Radiator Springs and RSR: A Tribute to Roadside Attractions?

[RegionsBeyond]

I have heard from a few sources that it is planned, even within the Radiator Springs Racers ride (the finale, featuring weird caves and strange rock formations) that the area is planned to feature a lot of sort of "tribute material" to the classic roadside attractions and their vibe. Some of that is apparent in the film, with the "Kozy Kone" motel and similar little nods. I really hope they go this direction in a strong sense, as that would be a lot of the appeal to me: nods to existing and fictional quirky attractions, and that vibe of making kind of deliberate weird, homespun attractions to lure in tourists.

Given the execution of a kind of similar area in Animal Kingdom (Chester and Hester's Dinorama) with varying levels of success, what do you think of this kind of slant on the new area? I think this is something Disney could really do well, and I say that as one who isn't as crazy even about the Cars film. They truly could tap into this unique vibe and do a tribute to the classic, offbeat "tourist traps" while still making it true to the film/fantasy world. In real world attractions, there is often some kind of distinctive physical/natural feature that the weirdness springs up around, and this certainly could be the case with the finished town of Radiator Springs, having the Cadillac Ranch-inspired mountains as the backdrop.

What do you think, should and will Carsland exploit this thematic material and go the kind of strange, slightly offbeat route in presenting the town's "attractions" in this manner, like many real California attractions past and present have done? (the Mystery Spot, Buena Park Alligator Farm, Salvation Mountain, Pollardville, the muffler men statues, Claude Bell's Cabazon dinosaurs, etc).

[MistaDee]

Including anything that is route 66 and not Cars would be a welcome change

[stevo505]

Didn't they try to do this near Mulholland Madness? It didn't work out too well. Then again, this is a whole new era for DCA which means it could work if done right. Let's see how this goes.

[RegionsBeyond]

Didn't they try to do this near Mulholland Madness? It didn't work out too well. Then again, this is a whole new era for DCA which means it could work if done right. Let's see how this goes.

The Sunglasses Shack dinosaur was certainly in this vein, but with nothing to tie it in to the area or be like, this is the purpose of this, it didn't really work as it was. It looked alright in terms of the standards of such typical "attractions", but there was no connection to anything around it, just kind of stuck in there on the way to the pier.

[Garfieldo]

Sorry, but I'm going to have to say that they should stay far, far away from being another Chester and Hester's. A Disney Land should be themed to an idealized version of an environment, and while C&HD is certainly a lot classier than many real roadside attractions, a roadside attraction in itself is an inferior version of a theme park. Building a tacky tourist trap inside of the most famous and respected vacation destination locations on the face of the earth (again) would be a huge mistake.

This is part of the reason I'm against the choice of a Radiator Springs land as a whole.

BUT, all that being said, I think that if Disney really went the extra mile to make sure that the area is as plussed and idealized as possible while still managing to keep the quirk and charm of the source material, I will be very happy and thoroughly impressed.

[Dustysage]

According to the new film in the Blue Sky Cellar, John Lasseter insisted that the Cars Land Imagineering team visit the real Route 66 and other towns of the same era and get a sense and feel for the local flavor.

They went on to say that they would be incorporating similar stories, look, and feel into Cars Land.

Sounds like a smart idea to me. It may be inspired by a movie, but the land should feel real at the same time. I think they are really trying to build something special with Cars Land.

[Datameister]

I think you have to be careful when building a tourist attraction that pays homage to an existing tourist attraction. I'm not trying to say it's a total no-no, but there's kind of a catch-22 in there. If you mimic the real thing really accurately, you can end up with it feeling rather low-class. If you instead elevate it to true Disney quality...well, it might not feel so much like the real thing anymore. Obviously, this sort of thing is going to play a role in Cars Land, and as far as I can tell, that's mostly going to be a good thing, but I think overkill would be pretty problematic. These places have a certain charm to them, but I choose to go to Disney theme parks instead because I prefer a more classy approach, so there's the potential for a real contradiction there.

[DLandFamily]

So we have Disneyland, and right across the entrance plaza...LasseterLand... has a nicer ring to it than Disney California Adventure

[icepenguin77]

No...Nooo..Nooooo Please No. I could see it, unfortunately, turning out like Chester and Hesters....
RSR--Dinosaur
Mater--Primivel Whirl
Luigi--Triceratop Spin.

ehhh. I just got a whole lot less excited about carsland. oh well.

[anaheimpark]

I would love to finally see the World's Largest Ball of Twine!

[DubiousEndeavors]

I think if it is done with honesty and not hokey, it will be great!

[Wotan]

I would think that just recreating the town or Radiator Springs itself (or, as much as they're going to) would be a great tribute, if it's done right. I bet they don't include the tar machine, though.

What I'm really hoping for, and which made the town so special, was the profligate use of neon; I hope this area has a lot of it!

[Aladdin]

Did I hear that the Cozy Cone motel would be used for one of the queues?

If so, it would be fun to have one of the Cones serve as a sort of Route 66 tourist information centers. They could have posters advertising different sites along Route 66. Kind of like how hotels have those brochure racks advertising all sorts of nearby entertainment.

One site that would really be fun to see advertised at the Cozy Cone is Bedrock City in Northern Arizona.

[RegionsBeyond]

There is a difference between cheap carnival/off the shelf rides (Chester and Hester's) and capturing the vibe of the folk art kind of weirdness at a giant dinosaur statue, museum of license plates and old junk, world's largest twine ball, etc etc. I want the latter for Radiator Springs, as the movie includes such homages openly. The kind of mom-and-pop roadside attraction that just sort of veers off into being odd, not a wild mouse or a spinner ride in a parking lot. There is indeed a world of difference, and California still has a lot of the "weird stuff" right now, as mentioned in the first post.

[e4skins]

Did I hear that the Cozy Cone motel would be used for one of the queues?

If so, it would be fun to have one of the Cones serve as a sort of Route 66 tourist information centers. They could have posters advertising different sites along Route 66. Kind of like how hotels have those brochure racks advertising all sorts of nearby entertainment.

One site that would really be fun to see advertised at the Cozy Cone is Bedrock City in Northern Arizona.

I actually heard that the Cozy Cone motel would be a place to get food from, i could be wrong though.