Cars Land will become Disney California Adventure Park’s sixth land and will be the culmination of the park’s one billion dollar expansion and renovation. The project will be complete next summer in 2012. (A date I confirmed with the imagineers attached to the project during an interview on June 3, 2011.)
During an exclusive interview, I spoke with Kathy Mangum, executive producer and vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering, and Kevin Rafferty, senior concept writer for Walt Disney Imagineering. Kevin is the show producer for Radiator Springs Racers, Cars Land’s landmark attraction.
Cars Land will transport guests into the Lightning McQueen’s world of Radiator Springs and Ornament Valley. The new land will feature a variety of stores, dining options, and three attractions. Once complete Radiator Springs will be adorned with neon signs and graphics and power poles. It will come to life.
The mountain range and rock formations are being sculpted and painted by the best artisans from around the world. Sculpting and painting a mountain range is no easy task. The head sculptor is an American (by way of Hungary), the main plasterer is French, a couple carvers are from Japan, and the lead painter is Irish. “We work around the world…and everywhere we go, we find local talent,” Kathy said.
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| The cones for Sally’s Cozy Cone |
If you love finding the hidden images Disney Imagineers work into the parks, you will love what the imagineers and artists working on the mountain ranges and rock formations have in store. If guests look carefully, they will be certain to see “car elements” like fins and hood ornaments designed into the rock formations.
Guests visiting Cars Land will be able to experience all that Radiator Springs had to offer in the iconic original film—from Flo’s V8 to Sally’s Cozy Cone and more. “What we love to do is put our guests in the worlds of our films. Cars movies are so popular with everybody. We want them totally immersed in Ornament Valley and Radiator Springs,” Kevin said.
When it comes to shopping, guests will be able to stop in at Ramon’s House of Body Art for Cars Land merchandise. At Radiator Springs Curio Shop, a store modeled after the real stores found along the iconic Route 66, guests will be able to purchase pins and small merchandise. Guests will also be able to shop at Sarge’s Surplus Hut.
With the construction of Cars Land, guests lost all of the dining options in and around Bug’s Land. Cars Land will bring guests several places to dine. Over at Sally’s Cozy Cone, guests will be able to get a variety of cone-themed foods including frozen cone-concoctions, chili-cone-carni, and more. Filmore’s Taste In will show off his dedication to natural fuel by serving natural, healthier snacks. Flo’s V8 Café will feature comfort foods favorites like macaroni and cheese and yummy pies—a diner staple along historic Route 66.
And rides? Well, the rides are what we all want to know about and I am excited to be able to provide the height requirements for the Cars Land attractions.
Luigi’s Flying Tires will be an attraction unlike any other. Luigi and Guido hook up their air compressors and guests literally lift up off the ground in their flying tires. The technology and ride system for this attraction were designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and it is the only attraction in the world using this technology. The height requirement for this attraction is 32 inches.
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| Tractor for Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree |
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree on the “outskirts of town” will provide guests a chance to board a tractor while Mator sings to guests. The height requirement for this attraction is 32 inches.
And then there’s Radiator Springs Racers, the attraction everyone is dying to know about. This E-Ticket attraction will use similar technology to that used in Epcot’s famous Test Track attraction. The ride will take travelers on an adventure past the very same waterfall and pine trees Lightning McQueen and Sally drove past in the movie, a trip through the center of town, and end with an exciting race. This attraction will have a slightly taller height requirement at 40 inches.
Check out the video I shot at the Disneyland Resort’s What’s Next presentation.
Are you excited about Cars Land?
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This is exciting news to read! Happy to find out that my 2-year old will be tall enough to ride the new attractions. As always, thanks for being a great source of Disneyland news!
Thanks for posting this Lisa!!! You are awesome as always.. Do you know if they’ll have a soft opening? Or is 15th set in stone? I’m sad that our trip might miss the opening…
The June 15 should be pretty set now that Disney has announced it. They typically pad themselves with a worst-case scenario. Sometimes they have soft openings before the actual opening date.
They have also said that California Adventure will be closed on June 14 to get all the construction walls down and prep it for the June 15 launch. This was reported on the Disney Parks Blog.
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