Radiator Springs Racers is
slot car ride in
Cars Land
''Cars'' Land is a themed area of Disney California Adventure, inspired by the Disney·Pixar franchise, ''Cars'', and Route 66 in America. The area, built as part of Disney California Adventure Park's $1.1 billion expansion project, opened on Ju ...
at
Disney California Adventure
Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...
. The attraction features a third-generation version of transport technology originally developed for the
Test Track
Test Track is a high-speed slot car thrill ride located in World Discovery at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The ride is a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures that General Mot ...
attraction at
Epcot
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
in
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
. Radiator Springs Racers is themed to the fictional world in
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
's ''
Cars
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
''. At a cost of over $200 million, the attraction is the most expensive at
Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (Di ...
and one of the most expensive theme park attractions in the world. It accounted for about 18% of the entire cost of the $1.1 billion expansion of Disney California Adventure Park. The attraction takes guests in a six-person vehicle through encounters with characters from the film series ''
Cars
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
''. Guests then race another vehicle through turns and hills, ending with a randomized race result.
History
The attraction, along with the rest of the Disney California Adventure multi-year expansion, was announced on October 17, 2007. However, the first indication of the attraction and the new land was some concept art published in the Dreaming section of The
Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's 2006 annual report. By late 2009, construction on the attraction and the land within it began, and was finished two and a half years later. At the "What's Next?" presentation at
Disney California Adventure
Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...
on June 11, 2010,
Imagineer Kathy Mangum gave a brief rundown of the attraction's storyline.
Ride testing began in early 2012 with soft openings the following spring. The ride officially opened to the public on June 15, 2012, with wait times of up to six hours.
The line would stretch towards
Paradise Pier
Paradise Gardens Park is a themed land at Disney California Adventure.
The area opened as Paradise Pier in 2001 along with the rest of the theme park. In 2010, World of Color and Silly Symphony Swings were added. To complete the Paradise Pier ...
, bypassing Cars Land.
Radiator Springs Racers was ranked second in the ''
Amusement Today
''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...
''
Golden Ticket Awards
''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...
for
best new ride for 2012.
Incidents
On May 24, 2022, shortly after 8:30 PM PST, Radiator Springs Racers was closed down after a ride vehicle started emitting black smoke just before crossing the finish line of the ride, with guests yelling to be let off of the ride. As a result, the ride temporarily closed on May 24, 2022. An unknown Disneyland spokesperson says that the ride will remain closed indefinitely out of an abundance of caution, as work is likely being done on the ride vehicles.
Ride experience
Queue
The attraction's marquee is mounted on a large archway near the Radiator Springs courthouse. The queue passes through the archway and beneath two bridges before entering
Stanley's Oasis, nestled between the cliffs of Ornament Valley. After winding through three of the town's earliest buildings, guests enter the Comfy Caverns Motor Court, where they board a convertible race car and the ride portion of the attraction begins.
Layout
Leaving the motor court, the vehicle takes an idyllic drive through Ornament Valley. It then enters the dark ride portion of the attraction as guests nearly run into several
Audio-animatronic
Audio-Animatronics (also known as simply Animatronics, and sometimes shortened to AAs) is the registered trademark for a form of robotics animation created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequent ...
vehicles. This starts with a near head-on collision with
Mack, followed by near-misses with
Minny and Van, and narrowly making it over a grade crossing ahead of a speeding train. As the vehicle swerves out of the way,
Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
appears, warning the guests to slow down and follow
Mater into town for the big race. Along the way, Mater takes the ride vehicles "tractor tipping", but this awakens
Frank
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Curr ...
the
combine harvester
The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnow ...
, who angrily chases the trespassers off of his farm. The vehicle then reenters the town and passes
Fillmore,
Sarge,
Lizzie
Lizzie or Lizzy is a nickname for Elizabeth or Elisabet, often given as an independent name in the United States, especially in the late 19th century.
Lizzie can also be the shortened version of Lizeth, Lissette or Lizette.
People
* Elizabeth I ...
, and
Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
before being greeted by
Lightning McQueen
Montgomery "Lightning" McQueen is a fictional anthropomorphic stock car who is the protagonist of the animated Pixar franchise ''Cars'', primarily voiced by actor Owen Wilson. His appearances include the feature films ''Cars'', ''Cars 2'', and ''C ...
and
Sally Carrera
Sally Carrera is a fictional character in Pixar's ''Cars'' franchise. Sally is a 2002 Porsche 911 Carerra, and the character is modeled after Dawn Welch, the proprietor of Rock Cafe in Oklahoma. Sally is the town attorney for Radiator Springs, ...
. At this point, the track splits into two, and the ride vehicle will be directed to one of two scenes before lining up at the starting line. If the vehicle makes a left turn, it receives a tire change at
Luigi's Casa Della Tires; if it makes a right turn, it gets a fresh coat of paint at
Ramone's House of Body Art. Both tracks then pass
Doc Hudson
Doctor Hudson Hornet, MD (also known as The Fabulous Hudson Hornet, Hud, Doc Hudson, or simply, Doc) is an animated, anthropomorphic retired race car which appears in the 2006 Pixar film ''Cars'' as a medical doctor and a local judge. He is vo ...
, who is dressed in his "Hudson Hornet" livery and introduces himself as the guests' new
crew chief. Once two ride vehicles have arrived at the starting line, an enthusiastic Luigi waves the flag to signal the start of the race.
Both ride vehicles then accelerate on parallel tracks out of the cave, into an outdoor segment containing bunny hills and high-banked turns around the rock formations of Ornament Valley, with the vehicles reaching a top speed of .
During a short drop down a sloped bank, an on-ride photo is taken.
One of the two vehicles (selected at random) reaches the finish line slightly earlier, bringing the race to an end. The vehicles then enters Taillight Caverns, where Lightning and Mater congratulate both vehicles on a great race. The ride vehicles then merge back onto a single track and return to the boarding station.
See also
*
Test Track
Test Track is a high-speed slot car thrill ride located in World Discovery at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The ride is a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures that General Mot ...
, the namesake of the Test Track technology, located at
Epcot
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
.
*
2012 in amusement parks
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Journey to the Center of the Earth
''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (french: Voyage au centre de la Terre), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel ...
, the second generation of Test Track technology, located at
Tokyo DisneySea
is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual proper ...
, near
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Disney California Adventure
Amusement rides introduced in 2012
Amusement rides manufactured by Dynamic Structures
Audio-Animatronic attractions
Cars Land
Disney California Adventure
Pixar in amusement parks
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions
2012 establishments in California