A Gearhead's Guide to Cars Land...

Congrats on a cool development! A reason to go again to DLand! ~sololobo~

 

Looks like it would be worth a trip to Cali just to see cars land!! Great work!

 

How awesome!! I went last month and was so pissed I would be missing the grand opening of Cars Land only by a few weeks..Guess ill have to go back.. I cant wait to see it

 

If your life is ANYTHING like 'Cars' I want your life. I make my living with wrenches and this has nothing to do with That life. It's got nothing to do with real life and it's not supposed to. But I get where you're coming from.

We went three times this week. On Friday I got to chat with a HAMBer from san Diego who recognized my jacket from my avatar. The coolest part was when 'route 66' lit up at night like in the movie. Went on 2 rides which were surprisingly more fun than I expected. were waiting to go on the big attraction for a couple weeks when we have early entrance passes. Lines have been 2hrs plus...

Ultimately, it's just a cool place to hang out under the glow of neon, look at cool stuff, listen to cool music, and have some kicks.

 

It's funny that this week my 2 year old son has wanted to watch that movie everyday. So of course I got to watch it with him. Hopefully we can see the real thing one day.

CN

 

For the first time in my life, I want to go to Disney.

 

Happy to see this. Disney has always been a first class act and you've taken it to an even higher level with amazing attention to detail. Nice work!

Our kids loved Cars1 and Cars2 and we can't wait to take a road trip down to Anaheim and experience this in person.

 

I'm going thats it!

 

Here's Pringle and I with my Cars piece in the art shop in Cal Adv. on Sat.-

I think Disneyland is fun, if you are philosophically opposed to it, I respect that- but to me it's about creativity. Movies, books and paintings are not real life, but an expression of it. That's a big part of the world I live in. So do I like fake versions of things? Sometimes, yes! It's kind of what I do for a living...

 

I was there and Man it was crowded! All the details are Amazing I will go back in the off season... maybe then i can get into a gift shop or maybe even a ride....

 

Congrats! and job well done! That is the coolest thing I've ever seen. I will be there to see it soon no matter what!!

 

I wonder if they're planning on doing something similar in Disney World?

 

OK, another good reason to make the trip I've been postponing due to funding. But I'll make the effort!
It is way cool that it was designed by people loving cars (and CARS), the little details
always make the difference.

Fernando

 

Went to disneyland last month for wife's 50th b day. Took the kids. Ages 28-32, cost me a mint. First time in fifteen years . Now I have to go back.

 

Our friends Bob and Betty Hendrickson called yesterday.

(background) They have a retirement place in Celebration village in Orlando and Betty has actually worked in the park as a character - Bob's a character on his own. They know Disney World like the back of their hand.

They stopped in to Disneyland on their way home from a cruise in Alaska and called us from Ramone's to tell us the plaques we did look great in the store and that they were blown away by the attention to detail in Cars Land. They're already planning their next trip because they know they haven't really seen it all. They were glad they had their pass because the wait for the big ride was 3 hours!!

So the bottom line is that Disney World experts are giving Cars Land a BIG thumbs up.

Dennis

 

I worked as a sweeper at Disneyland in 73.74.75.
Best time to go is two weeks after school is back in, as I recall.
I gotta go back to Cal. now I guess.

 

I have had a DisneyLand trip planned for my Ma', Nephew and myself for about a year. I had no clue about CarsLand until a couple months ago. I was thinking the trip was going to be...hu-hum. Then I found out about this! Now I am just as giddy as my nephew and getting more excited as the days tick down (I'll be in the park in mid July). Now knowing a few HAMBers had personal involvement gives me some specifics to look for too. Ilttle "Easter Eggs". I never noticed Flo's V8 Cafe design in the movie, other than the pistons/connecting rods. Now it's painfully obvious. I don't know wether to be ashamed or blown away! Can't wait to see this place in person!!!

 

I showed in an earlier post that I had been working at Carsland in Disneyland, but I didn't share everything. I've known Chip since '93 and was honored when I got the call to help with the project! On my first day to stripe, I showed up with my old trusty and a bit beat up paint box that I'd owned for close to 30 yrs. I was kind of embarrassed being I knew the other 2 stripers (Dennis and Jeff) would show up with way newer setups and here I was with old faithful! I wasn't there an hour and the comments started, but quite the opposite from what I expected. The Imagineering people were going nuts and EVERYONE was taking pictures of the dumb thing! When John Lassiter (who directed Cars, Toy Story and others) told me he had to have it in the Racers ride, I knew it was over. I knew they wanted to buy it, but the biggest thing was now it's in the coolest museum ever!! I made some Ramone paint cans and added my crown (King, baby!) for Ramones name to go over and they grabbed a bunch of leftover paint cups from the store stuff to finish off the display. When you come out of the paint booth (I did a bunch of striping in there) it's sitting on the floor just to the right of the car ride. Pretty much made my year! So now I just say my OTHER paint box is Disneyland!!!

 

so we went again today, but with the intent purpose of getting on Radiator Springs Racers.

as annual passholders we got the early entry deal online. we got there a touch after 6 and were the 2nd in line at the front gates at 6:30 for a 7:00 open. when the gates opened we made a beeline for Radiator Springs Racers and wound up basically walking on.

all i can say is WOW!!! it was too freaking cool. execution was fantastic and the ride itself was absolutely THRILLING!!! basically you go on a cruise through the valley in the open air, then into a classic Disney Dark Ride scene with excellently animated characters and then you go into one of two scenes, either Luigi's house of tires for a new set of shoes or Ramone's for a quick spray job (and yes there is all kinds of cool detail in there, and i did spot the box from the previous post). after that you pull out into the open air and line up for a race around a pretty neat track with whoop-de-doos and high banked turns. and you're hauling freight. its better than matterhorn or big thunder across the street for thrills.

anyhow we got off, hit luigi's flying tires, mater's junkyard jamboree, got fast passes for RSR when the booth opened at 8, ate breakfast at Flo's checked out all the hidden mickeys and pinstriping at Ramone's and got back on RSR (with fast passes, about a 10 minute wait, but by this time (sometime after 9) the line was almost all the way out to the entrance of cars land. and the ride has a LOOOONG queue.) all by 10 o'clock.

spent the rest of our day just cruising. buena vista street is really nicely done, and now there's a starbucks to get your fix. the electric red car trolley is a cool little addition to get from the front gate down buena vista street and over to the Hollywood Tower of Terror, with stops along the way.

so, now after 4 trips to cars land and really getting a feel for the whole thing, at all hours, i give it a solid recommendation. i'm not a Disney guy by any stretch. I have passes because my wife is a Disney freak, and there is no questions to what she gets for an anniversary gift every year. I go to make her happy, but today i REALLY had a good time. I mean i had a 'felt like a kid again' good time. Cars Land has plenty of cool stuff for car guys to trip on and you can absolutely tell that car guys were involved in every stage of it.

Huge Props to all the HAMBers who played a part in making it magical for this somewhat jaded fellow.

 

Next time someone's in Ramone's, can they take a couple of pictures of the Low N Slow plaques that I did. I'd love to see how they have them displayed.

Thanks,

Dennis

 

Very cool. I did some business with Pixar Animation in 2008, and was given a private tour of their facility. Incredible! Had a complimentary lunch from one of their several restaurants, and was given two dvd's; CARS and PIXAR Short Films Collection. The guy who sold me my '68 Camaro has another '68 Camaro PIXAR used in the movie CARS. He drove his blown '68 Camaro to the old Alameda Naval Weapons Base where PIXAR recorded his engine's exhaust for the car "Snot Gobbler" in the movie CARS. I plan to visit Disneyland again in a few weeks. My nephew has worked for Disney several years now and you know.

 

My GF, daughter, SIL, and 2 grandsons (5 1/2 and 2 1/2) just got back from visiting DisneyLand and California Adventure. California Adventure is absolutely marvelous and Cars Land is about as much fun as I'm able to withstand. The detail and art deco are overpowering and you'll certainly not be able to absorb it all. I absolutely despise traveling, but I may have to go back just to spend about 3 days in that part of the park. Oh, and I got a Weesner print of Ramone!!