Carsland Preview

 

I'm a week late with this post, but here goes.  A week ago we had just gotten back after a uniquely fun weekend down in Disneyland.  With Carsland opening to the public this next weekend, Pixar employees and their families were invited to a special Carsland preview where we could walk around Carsland during a specific 5-hour block of time and try out its rides, shops, and dining before it opens to the public.  And for those who have not heard of Carsland, Disney's new 1.1 billion dollar 12-acre expansion to California Adventure, here's a link to catch you up:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cars_Land

While we had lots of other fun at Disneyland and California Adventure, the time we were able to spend in Carsland was definately the highlight of our short trip.  I wish I could post pictures of it here, but Disney Imagineering basically recreated Radiator Springs just about as close to what's in Cars as you possibly can and still have it feel like part of an amusement park.  Flo's V8 cafe is an actual restuarant you can eat at, you can walk around the main street that McQueen paved in the movie, order different snakes and food at the Cozy Cones, etc.  Every major building in Radiator Spring has been created to look like it did in the movie and is either a restaurant, shop, a ride, or just a building to look at.  What amazes me the most is how much you feel like you're in a separate world from the rest of California Adventure.  And the fact that we got 50% off of all souvenirs and food made it just that much more fun to try out the food.  Like getting souvenir cone-shaped soda glasses or McQueen-shape popcorn boxes for each of the kids.  My favorite food picks had to be the amazing chocolate shakes from Flo's, the dill-pickled flavored popcorn (is so much better than it sounds), and the cone-shaped chicken bread-wraps at the Cozy Cones.

And the rides are really fun!  I'll mention here two out of the three:  First in Luigi's Flying Tires you ride these tire seat contraptions that are literally mini hovercrafts that move as you lean in different directions.  And you have big beach balls to grab and throw at other people.  Basically it's like bumper cars with ammo.  The best ride, though, is the Radiator Springs Racers.  From the outside it just looks like you ride in cars that are made to move like a roller coaster through the rock cadillac mountains from the movie.  But the actual ride is much more than that.  They incorporate characters, sites, music, and props the movie that makes for much more than a simple roller coaster.  Imagine something like a Cars version of Splash mountain.

Other fun rides besides what was in Carsland that's worth mentioning:  the Bugs life 3D show, that incorporates sensory experiences, like air blowing and water drips, in addition to the 3D projection; the Tower of Terror that I took Cameron on with me, where there were some teenage girls in the line that were surprized to see such a young boy in line for that type of scary ride, but Cameron ended up really enjoying and not being scared (it's a Twilight Zone type elevator ride where you're taken up really high and dropped straight down several times); and the Aladdin show, which was bascially a stage broadway version of Disney's Aladdin, at which I was fairly impressed with the production values (and the genie actor stole the show, just like Robin Williams did in the movie).

The photos I included here are: 1) a shot of the kids sitting in front of a fountain in Downtown Disney, and 2) sitting at the window of our hotel room where we stayed at the Hyatt.  Because Eve and I are now Diamond member of Hyatt with lots of points stacked up for free night stays, thanks to our 11-week Hyatt hotel stay last spring, I booked a room for two nights at the closest Hyatt I could find to Disneyland, which was just a mile down the road from there.  And was it a nice hotel!  And my favorite part by far was the complimentary full breakfast buffet (complete with made-to-order omelets!!) for our whole family each morning of our stay.