Should we skip Cars Land?

[3HappyKids]

We are making out first trip to Disneyland with the kids next week. We booked our vacation even before we knew about Cars Land. How bad (crowd-wise) do you think the rest of the park is going to be next week? If Cars Land is crazy busy I don't mind completely skipping over all of that. Is the rest of the park going to be as nutty? Since it's our first Disney trip my kids will just be thrilled to be there and check out the parks. They aren't going to know that Cars Land is "new" and if its really busy do you think I will regret skipping over it all together? It will be several years before we can come back. Am I crazy to think we may skip this area of the park?

 

[arthur06]

How old are your kids and are they big "Cars" fans?

Are you staying onsite so you can use MM?

 

[DisneytheKid]

I would ask the same things as the last poster. If your kids are huge cars fans, then I would probably find the time to make it to Carsland. I am hoping that the crowds would die down a little but I would imagine that they will probably remain pretty high through the summer...

 

[sheetz]

Carsland will draw crowds away from the rest of the park, and even from DL, so you could skip it if you want. But I think it's not really necessary if you can get there early.

 

[lk2500]

Carsland will draw crowds away from the rest of the park, and even from DL, so you could skip it if you want. But I think it's not really necessary if you can get there early.

I'll be there in a week or so also. I just plan on having one adult wait in line for fast passes for RSR while the rest of us ride some other rides. If we can get one ride on RSR then fine, if not, then so be it. We'll just keep doing fly bys and play it by ear....

 

[3HappyKids]

How old are your kids and are they big "Cars" fans?

Are you staying onsite so you can use MM?

I have a 18 month girl, 4 year old boy, & 6 year old girl. We actually have never seen the Cars movie but my kids do know some of the characters. We are staying at a good neighbor hotel and do have a MM entry for a day. Is this good for CA or just DL? I was understanding that it is just good for DL. We will be at the parks early every day--before opening I'm sure. We are from KS so my kids will be up before the crack of dawn in CA with the time change!

 

[3HappyKids]

Carsland will draw crowds away from the rest of the park, and even from DL, so you could skip it if you want. But I think it's not really necessary if you can get there early.

Well if it draws the crowds away from the rest of the park that is fine in my book. Since it's our first trip we will be just taking it all in! I can't wait! Thanks!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I'll be there in a week or so also. I just plan on having one adult wait in line for fast passes for RSR while the rest of us ride some other rides. If we can get one ride on RSR then fine, if not, then so be it. We'll just keep doing fly bys and play it by ear....

thats probably the best laid out plan of attack that anyone should do this entire summer

 

[Goofy_Mom]

If your not cars fans, I'd say it's okay to skip it. Every detail of this land is cars, right down the tail-light flowers. I had an oppertunity to buy a preview day for the 9th and I skipped it. I'm really kicking myself for doing that. We won't be there till October and I'm still betting Carsland is going to have a big draw. On the upside, Midway Mania's wait time has dropped a lot!! I saw a listing for a 5 min wait today. Even in the off season it rarly drops below 45 min.

 

[lk2500]

If your not cars fans, I'd say it's okay to skip it. Every detail of this land is cars, right down the tail-light flowers. I had an oppertunity to buy a preview day for the 9th and I skipped it. I'm really kicking myself for doing that. We won't be there till October and I'm still betting Carsland is going to have a big draw. On the upside, Midway Mania's wait time has dropped a lot!! I saw a listing for a 5 min wait today. Even in the off season it rarly drops below 45 min.

I glanced at Mouse Wait this morning around 10:00am as well. Most of the wait times seemed really short except for RSR, probably because it's a block out day for AP's. I'll check tomorrow at the same time if I remember, I would assume wait times will be much greater.

 

[2boysmom1998]

I glanced at Mouse Wait this morning around 10:00am as well. Most of the wait times seemed really short except for RSR, probably because it's a block out day for AP's. I'll check tomorrow at the same time if I remember, I would assume wait times will be much greater.

The AP's are blocked next Saturday too. Do you think that the crowds should be like they are today next Saturday 6/23 too?

 

[tanyaewa]

How many days are you going? I don't think you need to plan to skip it. But just know that the rides might have really long lines. We usually do 5 day trips and my boys don't like to stand in line for more than 20 min. That means that sometimes we will skip an attraction rather than wait. In our 3 trips we have never done Matterhorn because the line was 40 min and they just don't see the value of waiting in line when they can do Buzz Lightyear 5 times in that amount of time! We did actually get a 20 min line for Mtterhorn once.... And then it shut down right when we wer at the front! They said they would have it going again in 1/2 an hour but no way would they wait - lol. We have only done Toy Story once each trip because of the long line and no fast pass.
The kids won't know any difference and honestly there is so much to do...especially on your first trip that there is no need to HAVE to wait in line for anything. Used fast passes for the popular rides and keep you eyes open for rides the Ariel, Monsters Inc and Buzz Lightyear that have short lines that move quickly.
ENJOY!

 

[kevdo]

We are making out first trip to Disneyland with the kids next week. We booked our vacation even before we knew about Cars Land. How bad (crowd-wise) do you think the rest of the park is going to be next week? If Cars Land is crazy busy I don't mind completely skipping over all of that. Is the rest of the park going to be as nutty? Since it's our first Disney trip my kids will just be thrilled to be there and check out the parks. They aren't going to know that Cars Land is "new" and if its really busy do you think I will regret skipping over it all together? It will be several years before we can come back. Am I crazy to think we may skip this area of the park?

This is a rherotical question, right?

Yes, you're crazy.

Now, I think that considering all your options as far as budgeting time is certainly not a bad thought, and thinking about the crowds in Carsland is a good consideration. But, I think you're going to regret not going.

As long as you can get to the park 30 mins before park open and head right over to Radiator Springs FastPass and then off to Luigi and Mater, I think you'll be able to beat many of the lines in Carsland.

 

[dleyel]

I would not skip it. Even if the ride lines are too long, I would still go and enjoy the amazing setting. Your kids would enjoy seeing the characters - there are Lightning McQueen, Mater and the fire engine to take pictures with. All of the details are so fun. I would try to rent the movie for them to watch before you go. It really is like stepping into the movie.

 

[dleyel]

Just saw that "Cars" is going to be on ABC tonight at 8 pm, so maybe you can record it for your kids. Will definitely make experiencing Cars Land even better.

 

[Dream.Finder]

If I were you and were wanting to hit Cars Land anyway, get there well before California Adventure park opening. Wait till the park opens and make a dash straight for Cars Land (by yourself if you don't want to make your family walk at a super fast pace), get to Radiator Springs Racers (at the back of Cars Land, I'd suggest grabbing a park map at the entrance or studying an updated California Adventure map online before you go), and insert your family's park tickets into the FASTPASS machines.

Doing this early morning will allow you to ride Radiator Springs Racers without too much hassle. It is an amazing ride to experience, wether you be a Cars fan or not. Doing this early morning tactic can ensure your family see it at least once using FASTPASS.

I am not sure if California Adventure does Magic Mornings too or if its only Disneyland Park, but if they do, MAKE SURE you check if California Adventure is opening early and if you have a ticket that gives you one Magic Morning access day. I have a feeling that only Disneyland Park does this though. I am not sure. On the same token, if you don't have morning access privileges, AVOID that day at California Adventure... the FASTPASSES for Radiator Springs Racers would be long gone by the time you would be allowed to enter.

 

[scrapshappen]

We were at Disneyland when the Nemo subs opened to the public for the first time. I know that isn't the same thing as Carsland, but there was no way we were going to stand in line with three kids under 5 for 2 hours to ride that thing. Even though my son was about as big a Nemo fan as they came. But we did enjoy walking around it and watching the ride (what little you can see of it) for a few minutes. It was about 15 months later when we went back again that we got to ride it for the first time.

I know it's hard to compare the two. But Carsland is an entire land. And so even if it's crowded, it will probably be worth it to just go look around. And the other big advantage is that RSR is a FP ride so you should at least be able to ride it once if you get the FP's early in the morning. The other rides might have to wait . . .

On a side note, I'm thrilled to hear that TS Midway Mania's lines are going down now that Carsland is open. We love that ride and were surprised that even after three year, the lines were still so long. (The time between our last two visits). I've been hoping that Carsland would pull some of that traffic away and make the lines shorter.

 

[sammons70]

How many days are you going to be at DLR? If the kids don't care about Cars, that's one thing. If they are Cars fans, you can get there and at park opening, do Cars Land, use fast passes, and not have to skip it.