A Closer Look at Radiator Springs Racer Cars Maintenance

Disney Parks has put online an interesting short video showing the maintenance of Radiator Springs Racer cars. Joe Shanahan, who helps maintain the ride vehicles will tell you more about his role as an electrician for the attraction... and how the cars gets their needed electricity for the ride.





Picture and video: copyright Disney

Radiator Springs Racer 3D Video !

Guess what, Sharp Productions had the ( good? ) idea to filmed the Radiator Springs Racer ride and to film it in 3D! So, what about watching the ride of the decade in 3D? I guess it's time to find back your 3D glasses again! As i don't have any where i am right now i can judge how good the 3D is, so please let me know in the comments!




Video: copyright Sharp Productions

Cars Land Officially Open ! Day and Night High-Res Videos

Cars Land is officially opening today and i have some beautifully filmed Mega HD videos for you who will show you the land "just like if you were there". The videos shot by SoCalAdventureHD1 are filmed so smoothly that sometime i thought he used a steadycam!

But let's begin first by this cool Cars Land TV Ad which include some nice piece of animation by Pixar.




Cars Land entrance is literally jaw-dropping when guests suddenly discover Ornament Valley mountains...




The videos i posted some days ago of Radiator Springs Racers were really good but the quality of the image on these two, showing the two versions, is so "crystal clear" that you'll be able to see amazing details of the ride.







Same with this new video of Mater's Junkyard Jamboree...




...and this new one of Luigi's Flying Tires.





SoCalAdventureHD1 also filmed the great Flo's V8 Café Restaurant and you're gonna discover the stunning view on Ornament Valley that the restaurant guests have while they are eating. Definitely the place to eat when you are in Cars Land!



Right in front of Flo's V8 is the Cozy Cone Motel Snack Stand which looks pretty cool too!




When night comes the Cars Land Neon Lighting moment is a wow and not to be missed as you will see on this Mouse Planet video.




Want to see how great Radiator Springs Racer looks at night? Here is two great videos, the first one by Da Mouse.com...




...and the second one by Theme Park Review.




I also updated my previous Cars Land and Buena Vista Street with new videos that you may haven't seen yet. Check them HERE, HERE and HERE.

Videos: copyright Disney, Mouse Planet, Da Mouse, Theme Park Review and SoCalAdventureHD1 whom i congratulate a lot for the quality of their videos!

Photo: Andy Castro from Mice Chat

Cars Land and Radiator Springs Racer Preview - High-res Pictures !

"That's it, folks!", as Mater would say, Disneyland has released a huge set of high-res pictures of Cars Land and this include never seen before pics of scenes of the indoor part of Radiator Springs Racer, located in a huge show building which, as Al Lutz has said in his update last tuesday, "has rooms on a scale of the Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones, if not quite the giant scale of Pirates of the Caribbean". All the pics released are below and i warn you that there WILL be spoilers ahead, so if you plan to ride Radiator Springs Racer anytime soon it might be a good idea to avoid some of the pictures.

That said, there we go for a pictorial preview of Cars Land and the first attraction on the left when you will enter the land is Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.



According to those who were there last week-end for the special preview held "for Imagineers, their friends and family, and any of Imagineering’s favored contractors" this one seems to be a real good surprise, if not the "sleeper hit" of the land. Again, read Al Lutz review for more details about the ride.









The next ride, always located on the left will be Luigi’s Flying Tires. Reviews are a bit mix about this one but i still like the idea of a rebirth of the famous Disneyland Flying Saucers, this time with a different theming and most of all an improved technology that should work better than the one used 50 years ago!





On the other side of the street, or so, you will find the entrance of Radiator Springs Racer, a E-Ticket of such a scale that you see one like this in Disney theme parks only each 20 years!





The first thing that will stun you is of course the fantastic scenery of Ornament Valley but also the amazing work that WDI landscapers Imagineers have done with "over 400 trees and thousands of cacti and plants that have been incorporated into the landscape". Every fan think about Cars Land in terms of rides but let me tell you that what will stun you first will be the beauty and the perfection of the theming, and not only the decors, of course, but also the vegetation theming which, again, is "over the top".









Once you've board your vehicle the car will ascend the mountain and past the waterfall before going down inside a cavern and the indoor part of the ride.



Note: I will not reveal the story line and specially what's happening during the indoor part of this amazing E-Ticket, but the pictures below have been put in the order of appearance during the ride. Of course, Disneyland didn't released pictures of each scene of the ride and there is a LOT of others scenes of Radiator Springs Racer that you won't see here, so don't worry, there will be much more to see starting June 15 when Radiator Springs Racer will open!













It's time to go out of the show building for the awaited race!





The ending through Taillight Caverns is, according to Al Lutz, best viewed at night, and for sure it will be a good idea to do or re-do again the ride after sunset...



...specially when you see the gorgeous lighting of Ornament Valley at dark.









Disney also released a short video showing a big part of Cars Land - but not the indoor part of Radiator springs Racer - have a look!




On this next Disney video you'll see the race between the two cars filmed during the tests by WDI Imagineers.




And as we are in Radiator Springs, one more for the road! How did the real Radiator Springs come to be? Mater knows and tell you in "Time Travel Mater" a preview for a new Mater Tall Tales which will premiere on ABC, June 16!




And here is the end of this Cars Land pictorial preview! Who will be at Cars Land for its grand opening on June 15? Let us know in the comments!

Pictures and video: copyright Disney



Don't miss the Disneyland Paris "From Sketch to Reality" book which will tell you all about the creation of Disneyland Paris with 320 pages and 750 pictures and WDI renderings! The book always have a special offer and is now available with immediate shipping! Reviews from all those who have already received the book are "over the top" so, place your order now for a gorgeous collector's edition copy while you can get a 20% discount on this wonderful book! To know more about the book and how to order and send your payment please go HERE or use the Paypal one-click purchase button below.

Discover the full book in the video below!

Why Radiator Springs Racer vs Transformers Ride Will be the E-Ticket Match of the Year

Something pretty unique is about to happen in a few weeks from now in South Cal. For the first time two major E-Ticket rides will open almost simultaneously and both rides are so good that i should even talk about them as "E+ Tickets"! The Transformers ride will have its Grand Opening on May 25th at Universal Hollywood while Cars Land Radiator Springs Racer will start on June 15. I had the luck to do recently the Transformers ride in its first version at USS - and in a few seconds i'll let you know all the good i think about it - and although i've never ride Radiator Springs Racer - nobody did except John Lasseter, Bob Iger and WDI Imagineers - i know almost all about it so i think i can also have an opinion or at least some feeling on this highly-awaited ride. And let me tell you that it's gonna be extremely interesting to watch what will happen in two months when both rides will be open as it surely will be "the E-Ticket match of the year".



Soooo, on my left we have the "heavy weight" Radiator Springs Racer, one of the most awaited ride in Disney theme park history, part of Cars Land, a brand new land including two others rides, the creation of a town, and the biggest rock work that WDI Imagineers ever built. And RSC is even two rides in one with an indoor dark ride part and an outside part using more or less the Test Track technology. One of the big asset of Radiator Springs Racer on the Transformers ride will be that your Cars vehicle will move not only in real decor, but inside a world totally recreated. No 3D projections here, all is "real", and WDI Imagineers even created "automatronics" that should make the ride memorable and exhilarating for each fan of the Cars movies - and even those who are not.

You've seen pictures of the huge Radiator Springs mountains and even videos of the vehicles in test mode but you don't know a lot about the dark ride part of the ride. I won't spoil any of its scenes but what i can tell you is that the whole ride is essentially inspired by the first Cars movie and almost all of the characters from it will be in the ride. There is so many clever imagineering ideas in how they create the scenes that you'll be amazed, really. And also, your ride will not be necessarily exactly the same each time you'll ride RSR. And don't ask me why! There is absolutely no doubt that Radiator Springs Racer will be an instant success, and no doubt too that the ride is definitely a E+ Ticket ride, one of these major rides that we see in Disney theme parks only each ten years, or more.



Now, on my right we have the "challenger", the Universal Hollywood Transformers ride. First, let me tell you that i'm not a big fan AT ALL of the Transformers movie. And also, i don't believe one second in any "Transformers mythology". For me these robots are just toys, and that's what they were at the start, and the whole thing for me is just a huge license operation. Which means that when i entered the Transformers ride in its USS version the Transformers mythology which is present in the pre-show didn't had any appeal to me. But the pre-show is so well done this top secret NEST military bunker with plenty of video screens explaining the ride's back story was designed so intelligently that i couldn't stop thinking that those who do care about Transformers are really going to love it. Note that you can see today pictures of the USH version pre-show in Mice Age preview report HERE.





And then it was time to get aboard EVAC, the ride vehicle, supposedly an Autobot transformer robot. As you know the Transformers ride use the same amazing technology that Universal used on the Spiderman ride, but improved. And - oh my God - "improved" is not a word strong enough to describe how amazingly good this ride is. Not only they indeed improved the 3D projections and the screens are even bigger too but you can feel that it was done with intelligence and that they were really decided to get the best from the technology. Wait until Optimus Prime tell you these simple words "Follow me!" and how you'll be amazed to watch your vehicle moving at high speed inside the city to escape the Decepticons. Of course it's all an optical illusion and your vehicle don't really move, but it's so well done that you'll really think that you're inside the screen, inside the city. Same when you'll be sucked into a whirling vortex generated by Devastator, another Decepticon created by several robots. Or when a F-15 fighter jet Decepticon will fling EVAC through the air, sending your vehicle crashing into a building - amazing, really! And i could go on and on as almost each scene of the ride - which includes not only 3D projections but also real decors and special effects - was done with intelligence - i mean, you can feel the intelligence behind it. And, good news, as Screamscape revealed last friday the Universal Hollywood Transformers version "will use Dolby 3D, the same incredible 3D system we first saw used on Star Tours last year, and which Universal also just put to use on the upgraded Adventures of Spider-Man at Islands of Adventure last month". In two words, the ride will be even better than the version which opened at USS last fall. Lucky Angelinos!

Considering that Radiator Springs Racer will be part of a whole new land and not a ride "only" as Transformers will be the match may seem unequal and that's may be the reason why the smart guys at Universal are opening Transformers three weeks before Cars Land opening - well, actually it might be even a month and a half before as it seems that soft-opening might start at USH at the end of April. Obviously Universal wants to create the buzz on their ride and count on all South Cal theme parks fans word of mouth to make a success out of Transformers. Honestly, as i've said, the ride is so good that people who will do the ride will probably, just like i did, have only one desire when they'll go out: to go back and ride Transformers again. And the same will happen for Radiator Springs Racer ! So, who will "win" this E-Ticket match of the year? Personally i think there will be no winner, the two rides are so good and so different that both will be a different and tremendously enjoyable experience. Depending of the kind of "world" you prefer you may prefer one or another, but one thing is sure: i strongly recommend you to ride both of them, as both will worth the price of admission!

Pictures: copyright Disney, Universal Studios

Sneak Peek Onboard Video of Radiator Springs Racer

Disney Parks has released the first onboard video of Radiator Springs Racer! Cool down, you won't see all the ride but just a few seconds of the ride when the vehicle is racing outside. Still, this quick sneak peek "of what to expect inside the mountain range" looks pretty cool!




They've also released another interesting video showing the recording by song writer and composer Bruno Coon and the band “Billy Hill and the Hillbillies” of one song that will be heard as background music throughout the town of Radiator Springs in Cars Land. Sounds good!






I remind you that you still can order a collector copy of the DLP book. the final price now applies but we're doing a FREE SHIPPING for each order placed before April 31st ! So, go ahead and place your pre-order now for a collector's edition copy while you can get this special offer on this wonderful book!! To know how to order and send your payment please go HERE. Paypal or bank wire transfer payments are welcome.




Picture and videos: copyright Disney

“The Road to Cars Land” Opens Feb 29 at DCA Blue Sky Cellar

We sure love WDI attraction posters, don't we? So when Disney released two days ago the three attraction posters designed for the Cars Land attractions i knew i had to post them, and here they are below. They were released to announce a big update coming to Blue Sky Cellar at Disney California Adventure. From February 29 “The Road to Cars Land” "will be a sneak preview of the plans for Cars Land, featuring a model of the land, maquettes of some of the new ride vehicles, and sketches and early concept art".








AND, for those who have missed it, here is the video released last week showing a behind-the-scenes look "at how some of the world’s best rockwork artisans are creating Ornament Valley – the mountain range that serves as the backdrop to Radiator Springs in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure park. They’ve been working on it for about two years and the process is fascinating to watch".




Pictures and video: copyright Disney

First Composite Cars Land Picture !

Disney has released a first picture of Cars Land Radiator Springs Racer, a composite picture that is, meaning that there is a lot of photoshoping on it! That said the picture looks great and will remind to those of you who may have forgotten that two cars will race side by side during the last part of the ride. Click on it to see it in larger size!

Picture: copyright Disney

Disney launch new Cars Land site - High-Res WDI Artwork

Cars Land will open this summer at Disney's California Adventure and Disney launched a new Cars Land site yesterday. You won't learn or see anything more than what you already know but, even if we already know them, the site provide some Cars Land artwork in big size and in better quality than ever, so click on each pic below to see them in big size!

Among them, the Cars Land map and bird eye view of the land...





A great night view of Radiators Springs main street...



Mater's Junkyard Jamboree....





Luigi's Flying Tires



Radiators Springs Racer...










There is also a short video with interesting shots on the Cars Land model...







All this looks great and i think you should put in your bookmarks this new Cars Land site as more pictures will probably appear on it in a near future!

Pictures: copyright Disney