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Radiator Springs Racers reviews

Theme Park Insider readers offer their ratings and reviews for Radiator Springs Racers, a track ride in Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure. (The minimum height to ride is 40 inches.)

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Written by
Theme Park Insider Editor
Posted: June 16, 2012

This high-speed track ride puts riders in the middle of a race featuring characters from the Pixar animated film 'Cars' opened officially with the rest of Cars Land on June 15, 2012.

From the editor of Theme Park Insider's review: "We often joke here on Theme Park Insider about that moment in every theme park attraction when something goes terribly wrong. But Radiator Springs Racers is one major theme park ride where nothing ever does go terribly wrong. It's a day in the 'Happily Ever After' instead - when Lightning McQueen's made his friends, there are no villains to be found, and there's nothing more important facing us than a high-speed race around Carburetor County."

Readers' rating:

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61 votes, so far

If I had not gotten a fast pass for this ride I would have been REALLY pissed off. As it is, the line to get a fast pass was about 30 minutes, and was our longest line of the day on my trip (we had good luck!). The regular line for standby for the ride would have been an hour and a half. NOT worth it. The ride is fun (at least the second half where you do the "race" but super short and half of it is a slow dark ride, which is visually really cute, but I just wanted to go FAST! - Elia Juarez

Be sure to get the fast pass before 9am as they are usually all gone by then. To wait maybe 20-30 minutes with that fast pass ticket is much easier than the 2-3 hours in the standby line and the ride is over to quick to justify that kind of wait. FAST PASS FAST PASS!!!! We went in and got our fast pass for this ride and Soarin and then over to Disneyland for an Indiana Jones fast pass. The two parks don't relay info to each other so you can hold the fast pass from both parks. Just make sure the times don't overlap to close. - John Ball

We almost missed out on this ride since it was down when the park opened. We did keep checking on it for the rest of the day and finally got a chance to ride after a 45-minute wait following World of Color. This ride was worth the wait. When compared to Test Track at Epcot, the theming of this puts it over the top. I say outstanding. - Carl Stovall

We almost missed out on this ride since it was down when the park opened. We did keep checking on it for the rest of the day and finally got a chance to ride after a 45-minute wait following World of Color. This ride was worth the wait. When compared to Test Track at Epcot, the theming of this puts it over the top. I say outstanding. - Carl Stovall

Near perfection. I only wish the line moved faster, and that the attraction didn't shut down so often. The animatronics are top notch with some of the most expressive non-humanoid characters ever. They have to be seen to be believed. Video and photos do not do them justice! The race portion is pure fun giving us the experience of going through a condensed version of Motocross "Woops" and a fantastic hairpin turn. Sure the cars aren't really hitting race car speeds, but it really doesn't matter considering how fun it is! - Brandon Mendoza

It was outstanding! The animatronics are AMAZING! And the racing outside is pretty enjoyable. Easily a 10/10 - Big Cohube

Radiator Springs Racers was our conclusion of a long day. We were able to hop in line for this usually 120 minutes wait time hot attraction with a 20 minutes wait in the single rider que. Riding on our hot-rod friend, we were spotted by a police car for jay driving. Instead of getting a ticket, our potential of racing is discovered thus officially invited into Radiator Springs. Right then the hearty country boy Mater takes us on a tractor tipping spree just to be chased off by the angry Frank. On our way back to town we're welcome by speed legend Lighting McQueen himself, with his advice, transformed into Radiator Springs Racer. This ride is combined with all the newest technologies with most advanced audio-animatronics. They’re larger in size, but glides smoother and faster towards the riders. They’re also lot more mobile, car reference here, and even the facial expression are vivid and designed flawlessly resembles the characters in film. Scenery-wise, it is grander and more astonishing, the efforts put into details makes Ornament Valley holds the spirit of Grand Canyon. Even when we enter the tire shop we can feel the cooler AC as if we’ve entered a sleek, high end tire center in real life. The only dis-satisfication (not really a disappointment) is that the actual racing only last about twenty seconds, making it only the finale of the ride. The race track is less dramatic then the long built up, making the finish slightly abrupt to many of us. However, still an amazing ride over all. Make sure to grab a fast pass for this ride first thing in the morning for it is the hottest rides in the Disneyland resort and the passes are usually gone within two hours from opening time. - Jeremy Hu

The audio-animatronics are outstanding, the story is very good, and the ride itself is fun. Like Indiana Jones Adventure the queue is almost an attraction in itself. On the downside the ride is a little short, the speeds aren't as high as test track, and the scrims on the windshield to create the cars' eyes makes the opening dark ride portions a little difficult to see. A very good ride, but not perfect. - Tyler Stover

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