Inspired by the Disney·Pixar franchise, Cars, Disney brings Radiator Springs to life in “Cars Land” at Disney California Adventure Park.
“Cars Land” is a replica of “Radiator Springs” (the fictional town in which most of the first Cars film’s events take place), covering a 12-acre (4.9 ha) area and built as part of Disney California Adventure Park’s $1.1 billion dollar expansion project. This attraction opened on June 15, 2012.
As you enter “Radiator Springs” (walking down Route 66), you will see these famous landmarks…
Tow Mater Towing & Salvage
Sarge’s Surplus Hut
Cozy Cone Motel
Flo’s V8 Cafe
Radiator Springs Curios
Ramone’s House of Body Art
Luigi’s Casa Della Tires
Municipal Court House and Fire Station
and Radiator Cap (part of the Ornament Valley mountain range).
Along your journey through “Radiator Springs” be sure to have a look at the local flora
visit Mater’s Petting Zoo
and say hi to Mater himself.
Disney does a wonderful job making “Cars Land” a fun place to visit. Not only does it do a masterful job of bringing “Radiator Springs” to life for its human visitors, it also does a great job of incorporating restaurants (Cozy Cone Motel and Flo’s V8 Cafe), gift shops (Radiator Springs Curios, Sarge’s Surplus Hut and Ramone’s House of Body Art) and of course rides (Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree: an attraction in the style of a whip ride themed to Mater’s Junkyard where Mater is the Master of Ceremonies of the Jamboree and the vehicles are baby tractors which pull trailers attached to them that move around with the music. Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters: where guests queue in Luigi’s Casa Della Tires shop and ride in vehicles that move and spin around to Italian music using a trackless ride system (the ride vehicles are depicted as being Luigi’s cousins who have come to Radiator Springs for a dance celebration). However, the main ride attraction is Radiator Springs Racers:
This attraction (which cost Disney over $200 million dollars) takes guests in six-person vehicles (using technology similar to Test Track at Epcot in Walt Disney World in Florida)
through winding roads, up the mountains outside “Radiator Springs” and past the waterfall scene in the first film.
The vehicles then enter the mountain and take a semi-wild ride through the outskirts of town where they encounter a number of “Cars” movie characters. Eventually you enter Radiator Springs at which point the track splits into two: one goes into Ramone’s while the other into Luigi’s. From here, the vehicles enter a briefing room where Doc gives guests some advice for the upcoming race. The two tracks then come back near one another and the two vehicles stop side-by-side. The race begins as your cars accelerate out of the mountain through hairpin turns and steep banks reaching a maximum speed of 40 mph (64 km/h)
racing around the rock formations of Ornament Valley (such as Willie’s Butte)
and ending with a randomized race result and then a brief trip through Tail Light Caverns.
If you are a fan of the “Cars” movies, then you will love Cars Land at Disney California Adventure Park.
