Cars Land – Page 8 – WDWNT Archive

In-Depth Look: Luigi’s Flying Tires

WDWNT on February 25, 2012

Luigi’s Flying Tires is the culmination of a five decade journey for the Disney Parks. After the Flying Saucers attraction closed in the 1960’s guests continued to ask when Disney would take another crack at a floating vehicle attraction. After 5 years of waiting, Luigi’s Flying Tires is open, and once you get the hang of it, you can fly across the “dance floor” with great accuracy. Let’s take a look:

A test tire out front of the attraction allows Cast Members to point out that you make sure not to step on the tire, but rather over it

The indoor queue is divided into two areas, the first area you pass is the showroom

Here are the various brands of tires that Luigi sells

Fettucini brand!

The lift in the show room

The second room had display cases filled with personal mementos belonging to Guido and Luigi. Here are items from their home in Italy

Radiator Springs keepsakes

Lightning McQueen career items

Items from the World Grand Prix in Cars 2

Luigi’s office

A mirror, should you want to try on a tire

Moving on to the outdoor portion of the queue

3 simple rules. Balance..

Lean…

Don’t lean too far…

Now lets recap…

Pre-boarding area

And finally we have a video of the queue and ride. Enjoy!

Overall: Luigi’s Flying Tires is a ton of fun. The lines can be very long with the slow loading, but if you can catch a wait time under 30 minutes, it is most definitely worth you floating on over for a ride.

Tom Corless’ 12/31/11 – 1/5/12 DLR Photo Report

WDWNT on January 12, 2012

Owner of the network, Tom Corless took a trip to Disneyland for new years and captured some newsworthy photos to share including Cars land, Buena Vista Street, and Jolly Holiday Bakery…

Trader Sam’s had some neat additions for the Holidays

Tom had a Mele Kaliki-Mocha.

Over in DCA now, a look at the carthay circle

Looks good…

Now over in Cars Land, the meet and greet has been removed in front of the work walls giving us some angles of the street we weren’t able to see before.

Back to Buena Vista Street

The backside of the theater was uncovered

Over in Disneyland, the Jolly Holiday Bakery opened and Tom was one of the first costumers

Love the detail

Over in DCA, work has begun on fixing the second half of the shops on the boardwalk

Rip that stucco out!

YEAH

It was so good…. That tom decided to come back for lunch

A nod to the old Stouffers mural 😉

Spoonful of sugar please

The Jolly Holiday Combo, a cheese sandwich and tomato and basil soup… and of course the Practically Perfect Punch which I have been told is very Delicious

Quite a line all day

Since Jolly Holiday is now open, Carnation cafe and the Blue Ribbon bakery have been closed for refurbishment

Coke Corner has also shut its doors for its refurbishment

Along with the Penny arcade

Neat picture

Thanks for reading

Conner Purzycki’s 12/31/11 – 1/3/12 DLR Photo Report

WDWNT on January 12, 2012

For New Years Eve, I spent the day and the following few days at the Disneyland Resort and captured quite a bit of photos to share of all the festivities and much more…

Starting off this New Year celebration with a ride on the Fun Wheel but it was strangely down

YAY! An actual use for Maliboomer Park

Stage set up for NYE

Balloons in Paradise Gardens for NYE

Holy Corn Dogs!!!

Ohh, Pretty

Was playing with my camera so here are some nifty photos of this pretty bridge

Double the spotlights, double the celebration

It was a very foggy new years evening and the fog made for some really good pictures

Some neat foggy WOC shots

In our spot for midnight WOC, the fog kept rolling in

Now on our way out to the other park

WOWZA

Awesome

The castle looks huge for some odd reason

Dance party still hopping by Small World

This is one of my favorite photos taken that night

Happy New Year, hoping on the monorail

Buena Vista Street pics from the monorail

New nerdy shirts in World of Disney

Though an awful hat, bleh

I wonder why Monsters doesn’t use the flick cards like all the other nice attractions.

How about some Cars Land Pics From The Fun Wheel

Disney Channel Rocks set pieces behind Screamin, unknown if the show is coming back

Random shot backstage

Bountiful valley cows celebrating the holidays

The junkyard jukebox

Look at that WDI stuff, How about the WDI stuff

Yikes, kinda faded

The Bugs Land bridge needs a little tlc

Besides the part that was smashed last summer

Cool wrought iron on the Carthay Circle Theater

Wonder how long these are staying

I hope this is gone soon

Over in Innoventions, a new exhibit has debuted, Nanooze

Here you can discover how to make real little stuff, look like big stuff with magnifying thingys

In all seriousness, it is a neat exhibit learning about atoms and molecules

Just look at how much fun Tom is having!

The Xbox 360 area also got a major facelift

Disneyland Kinect Adventures. Awesome

The stupid circle seat things are gone

The Honda exhibit is back

Down in the dream house, the walls have been turned into a giant screen where you can play…..

Thats right, Kinect Disneyland Adventures

Innoventions is still loading through the top floor, so that means Tom Morrow is no where to be found which is a shame because he was a very good AA.

Over at the Disneyland Hotel, some quick pictures around the grounds

WANT!!!

Finally wrapping this up, it looks like the Soundsational Drummer were getting into the Holiday spirit

Thanks for reading

Never Before Seen Photos From Inside Cars Land

WDWNT on January 12, 2012

We were able to acquire some never before seen photos from inside Cars Land and Radiator Springs Racers. Take a look…

A neat photo of a Racers vehicle going over the bridge

Picture of an Imagineer with a baby tractor at Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree

A small photo but the first time we have seen the yellow or blue vehicles for Radiator Springs Racers

Neat photo of a billboard at the Curio Shop. Love the little trucks on top.

Photo taken from Route 66 of the Courthouse

You can see the base that will hold the brass Stanley statue

Another picture of Junkyard Jamboree

And one last photo of Buena Vista Street and the Carthay Circle Fountain

Along with these photos, it was mentioned that the Pixar Play Parade is retuning to DCA late spring 2012.

Flying Tires Testing Has Imagineers In Tears

WDWNT on December 27, 2011

From Kathy Mangum on the Disney Parks Blog:

When I talk about Cars Land, people often ask me which of our three new attractions is my favorite. That is an impossible question to answer! I love them all and for different reasons. Recently we began ride testing Luigi’s Flying Tires and it is promising to be a fantastic experience. There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world.

The vehicles have been made to look like oversized Fettuccini brand tires – the same tires Luigi proudly displays in his shop, Luigi’s Casa della Tires. Once guests are seated inside their tires, Luigi will direct Guido to turn on the air compressor. With that command, air will be pumped up through openings in the floor of the tire yard and the vehicles will begin to float and fly. With Luigi’s Flying Tires, the guest is really in control of the vehicle. By shifting your weight around, you can control the direction of your travel. And if that’s not enough fun, you can always turn a lever and make your tire spin!

John Lasseter recently stopped by to visit with the team and to take a tire for a flight and, as you can see in our video, he has quickly become one of our best flyers. The Imagineer is who is riding with John and giving flying directions is Mike Kilbert, our lead ride engineer and designer for the attraction. Also, John’s son Bennet and Ben’s girlfriend Holly were there and got a chance to try their hand at it – they’re pretty good for a couple of novices! I think you can tell by John’s reaction that he thinks we’ve got a winner on our hands. I couldn’t agree more!

Hayley Nance’s 12/16/11 DLR Photo Report

WDWNT on December 22, 2011

DLNT photographer Hayley Nance was at the Disneyland Resort a few days ago and was able to grab some newsworthy photos to share including Jolly Holiday Bakery, Buena Vista Street, and much more…

Jolly Holiday Bakery may be opening very soon

Over in DCA, Buena Vista Street progress

Imagineering checking things out

Clarabelle’s

You can see the shape of the Elias and Company facade

Carthay Circle Theater

Yup, this is still going

Neat shot of tower

Look down Route 66

Sarge’s

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree

Cool gingerbread house in Storytellers Cafe

And a few more quick shots of Buena vista street, this time from the North

Very Windy Day…

Locker Complex Facade

Thanks for reading!

Max Guggenheim’s 12/17/11 DLR Photo Report

WDWNT on December 18, 2011

DLNT Photographer Max Guggenheim was at the Disneyland Resort yesterday and grabbed some fantastic photos of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street to share…

How about some Cars Land photos from the Fun Wheel

Curio Shop signage up

Cozy Cones

The Backside of the Mountain is now being painted

Ramones signage has also been placed

You can see the top of the Courthouse

Carthay Circle Theater from the fun Wheel

Back on the ground, more pictures of Route 66

The street has been poured

The courthouse looks finished on the exterior

Notice the peace signs next to Fillmore’s

Junkyard Jamboree vehicles

Buena Vista Street

Looks like framing is done and work has begin on the exterior

In Disneyland, a few pics of the new Jolly Holiday Bakery sign and weather vane

Thanks for Reading

Matt Valdez’s 12/8/11 DLR Photo Report

WDWNT on December 9, 2011

DLNT Photographer Matt Valdez was at the Disneyland Resort yesterday and has some newsworthy photos to share with us. Photos include a look and the now complete Disneyland Hotel, The Carthay Circle Theater, and much more…

The Disneyland Hotel’s refurbishment recently wrapped up and Matt was nice enough to talk a stroll through the grounds to grab some pictures

Very modern check in desk

I like the tree topper

Glad to see some of the historical concept art stayed even through the refurb

The Big Thunder Mountain model in the Frontier Tower

Into the parks! Starting off at DCA

Buena Vista Street

New locker complex

A portion of the Carthay Circle Theater was uncovered

Elias & Company Department Store

Clarabelle’s and Fiddler, Fifer, and Pratical Cafe

Looks beautiful

Moving on, No exterior progress yet on the former Mission Tortilla Factory

Cars Land

Mater’s Shack

The leaning tower of tires

Sarge’s Hut

The backside of the Cadillac Range is coming along

I guess they were tired of kids trying to squeeze through these poles

Some painting in Maliboomer Park

Thanks For Reading!

The Leaning Tower of Tires Gets Topped Off

WDWNT on December 8, 2011

From Imagineer Kathy Mangum on the Disney Parks Blog:

As the executive producer for Cars Land for the last 4 1/2 years, I’ve had the incredible privilege of seeing our project transform from concept sketches to the construction and installation phases. It’s so exciting to see the site get one step closer to completion every day and I continue to be amazed at all the work our talented team has done to make Cars Land a reality at Disney California Adventure park.

This part of the project is always my favorite because you can see the project really taking shape. We’re now testing all the rides, completing primary construction and installing major show pieces.

One of our biggest show pieces – the leaning tower of tires in front of Luigi’s Casa della Tires – was installed recently. It was a big production as we literally parked a crane in the middle of the job site to lift the tires into place! Cathy Ritenour, our production designer, was responsible for ensuring the tower was fabricated and installed to our specifications. Cathy gives a little more explanation about the tower in the video below that I think you’ll find interesting.

Matt Valdez’s 11/17/11 DLR Photo Report

WDWNT on November 25, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!! I would like to welcome Matt Valdez to Disneyland News Today as a staff photographer. Matt already has a photo report to share with us…

Starting off in Disneyland

Main Street is already decked out for the holidays

The new Disney Gallery exhibit, “Trains of Disney” is now open at the Disney Gallery