a spontaneous, interactive dance party. And Red the Fire Truck recruits guests of all ages to join “Red to the Rescue!” – helping water the flowers and clean up Radiator Springs. (Prepare to get wet!)

The road leading into Cars Land is dotted with large animated neon signs reminiscent of the ’50s era of cross-country travel along Route 66. As with other aspects of the land, the neon signs are three-dimensional representations of recognizable landmarks from the movie “Cars,” and they come to life each night at sundown when it’s cruisin’ time along the boulevard.

“Cars” fans and other interested shoppers will find a great selection of Cars Land and other Disney and Disney●Pixar gifts and souvenirs at the “local” retail shops in Radiator Springs. Although the interiors of most of these locales weren’t seen in the movie, they were created for Cars Land by Walt Disney Imagineers with their characteristic attention to detail, drawing on inspiration from vintage stops along historic Route 66.

Sarge’s Surplus Hut offers a broad selection of merchandise – kids clothing, costumes, hats, toys and plush – featuring Lightning McQueen, Mater and other “Cars” characters. Radiator Springs Curios is a country-style mercantile with special appeal for collectors of pins themed to all things “Cars.” The shop also stocks magnets, antenna toppers and license plate frames. Ramone’s House of Body Art features the signature items of the Low & Slow Car Club and Champion Custom Speed Shop collections in t-shirts, work shirts, hats and accessories.

Dining options in Cars Land include Flo’s V8 Cafe, modeled on the quirky roadside eateries along old Route 66. The cafe serves full meals from a quick-service counter. A windowed “showroom” dining area and adjoining outdoor patio offer a breathtaking view of the Cadillac Mountain Range and the vehicles zooming by in Radiator Springs Racers. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at Flo’s, and specialties include chicken tamale with scrambled eggs, brioche French toast with salted caramel and bananas, home-style rotisserie classics such as pork loin or New York strip loin, plus the house-made Pie-O-Rama for dessert.

The distinctive, orange “cone” architecture of Sally’s Cozy Cone Motel offers quick service cone-themed snacks from five different cones, including ice cream cones, chile “cone” queso, pop “cone” and other “cone”-coctions. Fillmore’s Taste-in celebrates the Cars Land “new age” hippie-van-in-residence. His food and beverage kiosk offers the “high-octane” natural health benefits of fresh fruits, bottled water and juices.

Disney California Adventure offers guests a full day-to-night experience with four new attractions – Radiator Springs Racers, Luigi’s Flying Tires and Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree in Cars Land and the Red Car Trolley, which traverses the length of Buena Vista Street – along with nine new shops, eight new food locations including Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge, and more than a dozen new entertainment experiences such as the “Red Car News Boys,” who performed in Friday’s grand reopening ceremony.

The 12-acre Cars Land is a fully detailed, three-dimensional re-creation of Radiator Springs, known to fans of the Disney*Pixar movie “Cars” as “the cutest little town in Carburetor County.” Radiator Springs Racers is one of the largest and most elaborate attractions created for a Disney theme park, taking guests on a tour of the scenic Cadillac Mountain Range before their big race begins. Guests are immersed in the story of the movie as they encounter all the familiar landmarks of Radiator Springs, including its shops, restaurants and neon signs.

Guests now enter Disney California Adventure through another lively and richly detailed land, Buena Vista Street. The newly themed and designed entrance brings the spirit of Walt Disney into the park as never before, immersing guests in a locale reminiscent of Los Angeles in the 1920s, a time and place full of hope and optimism. With its familiar shop names, period costumes and architecture, Buena Vista Street is inspired by the “city of dreams” Walt Disney found when he arrived by train in California.

The icon of Disney California Adventure, the Carthay Circle Theatre, is a majestic building at the end of Buena Vista Street that recalls, in name and architectural style, the great California movie palace where “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” premiered in 1937. Carthay Circle Theatre, home to the Carthay Circle Restaurant and Lounge, anchors the newly designed plaza from which guests set out to experience all the thrills, excitement and wonder of Disney California Adventure. Upstairs, guests enjoy Southern California cuisine and the ambience of a post-gala party at Carthay Circle Restaurant, while the ground floor Carthay Circle Lounge offers appetizers and bar service, along with historic photographs and exhibits.

The Red Car Trolley, based on Los Angeles’ historic Pacific Electric Red Car Line, transports guests from Buena Vista Street down Hollywood Boulevard, to the footsteps of the famed Hollywood Tower Hotel, home to The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror.  Street characters and entertainers such as “Five & Dime” add to the lively fun along Buena Vista Street, engaging guests as they step back in time.

The expansion of Disney California Adventure, announced in 2007, has produced a succession of new entertainment and attractions.

• Toy Story Mania! opened in 2008, inviting guests into an interactive, ride-through, attraction where they enter a 4-D carnival midway hosted by characters from the Disney*Pixar movie “Toy Story.”
• “World of Color,” the nighttime water spectacular, debuted in 2010 and the popular show has been seen by more than 5 million guests.
• In 2011, the park reached its next milestone with the premiere of The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, a ride-through attraction based on the Disney animated classic movie.
• Additional highlights include new entertainment such as “Phineas & Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party,” new restaurants such as Paradise Garden Grill, and the enhancement and re-theming of such attractions as Mickey’s Fun Wheel, Games of the Boardwalk, Silly Symphony Swings and Goofy’s Sky School.

The transformation of Disneyland Resort, a world-class, family vacation destination, began in 2001 with the opening of Disney California Adventure, the Downtown Disney district and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.  Since then, the Disneyland Resort has continued to grow with the addition of popular attractions and shows such as Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, now in 3-D; Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage; Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and The Twilight Zone™Tower of Terror.  In 2009, the resort completed a major expansion of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which included the first West Coast destination for Disney Vacation Club.  A magical renovation of the signature Disneyland Hotel was completed in early 2012, including re-imagined guest rooms, a new restaurant and bar, and a new pool with monorail-themed water slides.

The Twilight Zone® is a registered trademark of CBS, Inc., and is used with permission pursuant to a license from CBS, Inc. ©Disney/CBS, Inc