# Cars Land is OPEN!



## hypnotiq (Jun 15, 2012)

So exciting. Cars Land is now open @ California Adventure! 

I originally was going to be there this weekend but opted to go in September after all the kids are back in school! 

Jealous to anyone that actually there for this!


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## Serina (Jun 15, 2012)

Yeah! Can't wait to hear about it.


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## hypnotiq (Jun 15, 2012)

The current line for Radiator Springs Racers is 5+ hours and extends back and forth into Paradise Pier! 

Wow.     

Glad I waited...LOL


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## Twinkstarr (Jun 15, 2012)

hypnotiq said:


> The current line for Radiator Springs Racers is 5+ hours and extends back and forth into Paradise Pier!
> 
> Wow.
> 
> Glad I waited...LOL



I saw that also on Twitter, we're going in November.


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 15, 2012)

We're going late August, and I am sure concerned we are going to have long lines.  I wasn't planning to stay on site.  I was thinking of Peacock Suites.  Maybe I need to re-think it for the extra early hour in the morning at California Adventure.


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## DeniseM (Jun 15, 2012)

Hi Cindy - I'd stay at either the Wyndham resort or Dolphin's Cove and take the Toy Story Shuttle to the park for free!


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## hypnotiq (Jun 15, 2012)

according to a friend of mine, all of the fast passes for the day were gone by 9:55 am, 55 mins after opening.


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## Twinkstarr (Jun 15, 2012)

hypnotiq said:


> according to a friend of mine, all of the fast passes for the day were gone by 9:55 am, 55 mins after opening.




I think being onsite maybe the way to go and doing rope drop. 

Hopefully things will have calmed down by November, luckily I was able to get a 2br at VGC.


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 15, 2012)

Twinkstarr said:


> I think being onsite maybe the way to go and doing rope drop.
> 
> Hopefully things will have calmed down by November, luckily I was able to get a 2br at VGC.



That's what I would love to get, but the number of points involved.  But it is only four or five nights.


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## Twinkstarr (Jun 15, 2012)

rickandcindy23 said:


> That's what I would love to get, but the number of points involved.  But it is only four or five nights.



234 for  our Fri-Tues stay. I didn't think it was that bad, I had the Worldmark for a back up. Plus I was able to snag 4 25k FF tickets on Delta.


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 15, 2012)

DeniseM said:


> Hi Cindy - I'd stay at either the Wyndham resort or Dolphin's Cove and take the Toy Story Shuttle to the park for free!



We have Shell points, and believe it or not, 4 nts in a 1 bed with king bed at Peacock Suites is only 800 points for Sun-Thur, and that translates to less than $160 total for late August.  Not bad for the stay, but I would rather stay at Disneyland, if I can get the dates I need.


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## Toughbeat (Jun 15, 2012)

I live 20 minutes away from Disneyland.  This will be the first weekend of Cars Land opening and the news was advising to stay completely away from the nearby Disney resort and freeway offramp areas.  They expect sellout crowds and traffic Disneygeddon! 

As for me, I'll wait til summer is over and school starts before trying to go.  No hurries since I live so close, but 5 hour waits are just awful  There goes a big part of the day.


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## Toughbeat (Jun 15, 2012)

Just thought of something..you don't think Disney raised ticket prices a few weeks ago in anticipation of record crowds for the grand opening of Cars Land do u? nahhhhh


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## fillde (Jun 16, 2012)

Looks like a success so far. No mention online of cars land opening in Disney World.


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## kashicaat (Jun 16, 2012)

*Whew...*

We are going in January, with Cars Land being a HUGE reason for going, but I refuse to go during the summer. We have a 2 bedroom at VGC for the week and am SO excited. We are going the first week all the kids should be back in school (we've pulled ours out for that week) so hopefully the lines are significantly smaller


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## MichaelColey (Jun 16, 2012)

rickandcindy23 said:


> We're going late August, and I am sure concerned we are going to have long lines. I wasn't planning to stay on site. I was thinking of Peacock Suites. Maybe I need to re-think it for the extra early hour in the morning at California Adventure.


We're going to be there then, too!


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## ada903 (Jun 17, 2012)

I will be there for July 4th, in two weeks, I am screwed.  But excited.


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## timeos2 (Jun 17, 2012)

Cars Land looks great & it's a much needed update to the parks. But the downside to the completion is that Disney has announced they don't plan anymore big updates at any US parks anytime soon. And they are cancelling plans for additions at Animal Kingdom. 

This is bad as there has been nothing really new at Disney World since 2008. They basically orphaned the Studios when they dropped the MGM name ( that would be a perfect place to add a Cars Land!) and now have two uncompleted, at best "1/2 parks" in FL.  Meanwhile Seaworld and especially Universal has eaten their lunch in providing the latest and greatest in new, improved and changing attractions that appeal to today's visitors.  While no one should want the classic & delightful miracles like the Haunted Mansion or Pirates to be replaced or even changed much far too many things in the parks are dated, feel old and hold little attraction now. 

It is becoming a very young and very old park that doesn't appeal to the group with the most money - the middle aged, teens families. They seem to be choosing the much more up to date Universal, more action based rides & Harry Potter over the tame Disney Parks.  As it takes years to ramp up new attractions the announcement that they are cutting back to maintenance only for a few years means it could be 2017 or beyond before they have really new attractions. Not a good thing for visitors or the parks. They continue to make more money based on ever rising prices but how long will limited and dated attractions allow that to continue? Putting their money in cruise ships rather than the parks could come back to bite them big time.  

All that said I'd LOVE to see Cars Land. It sounds like the type of magical town Disney USED to create but with a newer vibe. Too bad they don't plan it for Florida as well.


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 17, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> We're going to be there then, too!



We booked 10/29-11/2 instead.  Rick saw the crowd levels on touringplans.com and it's 1's and 2's that week, and added bonus, we get to miss trick-or-treating here at home.  I am all about missing the little goblins, who are mostly over 14 in our neighborhood now.   The little ones are cute, but the older ones, well it's getting a little ridiculous.  

Already booked the Peacock Suites, 1 bed with king bed and hope for a better stay than our exchange was last time.  

It was 400 points for those nights, which is a whopping $80 total for our cost.  But we do have to pay $10 per day for the valet parking, which is mandatory.  Not bad.  I hope they don't charge us $10 every time we come and go, or we will only come back at the end of the night to sleep.


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 17, 2012)

> Cars Land looks great & it's a much needed update to the parks. But the downside to the completion is that Disney has announced they don't plan anymore big updates at any US parks anytime soon. And they are cancelling plans for additions at Animal Kingdom.


Geez, John, the new Fantasyland is going to be awesome and has several new rides.  They are doing another Dumbo ride too. 

Universal keeps adding more roller coasters and drop rides, which half of the population won't ride.  Just look at the rides in Islands of Adventure, almost nothing there but roller coasters and crazy drops.  Just a Spiderman ride and a Harry Potter ride that roller coaster haters can attempt.  The Suess area is not all that fun, and even the Cat in the Hat ride was a bit wild for our granddaughter.  The Bilge Rat Barge would be okay, but you get soaked to the skin every attempt.  It's not fun for me.  

Universal Studios has more rides I can ride, and I love the shows at both parks, but Disney is a place I go 12 days to 1 day at Universal.  The crowds are not at Universal.  We can do both parks on a weekday in October, really easily.

What do I love about Disney?  The train goes around the park and allows me to go from one area to another without walking.  I love the People Mover.  I love Carousel of Progress.  I love Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear.  

Roller coasters at Disney: Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, Rockin' Roller Coaster, Test Track (not really a coaster because I ride it).

Roller coasters at Universal: Rip Rocket, Mummy, Dueling Dragons, and Hulk.  Okay, we can count the one by Harry Potter.

Drop rides: Disney has Tower of Tower, Universal has Dr. Dooms Fear Fall.  

Water rides: Disney has Splash Mountain, and Kali River Rapids in AK. Universal has a log flume ride and Bilge Rat Barges.  

Disney has Toy Story, which is as good or better than Men in Black. 

Love Spiderman and ET, and not much to match those at Disney, but Disney has many other rides that don't compare to anything in Universal.  They have Star Tours, Jungle Cruise, Pooh, Buzz, Tea Cups, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Kilamanjaro Safaris, Pirates, Nemo, Soarin', The Land, and Peter Pan. 

The line for the Seuss trolley is always so long, even on a slow day, because there is little else for parents to do with the little ones.   

Universal is nothing compared to Disney for me.  But that's because I can ride almost everything at Disney and almost nothing at Universal.  I go to Universal for the shows.

Shows at Disney: Nemo, Lion King, Flights of Wonder, Beauty and the Beast, Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, Cars, Indiana Jones, Philharmagic, Country Bear Jamboree, Carousel of Progress.  

Shows at Universal: Shrek 4D, Rocky Horror Makeup, Terminator 2 3D, Barney, Twister, Animal Actors, Disaster (stand up only for most of it), Poseidon, and that stunt show.


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## bnoble (Jun 17, 2012)

> But the downside to the completion is that Disney has announced they don't plan anymore big updates at any US parks anytime soon. And they are cancelling plans for additions at Animal Kingdom.


At this point, most of the insiders seem to suggest that the AK Pandora expansion is still on its way---probably overhauling Camp Minnie-Mickey---though possibly not beyond that park to start, and probably not quite at the Cars Land scale.  There are a few who suggest it won't happen, but their track records re: accuracy are not generally as solid as those who think something will still happen.

Of course, no one who doesn't work at TDO knows 100% for sure, but it seems more likely than not so far.  And, if Cars Land outperforms expectations in terms of ROI, expect the AK investment to grow rather than shrink.

Edited to add: for example it seems pretty clear that Camp Minnie-Mickey is being gutted.  Disney has already announced that Beastly Bazaar is to be converted to an indoor meet-and-greet location, rendering the outdoor character trails at the Camp duplicative.  Likewise, Drew---a very reliable poster over at WDWMagic---reports a rumor that Festival of the Lion King is being relocated to Africa.  That leaves the Camp empty----empty for a nice expansion.


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## spencersmama (Jun 17, 2012)

timeos2 said:


> This is bad as there has been nothing really new at Disney World since 2008. They basically orphaned the Studios when they dropped the MGM name ( that would be a perfect place to add a Cars Land!) and now have two uncompleted, at best "1/2 parks" in FL.



I have to agree with what Cindy said above.  Fantasy Land in the Magic Kingdom is going through a huge expansion right now, and hopefully it will alleviate some of the crowds.  That area of the park is shoulder to shoulder people, the majority of the year.

Disney has added the car stunt show in Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania, and has changed the Star Wars ride to be different each time you ride.  In fact, fast passes for Toy Story Mania are always gone by the time I get to the park, but fast passes for Rock'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror are available.  That suggests to me that the interactive family friendly rides are the ones more in demand. 

I think Universal and Disney both appeal to a different crowd and I have in fact had/have annual passes for Disney, Universal and all the Busch properties.  The thing I appreciate about Disney is that it really has something for everyone, and there is something different to do each time we go.  I also like that on most rides your whole family can go together.  There was nothing more frustrating to me than having to entertain toddlers or preschoolers while all the adults went on a big ride.  Or, putting the little ones on child sized rides while the parents stand around all day.  It is much more enjoyable to experience them together.

My kids are teens now and love Harry Potter, but there is only really the one Harry Potter themed ride.  There are various shops, a "baby" roller coaster with a huge line, and the dueling coasters.  Those coasters were renamed, but pretty much exactly the same as they were before Harry potter was built.  (And no matter how busy the park is, I've only ever seen a 20 minute wait at most at the Dueling Dragons.)  The details in the Harry Potter shops and storefronts are amazing.  If they redo the whole park with that much attention to detail, maybe it will draw in more people that come back every year to vacation for a week.  From personal experience, my kids, who beg me to renew our Disney passes each year, said they were bored after one year of having Universal passes.


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## Twinkstarr (Jun 18, 2012)

rickandcindy23 said:


> We booked 10/29-11/2 instead.  Rick saw the crowd levels on touringplans.com and it's 1's and 2's that week, and added bonus, we get to miss trick-or-treating here at home.  I am all about missing the little goblins, who are mostly over 14 in our neighborhood now.   The little ones are cute, but the older ones, well it's getting a little ridiculous.
> 
> Already booked the Peacock Suites, 1 bed with king bed and hope for a better stay than our exchange was last time.
> 
> It was 400 points for those nights, which is a whopping $80 total for our cost.  But we do have to pay $10 per day for the valet parking, which is mandatory.  Not bad.  I hope they don't charge us $10 every time we come and go, or we will only come back at the end of the night to sleep.



Looks like I'll miss you agin Cindy, we are at VGC 11/2-11/6


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## MichaelColey (Jun 18, 2012)

timeos2 said:


> It [WDW] is becoming a very young and very old park that doesn't appeal to the group with the most money - the middle aged, teens families.


Every time we've been to WDW, it seems like there are PLENTY of people there, spending tons of money.

Universal has had some tremendous growth the past two years because of WWOHP, but if you look at the numbers, you'll find:

1) Disney as a chain has 4x the number of visitors as Universal.
2) The top 8 theme parks in the world are all Disney.  (All four of the WDW parks are in the top 8.)

Families with teens might or might not be the group with the most money, but WDW's target demographic seems to be very willing to part with large amounts of money.


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## pefs65 (Jun 18, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> Every time we've been to WDW, it seems like there are PLENTY of people there, spending tons of money.
> 
> Universal has had some tremendous growth the past two years because of WWOHP, but if you look at the numbers, you'll find:
> 
> ...



This is such great information.  The Mouse looks very strong indeed.:whoopie:


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 18, 2012)

Our one day a visit at Universal is an easy day.  We go to Studios first and ride Men in Black about 8-10 times (you can walk right on and then go through the baby swap), then we go to The Simpsons and wait for about five minutes to ride it.  Then we go to the two roller coasters, which have no line most of the time, and I sit inside the Irish pub on a comfy chair while Rick and whatever guests we have with us ride the roller coasters.  

We usually skip Disaster and Twister, but if we have guests, we go for them to experience it.  Impressed with the Christopher Walken image that looks real and "interacts" with the host at Disaster, but standing the entire time, when you are already tired, that's not fun.  

ET doesn't open until 11:00 during the slow time, so we walk way back there to ride it, but I can skip it and not be disappointed.  It was great 20 years ago, but it's never changed.  It also broke down twice this last year, while we were waiting in line for it.  

Then we go to Terminator 2, Shrek, sometimes the Rocky Horror Makeup show, and then we are on our way at lunch time to IOA, and we usually eat at Hard Rock Cafe before the long walk over (why don't they provide a shuttle or something?).  

We cut through Seussland, go directly to Forbidden Journey and ride it once or twice.  We rarely wait more than 15 minutes in the afternoon around 2:00.  Rick rides the coasters, and we see the two shows over there, if they aren't having issues with Poseidon's Fury (which is often).  I tire of those two shows.  Then it's Jurassic Park for Rick (I won't ride it), but he often skips it, because he doesn't want to get wet.  It was broken in April, when we were there last.  Our son and daughter-in-law were disappointed.  

Then we skip Popeye's two water rides for the wetness.  We go to Spiderman, which I love, and whoever goes with us usually rides Hulk and Dr. Doom's.  Boring park for me.  Seriously.  The grandkids hardly rode anything at either park, either, and my grandson fell asleep in my arms at the restaurant adjacent to the Hulk.  Not much for them to do.


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## Denise L (Jun 29, 2012)

*Carsland is A LOT of fun!*

We were at Disneyland June 15-20 .  I booked it at 11 months out using our VGC points, so at that point in time, there was no definite Carsland opening date.  I knew it would be in June, but did not know we would arrive on Carsland's Opening Day  !  Luckily, all the crazy people who camped out overnight on the 14th (starting at 11pm, and DCA was closed that entire day!) were already in the park when we arrived at 2:00 pm.

The area was jam packed on June 15 (of course), so we just walked through like sardines and walked out.  Eventually, we were able to ride Racers once during our 5-day stay after my DH waited in the FP line while we watched Aladdin.  Fantastic attraction!  I was totally wowed by the animatronics and theming!  I really wanted to ride it at night, but nobody wanted to go with me and we were always exhausted by then.  Next year....

FP line was up to 2 hours at one point.  Stand-by 4-5 hours.  Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree is hysterical (though I timed it, it's about a minute attraction), and Luigi's Tires was not working so great (beach balls needed air) but was still cute.

You must see Radiator Springs at night.  Completely impressive.  Lighting is amazing.  

I was also quite impressed with Disneyland...Small World was spruced up, the Matterhorn has the new bobsleds and new look.  Everything was in tip-top shape.  Very few ride breakdowns...

I think Roger Rabbit was down briefly, Aladdin had a malfunction and had to abruptly end...

Great visit.  Buena Vista Street at DCA was very cool. 

I love Disney  .


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