Okay, Cars fans.
We finally have names.
We have ride vehicles.
We have mountains, geysers, dirt trails and demolition derbies.
And now we have a much better idea of what Disney is actually building inside Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom.
During D23, Disney revealed the official names and new details for the two attractions coming to the new Cars-themed area.
And they are very, very different rides.
Meet Cars: Ridge Run Rally
The headliner of Piston Peak will be Cars: Ridge Run Rally, an off-road racing adventure that will send guests tearing through the wilderness surrounding Piston Peak.
And this isn’t going to be a nice, orderly little lap around a track.
Disney describes Ridge Run Rally as an off-road race through the mountainous landscape, with guests racing across rugged terrain and trying to put together the fastest lap.
Because apparently Lightning McQueen’s idea of a relaxing afternoon involves launching a vehicle through a geyser field.
It’s a Race Through the Mountains
The attraction will wind through a Rocky Mountain-inspired environment filled with dramatic terrain.
And Disney has given us a pretty good idea of what riders will encounter along the way.
The course includes snowy mountain peaks, bumpy camelback hills and a geyser field.
Yes.
Geysers.
Because apparently a regular road trip wasn’t dangerous enough.
The Cars Aren’t Staying on a Track
One of the things that makes Ridge Run Rally especially interesting is the off-road design.
Instead of following a traditional coaster track, the vehicles will travel through the natural landscape of Piston Peak along winding trails.
The huge model Disney has displayed at D23 gives us a much better look at how the course will move through the land.
Guests will race through wooded areas, across bridges and around the mountainous terrain, with waterfalls, streams and rockwork surrounding the course.
It looks less like a theme park ride and more like somebody handed Lightning McQueen the keys to a national park and told him to make questionable decisions.
And Yes, There Are Characters
Ridge Run Rally isn’t just about racing through pretty scenery.
The Cars characters will be part of the experience, helping connect the ride to the world of Pixar’s Cars.
Lightning McQueen is prominently featured in the Piston Peak model, and the attraction is designed to feel like an adventure taking place within the Cars universe.
Disney is also using the surrounding environment to tell the story of Piston Peak itself.
Then There’s Miss Fritter
If Ridge Run Rally is the big thrill attraction, the second ride is going in a considerably more chaotic direction.
Meet Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin Along.
And yes, that name is a mouthful.
But it sounds exactly like something Miss Fritter would approve of.
Miss Fritter Is Hosting a Demolition Derby
Inspired by Miss Fritter from Cars 3, the attraction will put guests in the middle of what Disney describes as her wildest demolition derby yet.
And Miss Fritter herself won’t just be represented by a sign or a piece of scenery.
Disney says the attraction will feature a huge, school-bus-sized Miss Fritter Audio-Animatronic as the host of the experience.
Because obviously Miss Fritter needs to be enormous.
She is the Diva of Demolition, after all.
What Will the Ride Do?
Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin Along will be a family-friendly spinning attraction.
Guests will climb aboard vehicles and join Miss Fritter for a demolition derby-style experience.
The vehicles will spin and move around the ride area while Miss Fritter oversees the chaos.
It’s designed to be accessible to a wider range of guests than the more intense Ridge Run Rally.
Which is probably for the best.
Not every member of the family needs to be launched over a mountain before lunch.
Two Rides. Two Very Different Experiences.
This is one of the things I like about Disney’s plan for Piston Peak.
The two attractions aren’t simply variations of the same experience.
Cars: Ridge Run Rally is the big adventure.
It’s fast, it’s rugged and it’s designed to send guests racing through the wilderness of Piston Peak.
Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin Along is the family-friendly chaos machine.
It’s smaller in scale, but the giant Miss Fritter Audio-Animatronic should give it plenty of personality.
And This Is Where Piston Peak Gets Interesting
Disney already has a Cars-themed land at Disney California Adventure.
But Piston Peak isn’t simply copying Radiator Springs.
Instead, Disney is building an entirely different environment around the Cars characters.
There are no desert roads stretching toward Radiator Springs here.
We’re getting mountains, forests, waterfalls, streams and geysers.
It’s a national park populated by cars.
Which is weird.
But in a very Disney sort of way, weird can be good.
The Details Are Finally Starting to Come Together
For months, we’ve been looking at construction photos and concept art trying to figure out exactly what Disney was planning for this enormous piece of Magic Kingdom.
Now we’re finally getting answers.
We know the land is called Piston Peak National Park.
We know the headliner is Cars: Ridge Run Rally.
We know families will be able to climb aboard Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin Along.
And we know that Piston Peak is going to look very different from the Cars land Disney already has in California.
Is Piston Peak Starting to Make Sense?
There’s still plenty of controversy surrounding the project, particularly because Piston Peak is replacing the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island.
That conversation isn’t going away.
But now that we’re seeing the actual attractions and the environment Disney is creating, it’s becoming easier to understand what Imagineering has been working toward.
Whether you love the project, hate the project or are still sitting firmly on the fence, there’s one thing we can probably agree on:
Ridge Run Rally sounds like one heck of a road trip.
Just don’t ask Miss Fritter for directions.
She’ll probably send you through the geysers.
