Family Travel to Radiator Springs at Disney California Adventure

Buckle up your booster seats “Cars” fans: Radiator Springs is officially on the map, and it’s not too far from home.

The “cutest little town in Carburetor County” is this summer’s newest attraction up the road in Orange County. On June 15, the Disney California Adventure theme park opened Cars Land, a 12-acre expansion featuring three attractions and stunning Southwest scenery.

The decade-old California Adventure park lacks nostalgia for adults who grew up on Disneyland, but kids raised on Pixar will instantly recognize the park’s newest district: Cars Land is laid out exactly like the town of Radiator Springs, just as you see it in the movies.

The Cars Land expansion, along with a redesigned main entrance, is the capstone of Disney’s $1.1 billion, five-year effort to ramp up California Adventure’s wow-factor. If you haven’t been to the DCA in awhile (or at all), it’s probably time to give the “other” Disney park a chance.

Cadillac Mountain Range is sure to impress. The massive red rocks that backdrop the town of Radiator Springs can be seen from across the park, but fans will be most revved up by the racetrack. Radiator Springs Racers, the district’s E-ticket attraction, takes six-passenger vehicles on a high-speed ride through Ornament Valley then ends with a side-by-side race to the finish line. Which car will win? It’s different every time.

Cars Land’s other attractions are Luigi’s Flying Tires (think bumper cars meet air hockey) and Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, a whip-style ride where mini-tractors will have you spinning while Mater booms out tunes from a giant jukebox.

When you need to refuel, look for Flo’s V8 Cafe, Fillmore’s Taste-In or the Cozy Cone Motel. (Call me “coney,” but I like their “punny” menu featuring foods like chili “cone” queso and “cone” on the cob.)

DCA’s main entrance is all-new this summer. Formerly the lackluster Sunshine Plaza, the main drag is now Buena Vista Street, a salute to Los Angeles as it was in the 1920s and ‘30s when Walt Disney first came to California.

Located on Buena Vista Street, the sprawling park also gets its first people-mover this summer. Hop aboard the Red Car Trolley for a ride past Art Deco storefronts and an iconic reproduction of the theater where Walt Disney’s first animated feature, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” premiered in 1937. The trolley loops back at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, a free-fall elevator ride that might make your heart leap out your throat.

Don’t Miss!

Whatever you do, don’t miss the World of Color over at Paradise Pier. If nothing else about DCA leaves you wowed, this nighttime water-and-light spectacular will.

Unlike Disney’s other shows and parades, you’ll need a ticket to access the viewing area for World of Color. The show weaves together fountains, fire and movie projections that you’ll want to see from the front, directly facing Mickey’s Fun Wheel across the lake, and hopefully without somebody tall standing in front of you.

Tickets for the viewing area are technically free, but there are a couple ways to get them: If you’ll be at the park early in the day, pick up a Fastpass ticket near Grizzly River Run. Otherwise, make reservations for a picnic meal (several menu options, $15.99) or a special prix fixe meal (participating restaurants only, about $39.99 for adults, $20.99 for children ages 3-9) that includes an admission ticket for the viewing area; call 714-781-3463 up to 60 days in advance for dining reservations. 

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Sara Bristol is a freelance writer.

published: June 28, 2012