News / Cars Quatre Roues Rallye

Step 1: Characters

We reported on Monday that the Toon Studio construction fence is now home to some of Pixar’s finest creations, giving us a tantalising glimpse at the plethora of characters that await beyond. Earlier this year, of course, we already welcomed Mike, Sulley and the CDA to Animation Courtyard at a new character location next to Disney Studio 1, and The Incredibles have been outside Art of Disney Animation for quite some time. Disney park guests are incredibly keen on the characters these days, and Disney knows it. They add colour, life and guaranteed photo opportunities.

The expansion area of Toon Studio is confirmed to feature at least two character locations, shown on concept art as The Incredibles and Mickey Mouse, though this is subject to change. WDS Fans reported last week, however, that another meet ‘n’ greet opportunity will be available over at Cars Race Rally, with European automobiles Luigi and Guido outside their Radiator Springs store.
Step 2: Attractions

You know them by now – Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally, a spinning indoor/outdoor coaster with dark ride scenes and a tea cups-style ride respectively. Whilst the effects of Crush’s towering Studio 5 have been felt for many months already, the lonely queue buildings of Cars Quatre Roues Rallye (the French name of the attraction, which will be the official in-park title) have now progressed quickly, already adding more features and varied architecture styles to the Studios (photo 2).

So far, they look similar to most concept art, with a circular central building and a long, thin, offshoot for the double-back queue. A large canopied building based on Flo’s V8 Café (the gas station in the movie) is also on plans, and should finally rid the Studios of its “warehouseland” critics. In the future “canyon” (photo 1), the foundations for the two pairs of turntables which make up the Cars ride have visibly progressed much further, with thick concrete walls and dividers lining the surprisingly deep pits.

The rockwork of Crush’s Coaster hasn’t noticeably progressed since our last report, however an arched curve of concrete has now been place above its future entrance doors (see paint tests photo below).
Step 3: Colour

It’s amazing what a little colour can do – it can set dark moods, create excitement or let you feel warmth with just the slightest change of tone. It’s the lifeblood of animation, and so it’s ironic that it’s the lack of colour currently adding more magic to the walls of Studio 5. The white basecoat has now covered the entire front of the building (photo 1) and much of the right side, turning the dull, murky concrete into a clean, crisp piece of Imagineering.

Of course, this is only for the time being – soon, the entire building will be a nice shade of sea blue. But which shade? That seems to be the question for the Imagineers right now, as you can see by the various paint tests on the walls next to the building’s entrance (photo 2). From this photo, the colours appear more vibrant than “true” sky blue yet lighter than a full blue – matching, perhaps, the shade of the Sorcerer’s Hat.
Step 4: Detail

“Detail” previously appeared to be some kind of profanity in the exterior design of Animation Courtyard (at least for those pulling the purse strings), yet now a healthy helping of this Disney delight is being spread right across the land. Take a look at the curbs bordering the Cars Race Rally area, for example – not a straight line in sight, entirely customised to the park and the attraction.

Some wavy curbs are a drop in the ocean compared to the rockwork of Crush’s Coaster, though, which juts up across the front of the attraction as if the Great Barrier Reef itself is about to explode out into Toon Studio. Now that the construction site has thankfully become much busier, the comparison of a worker to the size of the rockwork gives an incredible view of the true scale of this themeing project compared to the rest of the park. And, that we can already see such pleasant details as these with seven months still to go has to surely be a very good sign.
Step 5: Greenery

Without doubt the pièce de résistance of Kyoto’s latest photos is this excellent shot from on board Flying Carpets Over Agrabah. As you can see, the new “oasis” planting areas in front of the attraction have finally received tall, luscious palm trees, and the impact of these can be seen already. Now, the Flying Carpets are fully hidden away in this corner of the land, existing within their own tropical mini-land and providing something for guests to “discover” as they walk around the park.

It’s no more showbuilding-to-showbuilding – the curved paths (currently covered in protective wooden boards whilst construction work continues) and rounded planting areas will send guests in all directions, finally allowing them to “explore” in Walt Disney Studios Park.

So there you have it – 5 Steps to transform a Studio! And the best part? They’re all actually being followed, right now, in Paris. Excited about June 2007 yet?

Photos by Kyoto on Disney Magic Interactive forum. You can see more here.

In a similar style to the Little Green Men of Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast’s walls, the deep blue expanse in Animation Courtyard has now been filled to bursting with characters, logos, visuals… even concept art! Beginning at Art of Disney Animation, the display first announces “Toon Studio : Ouverture Juin 2007” against a background of spotlights, confirming once and for all that the new name of the land will be “Toon Studio” rather than “Toon Studios”.

Next, Cars Race Rally takes centre stage, right in front of the attraction’s actual construction site. Either side of a new, brighter logo for the attraction are images of roads snaking off into the distance. The first features Lightning McQueen and Fillmore, the second Mater, Sally and Ramone.

After a sign pointing the way to Flying Carpets Over Agrabah, guests are next introduced to Crush’s Coaster, with the logo of the attraction on a large water splash underneath three seagulls perched on the fence (luckily without sound effects). The three sharks, Bruce, Anchor and Chum, follow next, and then a large version of the attraction’s key visual.

At both ends of the fence, the latest concept art to be released is featured, looking down from an aerial perspective to the new area of Toon Studio. Whilst appearing as nothing new for fans, this new supersize version does, at least, give us a better look at the Imagineer’s creation – as it was in the planning stages, at least.

Want to look beyond the fence again? Well, it seems work is progressing well on painting Studio 5 with white primer, whilst a small crane is now in use at the Cars Race Rally site as the Radiator Springs queue buildings progress further – unfortunately at an angle hard to photograph from Animation Courtyard.

Photos from Dlrp.fr

So far only released in a small resolution on the official travel marketing tools website Extraordinet, the visuals mainly use elements of the movie posters for Finding Nemo and Cars, with the Cars Race Rally image appearing as little more than a slightly photoshopped version of its one-sheet.

The Crush’s Coaster image, on the other hand, is more original but perhaps confusing to those unfamiliar with the new family spinning coaster and dark ride. The visual shows a winding U-shaped track similar to that of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, rather than the flatter design of the actual Maurer Söhne track. The corkscrew nature of the track, covered in quickly duplicated images of characters from the film, could also hint at inversions and a higher thrill level than the actual attraction. Despite this, the visual is fresh and colourful and, along with its Cars Race Rally friend, will likely do good work for the resort in advertising these two exciting attractions.

Both visuals feature the classic Disneyland Resort Paris logo (rather than the new 15th Anniversary version) on signposts themed to a harbour sign and billboard respectively. Strangely, they also both feature the castle, Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, rather than the Earful Tower landmark of Walt Disney Studios.

The large black space in the Cars Race Rally visual hints at either a lack of creativity or a pre-designated space for the attraction logo. Indeed, after quickly adding logos to the two visuals they immediately become far more balanced and rather attention-grabbing…

Fans of Dory, the legendary Blue Regal Tang from Finding Nemo, should perhaps not smile too soon, though. After a total non-appearance in every single piece of concept art for the attraction, she has also failed to appear in this visual. Her popularity is so strong that, if she is featured in the attraction, you’d think they’d use her heavily on the advertisement too, right?

Starting with Toon Studio, Cars Race Rally still remains a huge pit on the spot of the two pairs of turntables. The size of the pit, however, is quite impressive – it seems to be almost as deep as the JCB digger is high! The latest photos show the tarpaulin cover is still lining it – the next step from here should hopefully be concrete foundations poured. Over at Crush’s Coaster, work is still speeding along at EAC-speed, but since most of the ride is now hidden by the huge concrete walls, not a lot can be seen. The walls themselves have also continued to grow, with wide concrete sections being added along both the Flying Carpets and front sides of the coaster building. Some kind of steel supports are currently lying next to the outside dip, probably to be used on the sections of the building where the track leaves and re-enters, which are currently very wide gaps in the huge concrete wall sections.

Over at Tower of Terror, the most visible work is still going on at the rear, where the painters have now covered almost the entire surface in pale paint. A closer look reveals this work has also added texture to the bare concrete, an important element in allowing the Tower to look old and unloved. It’s unconfirmed when we’ll start to see the final paint colours added, but with another three sides still to be prepared for painting, we’re probably in for quite a wait. Take a walk around to the front of the attraction, though, and more progress can be seen right now. In addition to the concrete shell of the lower showbuilding edging ever nearer to completion, the last 24 hours have seen the wooden frames in the elevator openings at the front of the Tower finally removed!

You can see some of the latest Toon Studio photos here, whilst Tower of Terror photos from earlier this week can be seen here. Information sourced from these photos plus french Disney Central Plaza postings.

A giant rectangular pit has been dug out in the exact location of the tea cups-style ride’s two turntables. The ride will be the same style of attraction as Francis’ Lady Bug Boogie at Disney’s California Adventure park and The Whirlpool at Mermaid Lagoon at Tokyo DisneySea park.

The vehicles spin in a circular direction until they reach the meeting point of the two turntables, where they switch from one to the other and complete the second section of their figure-of-eight ride.

More photos can be found at Disney Central Plaza forum.

News from WDS Fans.

It was confirmed last week that the name of the land will infact be “Toon Studio” rather than “Toon Studios”. This land will then also include all the current Animation Courtyard attractions – Art of Disney Animation, Animagique and Flying Carpets Over Agrabah.

The new area will not, however, be the main marketing draw – the attractions will clearly be advertised on their own as two seperate, brand new attractions, allowing Disneyland Resort Paris to use these valuable Cars and Finding Nemo character properties to their maximum effect.