What If Cars Land Isn't All That It Is Cracked Up To Be?

With the latest price increase, Disney is banking on the success of Cars Land, the true cornerstone of the Disney California Adventure relaunch. Buena Vista Street is fine, beautiful in fact, but in the end it's mostly a series of wonderful facades covering shops and places to eat. It's Cars Land that is the place of purposeful destination in visiting DCA the rest of this year.

The place looks spectacular but here's the rub as they say. So does ToonTown over in Disneyland, but as soon as you strip down ToonTown's charming exterior, there's not much there. ToonTown has one great ride with Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin and so Cars Land has its big attraction with Radiator Springs Racers. Now I'm not about to compare the two attractions since RCR will most like be fantastic but for Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and myself, Roger Rabbit is the only reason we ever step foot into ToonTown these days. Some trips, we skip the place completely.

Will RCR be the only reason for us to set foot into Cars Land? That remains to be seen. Cars Land does have a large dining facility with Flo's V8 Cafe that ToonTown does not have (and probably could use). That may be something to draw us in as well as the ride but the rest of it? I'm thinking there's not a lot there to provide us interest. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree appears to be mostly a ride for children. The problems with Luigi's Flying Tires is well documented thanks to Al Lutz of MiceAge.com. Suffice is to say, there is no way I'm waiting an hour or more to get on a two minute ride that requires a learning curve to operate properly. There's a quick snack area and the rest of Cars Land is shops.

Here is my prediction for myself anyway. First time we go to Cars Land, we'll soak the place in both day and night since it does look amazing at night. Hopefully, we'll ride Radiator Springs Racers, eat at Flo's, sample of the snacks available from the Cozy Cones, and pass through the shops. We'll snap tons of pictures and have video up the ying-yang. But after that?

I can say that as older people like us, Cars Land may not be a very big draw unless RCR is one of those must-do, can't be missed attractions. And even then, I'm not a really big ride guy anymore. I don't do all the Disneyland Mountains on every trip, I don't need to. So in the end, there is a distinct possibility Cars Land isn't "the place to go" when we are in DCA. It may not be all that it is cracked up to be. It may be just another ToonTown.