Photo TR: Cars Land Or Bust!!

[Erik JohnsonFormer captain of the Arrow bus.]

The next day I finally had the opportunity to visit Universal Studios: Hollywood. I was never able to fit this park into my schedule until this visit, plus I was waiting for them to build the Transformers ride. Yes, the main draw for me was the brand new Transformers: The Ride. I thought it was really great, easily the best dark ride in southern California next to a working Indiana Jones. Yes, Transformers is very similar to Spiderman, but there are certainly differences between the two (I loved the driving and flying sequences). I ended up riding it four times that day. Anyways, onward to more photos.

[larrygatorObsessive Overlord of the TPR Park Index]

Nice to know that you get to see some "VAG" this week.

Good Photo TR, as usual.

[OldJJmanBorn when stamps were 2 cents]

^ Lovin' that Red Car Trolley poster!

Same. I want one.

IIRC, they sell small versions of those, kinda like a plaque. About 8"x16".

I'll check next time I head over, if you guys are interested.

Nice to know that you get to see some "VAG" this week.

Yup, I was about to make a similar comment that went in the same direction.

[Erik JohnsonFormer captain of the Arrow bus.]

Cars Land Part 1


It really was by chance that I was in town the same week as the opening of Cars Land. I was a bit nervous in that I have only heard of horror stories of how crowded the parks get for any special event or opening of new rides. Since I only had one shot at it this visit, I decided to camp out before the opening of the park. We walked over at 3:00am to find out that everything was extremely well organized. Once you received your color coded wristband (each large group got a specific color) you found a spot at the end of the line. Disney also made sure to have a food vendor as well as open bathrooms open all night. They started letting out group into the park at around 7:30am. The grand-reopening ceremony was around 8:00 I think. After the ceremony was over they dropped the rope and let our group in.

Cars Land:

Yes, the new area of the park is quite amazing to look at, especially at night. Even if you are not a fan of Cars, I think you can still appreciate the new area. I am honestly not a huge fan of the movies. Also, if you do not know anything about the theme, you can still enjoy it. We first went directly to the brand new ride, Radiator Springs Racers. The area that the ride covers is huge, you really can not get a sense of the attraction's size in photographs. We ended up waiting in the regular queue so we could check it out. The queue is similiar to Big Thunder's due to all of the rock work that surrounds you. Many older artifacts with an automotive theme is also present. No, I would not call the queue are amazing, but it is nicely done. We came very close to getting on the ride until it ended up breaking down for 90 minutes. You can say that the control room became a hornet's nest soon after the breakdown. Even Tom Staggs (Head of all Disneyparks) came over to see what was wrong. They got it back up running again, people then cheered.

As for ride itself. I thought it was really a lot of fun with some amazing theming throughout the ride. No, it does not make my top ten list of Disney Attractions (The original Tower of Terror in Florida being my #1), but I think they got a lot of things right with it. It is certainly better than the last group of large budgeted rides that has been opened in the US parks in the last decade. (i,e. Everest, Mission Space, Toy Story, Little Mermaid etc.). I ended up getting on the ride four times during the day (Single Rider Line is your friend). I had two daytime and as well as two nighttime rides. I do much prefer riding it at night since the lighting is truly fantastic. As for the ride itself, I would give it a B+. Theming is top notch as well as the dark section. The speed section is also a lot of fun, but I would not call it thrilling. Yes, it is easy to compare it to Test Track. I think Cars Land is better in every aspect to Test Track, but Test Track's speed section is MUCH more thrilling. Anyways, let us check out some photos. I will post a second batch of photos soon with night time photos as well as my review of the newly refurbished Matterhorn.

[CameronDon't make me kick you in the donkey!]

This all looks insanely brilliant! Loving the report Erik, thanks!!

Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit the new DCA in February/March when I'm in LA either for WCB, or on my way to Australia.

Cameron.

[Brandy524I make cake]

I so wish this wasn't all the way in California! Cars is Danny's favorite Pixar movie. Great pictures, Erik!

[Erik JohnsonFormer captain of the Arrow bus.]

Thanks all. Once this gets to page 4, I will post the others.

[cfcI've gone pantless!]

Your meal at Flo's looks really good--as does all of Cars Land.

That was definitely great timing that you happened to be in Southern California. Looking forward to the rest!