Photo TR: Cars Land Or Bust!!

[Erik Johnson]

I just got back from a 10 day vacation out to southern California. The reason I went out was to attend my cousin's wedding in Santa Barbara. His timing was perfect as Disney's California Adventure was going to have its grand opening several days later which included the opening of Cars Land. My parents have never been to Disneyland before, and my mother had not been to southern California since 1955 (She was born there). So we made a pretty epic trip out of it. Let us start, shall we?

It only takes 4 1/2 hours to fly coast to coast!

I finally made it to the Santa Monica Pier, it really is not to far from LAX.

See anything interesting off in the background?

According to this plaque, it is a local landmark.

The main reason for my visit was to check out the Merry-Go-Round.

It is one of the famous locations that was used for one of my favorite movies, "The Sting".

Robert Redford met Eileen Brennan right here.

Here are a few photos of the carousel.

Let us head on into Pacific Park!

Credit #419, West Roller Coaster.

I think the top speed is 35mph.

Wheeee!

Station photo.

Next ride, The Pacific Wheel.

The world's only solar power ferris wheel.

I am not sure if you can make it out, but all of those little black dots are swarming bees.

They ended up closing off this section of the park, due to swarming bees. Yep, I did not get on The Pacific Wheel.

Pacific Park main entrance.

The Pier was the western end of Route 66, which ties in nicely with the rest of this trip report.

The final shop of Route 66, tribute.

It certainly turned out to be a nice day.

The end of the pier. I wonder if Kayne West is still swimming out there.

This is what it looks like 180 degrees from the last photo.

I-10 now ends at the Santa Monica Pier. If you took this highway, you would end up in Jacksonville, Florida.

We had a nice drive up the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) on our way up to Santa Barbara.

Look, it is another pier......with dolphins!

If I had more time, I would have loved to see a movie at this place.

You really can find a lot of neat places along State Street.

Santa Barbara Pier.

If you lived on the east coast back in the 70's and 80's, you may remember this place.

It has well over 1,000 locations in it's heyday. Now there is only the original one left.

Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens.

Lots of pretty wild flowers.

The stairs down to the redwood grove was pretty cool.

Redwood Trees!

Boy, they sure are tall.

Watch Your Step!

That maybe the largest pine cone I have ever seen.

Next Stop, Santa Barbara Zoo.

This explains a lot.

Does anyone think the layout of the zoo looks like a dinosaur head?

Awesome!

These condors were huge.

Probably the greatest name for a zoo exhibit.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Erik Johnson

[beatle11]

Nice pics Erik!

[alpengeistfan1]

Nice pictures! I've always wanted to go to these places in CA.

 

Oh and by the way, The Sting is one of the best movies ever...

[Sir Clinksalot]

Awesome stuff Erik. LOVE the Santa Barbara Zoo. It's just big enough. I actually never noticed that about the shape of the Zoo.

 

Love Sambo's as well. We generally stop there for Breakfast on our way up to Wine Country just north of Santa Barbara.

 

Never done the Botanical Gardens, will have to check those out. They look awesome.

[cfc]

I grew up in California and have yet to visit the Santa Monica or Pacific Park--just never got around to it. As for Sambos, I've many of their pancakes in my day. I remember when their name was finally declared "racist," and they tried to rebrand as "No Place Like Sam's." It didn't work.

 

Looking forward to seeing more, Erik.

[bottom_feeder_13]

I live in Santa Barbara and haven't been to Sambos once, anyways it's interesting to see a visitor's perspective of where I live.

[AllenA07]

A few years back when I was at UCLA I practically lived at the Santa Monica pier. I was out there several times a month to enjoy the beach.

[gisco]

I had no clue that part of the Sting was filmed there at the pier. Now I'm going to have to watch the movie again. Like Chuck, I too ate a lot of pancakes from Sambos.

[Brandy524]

Great stuff so far, Erik! Looking forward to more!

[mcjaco]

I'v said this a hundred times, but Santa Monica Pier led me to TPR. I had a two week class in LA for work. I had no idea what to do with myself over the weekend, so I started looking for parks to go to, while a buddy flew out to keep me company. We ended up at USH, since he'd never been, but found TPR later that week while finding out what parks I missed out on.

[BeemerBoy]

I'v said this a hundred times, but Santa Monica Pier led me to TPR.

Well, now we know who to blame.

 

Nice report thus far! Looking forward to more.

[Erik Johnson]

Ok, onto Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland. This section will focus on these two parks before the big day of June 15.

Albertson's my old employeer.

Anyone else see anything wrong with this truck?

Ahhh, my old friend, Howard Johnson's.

I can imagine that this tour would be amazing.

Indiana Jones!!

Not Indiana Jones!

The entrance, um now looks like Florida.

Which means that Disneyland will be super slammed packed that day.

I see that the blue walls are still here. Just in a different location when compared to my last two visits in 2009 and 2010.

Blue Walls in 2009.

Drained lagoon in 2009.

This was the plan for the park 3 years ago.

Ok, this is new since my last visit.

He is lame, because he spells his name funny.

Most amazing hair ever!

I thought the ride was pretty good, but I do not think it was built for me.

Probably the most famous scene from the movie.

I still think the ride really needed one more scene to make the story feel more complete. Maybe the Florida version will be better.

People taking photos through a shrub.

They were holding a preview for some lucky group of people.

Cool poster, I think it would make a great T-shirt.

The Cathay Circle building looks pretty cool, I think that I will try to eat there on Wednesday.

More walls!!

A better look at the same wall.

Oh, so that is where all of this stuff is located.

I honestly wish that I could have seen this area a few months ago because I am a bit of a Tron Fanboy.

I am sure it would look better at night.

The Orlando version of Tower is my all time favorite Disney ride.

This would be the uber super secret exit out Disney's Walls of Adventure.

These look yummy.

It is probably kind of sad that I traveled all the way across the country to finally ride Star Tours 2 when I have the other version 2 hours away from my house.

I am not much of a fan of simulator rides, but I thought they did a pretty good job updating this one.

I ended up riding it four times, I have seen every scene except the one on Coruscant. So the random scenes really worked well for me.

Space Mountain is always a better ride at night.

They decided to referb Matterhorn into an exploding volcano.

Yay....Space Mountain.

Woooot!

It does not look any bigger at night.

Good morning Disneyland, this day is special!

This is my parents first visit to Disneyland!

My dad's favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom is Pirates, I can't wait to get him on the better version.

First things first, get them on the low capacity Fantasyland rides.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride will always be my favorite.

My mother lived in Long Beach in 1955. She moved away two months before Disneyland opened. She finally made it.

I think that they did a good job incorporating the new characters in the ride.

Want to ride again?

I do have a fun family.

I spy a new train!!

Matterhorn does look spruced up!

I finally got a good photo of this. iPhone > My Old Camera.

Ahhhhhh........A misty Al Swearengen!

An old boat.

Native American!

Ben Hur: The Ride.

My folks were really surprised with the train ride.

Haunted Mansion.

I really want to experience the Holiday version sometime.

Again, better at night.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad honestly is better at night.

I have never seen these fireworks before.

Yep....Fantasmic.

The dragon is pretty cool.

This one does not look like some kid's wood shop project.

Space Mountain was my alarm clock the next morning.

Hooray for Space Mountain!

The old Cars Land.

I drive for a living, so this should be a piece of cake!

A nice drive through the park.

Off road....ack!

Indiana Jones is my favorite dark ride. Too bad that the ride really needs some work. Too many broken effects during my visit.

Edited June 20, 2012 by Erik Johnson

[Erik Johnson]

One final look at the "Old" Disney's California Adventure!

June 13th was the final day of the "Old" Disney's California Adventure.

Which means today is the last day of the Walls of Adventure attraction.

It is pretty insane what you have to go through to see some colored water.

You have to get to DCA early just to get a fast pass for a good viewing area of the show.

Can't wait to get an awesome lunch...um oh crap!

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

Oh, what is this?

Looks like they are getting ready for the big event.

Cars Land!!

Still my favorite ride in the park.

Much better not in a big orange.

They do run it at a pretty good speed. Nothing beats the wave swinger at Lake Compounce.

Same ride, with some new plywood.

Theming.

More theming.

Ride.

I understand that this just opened up.

This is what it looks like inside.

The animated backgrounds are pretty cool.

Here is another one.

Do you see the hidden Mickey?

Larry the Cable Guy riding his own ride.

OMG! The walls are down!

The walls are down: Part 2!

Let us check out and see if anything else has been done for the big day.

Wow, all the trains are now out and testing.

Look at all of them.

The walls are down! And if you look closely, you can see that Matterhorn now has a single rider line!

More people at work.

Work: Part 2

You know, I do not think I ever rode this before here.

No Neil Peart!

Looks like they are getting ready for the show.

One hour before showtime.

Almost showtime.

Yay! Colored water.

I guess I sort of liked the show. But it certainly is an ordeal to get a good spot to watch it.

Fire is always good.

More fire? Yes, please.

End of show.

Final look at Walls of Adventure.

One final look at the "old" version of DCA.

Another new attraction poster.

[BeemerBoy]

^ Lovin' that Red Car Trolley poster!

[cfc]

I'm a fan of the old Disney attraction posters, too.

[mcjaco]

^ Lovin' that Red Car Trolley poster!

 

Same. I want one.

[ernierocker]

He is lame, because he spells his name funny

 

Nope, he spells it just right!

[gisco]

DCA is starting to look pretty good. Nice to finally see the walls coming down.

[cfc]

He is lame, because he spells his name funny

 

Nope, he spells it just right!

 

Can't we all just get along?

[beatle11]

The Matterhorn trains look great!

[Erik Johnson]

The next day I finally had the opportunity to visit Universal Studios: Hollywood. I was never able to fit this park into my schedule until this visit, plus I was waiting for them to build the Transformers ride. Yes, the main draw for me was the brand new Transformers: The Ride. I thought it was really great, easily the best dark ride in southern California next to a working Indiana Jones. Yes, Transformers is very similar to Spiderman, but there are certainly differences between the two (I loved the driving and flying sequences). I ended up riding it four times that day. Anyways, onward to more photos.

Good morning, Universal Studios Hollywood!

You have to get a photo in front of the globe, right?

They must have known that I was coming today.

One of these are real.

Transformers: The Ride. This is why we are here.

While the front entrance is certainly lacking, everything else is really awesome!

Go ride it, if you have not.

The All-Spark. The plot of the ride (and the first movie) is focused on this.

Good to know!

The queue's theme.

I love how fast they load people into the vehicle. It is actually part of the theming.

Retro-Bumblebee pillow.

Yes, they are pretty cool.

It was pretty good, until the ending.

I really liked this version of Jurassic Park. Though 75% of the summer mode was running on our ride.

Sploosh!

Never heard of him.

You have to do this.

I see another studio way off in the distance.

I get to see this one a week from Saturday.

Buildings.

Tram!

As seen in Back to the Future....and many other movies.

Oooo...Kong.

It actually was quite neat.

I want the Deathmobile.

Boom!

Kinda silly.

Here it comes!

Sploosh!

I like trains.

I also like westerns.

Just like Disaster!

Sploosh!

I am sure I have seen this before somewhere.

Can't see this in Florida anymore.

Snicker....

Shark...Shark...Shark.

One of many houses we saw today.

A Grinch set.

I wonder what is around this corner.

Ack! Why did they build that stupid Grinch set right behind this???

Yep!

Norman, is that you?

Such an iconic scene, too bad those trees are blocking the house.

You drive right in front of the Bates home.

War of the Worlds set.

It is pretty large.

Green screen and water.

This is going to be T2's final summer.

It would be the perfect place to build the Potter area I think.

One final look.

Yahoooo!

Hit or Miss?

It looks so far away from up here.

Studios and offices.

Cool looking theater.

This was pretty cool.

Basically a year long HHN maze.

The Waterworld stunt show was GREAT!

This is the only photo I have of the show due to some issues with my camera.

LAME!!!

I had a great time at Universal!

Meanwhile, back to Disney's California Adventure.

The walls are all down!!!

People have already started camping for the grand opening the next day.

Do you think I should wear this for opening day?

[larrygator]

Nice to know that you get to see some "VAG" this week.

 

Good PTR, as usual.

Edited June 21, 2012 by larrygator

[OldJJman]

^ Lovin' that Red Car Trolley poster!

 

Same. I want one.

 

IIRC, they sell small versions of those, kinda like a plaque. About 8"x16".

 

I'll check next time I head over, if you guys are interested.

[ernierocker]

Nice to know that you get to see some "VAG" this week.

 

 

Yup, I was about to make a similar comment that went in the same direction.

[Erik Johnson]

Cars Land Part 1

 

 

It really was by chance that I was in town the same week as the opening of Cars Land. I was a bit nervous in that I have only heard of horror stories of how crowded the parks get for any special event or opening of new rides. Since I only had one shot at it this visit, I decided to camp out before the opening of the park. We walked over at 3:00am to find out that everything was extremely well organized. Once you received your color coded wristband (each large group got a specific color) you found a spot at the end of the line. Disney also made sure to have a food vendor as well as open bathrooms open all night. They started letting out group into the park at around 7:30am. The grand-reopening ceremony was around 8:00 I think. After the ceremony was over they dropped the rope and let our group in.

 

Cars Land:

 

Yes, the new area of the park is quite amazing to look at, especially at night. Even if you are not a fan of Cars, I think you can still appreciate the new area. I am honestly not a huge fan of the movies. Also, if you do not know anything about the theme, you can still enjoy it. We first went directly to the brand new ride, Radiator Springs Racers. The area that the ride covers is huge, you really can not get a sense of the attraction's size in photographs. We ended up waiting in the regular queue so we could check it out. The queue is similiar to Big Thunder's due to all of the rock work that surrounds you. Many older artifacts with an automotive theme is also present. No, I would not call the queue are amazing, but it is nicely done. We came very close to getting on the ride until it ended up breaking down for 90 minutes. You can say that the control room became a hornet's nest soon after the breakdown. Even Tom Staggs (Head of all Disneyparks) came over to see what was wrong. They got it back up running again, people then cheered.

 

As for ride itself. I thought it was really a lot of fun with some amazing theming throughout the ride. No, it does not make my top ten list of Disney Attractions (The original Tower of Terror in Florida being my #1), but I think they got a lot of things right with it. It is certainly better than the last group of large budgeted rides that has been opened in the US parks in the last decade. (i,e. Everest, Mission Space, Toy Story, Little Mermaid etc.). I ended up getting on the ride four times during the day (Single Rider Line is your friend). I had two daytime and as well as two nighttime rides. I do much prefer riding it at night since the lighting is truly fantastic. As for the ride itself, I would give it a B+. Theming is top notch as well as the dark section. The speed section is also a lot of fun, but I would not call it thrilling. Yes, it is easy to compare it to Test Track. I think Cars Land is better in every aspect to Test Track, but Test Track's speed section is MUCH more thrilling. Anyways, let us check out some photos. I will post a second batch of photos soon with night time photos as well as my review of the newly refurbished Matterhorn.

3am in front of the gates of DCA.

It was very well organized, noticed the tape lines.

I guess I should get a bit of a nap.

They are starting to let our group in!

I think he is someone important.

Big TV!

Wow, I can't see the stage from way back here.

This would be the brand new park map.

Something new has been added.

Schedule for new stuff.

New Fast Pass options and more.

They have these newspapers in several spots near the park entrance. I am curious how long they will continue to print these.

Park officially re-dedicated.

It was cool that everyone was greeted by a large crew of Disney management including Tom Staggs.

Good morning.

We made it!

We are making our way down to the end of the street.

Flo's. I will eat there later.

A fire truck.

Yay!

This would be the entrance to Radiator Springs Racers.

These would be the fast pass machines. For opening day, they were using the Tough To Be a Bug ones to help regulate crowds. I am not sure when they will start using these.

Closer look of the entrance sign.

There is a big bridge across the queue.

The queue really does remind me a lot of Big Thunder's.

The queue is pretty nice and has detail.

There is also several covered sections as well.

Good to know.

Continuing on with the whole Route 66 theme.

Again the queue is pretty nice.

What is that all over the walls?

Looks like glass.

Oh, that explains it.

I sure hope people do not use these as gum holders.

The rock work is fantastic.

Zoom!

Gas pump theming.

This is where we got to experience the first ever (open to the public) break down of the ride. They got it back up 90 minutes later.

Rules of the ride.

Ooooo.....We are almost there.

Our ride vehicle.

We are ready to go!

We first have to get our belts checked.

Hello there, Belt Checker!

Roxanne and Linda are also ready for our ride.

Waterfall reveal!

Looking back at where we just came from.

Hello there Mack!

The Sheriff was quite amazing.

The first of 2,532 other Maters in the ride.

Which way do we go?

Luigi's is my favorite side.

This is my favorite section of the dark ride.

Are you going to change my tires little guy?

Old

New

Thanks!!

Getting ready for the race!

Doc was also pretty impressive.

Our fans!

You are going down!

We are off!

Hairpin turn.

We won!

Hi guys.

The full Route 66.

My first group of riders. How many TPR members do you see?

The random racing aspect of the ride is quite fun.

Again, the rock work is amazing.

Just like the movie.

Check out the wait time now.

There are a lot of nice little touches in the area.

Luigi's Tires. I never got on either of the other rides. They had a 2+ hour wait for both of theme. I will check them out next time.

I think they broke the sign.

That is a serious line.

Even the Cozy Cone lines were long. Next visit!

Again, theming abounds!

More Route 66.

Let us check out Flo's.

This would be the menu.

They do serve both beer and wine.

Inside is certainly colorful.

This line actually went pretty fast.

I wonder what I should drink.

Working hard.

Pretty good for a quick serve place. Notice the real silverware and yes that is the special Mater's Tea.

This would be the end of Radiator Springs Racer's line. It turned out to be a 6 1/2 hour wait from this point.

Trolley!

Trolley!

Now it is starting to remind me of Main Street USA: Part 2.

The new statue.

Words.

The new stores had more of a nicer department store feel to them.

Plenty of things to buy.

Again, pretty nice.

New Mickey Ears.

Yep.

So Lucky.