Disney is finally bringing its iconic Cars franchise to the Magic Kingdom park in Orlando, Florida.
As part of a major expansion to Frontierland, the company has announced a Cars-themed land featuring two new attractions on the former site of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island.
Disney has recently revealed more details about this upcoming expansion, and it looks incredibly promising.
The highlight of the new land will be a high-speed, rally-style attraction designed to simulate “racing over rocky terrain, ascending to mountain peaks, and dodging around geysers,” according to the company.
A second attraction, which has yet to be officially announced, will be designed for younger children and families.
“Our primary goal is creating an emotional experience for our guests,” said Imagineer Michael Hundgen during a presentation at SXSW in Austin, Texas.
“For this Cars attraction, we need to invent a new type of ride vehicle.
No one builds these in a factory because it has to do so much more than just carrying you from one place to another. We have to create a car that conveys a feeling when you ride in it.”
To perfect the ride experience, Disney built a dedicated dirt track in Florida to test elements such as elevation changes, rocky pathways, and high-speed off-roading.
The company released a video showing Imagineers and executives driving Polaris RZRs around the course to simulate the sensation of the upcoming ride.
However, guests need not worry—Disney’s final ride vehicles won’t resemble ordinary off-road buggies.
“We’re using a customized production vehicle,” Hundgen confirmed. “It has sensors all over it, and we’re taking it for test drives on our dirt track to gather data on how the vehicle responds to different terrain.
This is where we turn that feeling we want into real-world engineering.”
Disney and Pixar are collaborating to create custom vehicles modeled after beloved characters from the Cars franchise, including fan favorites Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater.
Additionally, a few brand-new characters will be introduced, each featuring rugged off-road elements, special names, and even racing numbers—”Just like a real race,” Hundgen says.
Construction of the new Cars attractions at the Magic Kingdom has already begun, but Disney has stated that the new Cars land in Orlando likely won’t be ready until 2028.
However, given the ambitious nature of the project, it looks like it will be well worth the wait.