Day 595: Cars Land

I had some really high hopes as I headed to Disneyland. I mean really, really high hopes. When I visited four years ago, progress on Cars Land was slowly coming along, but it was definitely a long ways from completion. In fact, the entirety of Disney California Adventure was half under construction. Since then I've eagerly watched on social media as part after part of the new update was completed, and when I finally got around to seeing it, I wasn't at all let down.

As you can probably figure out from the title of this post, by far my new favorite thing at Disneyland was Cars Land. Cars is one of my all time favorite Pixar movies, and walking into Cars Land was like walking right into the movie. I felt as though Sarge or Lizzie was about to pop out of nowhere, right beside Red, Lightning or Mater.

So let's start at the front of Cars Land, where just to the left of the entrance you can find my new favorite Disneyland attraction, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. I have absolutely no clue why I love this attraction so much, but it makes me laugh like I haven't laughed in years, and the music has been stuck in my head for weeks. Why is it so fun? Is this just an impossible to answer question aside from the answer of "because it just is!?!" 

The big E-Ticket attraction of the new land, however, is Radiator Spring Racers, which I was lucky enough to go on a total of three times in my short time at Disneyland. The line gets long fast, and Fastpasses run out early on in the day, but if you manage to snag one, it's definitely worth it. In fact, when I went on it the first time I almost cried. The moment you come through the tunnel and see the bridge with the waterfall is magical, and the race at the end left me with a look of absolute joy on my face...except for in the pictures because I always managed to blink and be too focused on winning to actually take a good picture...

Additionally, the merch that you can find all over Cars Land is basically the definition of amazing. I could have gone broke just in Cars Land. I think I bought as much of it as I could possibly handle before I had to stop. My favorite souvenir has to be my new Dinoco Oil Can though, because when you're feelin' a quart low, better go with Dinoco! 

But as beautiful as Cars Land is during the day, it's even more stunning at night! Lit up in the Neon fixed by Lightning himself, the town glows and completely comes alive. I'm amazed I ever left to be honest. 

I also loved the wonderful details put in throughout Radiator Springs, my favorite of which has to be the flashing yellow light, which my Dad managed to get a picture of! Let's be honest though, if he caught it on the third blink it would have been just slow enough to catch a picture in one try!

I also have to comment on the other thing I love about Radiator Springs though. A lot of us have a Disney character we share a name with, and how lucky am I that mine is in one of my favorite movies that also happens to have a giant land devoted to it in a Disney park and the name also happens to be spelled correctly! It's Lizzie, not Lizzy! 

Radiator Springs is definitely the place to stop on the heart of Route 66, and I can't wait to drive back as soon as possible for more races, towing, oil changes and fun! If you haven't had a chance to check out Cars Land yet, definitely put it on your to-do list, because there's nothing quite like it anywhere else in the world!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 7 due to the Disney Trip and College Move-In).