Cool Mom Picks - Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure

Tuesday 26 June

Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure - yes, it's all that

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I take my Disneyland fix quite seriously and I love Mickey Mouse. So, you can only imagine my excitement when I was invited to check out the grand opening of the new Cars Land area of Disney's California Adventure.

I must admit, my expectations were high. Sky high, actually. And let me tell you, Pixar delivers.

Cars Land at Disney California Adventure

Imagine that you are sitting down with your wee ones watching Lightning McQueen on the big screen. Now picture yourself walking through the flat screen TV into that world--that's truly what Cars Land is. Radiator Springs comes complete with mountain tops shaped like Cadillac fins. Flo's diner is there, and so is Luigi's tire shop with the tires stacked so high into the sky you wonder if they are going to topple (they don't).

The landmark attraction in this part of the park s the Radiator Springs Racers and I can completely see why. It's just amazing. Truly in a class of its own.

The ride is set up as a jaunt through Radiator Springs and it ends with a race. The ride has two possibilities: you can ride through Luigi's tire shop and get your tires adjusted, or through Ramone's paint shop for a quick job before the big race. Here's the thing. You can't choose where you go; it's completely random which adds to the thrill of it. But it does go pretty darn fast, so keep that in mind if you've got kids that don't like speed. Even so, I saw a bunch of little kids in line. You know your own kids best.

There are two other rides in Cars Land, starting with Luigi's Flying Tires (above) which feels as though you are sitting on an air hockey puck that's actually a massive tire. You move the tire by moving your body around to shift the direction of the tire. There are also huge beach balls (Viva Italia!) that you can throw around if you can catch them. My little guy decided that this ride was a wee bit too slow for his taste--but it was just right for his Mom.

There's also a fun and swervy ride, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, complete with Larry the Cable Guy, er, Mater, singing jingles. It sounds strange but it totally works.

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree ride at Cars Land

Keep in mind that because Cars Land is part of California Adventure, it requires either the one day-one park ticket ($81-87) or if you want to do both this and Disneyland, the Disney one-day parkhopper ticket ($119-125). Obviously that's additional moolah, but well worth it in my opinion; I wouldn't do California Adventure on its own (despite the awesome Soarin' ride) because you get way more bang for your buck at Disneyland.

However if you haven't been, or if you have very young kids who can't do everything quickly, you'll probably want the two-day tickets--you can save a little money if you're willing to do one park one day, and the other the next day.

In my opinion, if you're going for just one day, I would really invest in the one-day parkhopper and check out California Adventure, if for the Radiator Springs Racers ride alone. It is that good! It's like a Pixar movie on crack. In fact I rode it three times because it just got more and more fun.

That said, I think that the line is currently five hours long. (Not much of an exaggeration.) So unless you're a local, you might want to hold off on your trip for a wee bit until the hype dies down. Otherwise, make sure to get there early and walk directly to Radiator Springs, first thing.

Overall, Cars Land will remind you how fun it is to be a kid. And you know what? That never gets old. I'm already jonesing to get back to Walt's world for another rendezvous. Annual passes, fellow Californians? -Eva

Learn more about the new Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure, and get ticket information online from the Disneyland website. Plus the Cars Land part of the website has some fun stuff for kids to do.

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