Monday June 11th, 2012. I got to go to the preview for Cars Land, the new land they just completed at Disney California Adventure that opens this Friday June 15th, 2012. This is the latest of a great many updates Disney has done to revitalize and expand the DCA park. My one sentence review would be simply this. Mission Accomplished!

But that would be a totally boring review.

I do need to warn you. This is a rather long one and may contain spoilers, such as they are. However, at the end of the day, I would rather give you guys as much detail as I can than not enough. So here we go.
I have to say I was very heavily impressed at the level of detail they achieved. It is literally like you walked into the town of Radiator Springs. They apparently brought in Imagineers from all around the world, from all the parks to work on this one. They have pulled off nothing short of a masterpiece with this one. It is nice to see that even decades after Walt’s passing, the Imagineers still care and that the company Walt Disney built is still committed to bringing their “A Game”. Despite some stumbles along the way.

They have outdone themselves with this new land. As you go through the stone arch and into the valley of Radiator Springs you are greeted by the lofty spires of Cadillac Ridge. Ok , this is where I have to admit to my periodic denseness. At first I didn’t get it. I thought “Cadillac Ridge” ok its Cars Land, of course they would name it that. Then one of the people we were there with pointed out the shapes of the formations jutting out of the tops of the ridge. Doh! Ok I get it now. It just adds still more to the level or creativity of this new land.

As you walk a little further in on the right you see some of the track for Radiator Springs Racers. This ride is by far the star attraction of this new land. More on that later. We continued around the curve to come to the main crossroads of the town. The level of detail was even down to the main drag being made to look freshly paved while the “side street” we were on looked old and in need of some care.  On our right was Ramone’s Body Shop, on our left was Flo’s V8 Cafe. Across the street from Ramone’s was Luigi’s Casa Della Tires. Which is the location of the first ride we went on, Luigi’s Floating Tires. If you turn right at the cross roads you can see the City Hall and the statue of the founder of Radiator Springs “Stanley”. Continue to the right from there and you enter the queue for Radiator Springs Racers.
If you turn left at the cross roads you see the Radiator Springs Curios shop across the street from Flo’s then down the street a little bit you see the Cozy Cone Motel on the right directly across the street from Sarge’s Supply Shack. A little further down you have Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree on the right and Filmore’s Taste In shop on the left next door to Sarge’s.  Past that is the edge of Cars Land leading back into the main portion of DCA.  If you don’t turn at the crossroads and continue on you will see the exit area of Luigi’s Floating Tires and then it empties out near the Bug’s life area and behind the Hollywood Backlot area next to the south side of Tower of Terror.

Visually the whole place is stunning. It literally feels like you walked into the movie Cars. They had two characters from the film rolling around. Mater and Lighning McQueen “Kachow!”. They are animated in that there are parts that move with engine noises. Lightning’s body shifts as we revs as if there is alot of torque under the hood. Mater’s engine rattles a bit. The eyes look around a bit. The mouths are static though.  However, they do talk. When they are roaming around the town they pull up in front of the Cozy Cone and park for photo ops. People can come up and pose with either of the vehicles and they talk a little bit. It’s all stock phrases though. No actual conversation per se. Still they look great and they are clearly pretty advanced as roaming characters go.

Before I go into the rides let’s talk about the shops. In Ramones you can buy clothing and apparel. Shirts, hats, some knick knacks. But the true star here, for me anyway, wasn’t even the merchandise. It was, again, the level of detail. All the pin striping in this shop, and there is a ton of it, is hand done. They brought in world famous pin stripping experts from the automotive world to do this work. The decor alone is a work of art. Then you have the custom fixtures. All vehicle themed of course. I took several pictures which you can see in my Flickr set I link at the end of this review.

Moving on to Flo’s V8 Cafe. This is one of the two food vendors in the new land. It’s very ’50s/’60s diner in the fare they serve as well as the decor. lots of neon and smooth curves. Baby blues and sea foam greens are the main color scheme as well as that gaudy pink that somehow works well here. In one side of the seating area for Flo’s its supposed to be the clinic where Doc Hudson had his practice. You can see his degrees, the eye chart and various other decorations. On the other side of the Cafe is the other indoor seating area which is all about Flo’s past as the lead singer of “Flo and the Motorama Mamas”. You see several gold records and album covers hung on the walls and more of the beautiful pipe sculptures made from chromed exhaust pipes. I didn’t sample the food here as I ended up getting my food from the other food server in the area but I am told it was good. They have Apple Cheddar Pie as well as a Rhubarb Berry pie that our compatriots ordered and stated they loved.

The other food service vending area is at the Cozy Cone. It is set up like a mini food court. Mostly snack type food. Churros, Chili served in a bread cone (which I ordered) as well as popcorn, Ice cream and another place in DCA that you can get “leaded” drinks. They have a Vodka Pomegranate Limeade for the adults if they desire it.

Sarges Supply Shack is primarily Toys. Cars and Cars 2 toys. Fillmore’s Taste In is a place to get more healthy fare. Fruit, juice etc. The Radiator Springs Curios is a general souvenirs shop. Not specifically Cars themed stock wise but decorated nicely. It is also the location of the Cars Land Pin selection for you pin traders out there.

Now on to the rides.

We will describe them in the order I rode them, which happens to coincide with their fun level. We started off with Luigi’s Floating Tires. The queuing area for this has tons of stuff to look at. Check out my photo set linked at the end of the article for details. There are so many bits you could go on the ride over ten times and still catch stuff you missed. It is focused around Luigi and Guido’s adventures in the racing world and Luigi’s obsession with racing and racers. You get a peak at Luigi’s office then move to the outside portion of the queue. The ride itself is a variation of the old UFO Saucers that used to be in the main Disneyland park back in the ’60s. Only this time the air is coming from the ground up instead of the vehicle forcing air down to the ground to sustain its lift. There are about two dozen of the actual floating tire vehicle things and just as many giant beach balls. Yes, I said beach balls. Why did they put in beach balls you ask? It is actually very practical. The way you steer the little tire vehicles is by leaning them. Lean to the left it starts floating to the left. Lean to the right it goes right and so on. Well they explain the basics of this to you before you get on however alot of people really don’t get it. So apparently some Imagineer had the brainstorm “Why not throw a bunch of beach balls out there as well. People will instinctively try and get them,” and they do! I watched all the groups before ours try and chase the beach balls around the ride zone. The balls help people steer the vehicles. I also noted , with surprise, that the beach balls don’t get blown out and away from the zone like you might think they would. They sit quite nicely at ground level while the air is rushing up from the ground through the over 2,700 little holes in the ground that the air is forced through. I asked one of the attendants how it worked and he told me. He is the one who explained the difference between this and the UFO Ride from the ’60s. He also apparently worked for the park back then as well and at one point worked on said UFO ride. Which means this guy has been working at the park almost since it opened. Talk about dedication. He was a hoot to talk to.

I would give Luigi’s Floating Racers a 7 out of 10. It’s fun but it isn’t a show stopper.

The next ride we went on was Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. There are a lot of really neat little details in the queuing area for this one as well. There is even a Tractor Calf you can “pet” at Mater’s Petting Zoo right at the entrance to the ride. I didn’t get to see most of the details due to the fact that the line for this one was so short we went almost straight on to the ride from the front entrance. There was no wait. Now at first glance this looks like a variation on the Teacups from Alice in Wonderland at the main park.  Yes you go around a circle, well three circles actually, but that is where the similarity ends.

This isn’t your standard happy go pukey ride. On Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree you ride in a cart attached to the end of a baby tractor (like the ones from the movie.) It swings to the right and left with springs and shock absorbers. The tractors go in a circle around three giant discs on the ground. As you come to the edge of one of the other discs your tractor switches off to that disc and follows it around. Think of it as tracing a giant figure 8 with an extra loop. That’s not the really fun part of this ride. The fun part is that as you switch off and go around the edge the inertia swings your little cart to the side and back as you go around. Trust me you pick up some pretty serious inertia going around this thing. A lot more than you would think or expect. It was really fun.

My grade for Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree is 8.5. Surprisingly fun for such a seemingly simple concept.

Now those rides are fun but the third and final ride in Cars Land, Radiator Springs Racers, is the show stealer! For those of you familiar with the Florida parks. It is the answer to the question, “What would happen if Test Track had a love child with a classic style “Dark Ride”.

Again, the Imagineers pulled out all the stops on this one. The aesthetics of the ride itself. The queuing area has lots of little flourishes and stuff to keep it interesting as you wait the hour plus to get on the ride. I would strongly recommend that you don’t just automatically fast pass this one. It is worth going through the queue on this one at least once.  There are hundreds if not thousands of little details that make it worthwhile. You even pass the actual Radiator Springs Spring…which is a radiator…of sorts.

When you finally get to the boarding area you get into your car. Each of the cars hold up to 6 riders. You start out single laning it. You drive around the area of Radiator Springs taking in the views then you go inside. This begins the dark ride portion. You pull into the outskirts of Radiator springs and there are audio animatronic versions of several key characters from the Cars movies. You even get to do some “Tractor Tippin’ “. You then pull into the town where you interact with Sally and Lightning then Sarge and Filmore as well as other characters before going into one of two options. This is where the ride converts from one lane to two. Setting up the racing portion. If you go to the left you go into Luigi’s and he gives you new white walls. If you go to the right you end up in Ramone’s for a new paint job. Once you come out of which ever option you end up in, you pass Doc Hudson who prepares you for the race. Then you queue up against another vehicle with riders in the other lane. Luigi counts you down drops the flag and the race is on.  At this point the ride gets really fast. This is the Test Track portion of the hybrid. At the end of the race you come back around to the loading area and there is a photo buy option if you want to get the picture they took somewhere along the way.

In my mind, this was by far the best part of the whole attraction. Which is really saying something considering how impressed I had been with the whole new land. The quality of the animatronics and effects was top notch, though I found the decision to use projection over practical for some of the mouths a bit confusing but it works well either way.

My grade for Radiator Springs Racers 10 out of 10. It is a quality ride through and through.

My only regret for the day was that I wasn’t able to see it after dark this trip because our preview time was 1p to 5p but I will go back and get night shots after it opens to the world on June 15th, 2012.
For the first new land in almost 10 years, I have to say, Disney, you did good here. Please keep this level of dedication and enthusiasm for the rest of the parks and keep Walt’s dream alive. Walt Disney said that the parks would never be complete because they would constantly change and adjust to the times. For the first time in a long time, I think they are going down the right path and finally giving the California parks some of the love they have needed for a long time. Definitely check out the new Cars Land area of Disney California Adventure. You won’t be disappointed.

Please check out my Flicker set for this Preview. Also many of the details I described above are viewable there. You can find the set Here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7771119@N03/sets/72157630052597379/ .

Thank you for reading and please feel free to comment below.

-DP

Most of the people I know who have been to  Disney California Adventure often refer to it as “California lite for Californians,” instead of what it was really supposed to be which was essentially the west coast version of Disney’s Hollywood Backlot from the Florida resorts. There are a lot of elements brought over including some of the attractions.

I, for one, was thrilled when they brought over Muppet Vision 3D. I have never been to the Florida parks but had heard about Muppet Vision. Being a major fan of the Muppets I was delighted. But the rest of the park was largely ho-hum.

The “Back Lot” area wasn’t that great. Sure it had Muppet Vision and an Animation pavilion but not much else. Adding Tower of Terror helped but overall it was still very meh. (I know its not a real word but it is how it felt.) It was pretty-ish. It had some good parts but the magic just wasn’t there.

They had a Bugs Life area that was essentially nothing but kiddy rides but it did have a giant Hopper character and the Bugs Life “It’s Tough To Be a Bug”. 3D movie show with several immersive elements. A  lot like “Honey I Shrunk The Audience” but with a Bugs Life Theme.

The Midway/Boardwalk area where the California Screamin’ coaster and giant Ferris Wheel is were pretty cool as was the water rapids ride.  There were a lot of Boardwalk style rides and games.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any real major outstanding “THIS IS IT” moments or attractions and several of the attractions went away after only a couple of years. I am specifically thinking of the Maliboomer which was one of the few rides I REALLY enjoyed.
But, for California natives there wasn’t really anything that screamed “Hey Cali Disney still cares about you as much as Florida.” For a park who gets most of its business from locals, that’s not a good thing.

Then a couple of years ago it seemed like Disney was finally taking the hint and started putting some serious attention into the park and started revamping large parts of it. World of Color was launched a little over a year ago. And they started construction of an entirely new land. They also completely redesigned the main entrance area with new gates and entry zone they are calling “Buena Vista Street.  The “Grand Reopening” is June 15th 2012 and coincides with the official opening of Cars Land.  Let’s hope they keep with the inertia they have built and turn DCA into what it really has the potential to be.

Before anyone tells me about the historical details I missed or that I am crazy for feeling the way I do. Keep in mind, this article is to give a little back story to my review of Cars land. I know I am not giving ALL the details. It is to give the idea and to help explain my mindset and perceptions. I have never hated DCA. I was just never really into it.

Now, on to the review. (next post).

-DP

The press for the event read “A DREAM COME TRUE EXPERIENCE FOR VIDEO GAME FANS & MUSIC LOVERS: NINTENDO’S “THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SYMPHONY OF THE GODDESSES” TOUR PLAYS THE GREEK THEATRE, LA”

And it pretty much lived up to it. Last night I was able to attend the concert at the Greek.

The music is based on one of the most popular and beloved video game series of all time,
The press for it continues, “The name “Symphony of the Goddesses” refers not only to the concert program but also to the new four-movement symphony recounting the classic storylines from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time™, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker™, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess™, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past™. The concert also will highlight orchestral renditions of music from other series games, including The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening™ and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask™. ”

Given the subject matter one would expect the audience to be filled with cosplayers and your stereo typical gamer nerds. I was actually surprised at how few cosplayers there were.  As for the gamer nerds, you would be surprised at how well gamer nerds clean up when we want to. There were a lot of industry people present as well. Faces I recognize even if I can’t remember their names. Folks from Blizzard, Nintendo (would have been more surprised if they weren’t there), as well as various gaming press. Given that E3 is going on across town at the LACC, its to be expected.

But enough about that. Read on for a review of the performance itself.

The conductor, Eímear Noone, was spot on. The musicians were all top notch including two full size harps and a sizable choral contingent as well. They all worked together seamlessly to bring the arrangements by music director Chad Seiter to life.

Accompanying the music was video projected to three screens showcasing various scenes and sequences from the many games in the Legend of  Zelda franchise. The music had been arranged to synch perfectly with the visuals in a way I have not often seen in other performances of video game music. Click tracks can be your friend.

They started out with an overture as a preview of the evenings attractions, as it were. Then the host for the evening was one other than Zelda Williams (daughter of Robin Williams and yes, she is named for the Princess in the games.). Williams was a bit nervous at first but eased up a bit as the performance went on.

The four part Symphony of the Goddesses was beautiful. They started with a tribute to the Goddess Farore for the first movement, the second movement was dedicated and focused on Wind Waker. Following the intermission they did the third and fourth movements. The third focused on the darkest of the Zelda games “Twilight Princess” and the symphony wrapped up with a celebration of the classic “Link to the Past”. Of the four pieces of the Symphony of the Goddesses I would have to say the third and fourth were my favorites.

Sitting in the Greek Theater amongst the trees and nature that surrounds The Greek it added quite nicely to the overall atmosphere of the performance. With only a couple comparatively minor issues.

Ok this is where my live performance production and video director hat pops on and starts being a bit nerdy and nit picky.

If I had to pick any negatives from this experience they wouldn’t be from the music itself, the musicians, the conductor or even the host’s nervousness. They were all spot on top notch. Even Miss Williams nervousness and brief fangirl moment (self confessed and stated,) added a cuteness and legitimacy that the host was a genuine fan of the material.

The tech crew however, is another matter. This is a touring company. LA is not the first stop. Nor is it the last. This being the case one has to wonder what the hell was up with their A1 (sound engineer). Between the serious feed back at various points, the apparently loose connections causing loud and distracting pops and crackles in the sound as well as the overall flat tone of the audio balance, I would hope someone on the production team takes the A1 to task on that. With rehearsals and 3hour sound checks, there is no excuse for not having the audio properly rung out and balanced. One or two minor instances of feedback can be overlooked but this was excessive.

Then there was the video direction. Whomever was calling their cameras for the first half of the show, they either weren’t familiar with the music or the performance. A lot of times they would cut from the game footage to cameras on the orchestra for, say, an oboe solo and the video would switch instead to the cellist section.  This happened fairly consistently during the first half.

In the second half, I don’t know if they switched out TDs or what but the quality and accuracy of the camera work and video switching elevated substantially. They even threw in some artsy shots and sustained cross fades that enhanced key segments of music. The sustained cross fade on the harps and violinists comes immediately to mind.

That being said, these technical issues aside. The ticket price was totally worth it. The performances themselves were solid and engaging. The atmosphere was awesome. I went with good friends and ran into a few there as well. Overall I would give this concert an A to A -. The only thing keeping it from being a solid A+ were the aforementioned tech issues.

Next on the list of orchestral concerts I want to see, Final Fantasy. I hear they are coming around again in September.

(Note: Once they are finished being sorted I will be posting some pics from the show.)

-Michael

I am not really sure where to start since I am kinda new to blogging that isn’t a rant about one thing or another.
I suppose I should start with a simple Introduction.

HI! My name is Michael aka DP. I have been actively involved in fandom in one form or another since 1990. I have been a fan since my childhood in the ’70s. Yes, I am old…ish.

Most of my activity in fandom was involved with my working two main conventions. First was Confurence, which died and became Califur. I first started that one in 1992. The second one I dedicated most of my heart and soul to was Anime Expo. I started in 1998 and recently resigned my position earlier this year. I wore many hats at AX. Starting in Press and moving to Special Events Tech, to manager of the Main Events room then that while becoming Assistant Division Manager for all of Tech then running the AMV contest and eventually becoming their Director of Entertainment Group. For about a year or so I was also Director of the EX Media Group which ran AX Live as well as a couple of other shows.

While a great amount of my focus for the last 15 years has been Anime and Japanese pop culture, it is far from my only interest. I have long been a big ‘ol Star Wars and Star Trek nerd. While I enjoy Fantasy, Science Fiction is my favorite genre and there are A LOT of titles I love and enjoy.

I am also a bit of a music nerd. Every thing from orchestral soundtracks to Punk Rock to Gothic Industrial to Electronica and DubStep. Hell I even like alot of Rap and Funk.
Then, there is the computer nerdery, with a heavy focus on graphics and video. My degree is in telecommunications with a focus on Television Production.
I am also a bit of a gamer, Video and table top. I really love BattleTech. Unfortunately, so few people still play it.
There are lots of other things I am into. My tastes are somewhat varied. I guess you could say I am a jack of all trades of nerdery.

I am seriously looking forward to this project kicking off and taking shape. I look forward to interacting with all of you and to being allowed to be a fan again. I have spent so long buried in the behind the scenes of the Fandom convention world that I started to lose sight of what it meant to be a fan. Now, I get to be a fan again. I look forward to sharing it with all of you and from learning a bit from all of you as well. There will likely be a bit of adjustment as we get in the flow but I look forward to your input and feedback.

Here’s to the future!
We are all Otaku, of one form or another (or many forms in my case. )
-DP