Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy Photos & Review
Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy has officially opened at Hollywood Studios, giving Cars fans an attraction at Walt Disney World. In this post, we’ll cover whether the show meets expectations, share photos & video, and cover how it fits into a day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Since we’re talking about a film from the Cars franchise, the most obvious place to start our discussion of the attraction is Star Wars. (This year, everything at Disney’s Hollywood Studios relates to Star Wars in some way.) Once Galaxy’s Edge opens, the park will need all of the capacity it can get. This is why we’re getting dance parties in the old Pixar Place, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, and who knows what else.
There’s a lot of sentiment among Walt Disney World fans who, for some reason, are not interested in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge but are looking forward to “everyone going there so the rest of the park [or the rest of Walt Disney World] is less busy.” That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works!
Let’s assume that the average daily attendance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is currently 30,000 guests. I’m not saying that’s accurate, but let’s start with that assumption for the sake of this exercise. Let’s further assume that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will draw an additional 10,000 guests per day to Walt Disney World. That’s on top of the 30,000 who would show up regardless, for a grand total of 40,000 guests per day. Again, not real numbers or even predictions.
We don’t know what the total capacity is for the attractions, queue, retail, dining, and outdoor spaces in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. I can say with some degree of confidence that it’s far less than 40,000. In fact, it’s highly likely that the demand Galaxy’s Edge will induce is significantly higher than the land’s total capacity at any given moment.
More importantly, people aren’t going to travel all the way to Central Florida, and do (at first) only one ride in one park. They are going to fill out their day with other attractions, and then they are going to fill out their week with other parks.
Remember, Disney’s position with regard to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was that a rising tide lifts all boats. Meaning that Walt Disney World management believed a land in a totally different theme park complex down the road was the cause for increased attendance to Disney’s parks.
This is all hardly theoretical. When Pandora – World of Avatar opened, wait times increased throughout Animal Kingdom. With the exception of rope drop when a disproportionate number of guests race towards Pandora, crowds in the non-Avatar areas of Animal Kingdom are worse than they were pre-Pandora. That remains the case to this day; crowds have not subsided nearly two years after that land opened.
There’s no logical reason to expect a different result with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If anything, demand for the new land will far surpass capacity, and that spillover will push the influx of guests towards other attractions. Hence the need to add offerings elsewhere around the park, lest Disney’s Hollywood Studios start doing phased capacity closures at 10 a.m. opening week and regularly between October and December.
From that perspective, additions like Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy are very welcome. It’s not necessarily a people-eater, but between the show’s capacity and the courtyard outside with its meet & greets and entertainment, this this whole area should help eat some of the Star Wars crowds.
From another perspective, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is still desperately in need to things to do without height restrictions. Cars remains incredibly popular with kids, and is the perfect franchise for inclusion into the park. (I still wish we had gotten Cars Land, as was credibly rumored at one point, over Toy Story Land, but oh well.)
Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is found in the Sunset Showcase near Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which was previous a private and special event space that has been converted into a permanent attraction. The exterior is simply a big box with Art Deco flourishes, which is fairly common of the ‘old’ Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Upon entering the theater, there’s a brief trivia session on the overhead screens that form a semi-circle around the room. There are three sections of bench seating for guests. We attended the second to last show of opening day, and the theater was only around one-quarter full at this time.
I’m pretty far from the target audience for this attraction, so I’m not sure how much weight my review does or should carry, but I was pleasantly surprised by Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy.
It begins with a humorous song from Mater–the kind that has made Junkyard Jamboree a hit at DCA despite being a fairly pedestrian ride–which sets a good tone for the lighthearted attraction.
Throughout the 10-minute show, Lightning McQueen interacts with the audience with his teachings and also demonstrates what he’s learned over the years by using his brand-new, state-of-the-art racing simulator and its wraparound screen. It’s about half him facing guests, half him facing that simulator (away from guests).
He encounters friends like Mater and Cruz Ramirez, with the salient message being one of teamwork, friendship, and perseverance. He also encounters one of his main foes, Chick Hicks, who interrupts the show to challenge Lightning McQueen. I won’t give away how this all ends, but you can probably guess it.
In terms of pacing, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is perfect. He alternates between facing the audience and the simulator quite effectively, so there’s never too much time where you’re simply gazing at his tailpipes while he plays a video game.
Then again, the kids these days seem to love other kids game (I feel so out of touch), so perhaps that’d be superior?
More importantly, the Lightning McQueen Audio Animatronics figure is seriously impressive. It’s very similar to the one at the end of Radiator Springs Racers, except this has more range of motion and dynamically engages with guests.
I was so engaged by the McQueen figure that a lot of times that had my attention over whatever the plot was supposed to be. Kids are going to be blown away by this Lightning McQueen, and I think their parents will likewise find it to be pretty cool. Sure beats standing next to a static prop for a photo.
The other highlight of the show for me is the way it breaks up the simulator action with humor and interactions with other Cars characters.
Mater is obviously a national treasure, so his appearances are welcome, but there are a few other chuckle-inducing moments. I particularly liked the ad from Japan, which has shades of Ichiban, Lipstick for Men to it.
The whole show is imbued with a mild sense of humor to it, and it never feels condescending to its audience. It’s also not the high water mark for Walt Disney World attractions, but I never felt bored or underwhelmed, which is more than I expected. (Perhaps my expectations were just really low; when it was announced, I expected the whole thing to be a screen-based quick capacity add that would be shuttered in a few years. It’s definitely not that.)
If you don’t mind some spoilers, here’s a short video showcasing what to expect from the Lightning McQueen Audio Animatronics figure:
Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy shows run continuously throughout the day, with the posted wait time simply being (at least right now) a permanent “maximum wait: 15 minutes” sign. Presently, no FastPass+ is be available for the attraction, but we could see that changing once Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens.
Overall, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is a solid addition that provides sorely needed capacity in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, while also upping the experience count for small children. Most importantly, it does so with something that is actually a quality experience that kids are likely to love, with just enough humor and impressive tech that it will keep adults engaged. Probably not something that two adults without children should allocate park time towards, but you can’t win ’em all. Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is certainly not the most high-profile attraction that will be added to the park this year, but it’s far better than expected and (thankfully) not a phoned-in snooze.
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Your Thoughts
Are you looking forward to Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy? If you’ve already experienced it, do you agree or disagree with our review? Do you think it’s a solid addition to the attraction roster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Nice article about all aspects of this new ride, although I wanted to read right away the description of the ride. Suggestion: I think the first 10 paragraphs, about traffic and other parks, should be another article.
This attraction was such a welcome addition, especially for my 4-year old who always struggles when we go to HS. He liked the show so much that we watched it twice while my older son rode Rockin Roller Coaster next door. The show is the perfect length to turn over crowds quickly and the capacity is large. Really enjoyed it!
Sounds like this took the former space of Club Villain, which is really disappointing as that was one of my favorite Disney experiences and was hoping it would return again.
WDW1974, you also bring up valid points. Although I think the SW brand is stronger than you think. When it comes to the theme parks, it will probably garner more interest than the films ever will. I am not so sure it is the bloggers creating the hype as Disney itself can be clearly seen making maneuvers in anticipation of the hype they expect based on their data collection. For these parks to be successful, they are not looking outside of North America to fuel it. If they were, as you said, we would see SW development outside of North America. Crowds in general are sure to rise but I never get the whole hoopla around it because if one does not like crowds in general then Disney is not for you. Because of our jobs, we are limited to all of the school holidays, meaning I always go when it is supposedly crowded and we wouldn’t know any better. We even tried Christmas for the first time this past year and felt it was not that bad as planned ahead of time to avoid certain things on certain days. i.e. while the masses were lined up for miles to get into MK on December 31, we ventured over to AK and had a great time.
For me Star Wars should have had its own section or small scaled theme park 20-30 years ago whether it was Disney or someone else. I cannot believe how poorly Lucasfilm acquisition has gone. I was excited when Kennedy took the helm based on her history. However, she did not run Lucasfilm like projects of the past. Instead it has become some sort of weird feminist company looking to completely turn Lucasfilm upside down. How can we have 6 movies about Jedi lore and family ties, to only throw them out completely. And then have no vision to close out the final 3 movies. They should have not bothered with continuing the Skywalker story. If Marvel can do it right after 10 years interwoven, it boggles my mind that Lucasfilm could not even remotely get it right. So now we have the original cast mostly dead and not a proper scene together. We have a girl with power from no unknown origin. We have a son who just got angry. We have a dark master who is also dead with no story about where he came from and why he was in charge of the first order. We have no story on where the first order came from. We had Luke go from all powerful Jedi master to pussy drinking tits with no real explanation. How can Iger sit there and claim all is well? How can Kennedy with her smug smile sit there and say all is well? I would love nothing more that to see these people called out publicly when they hit the stage at Celebration next week.
But back to the bloggers and your apparent hard on for Tom. Not sure where that is coming from. Of course these blogs are meant to be fairly positive because they are after all about people who are all about Disney. Sure there needs to be balance and fair criticism when it is warranted but as a reader trying to find out about Disney, I would avoid blogs that only bashed every business decision. My own criticism for Tom is he does not have kids yet and many of the things he does through this blog will change when and if he does have kids. And I look forward to how his blog will change.
But you are wrong. Star Wars land is coming to Disneyland Paris in the next few years, its been already announced.
It wont come to the Asian parks, not because Disney doesnt want to develope it outside of North America but simply because the SW brand has not managed to become popular in Asia. There simply is not enough interest there. Maybe the theming of the moving and its philosophy just doesnt fit into Asian cultures, who knows.
I love Star Wars. My kids loved it so it depends on the ages in your family.
It seems that Disney has been seeing itself in competition with Universal way too much and trying to compete with the success of Harry Potter and that area in their park. It’s very much a success.
Toy Story Land is a bust as far as I’m concerned. It’s too small, can get crowded fast and has only the entrance, no other exit that leads to anywhere else. It’s a dead end so no reason to go there unless you’re truly devoted to Toy Story Mania.
Here’s hoping that Star Wars Land will be more of an attraction to love once the hype and crowds subside.
This makes me super happy! My son loves cars so we were going to see it no matter what, but I assumed it would be like Turtle talk with Crush, which works in that scenario because Crush is supposed to be under water and the kids see sea creatures in a similar fashion behind glass in the pavilion. But for Cars it would have felt cheap, just like watching it on TV. With so much effort and money being poured into GE, kudos to Disney for putting thought and money into this attraction! Yay!!!
I just have to echo your sentiment of “That’s not how any of this works!” I’m a travel agent and attended a Disney event for TA’s last week and was astounded to hear some of them having this exact conversation, that the other parks would be “less crowded” due to Galaxy’s Edge. I’ve been telling everyone to just prepare for everything to be more crowded.
Agreed. I think in some ways this attitude stems from denial or wishful thinking — it would be amazing to go back to 25, 10, or even just 5 years ago to experience the parks when there were longer “slow seasons” and more days where the parks were enjoyably uncrowded. But those days are over (at least until the next recession) whether Galaxy’s Edge exists or not.
In reality, it’s hypothetically possible that on some weekday in late September, there will be a net year-over-year decrease in visitors to MK or AK or Epcot on that date — due to the proportional increase of park visitors in DHS (drawn by Galaxy’s Edge) exceeding the effect of the overall WDW net attendance uptick on that particular day. That’s an inelegant way of writing out that equation, but my point is that while it’s not IMPOSSIBLE that Galaxy’s Edge could take some crowd pressure off of another WDW park on a given moment on some random day, that will be the exception and not the rule.
I think we *could* see some attendance cannibalization from Epcot, particularly next summer during Diet Epcot (non-festival season) if Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure isn’t open by then. However, there’s also the possibility that Epcot will be the easiest hopping option if guests get fed up with DHS crowds, too.
In other words, I agree and might even go a step further–but also maybe not. A bolder prediction than what you’ve made is premature.
That’s great news! We were at HS in December and as excited as everyone was to see Toy Story Land, it still felt like there just wasn’t enough for younger kids. Even just adding a toy story themed playground like the dinosaur bones one in Animal Kingdom would have helped so much! Any idea why they didn’t incorporate a dedicated play space into Toy Story land? Climbing over/through giant toys like the decorations already there would have been perfect!
“Any idea why they didn’t incorporate a dedicated play space into Toy Story land?”
No clue. Many people (me included) wondered this, especially with the removal of (and slight thematic similarities to) the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area.
Do you think it is perhaps a pre-cursor to changing the theme on rockin rollercoaster to Cars theme’d? It would bring the Pixar theme down a little further in the park, and there werent there rumors with RR being refurbed or retheme’d?
There are rumors of RnRC being rethemed, but I doubt it gets the Cars treatment. Having a kid-oriented theme for a roller coaster that intense (by Disney standards) wouldn’t be a savvy move.
This looks so cool! I know my son will love it…to be honest, whenever I’m feeling “homesick” for Cars Land I’ll pop Cars in and just dream about walking down route 66 So I’m quite the Cars fan myself. I hope I can take my family Walt Disney World one day!
The short video has definitely got me excited for the full show. Also, I’m probably similar age range to you… but I do have a toddler, so I can go because she likes it, right? 🙂 She did love Cars 3, so I’m sure it won’t be difficult to convince her to see this attraction.
Speaking about new addition at the Studios, any news about possible opening for the new Mickey attraction? With Galaxy Edge opening late August, I’d hope it’ll be open by then to help with the crowds.
I haven’t heard a peep about it. My assumption for a while has been that it’d be the big ‘summer’ debut this year, but that’s not based on any rumors or credible info, just my hunch. I’d certainly hope it’s open by the end of August.
Hopefully this will be a good addition and not just trying to fill space/time for guests. Remember “The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow” at Hollywood? Awful
It’s a low bar, but the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow was far better than the Narnia thing in the same space before it! I’m glad to hear this is a better experience than either.
“Phased capacity closures”?
This reminds me of what then DLR Sr. VP of OPs, now WDW President, said before the opening of DCA to the Los Angeles Times.
I see the hype train is already traveling at light speed … to where remains the question.
It’s actually amazing that, with how verbose you are, every one of your posts is exactly the same…for years now…on multiple sites. Yawn.
What’s more amazing is that based on your comment you read all of Tom’s material but then feel the need to comment negatively. If you don’t like it – don’t read it and certainly don’t comment with something negative and meaningless…useless waste of your time.
hahahaha. he’s gonna need some neosporin for that burn…if he’s real.
@FanofWalt, just to be clear, I was commenting on WDW1974’s post, not Tom’s. WDW1974 is “internet famous” as a “fan” of all things Disney.
I read Tom’s blog and love his posts because of one word: balanced. I’ll leave it that 😉
You know who I am? That’s touching. And let’s be blunt, if you felt my post was such a yawn, you would have ignored it. Yet, here we are … I felt Tom wrote something patently absurd and commented on it. He’s a big boy and can handle much, much worse. I do hope he decides to comment on it here, although I have been going back and forth with him on this topic (mostly in private, I’ll add) for years now … I struggle to figure out where the crazy hype for this project comes from. The last time a good Star Wars film came out, Tom wasn’t even alive.
WDW1974, I love the “if it’s so bad, you wouldn’t [insert “click, comment, post” here] argument” It’s truly original, always on-the-nose and very “spirited!” Certainly there’s no fallacy with that argument!
WDW1974 surely the hype train speaks for itself. The Disney data collection tools clearly demonstrate the hype and anticipation for all things Star Wars. If anything, it demonstrates how off Disney was in its plan for everything. Poor movie planning and poor park planning. I am pretty sure George Lucas never envisioned this mess when he sold it over to Disney. Lucasfilm obviously did not plan the 3 new movies properly. Miss Kennedy seemed more concerned with infusing feminism into the storyline instead of focusing on the original characters and their story. I mean how you can possibly not have Han, Leia, Chewy, Luke and Lando have one single scene together? Pathetic. And the planning of the Star Wars land IMO is too small in scale. I hope they have plans to expand. My family felt Pandora was underwhelming. They could have been more creative with the night time effects but instead went cheap with glow in the dark paint.
Totally agree, I believe anything NEW Disney does is weighed hevely in the boardroom on a cost/profit ratio, with the emphasis on PROFIT.
Mike, you made some excellent points regarding the way Disney has handled the films. There’s a reason Solo crashed and other standalone films have been frozen in carbonite (isn’t this what Han was frozen in?) … SW is also NOT a global franchise the way the Marvel films have become. China, which is so important to Bob Iger, has collectively yawned at the films (and, therefore, the all-important merchandise). The hype I believe is unwarranted for this land. And it is being fed by bloggers who have for years proclaimed it will be the biggest thing ever (more free advertising than the Bobs could have ever hoped for by giving bloggers free cupcakes, movies, DVDs, party tickets etc.).
I am not saying SW isn’t immensely popular. Or that there won’t be huge lines when this thing opens (in piecemeal fashion). But what Tom and others seem to push is this agenda that SW will move the needle so significantly that it will drive attendance to untold heights and make WDW and DL crazy all the time (they sorta already are, so that’s not going out on a limb). I may well be wrong (I could never have predicted a President Trump in my wildest nightmares, even though the signs were all there).
But I also think the hype is over the top. And Disney has already burned the true fans with both the films and by basically labelling DHS as ‘the SW Park’ 4-5 years ago. Imagine the surprise of SW fans, who were not Disney geeks, when they arrived and got Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, a giant shop (Launch Bay) selling largely things they could have bought at home or online and marching Stormtroopers.
Let’s wait and see what happens before we describe this as the greatest theme park development of all time. I was at EPCOT on Opening Day. I have been to Tokyo DisneySea multiple times. I have been to DAK countless times … DLP as well. I am not convinced at all that this is going to be the life changing experience that Tom and the Disney Blogosphere believe it will be.
But I await his breathless tweets from Anaheim on May 31st just the same!