Opening Date For Cars Land?

[PrincessTiffany]

We are going back to California this summer and will, of course, be doing a couple of days at DL/CA. I don't want to miss the new Cars Land. I can't find any exact opening information - just Summer 2012? Does anyone here know the date, or at least a tentative date?

Thanks!

 

[joelnkelly]

no date, just summer of 2012, we are going in the middle of june

 

[PrincessTiffany]

no date, just summer of 2012, we are going in the middle of june

Hmmm, that puts a damper on my plans. I really need to firm up my dates, as my parents are going with us and we are going to use their time share points for booking hotels/resorts in California. We will be flying into San Francisco and renting a Suburban and going to Yosmite and Saquoia National Parks, either Catlina or Channal Islands, DL, CA and San Diego Zoo. Also, while we don't want to miss it, I also don't want to be there on opening weekend - I'm sure that will be insane.

 

[HydroGuy]

We are going back to California this summer and will, of course, be doing a couple of days at DL/CA. I don't want to miss the new Cars Land. I can't find any exact opening information - just Summer 2012? Does anyone here know the date, or at least a tentative date?

Thanks!

It seems that even Disney does not even know. I am sure they are pulling out all stops to get everything open by June. The sticky point is the new entrance to DCA called Buena Vista Street. There are rumors it may not be ready by June and Disney likely will want to open both CL and BVS at the same time to unveil "the new DCA". So even if CL is ready to open by June it may not actually open because of BVS.

 

[skiingfast]

If you want to see Carsland, it is safe to go mid Summer, to be really sure go in the Fall.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

If you want to see Carsland, it is safe to go mid Summer, to be really sure go in the Fall.

We will definitely be traveling to California in June, I'm a bit flexible with the dates in June, but do need to firm it up pretty soon. We will be going to the beach in July, flying to Dallas for the big Alabama football game in the new Texasdome (I guess that's what it's called, my husband is planning that trip! lol) in September and we will be going back to Disney World in December for the grand opening of the new Fantasyland, so it's got to be June. Let's hope they come out with some firm dates soon

 

[skiingfast]

If it has to be June then don't plan on Carsland just wait and see if it happens.

Scroll the chart over in the link, to June. Try to go when the most passes are blocked. After the 6th and if possible bewtween the 6-8th, 13-15th, 20-22nd. When the APs are blocked it will help reduce crowds.



http://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/

I purposely didn't include the blocked Saturdays because those are very busy regardless of AP blockouts.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

If it has to be June then don't plan on Carsland just wait and see if it happens.

Scroll the chart over in the link, to June. Try to go when the most passes are blocked. After the 6th and if possible bewtween the 6-8th, 13-15th, 20-22nd. When the APs are blocked it will help reduce crowds.



http://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/

I purposely didn't include the blocked Saturdays because those are very busy regardless of AP blockouts.

Thanks for the info. I have a TG subscription and it also lists the AP block outs, so I kind of figured it would be best to work around those dates. Actually the crowd calendar for June isn't too bad crowd-wise, but it sure jumps up a lot in July - we definitely wouldn't go in July.

 

[skiingfast]

Thanks for the info. I have a TG subscription and it also lists the AP block outs, so I kind of figured it would be best to work around those dates. Actually the crowd calendar for June isn't too bad crowd-wise, but it sure jumps up a lot in July - we definitely wouldn't go in July.

This is a reason TG is not worthwhile for DLR.

June will have crazy days, simply insane when Carsland opens and the APs are not blocked. If Carsland does not open until the very end of June or July this would be a mute point, but that is unlikely. But if it opens in June, schools get out for vacation and APs flood in for thier last chance at the new attractions before the big Summer Blackout Period. June happens to be the month that the parks want to open things so they can be a draw for summer crowds. If Carsland opens May 1st, which is very possible, the APs will have plenty of chances to visit, and thier June effect will be clamed.

That is what many crowd estimates forget, and most were far off last summer when ST and LM opened. Carsland is looking like a much bigger deal than those attractions were.

It's important to consider the AP distribution. There are about 1 millions AP holders. About 50% are the SoCal Select, about 25% Socal, these two groups matter the most when considering their crowding factor. They are all close to DLR, and big in numbers.

July gets busy around the 4th, but settles down a week later. Weekdays become managable, the weekends are very busy. What makes this a decent time to visit is this is when there is the least amount of rehabs.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

This is a reason TG is not worthwhile for DLR.

June will have crazy days, simply insane when Carsland opens and the APs are not blocked. If Carsland does not open until the very end of June or July this would be a mute point, but that is unlikely. But if it opens in June, schools get out for vacation and APs flood in for thier last chance at the new attractions before the big Summer Blackout Period. June happens to be the month that the parks want to open things so they can be a draw for summer crowds. If Carsland opens May 1st, which is very possible, the APs will have plenty of chances to visit, and thier June effect will be clamed.

That is what many crowd estimates forget, and most were far off last summer when ST and LM opened. Carsland is looking like a much bigger deal than those attractions were.

It's important to consider the AP distribution. There are about 1 millions AP holders. About 50% are the SoCal Select, about 25% Socal, these two groups matter the most when considering their crowding factor. They are all close to DLR, and big in numbers.

July gets busy around the 4th, but settles down a week later. Weekdays become managable, the weekends are very busy. What makes this a decent time to visit is this is when there is the least amount of rehabs.

Very good info again, thanks. I do think TG and the other sites will have to update their crowd calendars when the Cars Land opening date comes out, as I think they will when the actual opening dates for the new Fantasyland area at WDW come out. I definitely thing the new Cars Land will be a bigger draw than the ST update and LM last year.

With the AP blockout info, I think I'm looking at having our DL/CA days to be June 13, 14 & 15 or June 14, 15 & 16. I really do hope that it opens sometime in May - that would be great and the crowds certainly wouldn't be as big in June. But, really, either way it will be okay. We did DL/CA Labor Day Weekend, with a Marathon Weekend going on too, and it was crazy crowded. If we can survive that weekend, we'll survive if Cars Land opens in June. Afterall, we will be at Disney

 

[HydroGuy]

This is a reason TG is not worthwhile for DLR.

June will have crazy days, simply insane when Carsland opens and the APs are not blocked. If Carsland does not open until the very end of June or July this would be a mute point, but that is unlikely. But if it opens in June, schools get out for vacation and APs flood in for thier last chance at the new attractions before the big Summer Blackout Period. June happens to be the month that the parks want to open things so they can be a draw for summer crowds. If Carsland opens May 1st, which is very possible, the APs will have plenty of chances to visit, and thier June effect will be clamed.

That is what many crowd estimates forget, and most were far off last summer when ST and LM opened. Carsland is looking like a much bigger deal than those attractions were.

It's important to consider the AP distribution. There are about 1 millions AP holders. About 50% are the SoCal Select, about 25% Socal, these two groups matter the most when considering their crowding factor. They are all close to DLR, and big in numbers.

July gets busy around the 4th, but settles down a week later. Weekdays become managable, the weekends are very busy. What makes this a decent time to visit is this is when there is the least amount of rehabs.

Very good info again, thanks. I do think TG and the other sites will have to update their crowd calendars when the Cars Land opening date comes out, as I think they will when the actual opening dates for the new Fantasyland area at WDW come out. I definitely thing the new Cars Land will be a bigger draw than the ST update and LM last year.

With the AP blockout info, I think I'm looking at having our DL/CA days to be June 13, 14 & 15 or June 14, 15 & 16. I really do hope that it opens sometime in May - that would be great and the crowds certainly wouldn't be as big in June. But, really, either way it will be okay. We did DL/CA Labor Day Weekend, with a Marathon Weekend going on too, and it was crazy crowded. If we can survive that weekend, we'll survive if Cars Land opens in June. Afterall, we will be at Disney

I agree with Ski 100% and was tempted to write something much the same. The issue is not so much that TP needs to update their crowd calendar. It is that - so far - they do not "get" the DLR crowd patterns at critical times.

What comes to mind was last year in June when ST and LMAUA opened and TP had some days rated as "5" which later turned out - according to reports - to be more like 10's. We all knew they would be 10 based on AP patterns and past Junes. But TP did not. They may have updated their prediction the day before (can't remember) but in the weeks ahead when people would actually be using it they were far off on things we all knew already.

 

[Carmatts]

The TG forecasts have obviously not adjusted to AP patterns as others have said.
You can expect a big local AP turnout when any of the following occurs:

- AP's are about to be blocked. We got to get in one last visit before the blockout begins. I went several times the last couple weeks before the AP's were blocked and it was a mess. ST opening had a lot to do with this as well. Mid June is when local AP's become blocked for about 6 weeks and it will be a very busy time inside DLR.
- AP's just become unblocked.
- Something new opens. Many people (myself included) can easily go, stand in line for 2 hours, take in a ride or 2, and go home. Makes it difficult for tourists who don't want to waste valuable time waiting in long lines for 1 ride, but that is the reality of the situation when you assessing the effect of the local AP's on the parks.

Specifically in reference to Carsland and Buena Vista Street, even if it does not officially open to the public by June there were be cast previews, AP previews, Media previews, and a lot of buzz around the parks, which will lead to huge crowds. June is going to be a packed time at DLR, whether Carsland has opened or not.

You can still have a great time, just as long as you know what to expect going in.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

The TG forecasts have obviously not adjusted to AP patterns as others have said.
You can expect a big local AP turnout when any of the following occurs:

- AP's are about to be blocked. We got to get in one last visit before the blockout begins. I went several times the last couple weeks before the AP's were blocked and it was a mess. ST opening had a lot to do with this as well. Mid June is when local AP's become blocked for about 6 weeks and it will be a very busy time inside DLR.
- AP's just become unblocked.
- Something new opens. Many people (myself included) can easily go, stand in line for 2 hours, take in a ride or 2, and go home. Makes it difficult for tourists who don't want to waste valuable time waiting in long lines for 1 ride, but that is the reality of the situation when you assessing the effect of the local AP's on the parks.

Specifically in reference to Carsland and Buena Vista Street, even if it does not officially open to the public by June there were be cast previews, AP previews, Media previews, and a lot of buzz around the parks, which will lead to huge crowds. June is going to be a packed time at DLR, whether Carsland has opened or not.

You can still have a great time, just as long as you know what to expect going in.

But the dates I'm planning on going are all "Blocked Out" dates for AP holders, won't that mean less crowds on those days? Even if Cars Land opens in June, the AP holders won't be there on blocked days, right?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Another vote for TP not "getting" DLR crowds. For the longest time they had this week being very low crowds based on last years stats. The problem with that was 1) the holiday season was extended until 1/8 this year, 2) many schools are still on break this week, and 3) APs are unblocked all week. They did eventually change it but only after several customers brought the flaws in their logic to their attention.

Princess Tiffany (BTW you were so helpful on the dining plan forum!) I'd plan during block out days and as late into June as you can get.

 

[sonnyjane]

But the dates I'm planning on going are all "Blocked Out" dates for AP holders, won't that mean less crowds on those days? Even if Cars Land opens in June, the AP holders won't be there on blocked days, right?

Disneyland blocks AP's on days that they already expect to be very crowded with non-AP holders in order to avoid capacity issues. You are correct that if the SoCal AP's are blocked in June that SoCal AP holders can't come to the parks on those days, but anyone with a Deluxe AP can come on any day in June other than Saturday, and anyone with a Premium or Premiere AP can come any day they like, so certainly don't expect low crowds just because SoCal AP's are blocked!

 

[HydroGuy]

But the dates I'm planning on going are all "Blocked Out" dates for AP holders, won't that mean less crowds on those days? Even if Cars Land opens in June, the AP holders won't be there on blocked days, right?

Probably yes and I would do the same.

I think the responses about TP - at least my response - was geared towards the idea that TP will update their crowd predictions later. That is not their issue.

I suspect they will improve over time. But right now I have no idea what a "5" or a "10" means when I go on those days and they look the same to me.

 

[SarafinaPink]

Disney has scheduled Carsland to open in May and as of right now they are on that target. I don't know when in may, an if there are issues between now and then it might put it back, but for now it's May. I confirmed this last week with an insider on the project.

 

[HydroGuy]

Disney has scheduled Carsland to open in May and as of right now they are on that target. I don't know when in may, an if there are issues between now and then it might put it back, but for now it's May. I confirmed this last week with an insider on the project.

It will be interesting to see how Disney handles it if they do get CL complete by May. Rumors and educated guesses by those on this forum would suggest that Disney will not want to open the final changes to DCA piecemeal. To get the biggest bang for the buck, they will want to open them all together as part of a grand re-opening of DCA. So even if CL is done by May that does not mean it will open in May - or even June. A big unknown here is the Buena Vista Street retheme of the park entrance. It is going to change the feeling you get when you enter the park and that is crucial. Like Main Street does at DL.

Last year Star Tours was ready to re-open several weeks (maybe a month) before it actually opened. Why was it kept closed? Because Disney wanted the Florida version of ST at DHS to open first and their opening was tied to Star Wars Weekends there in late May. Plus DL had the POTC 4 movie premiere in mid-May and Disney wanted to focus marketing on that before they focused on ST. So DL delayed opening ST until June even though it was ready in early May.

I suspect that Disney is:

A. closely monitoring the schedule of each CL and BVS

B. coming up with plans to open them together and contigency plans to open them separately

C. working hard to figure out how to maximize the marketing push of all the new stuff at DCA

Very interesting!

 

[texasteacher35]

What are the crowd levels like at DL compared to WDW parks in FL? We always go to WDW, but really want to get to CL. My DS6 is crazy for Cars. We had a Cars 2 Christmas. I think he got every item that exists for Cars 2...between Disney Store merchandise and merch at Target and Toys R Us. Lol

 

[HydroGuy]

What are the crowd levels like at DL compared to WDW parks in FL? We always go to WDW, but really want to get to CL. My DS6 is crazy for Cars. We had a Cars 2 Christmas. I think he got every item that exists for Cars 2...between Disney Store merchandise and merch at Target and Toys R Us. Lol

It is hard to compare the two. The parks at DLR are smaller than at WDW and so similar number of people feels more crowded because walkways are narrower.

On the other hand DLR's two parks have almost as many rides as WDW's four parks put together. So that means even when there are more people inside the parks, many of them are in line for rides and not on the walkways. In other words DLR has more places to put people inside the parks.

And still another difference is that DLR parks tend to have longer hours than WDW parks so that spreads people out more.

And finally DLR has a much larger number of AP holders and many of them live in SoCal close to DLR. They can and do "pop in" for just a few hours and then leave. So quite a few of the DLR guests are not there all day. So that reduces crowds.

I think it is fair to say that - in general - crowds at DLR feel similar and maybe a little more crowded than at WDW. But it depends heavily on many factors.

Here is a good starting point for WDW vets. I have never disgreed with the author of this thread:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599