News / Toon Studio

Ok, ok, in France they’re probably well-known, but this happens with every single press event at Disneyland Resort Paris. A new show premieres, a new season begins, a new attraction opens… and we’re treated to a huge gallery of publicity photos featuring countless vague ‘celebrities’ from across l’hexagone. Whether we know who they are or not, though, the photos from the Toon Studio Press Event of 16th June are actually some of the better VIP shots of recent years, especially compared to the dark and unexciting red carpet photoshoot of the 15th Anniversary launch.

‘Unknown’ VIP guests enter Toon Studio

With a great backdrop of the temporary entrance gate, the Sorcerer Mickey marquee, a newly repainted Animagique and many smiling Cast Members, the stars entered Toon Studio via the long red carpet, which first led across a closer podium before that underneath the gate, giving a good depth to the shots. And although ‘unknown’ outside of France, the guests all appear to be well into the Disney spirit.

More ‘unknown’ VIP guests enter Toon Studio

There are many more photos than those featured here, but all in the same style with the same backdrops and locations. Several photos made available to the press feature some VIP guests you might actually recognise the names of…

Zinedine Zidane at Crush / with wife at Cars Race Rally

Surely everyone in Europe knows Zinedine Zidane, the famous footballer, now retired?

Stade Français Rugby Team / Ricky Martin

You might even remember singer Ricky Martin… Or be familiar with the Stade Français rugby team, seen here lined up outside Crush’s Coaster with a trophy shield (hopefully this won’t become a popular accessory for DLRP visitors). These photos in particular, as you might notice, aren’t from the Press Event night at all – they were taken over the three weeks leading up to the event itself, and now bundled together with all the others for the launch.

In the end, we all know who the real stars are. Walt Disney is always quoted as saying they’re the “greatest asset we have” and to just “get them out there!”, and that’s exactly what they did during the entire evening of events at Toon Studio. Afterall, seeing a footballer or talent show star at Disneyland won’t make guests want to visit as much as the chance to meet one of these real, timeless famous faces will…

Mary Poppins / real-life Mike Wazowski

The entertainment department catered for all tastes on the evening, from the not-strictly-Toon Mary Poppins (with Bert and ok-this-one’s-a-toon Penguin waiter) to a full-size, walking, real-life Mike Wazowski! Not since the release of Monsters Inc. around the opening of the park in 2002 has Mike been seen wandering the studio lots, but he made a special return for this event. Notice also that his life-size figure usually found at the Monsters Inc Scream Scene location was removed in preparation.

From movie director to chef – Mickey Mouse can do it all!

Catering for all tastes, did we say? Well, if you didn’t like the Director Mickey of the inauguration ceremony, you could wait around a little and see him re-appear later as Chef Mickey! Director Mickey is also a very rare sight at the Studios. Despite being seen on many publicity photos for the park around 2002, Mickey usually decides to wear his more casual and brightly coloured movie star gear for photoshoots. Chef Mickey, on the other hand, is a recent introduction to character meet ‘n’ greets at Café Mickey in Disney Village.

Chef Minnie / Chef Chip n Dale

Each of the Fab 5 received special chefs outfits for their appearances at the character dining restaurant, and with the launch of Ratatouille tying into the Toon Studio event, this was their way of welcoming the gourmet rats to the character family.

Buzz Lightyear / Jafar

Aladdin, Jasmine and Jafar provided atmosphere around the new Flying Carpets oasis area, which now has its colourful lanterns illuminated each day after months of darkness. Events themed to the attractions on offer were particularly well thought-out at this event. With such a mix of themes and styles in one small area, it must have produced one hell of a brainstorm ideas session for the planning teams…

The Radiator Springs Band

For Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, guests could enjoy the music of an authentic American country rock band, performing a variety of road hits and songs from the film itself as ‘The Radiator Springs Band’ in front of Willy’s Butte and Flo’s V8 Café. Notice also the attention to detail around the stage, including several extra props relating to the film and Route 66.

Australian characters / Clownfish carpet

Crush’s Coaster was equally well served with themed entertainment and ideas. The EPC (entertainment department) created a couple of brand new “Australian” characters for the event, an outback explorer complete with cork hat and a beach surfer dude, complete with sunglasses and flip-flops. What’s that they’re standing on? It’s a Clownfish Carpet of course, a unique Nemo-themed spin on the classic red carpet, leading into the attraction!

The themed ideas continued on to the food, whilst the VIPs were treated to a special meal inside Studio 1’s Liki Tiki area, Animagique became a covered seating and buffet area for a more fun and informal double food option. For Cars, an authentic Texas barbeque along Route 66. For Crush’s Coaster… you’ve guessed it, a seafood barbecue. Didn’t they hear fish are friends, not food?

Photos both by Photos Magiques and © Disney.

As with all attraction openings, there are two press events. The smaller, low-key public opening ceremony (already featured here) and the far grander, more show-y official inauguration ceremony reserved for press and invited guests. The last ceremony we saw like this at Walt Disney Studios, though, was…. well, 2002 perhaps?

The tendancy of the past five years to push Walt Disney Studios aside in favour of Disneyland Park has well and truly ended. There’s a lot of proud people within those Studio gates these days…

Guests enter via the open studio gates, a very rare sight!

Entering the second gate through its unique grand arch, guests were welcomed by the Ciné Classics band, as seen on regular occasions inside Disney Studio 1 and more recently even as a pre-show for CinéMagique. Notice that the 15th Anniversary banners from Disneyland Park’s entrance have now made their way to the Studios, as it finally joins the celebrations.

Ciné Classics band entertain on Front Lot before High School Musical begins.

Following this musical welcome, a special performance of High School Musical On Tour was presented just outside the entrance of Disney Studio 1 (more on this here), as this new summer show was a key additional feature in all of the resort’s communication and press material for the event, along with Ratatouille.

Red carpet leads through Disney Studio 1.

The red carpet began in Disney Studio 1, leading right up toward the exit doors and to the entrance of Toon Studio, where Disney fans amongst the invited guests were met with an exciting photo opportunity…

5 Years on, Director Mickey finally gets behind a camera.

To the side of the temporary Toon Studio gate installed several days ago, Mickey Mouse sat high on a crane camera with a live director, and even moved from side to side as he “filmed” the action of the grand opening event for his new animation studio. The image of Mickey atop this camera crane might be familiar to anyone who followed the Studios’ grand opening, since a similar photo from Disney-MGM Studios Florida was frequently used as one of those deceptive preview shots – it only took five years for the real moment to arrive!

Ciné Folies stars help to prepare the set.

If you take a look at the video featured later in this article, you’ll probably notice something a little different about Mickey’s voice. No, not that he’s speaking French (the first time in a while – all the 15th events unveiled in April feature an All-American Mickey), but that his voice was apparently performed live! Since he called the make-up artist, special effects crew to the stage and joined the ceremony at various other points from his elevated spot, letting Mickey pre-record his track and sync this with live events might have been a bit risky.

With Mickey behind the camera, we need someone else to step in and fill the role of glamorous host – who better than Minnie Mouse? She donned her glamorous white dress from the 2002 grand opening and waited on-stage for her cue as directors, technicians and make-up crew bustled around the “set”. You might recognise the actors in question from the daily Ciné Folies shows in Disney Studio 1 – some have been with the park for almost its entire five years, so it’s nice to see these talented performers rewarded with a cameo here.

Pixar stars and a huge gathering of Cast Members pour out of the land.

As it is for these “performers” too! Usually Cast Members are relegated to regular operations during a grand opening event – keeping guests to one side, making sure the attraction is ready to open – but here the entire cast of Toon Studio was invited to join the precedings and clap their clapperboards for applause. The arrival of the several hundred Cast and countless famous Disney characters to the “Dreams” Peter Pan theme music was perhaps a little reminiscent of the Disneyland 50th Anniversary launch, starting out with only a few stars on stage before a huge crowd poured out of the land’s attractions.

It’s Disney legends on one side…

You might notice something funny about the way those characters lined up either side of the red carpet… classic Disney stars on one side and new Pixar pals on the other, like a great face-off between the two animation teams! This was also the very first appearance of the Ratatouille main characters Rémy (grey) and Emile (brown) in Paris, arriving just days after their premiere at the US parks.

Notice also the stars on the temporary gate, with ‘Toon Studio’ written inside, which are very similar to the first ‘Toon Studios’ logo we saw way back in September 2005 at the special Videopolis fan event.

…Pixar pals on the other!

Press photographers were situated on the tiered viewing platform for the ceremony, whilst the invited guests filled Disney Bros. Plaza and could watch the action on the large video screen installed the day earlier. With the smaller spaces of Walt Disney Studios and the Hollywood Boulevard construction taking up much of this area, they still managed to devise a layout that would ensure a picture-perfect view of the action. After all, these events are entirely for the cameras – not least when they’re at a film Studio!

The ceremonies are about to begin…

For some of the guests at the official opening, there might have been a sense of déjà vu about the whole event – just one week earlier, they’d rushed into the park to be amongst the first to preview Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally as Annual Passholders. The events were a big success, as shown by the long queues to enter the area (below), despite a Fastpass-style timeslot system being implimented to give each passholder a 2-hour slot in which to preview the rides.

Despite the queues, some technical problems at Crush late in the day and general overcrowding for refreshments at Salon Mickey and the mezzanine of Disney Studio 1, the Toon Studio Preview Event was a big success for all.

(2nd June) Long queues for Annual Passholder previews.

(2nd June) Imagineer Beth Clapperton interviewed for Disneyland15.com blog.

The same weekend also saw the first low-key invasion of the press, albeit Disney’s own. The Photos Magiques camera spotted Beth Clapperton, Imagineer for Crush’s Coaster and already seen in many behind-the-scenes glimpses at the attraction, giving an interview in front of the attraction itself. Look out for this on the official Disneyland15.com blog at some point.

One week later, with previews complete and everything finally neat and pretty, it was time for the grand opening. The general smaller scale of Walt Disney Studios might have given a slightly quieter impression than the anniversary launch events of April, just two months ago, but the crowds were just as eager. To a mix of music ranging from Disney’s animated movie scores to the Peter Pan “flying” theme and “Just Like We Dreamed It”, the ceremony commenced as Arnauld Gayet, one of the two 2007 Disneyland Resort Paris Ambassadors, climed onto a small podium next to the Sorcerer Mickey marquee.

(9th June) Toon Studio grand opening ceremony.

With an impressive mix of French and English, Arnaud welcomed guests and introduced the special event, as the first Toon characters began to arrive behind him via the cadillacs of Good Morning Walt Disney Studios. Wendy Courquet, the second 2007 Ambassador, soon joined Arnaud from the empty Toon Studio behind, raving and exclaiming about each of the five attractions in the “new” land as Arnauld introduced them. Interestingly, despite the massive campaign on the esplanade, the ceremony served to inaugurate Toon Studio as en entire land, rather than to give special attention to its two brand new attractions.

With the introductions complete, several more characters welcomed (including The Incredibles) and the crowd appearing a little impatient, the guest of honour arrived to open his brand new studio – Mickey Mouse! It’s lucky that Hollywood glamour appears to never go out of style, since the dazzling white outfits worn by Mickey and Minnie might be recognised from the grand opening of the park itself, back in 2002. Mickey joined Wendy to cut the double ribbon of blue and gold, as Arnauld officially declared the new Toon Studio… “open!” with guests rushing to their chosen attraction.

The opening hasn’t been covered quite as heavily online as the huge 15th Anniversary opening events, but fans can always be relied on for capturing the magic as it happens. The following video is by Concombre2k7 on Dailymotion – ignore the apology for “poor quality”, this is just like being there:

Wait times for Crush and Cars remained impressive the entire day, with Cars Quatre Roues Rallye resting at around 50 minutes and Crush’s Coaster enjoying an everage queue of 1 hour 30 minutes, despite Cast Members warning guests the wait would be 3 hours from its entrance.

Across the park, attractions such as Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Studio Tram Tour apparently rarely had wait times above 15 minutes. Kinoo on our partner website magicforum reported that total attendance at the Studios was 14,000 for the day, with around 5,000 guests heading straight towards the new attractions upon opening.

With a simple “tea cups” like Cars (albeit a brand new one) gaining a 50 minute wait that guests were reportedly quite happy to endure, the fall-out from Toon Studio will, it appears, be to now try and coax guests out of this immediately popular area and to the rest of the park.

Photos by Photos Magiques (2/06/2007) and Aaronline.nl (9/06/2007); Video by Concombre2k7.
With thanks to the opening reports from members on Disney Central Plaza and magicforum.

For the first time ever, the entire esplanade and resort hub have been decorated with posters, banners and billboards advertising new attractions at one of the two Disney Parks – specifically, the two new attractions of Toon Studio – Cars Race Rally and Crush’s Coaster. The trail of dual advertisements leads all the way from the parking lot to the entrance of Walt Disney Studios Park, counting down the distance in metres to the location of these two new Pixar-based rides, from 870m at the Disneyland Hotel access bridge to just over 300m at the security checks.

Billboards being installed early on 9th June 2007.

The visuals used are similar to the original “Key Visual” for each attraction, though now each has been edited to photoshop several real elements of each attraction into the picture. Crush’s Coaster therefore features real guests aboard one of the real turtle shell vehicles, and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye features the real 3D models of Lightning, Mater, Luigi and Guido with guests riding in one of the rea, spinning vehicles. It’s also interesting to note that the Crush’s Coaster poster is now darker than the original, and its countdown arrow is cleverly formed with a school of yellow fish.

Billboards under the Disneyland Hotel access bridge.

The advertisements fill the start and end of each canopy over the moving walkways, along with the signs here previously pointing the way to each park and Disney Village. The large billboards under the Disneyland Hotel bridge feature large posters, lamposts around the hub hold banners and poster displays at Disney Village and even the RER station continue the push.

Upon reaching the resort hub and seeing the banners continue toward the security booths, even across the Vinci Parking fences and spaces usually reserved for Disney Village advertisements, the real idea behind this bold new campaign becomes clear. For over six months Disneyland Resort Paris has been using its key visuals showing Sleeping Beauty Castle and proclaiming the new attractions are located simply at “Disneyland Paris”. Now, as guests approach the two parks, these advertisements announce once and for all that the attractions are located at Walt Disney Studios Park, hopefully avoiding anyone enterting Disneyland Park and then asking where to find Crush…

Banners on the resort hub appear to replace Lumière in several spots.

It’s a strong campaign, and a real morale boost for Walt Disney Studios. For the first time, could we be seeing a higher number of guests heading into the Studios rather than Disneyland Park on a morning? Is a balance is finally being approached? The second park really becoming a viable alternative to the original? It’s hard to think that guests heading past almost 50 advertisements for attractions based on such massive hit films as Cars and Finding Nemo won’t be tempted to change their plans and head to the second gate instead…

Photos by Kyoto on DMI and WDS Fans, 9-10/06/2007.

Let’s try not to rush right up to that backdrop too soon… From near the entrance of Cars Race Rally, the Toon Studio Plaza nestles neatly in the corner beside Crush’s Coaster, with two oddly-shaped curved planters either side, enclosing the area in the middle.

The Toon Studio Plaza

Did you notice the floor on these photos by Joel? None of that strange black and grey checkerboard here — this is actually more alike what we might have expected from the project over in the old Animation Courtyard. There’s still random shapes amid straight lines, but in pale red and blue paving and sandy squares, the finish is far more appealing.

Walking further into the Plaza, surrounded by planters.

Sure, the Imagineers working on the project really wanted a different look for the old Animation Courtyard area — a more professional, serious tone — but would a nice coloured floor like this really have been such a distraction from that idea? The cost may have been prohibitive, but the final look is nothing but Disney quality.

The studio gate, with Toon warning signs and lamps.

Speaking of Disney quality, let’s get closer to that studio gate. Overlooking the similar annoyance of the ‘Toon Studio’ sign facing the wrong way, we can get a better look at just how that confusing backdrop works. The back wall features the building Goofy has crashed into, whilst two pieces of a backdrop are then positioned at an angle to form the row of buildings. Characters can walk in and out of the area via the path on the right.

Details of the Toon Town backdrop.

Along with Toon Town Skool and Laughing Academy, you’ll find Toontown News and Funny Business amongst the businesses located on the town’s Main Street. In the hills above, you might spot Mickey’s House from the actual Toon Town lands at other Magic Kingdoms. Along with Goofy crashed into the backdrop, this is one of a few clever character references throughout the area.

Donald’s security booth?

One of the most obvious references — yet one which many people might not have noticed — is that the Toon Studio Security booth clearly appears to be inspired by the captain’s cabin of Donald Duck’s boat, as seen in the Magic Kingdom attraction and the short film “Boat Builders”. As we saw inside during the last photo tour, a faux Cast Member costume even features his beak as the peak of the hat.

Mickey Mouse aspirations for the security Toons.

The Imagineers have filled the inside with endless clutter, from files, paperwork and a brightly-coloured (Sony) computer to Mickey Mouse ornaments…

No wonder they didn’t fancy their lunch after looking at that keyboard…

…and somebody’s lunch.

Mickey’s House, in Paris!

Off to the right is the second photolocation we didn’t see last time, featuring a direct view of Mickey’s House as seen at Disneyland in California. As with The Incredibles’ photolocation to the left of the studio gate, this one could also be changed quite easily for a new film or series of characters to take its place.

At the moment, Mickey has yet to be spotted here. He’s still appearing every day at his trailer over in Production Courtyard — which was repositioned from the current entrance of the new expansion area here around 18 months ago. Will Mickey move over to his house at some point, or will it be left for the mischeivous Chip & Dale to overrun each day?

The big cheese is expecting quite a queue.

Whoever becomes the long-lasting attraction of this spot, the Imagineers have certainly planned for some big crowds. Whilst character locations elsewhere at the resort have been added as an afterthought, they’re now considered a key part of Imagineering, and an organised queue like this should put some comments to rest about the behaviour of guests trying to reach their idols.

Notice also a door into the rockwork of Crush’s Coaster, and the continued dark blue hue which now stretches across this side of the building. Silver hanging lamps have been added along the wall, whilse another twisted blue lampost is positioned here. Lights and lamps are one thing the new Toon Studio is definitely not short of, especially considering the lights around Crush’s Coaster and Cars, the neons of Radiator Springs and the show lighting pointing to Crush’s façade.

Fairy lights, forever?

Slightly less permanent are these LED lights spotted by Photos Magiques. They’re a staple of many trees over in Disneyland Park around Central Plaza, but are these ones to stay forever in Toon Studio? They could simply be for the nighttime events of the Press Event on 16th June — if not, the Imagineers are planning well in advance. The park doesn’t open late enough to be seen in the dark until the deep months of Winter.

Ice cream truck re-opened.

Photos Magiques also reports in their latest update from the land that the food truck positioned against the back wall has re-opened, selling mainly ice creams for the Summer season.

The New Walt Disney Studios Park

Here we are, June 2007. This is the month when the first new attractions at Walt Disney Studios since its 2002 opening are finally inaugurated and officially opened to the public. That familiar view of Disney Studio 1 from across the park will never seem the same again — no more wide, empty courtyards or simple showbuildings for attractions. There’s definitely a “New” Walt Disney Studios atmosphere now, so much that you might even begin to feel a bit of nostalgia for the “Old” park.

But not for long, eh? Enjoy the Toons!

You can find out more about the history and development of the new land and see a full map of the area before and after its transformation at our updated Toon Studio Guide.

Photos by Photos Magiques and Joel.

Before you do, you’d better check this out –the obligatory warning sign. It’s not wordy and massive like the ones over at Crush’s Coaster, but just simple and cute. Using the same eye-pleasing style as the entrance information sign, there’s two illustrations showing how to and how not to load the vehicles.

As soon as the vehicles were installed on their turntables back in late February, many a Disney fan eeked in horror at their diminutive size. Is this something everyone can ride? Of course! But only two adults maximum per vehicle, one per row. Otherwise, your unfortunate rookie race vehicle might keel over exactly as shown above!

Warnings over, onto the ride itself. Moving from the queue building to underneath the canopy of Flo’s V8 Café, you reach six boarding groups with the turqoise control booth in the middle. Each “pen” has its own automatic gate to open onto the ride turntables, and you’re grouped together two car-loads in each pen. When the ride ahead of you has come to an end, the gate opens and you’re free to board…

If the Imagineers had gone with the original idea of using characters from the film for the vehicles, now would be the time that you’d be thrown to the floor as families dashed to Lightning McQueen and you’re left with stuffy old Doc Hudson. Thankfully, the concept evolved and we’ve got cars in three different colours – red, blue and aqua. Each car style also has its own unique face and slight details which differentiate each “rookie racer” on the Radiator Springs Raceway.

The’Raceway’ itself has even been given some nice authentic touches, such as tire marks skidding across the sandy-coloured floor. It was always going to be tough trying to recreate a dusty desert landscape with the turntable of a spinning teacups-style ride, but with some squared cracks, dusty markings and those tire tracks it appears authentic enough. Surrounded by the kind of fine ochre rockwork only Imagineering can do to form the “canyon walls” of this sunken ride area, the effect adds up rather nicely.

Each of the Cars has its own unique licence plate number, but it appears the Imagineers didn’t add any hidden secrets like their own birthdates as we’ve come to expect. Instead, each car has a number in the form “CQR011” (CQR being Cars Quatre Roues, the film’s French title), surrounded by the words Carberetor County. One nice detail for years to come is the date of May 2007 at the top of the licence plate, for the first run of these new vehicles.

The best thing about these being brand new vehicles rather than ones taken from the film is that the stars of ‘Cars’ can be presented properly, full-size and as close to their real design as possible. We saw Lightning arrive via the Studio Tram Tour route a few weeks ago, and now here they are – Lightning and Mater beaming uncontrollably at riders as they spin out of control around the course.

Their position here will likely cause upset for anyone who wants to get an up-close photo with the characters, but perhaps if we remember their intricate designs meeting the uncaring hands of guests… it suddenly seems like a good idea! The position also allows for a fun addition to the ride – as you spin and swirl, the pair of “best friends” will shout encouragements over to you, Mater in French and Lightning in English. Lightning McQueen at least is not the original voice of Owen Wilson, but it’s unlikely children will notice the difference.

Enough with the words! Climb into your Car…

…And it’s onto the video, filmed in special Guest-O-Vision camera by Photos Magiques/WDS Fans:

When the ride finishes, there are two paths to exit, snaking up through cacti and the rough, ochre desert landscape to the viewing area next to the ride. Each features automatic gates at its start and finish, so they’ve no need to be attended by a Cast Member all day.

The view across the “canyon” towards McQueen and Mater looks like they’ve clicked “copy” on Pixar’s computers and pasted across the best bits of the film’s location into this fairly small space. The thin wire mesh fences — an usual choice for Disney — and the aged trees continue to add to the theme.

As guests turn this corner into the new Toon Studio area, the sudden rush of theme, complete with large collections of real cacti, will be quite overwhelming compared to the rest of the current park. If they wanted to overwrite some bad memories of the past, however, they’ve done well. This barely seems the same park that brought us the wondrous presenting skills of Disney Channel’s ‘Julie’.

“Leaving so soon?” The folks of Radiator Springs have a point. Will we ever want to leave this area on our next visit to Walt Disney Studios Park? Of course we’ll have to eventually, but even after the land is officially re-inaugurated in two weeks time there will still be things to return for…

…Such as that point in October/November when the sun finally sets early enough for us to see Walt Disney Studios Park at its very best – under the cover of darkness! No, that’s not a sly dig at the park’s looks, but an appreciation of its wonderful lighting. And with all those neons, set lighting and the Toon Town backdrop, this should be a second launch of magic for the park’s new land.

Until then, relax and enjoy the atmosphere. Take life a little easier on Route 66. The welcoming residents of Radiator Springs guarantee you’ll never want to leave.

All photos and video by Photos Magiques.

When you think of Route 66, you’ll undoubtedly think of glowing neon lights soon enough. Not wanting to disappoint the expectations then, not only are neons featured throughout the little townscape, but the main entrance sign itself is a customised blue neon. Styled to the typeface of the ‘Cars’ logo (Magneto) it glows blue in a metal casing, joining the blue sky backdrop behind to give a nice constrast against the sandy yellow entrance building.

If the sandstone art deco of the “Ramone’s House of Body Art”-inspired exterior isn’t ‘Route 66’ enough for you, just take a look inside — through the open window panes a collection of highway memorabila and ‘Cars’ characters await. The queue area is a series of buildings with a more industrial ‘backstage’ area, all open at the sides and all joined together to form one continuous space – open and airy just as buildings in the real desert landscape of the USA. The road signage, industrial railings and details such as the star-shaped ceiling lights all give the feeling of motor-obsessed Route 66.

What? Not ‘Route 66’ enough for you? Well, like the main entrance sign of Crush’s Coaster, Cars Race Rally has also had a few additions since the first previews a couple of weeks ago. Now hanging in the windows of the Ramone-themed entrance are several multicoloured car hoods (bonnets) sprayed in all the colours and fancy stencilled designs you could ever imagine. They’ve added colour to both the inside and the outside — thanks to those large windows, and are just one of the many character-themed details throughout the queue.

Each character, store or location in Radiator Springs has its own information board inside this ‘Visitor Center’ to advertise their lives and trade to visiting guests. But not only that – many are also joined by additional, real, 3D props, like that gleaming trophy you’ve surely noticed already. For the uninitiated, that’s the Piston Cup — the biggest prize for racing cars in the ‘Cars’ world, and the trophy Doc Hudson – Lightning McQueen’s mentor – has won no less than twice in his time. As far as we know, this is the first and only real-life version of the CGI trophy — only at Walt Disney Studios!

It’s clear that, for fans of the Academy Award-nominated film, this quaint little attraction will truly be the holy grail of all Disney Park attractions. We’ve not even stepped inside the covered queue area yet, but when we do — another fun detail, already! Covering the entire wall to your left is the map of Carburetor County as seen at the end of the film and during the ‘Our Town’ sequence. These days, Radiator Springs is definitely on the map — the best detail of this one being a huge painting of the famous “Greetings from Radiator Springs – Gateway to the Ornament Valley” postcard.

Based on a real-life postcard from , the beautiful artwork was originally created by the artists at Pixar as a teaser for the film itself. Unfortunately, you can’t buy the artwork as a real postcard, and the queue contains a fair few other ‘souvenirs’ that would surely sell incredibly well should they become more than just queue props.

Cue Lizzie, the old-fashioned motor car who runs ‘Radiator Springs Curios’ in the film. Not wanting to miss out on a good sales opportunity, she’s got her own sales stand filled with postcards and bumper stickers — even the famous “U Want It – We Got It” slogan from her billboard-filled storefront in the film. The stand is surrounded by old-fashioned wheels like those on Lizzie herself, old tire sales signs, licence plates and even a few framed pictures of the old saleswoman herself.

And the bumper stickers themselves? Some are advertising Radiator Springs stores and locations, others simply quirky slogans from the world of Cars. Let’s take a quick read-through:

“Tow Mater Towing & Salvage”, “Cozy Cone Motel”, “Luigi’s Casa Della Tires”, “Radiator Springs Curios – Souvenirs, Brick-a-Brack, Trinkets”, “I’d rather be cruisin'”, “Got My Kicks”, “I (heart) Radiator Springs”, “Life begins at the off ramp”, “Honk if your horn works”, “I Auto Be in Pictures”, “Flats Happen”.

It appears even motor cars have a good sense of humour!

Following the queue around the Piston Cup and then over to the back-and-forth queue on the right, the cars of Radiator Springs begin to plug their trades. First a welcome from Radiator Springs Municipal Court, headed by Red the firetruck, Sheriff and the statue of Stanley…

…Then an advertisement for ‘Sarge’s Surplus Hut’, for tents, parachutes and all your surplus needs…

…Followed by Fillmore’s organic fuels. Notice that this one mixes with the exterior of Tow Mater’s salvage outside, including the drums of organic fuel we saw in Part 1 of the tour. Like the artwork hoods of Ramone’s, Fillmore’s area also includes some special props adding to his character and theme. As a hippie Volkswagon camper van, it seems only right that his information board be surrounded by 1960s multicoloured flowers, with beads hanging above illuminated by red and orange lighting — similar to Fillmore’s trippy tent in the film itself.

Reaching the far end of the double-back queue, we find Doc Hudson’s advertisements and acheivements filling the end wall and a billboard for Sally’s Cozy Cone motel separating two parts of the queue path. Notice another clever detail here? Yes, the metal supports of the board are styled just like the orange ‘Cozy Cones’ of the “newly refurbished” Radiator Springs motel itself!

Doc Hudson’s wall mainly features an advertisement for his Ornament Valley Mechanic Clinic, including a perfect recreation of its logo signage, but no doubt more interesting to fans of the film are the series of newspaper articles surrounding this, detailing his triumphs as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet racecar.

Doubling back on ourselves, we head back past the main entrance lobby towards Flo’s V8 Café, passing the other side of Lizzie’s Radiator Springs Curios stand and getting a nice view out towards the undersea facade of Crush’s Coaster across the ‘backlot’. This side of the Curios stand features more props relating to Lizzie, with a selection of postcards featuring Radiator Springs and its environs on display.

Many of the road signs and licence plates in this area are taken directly from the film, and can be seen throughout the book ‘The Art of Cars’. Though written as a production log of the animated film, the book also now provides a unique insight into the themeing of this attraction.

Nearing the boarding area under the turquoise canopy of Flo’s V8 Café, more props start to appear for the town’s only gas station — here a petrol pump, cans of motor oil and some signs and logos for the Café, positioned on a checkerboard-tiled floor and a small plinth decorated with black and white tiles. It’s the variety of styles within this Route 66 world which appears to make the attraction special. Outside, there’s a whole series of recreated locales from the film. Inside, each character gets its own space and its own style, as if the cars themselves have been in and decorated their area before guests arrive.

With so many different details and themes to explore, it’s lucky they thought to provide a map. Despite being a map of the “real” Radiator Springs on Route 66, there have been some liberties with this fantastic wall decoration to render it a little closer to the attraction – or at least to introduce the town a little better to those who haven’t seen the film yet. Off to the right and behind Flo’s V8 Café in particular, you’ll now find Willy’s Butte and the Radiator Springs raceway… which is where we’re headed in Part 3!

All photos by Photos Magiques.

First we saw a marquee for ‘Crush’s Turtle Twister’ formed from a collection of undersea plants. Next, we had to imagine the same but with the name replaced by ‘Crush’s Coaster’. Then came a new concept of wooden beach posts sunken into the sand. Then came the opening of the land, and nothing more than a small logo on the wait time indicator. Now, Crush has officially arrived in Paris, and he’s brought a little gift from the Australian coast…

Here it is, the final entrance signage for Crush’s Coaster! Weathered, faded and sunken into Toon Studio’s new beach, three large wooden posts (used to anchor boats to, perhaps?) hold the attraction’s welcome to guests. The attraction logo sign itself is large and loud, themed to a kind of beach warning sign and identical to the logo seen on the new Cast Member uniforms and on temporary signage seen around the new area recently. The logo features silhouettes of Crush and Squirt, with the graphics repeated above and below on the unusual diamond-shaped entrance sign. Compared to other entrance signage around the resort, this one is certainly quite unique.

And, as if the tide has suddenly vanished and left him balancing, Crush himself rests atop the tallest post in perfectly-sculpted 3D form, the latest in a sudden burst of character figures into the land following Luigi, Guido, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Mike Wazowski, the CDA and of course Sorcerer Mickey. The unusual pose depicts Crush resting on his lower shell, exposing his underside – perhaps guarding his shell from riders nearby, or pesky seagulls above?

An extra little metal plaque holds the expected Disney-Pixar disclaimer. Despite their buyout of the Emeryville, California animation studio, Disney still appears required to feature this at every mention of the attraction. This one features a slight “spin” on the usual style, however, proclaiming “An awesome adventure from Disney and Pixar” rather than the usual “Inspired by Pixar’s…”.

Concepts for this signage pictured it with not only metal caps atop each of the three wooden posts but also some lighting for the main logo and a large undersea plant behind Crush, blending him into the location a little more. The lack of lighting for the attraction logo at least is quite apparent right now.

But hey, dude – pretty awesome already, right?

All photos by Photos Magiques.