Carsland Thread

Nicole220

Nicole220

Well-Known Member
Forget the rides, I'm not touching those after previews till everything dies waaaay down....I'm going to Cars Land for the FOOD! :slurp:
 
wild01ride

wild01ride

Well-Known Member
Just noticed today that they've got fresh paint on the asphalt that was laid down last week.
Radiator Springs looks like it's anxious to open!
Can't wait to see it all!
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Apparently they are letting a lot of CM's into Cars Land to wander around and check it all out. Over on Miceage (where I'm registered but generally just lurk because the postings there move so quickly and are in such huge numbers that I can't keep up) there's a CM named Westsider who posted his thoughs on his recent examination of Cars Land. They speak for themselves, so enjoy if you are so inclined, compliments of "Westsider"... http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/167423-walk-through-cars-land.html

WARNING: CARS LAND SPOILERS AHEAD!


I hesitated to post this after it happened, but now that the Bloggers are going at it, I figure the fan community can withstand the additional information. All my opinion of course, so your mileage may vary.

Last week was pretty much a free-for-all for Cars Land, with hundreds of CM's walking wherever they wanted in the land due to some TV filming for America's Funniest Videos. Wednesday late afternoon I got a tweet and some texts that if you checked out a Special Events Costume or the "tech blacks" (used by several departments and Fantasmic River Drivers) you could just walk into Cars Land with no questions asked and no security clearance at all. A few of us got a different costume and headed on over after we were off to hang out in Cars Land, but the undercover costume was really unnecesary. Any CM could walk anywhere they wanted in Cars Land, no hardhat or badges required. We saw lots of fellow CM's who were also on the self-guided tour of Cars Land just for fun that night, unrelated to all the Attractions CM's there for the TV filming. It was like a downtown Fullerton bar crawl, but without the booze.

Pictures don't do Cars Land justice. Here's my thoughts on what I saw in Good-Bad-Ugly format;

The Good:
•Flippin' awesome look to the whole land, especially at night.
•Tons of eye candy and details everywhere. You can't see them in the distance pictures, but there are little signs and gags and accesories everywhere themed to cars. They went crazy with signage and plaques to read, and some are really funny. Car parts make up lots of the finishing touches (doorknobs, light fixtures, etc.)
•Garage doors of the roll-up or swing-open variety have replaced traditional human doors on all the buildings.
•Flo's is one of the coolest restaurants I've seen anywhere. Period. Even if the food sucks, it will be busy.
•The western entrance from Pacific Wharf will make you stop in your tracks. WDI outdid themselves there.


The Bad (or the Baffling):
•The eastern entrance from Flik's Fun Fair is boring and anticlimatic. You can see how they tried to do something by placing all the Bugs statues there, but it's basically just a flat winding road past shrubs and trees. A big bland way to enter a spectacular land.
•The shops are small. Curios is tiny, Ramones is slightly bigger, and Sarge's is the biggest with an extra wing built onto the side that wasn't in the movie. The shops will be congested and crowded.
•Not a lot of space to chill. Every area is dedicated to something; store, restaurant, attraction, walkway. There isn't much space for benches or relaxation areas. I have no idea where they are going to park 1,000 strollers and 500 ECV's in that place.
•I don't get Luigi's Flying Tires. Why? How? Why? They were setting up for filming it later that night and using some girls from Entertainment I know as the "guests", so it must be featured on the America's Funniest Videos episode. They had a ton of generic beach balls inside the ride too.
•The western half of the land doesn't have shade. Luigi's and Mater's have big shade structures over their queue. Most of the Radiator Racers Standby queue is up in the land itself behind Ramone's, and they were using it to corral all the TV taping audience members. There are some trees there, but not a lot of shade. It will be a hot switchback maze this summer, especially at Radiator Racers.
•Mater's is a basic spinner ride, the DCA version of Teacups, but has a massive, long switchback queue building. Why?
•There's a really big and nicely themed Fastpass distribution area for Radiator Racers right at the ride. I have no idea why they would build one out in Bug's Land instead for Racers. The Guests will be confused and mad over that. You can see the specifically themed Racers Fastpass machines inside this shuttered distribution building at the ride. A baffling move by TDA and/or Mary Niven and/or Attractions Management. Who made that decision and why???
•The Courthouse is an empty shell. It's a big building inside, but totally unfinished and open. Seems like a waste of space in a land that doesn't have much extra room.


The Ugly:
•It's a big land geographically, but the actual space a Guest could get to is rather small. There's not much to it beyond the strip of Route 66 and the two side streets. Where will all the extended queues and crowds go? This could get ugly on June 15th.
•Parts of Screamin' and the Fun Wheel intrude onto sight lines inside Cars Land. I think some fans will dislike that. Tower of Terror does the land no favors on the east side either, but it isn't as jarring as seeing Screamin' tubes or the Fun Wheel.
•We could only find one set of Cars Land bathrooms, hidden on the backside of Flo's. They are half the size of the bathrooms at the Hungry Bear Restaurant, or about the size of the bathrooms at Rancho Del Zocalo. The bathroom line could rival the Standby line for Radiator Racers. Maybe the Courthouse was supposed to also be bathrooms but got cut?
Click to expand...
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Apparently they are letting a lot of CM's into Cars Land to wander around and check it all out. Over on Miceage (where I'm registered but generally just lurk because the postings there move so quickly and are in such huge numbers that I can't keep up) there's a CM named Westsider who posted his thoughs on his recent examination of Cars Land. They speak for themselves, so enjoy if you are so inclined, compliments of "Westsider"... http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/167423-walk-through-cars-land.html
Click to expand...

Even if what all this CM is saying is true, I don't care. Whatsoever. I'm still very excited and eager for Cars Land to open:sohappy:
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Al Lutz has a Luigi's Flying Tires blurb up. It seems John Lasseter won't let this thing open without some last minute "plussing".

Al says we should expect a Disney Parks Blog update on this after the recording studio session today. Hmm...

EDITOR’S NOTE 5/15: John Lasseter's spendy plussing of Luigi's Flying Tires continues after the ride fell, well... flat with test riders. Pixar's current hot composer Michael Giacchino was begged to write a bunch of custom music for the ride ASAP, and actor Tony Shalhoub is headed into the recording studio today to lend Luigi's voice to the new songs. The ride was originally designed with only some background muzak in the queue, but it's now become a major musical production at the very last minute. Expect a Disney online report from the recording studio soon portraying this as if it were the plan all along. - Al Lutz
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cheezbat

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
I really think it's great all the things theyre doing to plus the experiences at DCA. I just wish we could see these kind of additions and this kind of treatment to WDW...Studios needs a DCA style overhaul so badly...
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
cheezbat said:
I really think it's great all the things theyre doing to plus the experiences at DCA. I just wish we could see these kind of additions and this kind of treatment to WDW...Studios needs a DCA style overhaul so badly...
Click to expand...

The prolem with Studios, it seems to me, is that people are actually attending the park, so TDO probably doesn't think it needs a DCA overhaul. The attendance for DCA was poor, compared to the attendance for the Florida parks. It desperately needed this overhaul, for the company's sake. Not to mention Disneyland fans have incredibly high expectations, so we weren't even going to DCA, let alone outsiders. Just look at how long it took Disney to realize they needed to start over with the park. DCA opened in 2001, and they announced DCA 2.0 in 2007. That's only six years, which is a VERY short time. That's how bad of a condition DCA was in, although I bet if it was in Florida, there wouldn't have been a problem with it. No offense, whatsoever.

You never know, though. Things could definitely change for Studios. It's not right that these parks are in the condition they're in, and TDO doesn't seem to care enough. Not even for the fans' sake.
 
sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
New article highlighting the new attractions and features of Cars Land:

The Mater and Lightning McQueen characters will move and talk, unlike the static cars that now are staged in Disney California Adventure. Mater and Lightning McQueen mostly will be based at the Cozy Cone Motel, but also will travel down Route 66.

Fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers, the largest ride, will be available outside Cars Land by It’s Tough to Be a Bug theater.

Radiator Springs Racers will have 23 full-size, animatronic figures from the first “Cars” movie. The height requirement is 42 inches.

A neon lighting, including the illumination of the mountain range, will be held each night.
Click to expand...

And some new photos by MintCrocodile:

Electrical wires are up along the main street of Radiator Springs:

i-cPRtvHV-M.jpg


Mater's Junkyard Jamboree:

i-qs4gHhm-M.jpg


Almost ready to open!

i-FsjpSK5-M.jpg
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Cosmic Commando said:
Man, Disneyland is not cutting any slack on the height requirements! 42 inches for Radiator Springs Racers when Test Track is 40 and goes faster?
Click to expand...

It's probably an error on the OC Register's fault. Al Lutz has said Racers has a 40 inch height requirement, and Luigi's and Mater's have 32 inch heigh requirements. It wouldn't be the first time the old-fashioned media got something wrong. :lookaroun
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
Phew! My daughter measured 36.5 inches without shoes last week, so she has an outside shot at getting to 40 before our trip in November. 42 just wasn't happening!
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Cosmic Commando said:
Phew! My daughter measured 36.5 inches without shoes last week, so she has an outside shot at getting to 40 before our trip in November. 42 just wasn't happening!
Click to expand...

I hope she can make it close to 40! The thing is, cast members at Disneyland rarely, if that, never check the kids' height, unless it's obvious the kid is too short to ride. If his/her height looks just about right, they let you on. Fingers crossed for your daughter!
 
sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
^ Looks good, nice and simple and a huge improvement from the previous ODV design. Most of the stuff on the old design doesn't even exist in the park anymore!

In other news, America's Funniest Home Videos taped the season finale episode inside Cars Land, and the episode is set to air on Sunday, May 20 (7/6c) Here's a quick preview:

[youtube]bTJG-fJXmwI[/youtube]

Also, the Ellen Degeneres show recently taped a segment inside Cars Land with Rosie and Sophia Grace -- that show will air on May 22nd

sgr908573SMALL.jpg


http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ars-land-at-disney-california-adventure-park/
 
sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
An early review of Mater's Junkyard Jamboree from a special CM preview this week -- sounds like fun!

Westsider said:
On Saturday night they offered CM test rides on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, and thanks to a heads up from management a bunch of us knew to stick around after work (or come in on a day off) and head over to DCA to try this little ride out.

WARNING: CARS LAND SPOILERS AHEAD!

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree is, of course, the other small attraction in Cars Land besides Luigi's Flyin' Tires. Mater's is the whip ride up at the front of the land, and I rode it twice on Saturday while the CM's were signed off to complete their training. Here's my thoughts on the thing;

The Queue - Hey, they spent some money here! There's a TON of junk in the queue, which makes sense since it's a junkyard. The back wall of the shaded queue area is filled with props and signs from Mater's adventures in his Tall Tales cartoons. The queue buildings are the old shade structures from when this area was Bountiful Valley Farm, but they have been thoroughly reworked into this new theme. The overall facility is nicely landscaped and heavily propped out. This sure as heck isn't DCA 1.0 any more, it's like a real Disney theme park that got a big fat budget even for little spinner rides.

The Show - There are a bunch of songs written just for this ride, and they were all really clever. If you are a country-western fan, you'll love this ride. If your musical tastes run more urban or classical, the music may drive you insane while you wait in the long switchback queue. You need to be really comfortable with the Mater character to enjoy this. The pre-show and unload spiels are also done by Larry The Cable Guy and are pretty funny. Someone put a lot of thought into this, and it shows. But if you can't stand watching old reruns of Hee-Haw, this isn't the ride for you.

The Ride - Oh, man, this little thing has a kick to it! It really whips you around once you get going, and it seems a bit wilder than the Teacups or Roger Rabbit. It doesn't look like much when you see it running from the queue, but when you are in those little trailers being whipped around you get a wild ride. I think little kids especially will love it, as it's kind of a big kid thrill but with a low 32 inch height requirement.

The Setting - Dude, does Cars Land look cool! We got to walk up part of Route 66 to get to the ride, and the land looks really good as the final details and props get put in place. It's really hard to believe this is actually DCA. There are lots of places around Disneyland that don't look half as good as Cars Land looks. Even if there weren't any rides, this would be a fun place to hang out in for an hour or two.

Overall - I think Mater's is a nice little addition to DCA's ride roster. This is nothing like Francis' Lady Bug Boogie, any more than Pirates is like Small World because they both use boats in a flume. Mater's is a whipping, whirling dervish that should satisfy anyone who doesn't mind country music and country humor. Nice job WDI!
Click to expand...

Also, don't miss the AFV Cars Land preview tonight!
 
sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
New photos of Cars Land at night!

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ers-lens-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

Flo’s V8 Cafe is simply irresistible. And Ramone’s House of Body Art adds even more color to every shot. You won’t believe your eyes (or your lens!).

As pleased as I am with how these shots turned out, I have to tell you, nothing compares with actually standing on Route 66 surrounded by this beautiful neon with that incredible mountain range in the distance. And one piece of advice: Bring your camera!
Click to expand...

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Also, the hanging traffic signal was recently installed:

[youtube]oh9MKEdVoDs[/youtube]

video by rwweis
 

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