Disney officials at the D23 Expo on Friday provided more details about the Cars Land area being built at Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif.
Cars Land, inspired by the fictional Route 66 town of Radiator Spring in the 2006 Disney-Pixar animated film “Cars,” is scheduled to open to the public in summer 2012.
Mark Goldhaber of Mouse Planet reported from the scene:
Kathy Mangum, Imagineering Executive Producer and Vice President, then came out to talk about Carsland. She shared some fresh pictures from the construction site, including Ramone’s Body Shop (a merchandise location), Sally’s Cozy Cone Hotel (a quick-service food location), and Luigi’s Flying Tires, a new attraction based upon the old Flying Saucers attraction at Disneyland. She noted that she was on the site with John Lasseter this morning, and that they stood on the ride floor and turned the air on for the first time. The attraction will begin testing in a couple of weeks.
Two elements of the Cars world that were created but never included in the movie will get exposure in the new land. The original Radiator Spring was found by Stanley Steamer and was the reason the town grew up there. It will be recreated in Carsland. Also, Taillight Caverns features “stalaglites” that resemble car taillights.
One really fun feature is that the Carsland cast member costumes will feature a Hawai’ian style shirt with a pattern based on a Route 66-themed shirt selected by John Lasseter from his own personal collection.
One of the D23 attendees posted this video of Cars Land under construction:
Finally, the D23 Expo showed Red the Fire Engine from “Cars,” which will be part of the Radiator Springs Racers attraction at Cars Land. It’s startling how simply eye movement makes an inanimate object come alive.
UPDATE 8/23/2011: LA Weekly also posted this report from D23 about Cars Land, featuring John Lasseter’s remarks:
From Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree mini-ride, there was a tractor prototype, one that will swing kids wildly to-and-fro with its hitched cart.
Of all the mini-rides at Cars Land, the one that Lasseter constantly talks about is Luigi’s Flying Tires — a throwback to Tomorrowland’s Flying Saucers ride he grew up with as a child.
“I’ll never forget it — there’s a particular sound to the ride and the way it moves. It’s that carrot that Imagineering has always had in front of them to try and figure out, because it [Flying Saucers] failed,” said Lasseter. “It’s like a giant air hockey table you get to ride on.”
And here’s a new video of the Lightning McQueen prototype at Cars Land, which gives the illusion of moving eyes and mouth: