The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (151 page)

It’s a bumper car ballet, a magnificent mambo of giant tires dancing toward each other, gently crashing,
and then dancing away.  Your siblings or kids
will
try to smash into you, but it’s all part of the fun.  Enjoy the ride while it lasts ... all too soon the music will stop, the tires will softly thud on the concrete, and you’re gravity-bound once again.

Unfasten your safety belt and exit carefully, once again stepping over, not on, the tire’s outer edge.  Exit onto
Cross Street
, where you’ll see Guests leaning on rails, watching the fun.

If you encounter long lines at
Luigi’s
when you’re at
Cars Land
, and either don’t have time or prefer not to wait, I recommend spending a few moments at the rails on
Cross Street
, watching the tires float around the yard.  It’s good, vicarious fun–no waiting necessary.  It can be
almost
as entertaining watching Guests glide around on
Luigi’s Tires
as it is to ride them yourself.  And this is a great vantage point for taking photos of friends or family members who ride the tires.

Bottom line:  A f
un attraction, but don’t get sucked into a never-ending queue.  Visit
Luigi’s
as soon as the park opens, or off-season, when lines are reasonable.

Interesting note: 
When
Luigi’s
first opened, the tire yard was strewn with giant beach balls striped green, white, and red–the colors of the Italian flag.  For the first couple of months that
Luigi’s
was open, part of the fun was pegging beach balls at other Guests.  But by mid-August, the beach balls were gone.

On online message boards, Cast Members reported that the beach balls said
arrivederci
because some Guests were complaining about being hit in the face–and
Disneyland
puts a premium on Guest safety.  It was also clear to anyone observing
Luigi’s
in the early days that the beach balls cluttering the tire yard were significantly slowing the loading and unloading process, creating trip-and-fall hazards, and blocking the air nozzles.  Their colorful fun is missed–but not the multiple problems they created.
Did You Know?
 
Disneyland
’s
Flying Saucers
were replaced by the
Tomorrowland Stage
in 1967. Renamed the
Space Stage
in 1977, the entertainment venue was then enclosed and transformed into the
Magic Eye Theater
in 1986.  This is the theater that hosted
“Captain EO”
.
Did You Also Know?
 
Imagineers
originally called this attraction
Luigi’s Roamin’ Tires
.  Guests were going to control the tires via joysticks.  That didn’t work out; Guests control the tires simply by leaning in different directions.  For some reason, when the tires debuted, part of the joystick apparatus remained attached to the tires, even though it served no purpose.  By summer’s end the joystick component had been removed from the base of every tire, making each vehicle lighter and faster.  It takes almost 7,000 air vents to keep the tires floating two inches off the ground. 
Did You Also Know?
 
Luigi’s Flying Tires
certainly does have a fan base (pun intended).  If you’re a fan, look for
Luigi’s Flying Tires
T-shirts,
pins
, and whimsical
tire hats
at
Cars Land
stores. The T-shirts show Guests operating the joysticks that were originally supposed to be part of the vehicles.
FastPass:
No.  Like
Fantasyland
’s
Mad Tea Party
and other attractions that load and unload
en masse
, this attraction doesn’t lend itself to the
FastPass
format.

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
  Must be 32” or 81 cm tall to ride.

[
FastView:
 
Square-dancing in a souped-up whip-type ride while
Mater
calls the tunes!  This is a fun ride, especially for pint-sized
Mater
fans.
]

Along with
Lightning McQueen
,
Tow Mater
is probably the most popular character from
Cars
, and even has his own series of animated shorts called
Mater’s Tall Tales
, in which buddy
Lightning
plays second fiddle.  A decrepit 1950’s tow truck with a vivid imagination, in the original
Cars
movie
Mater
becomes
Lightning
’s best friend.

In both the movie and the
animated shorts,
Mater
spins entertaining but patently false yarns, casting himself in heroic roles.  The audience views these tales as flashbacks.  From time to time, there are intriguing hints that some of
Mater
’s exaggerations might be closer to the truth than we’d expect, and that he really might have had some glory days in his youth.  And not only his youth; in
Cars 2
(2011),
Mater
becomes involved with international spy intrigue!

Mater
is voiced with rustic charm by comic
Larry the Cable Guy
, not only in the feature but also the shorts and the sequel
Cars 2
, released in 2011. 
Lightning
and
Mater
have a wonderful friendship, on par with the
Woody
and
Buzz Lightyear
fraternity in the
Toy Story
films.  Kids just plain love
Mater
, so it made perfect sense to build a
Cars Land
attraction themed to the tall-tale tellin’ tow truck.

Tow Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
is located in the northwest quadrant of
Cars Land
, and replaces
Bountiful Valley Farmers Market
,
Farmer’s Market Fruit Cart
, and
Sam Andreas Shakes
.

When first announced
, the precise nature of
Tow Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
–later shortened to
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
–was unclear.  In the
Imagineer
renderings, Guests boarded little vehicles that seated one or two Guests and were pulled by tractors around a cluttered junkyard.  Some
Disneyphiles
speculated online that the attraction would resemble a whip-type amusement ride updated with today’s technology and
Disney
imagination, geared for all ages.  Others indicated it would be a teacup-style experience, and some speculated that rather than following a simple track, it would involve interactive elements and a dark-ride-type journey in the open air.

We now know t
hat an
Audio-Animatronic
Mater
presides over this
Junkyard Jamboree
and that it is a combination whip-and-teacup-style attraction.  Guests are pulled by baby tractors that spin and whip about on four giant, interlocking turntables while square-dance music blares from a junkyard jukebox. 
Mater
calls the square dances, tunes like
Big Bull Dozer
and
Let’s Go Driving
, voiced and sung by
Larry the Cable Guy
and performed by
Disneyland
’s own
Billy Hill and the Hillbillies
.

By early
2012, twinkling strands of lights were visible over the
Cars Land
construction fences, marking the spot where the
Junkyard Jamboree
was built.  Seeing those lights made the attraction suddenly more real, and much closer.  Then the audio testing began; Guests outside the fence could hear the music, hear the rumble of the ride vehicles spinning about the junkyard.

When my sister and I attended an
Annual Passholder
sneak preview of
Cars Land
, I was surprised by how short the line was for
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
.  OK, it’s a whip-and-teacup ride; it’s not an
E-ticket
like
Radiator Springs Racers
.  But it looked and sounded so dang
fun
.  Sis and I took our place in line.

The queue is interesting, rich with mementos from
Mater’s
adventures, both real and (probably) imaginary.  The jukebox is a fascinating hunk of junk (literally).  Within moments we were seated in our vehicle.  The square dance began, and we lurched and spun around the junkyard.  We laughed like kids.  If you want a ride that takes you back to the exhilarating carnival rides of your youth, with plenty of
Disney-Pixar
magic
added to the mix, this is the one! The motion of the vehicles, while faster than it appears from the sidelines, is gentle enough for small children and the elderly.  This is a family ride.

Junkyard Jamboree
lines remained short when
Cars Land
opened.  This baffles me.  But the
Jamboree
’s relatively short lines can work to your advantage.  While other Guests are packed like sardines in other queues, you and your companions can take several junkyard spins.

In October 2012, one of my nephews turned eight–a particularly wonderful age to experience a place like
Cars Land
.  We queued at
Mater’s
, were in the vehicles within fifteen minutes, and everyone–the eight-year-old, the thirteen-year-olds, the moms and aunts in their forties–had a blast, laughing and waving as we spun past each other on the turntables.

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
is simple, it’s entertaining, it’s fun–don’t miss this overlooked litte treat when you visit.
Did You Know?
  Guests could meet
Audio-Animatronic
versions of
Mater
and
Lightning McQueen
long before
Cars Land
was unveiled in 2012. 
Mater
and
Lightning
used to hang around under a covered shed next to the
Fly n’ Buy
shop in
Condor Flats
, not too far from
Soarin’ Over California
.  Guests queued to meet the famous cars and pose for photos with them. Then the cars moved to the under-construction
Cars Land
entrance. Now, of course,
Mater
and
Lightning
have a brand new land to live in, and can be found posing in front of the
Cozy Cone Motel
or on
Cross Street
where it flows into
“a bug’s land”
.  Creating
AA
cars, as opposed to
AA
humans, presented
Imagineers
with a unique challenge.  Visitors to the
D23 Expo
in September of 2009 were able to see first-hand how uncannily realistic projection technology makes it seem as if
Lightning
’s eyes are moving. 
Cars Land
is rich with new-generation
AA
versions of the beloved
Cars
characters. 
Did You Also Know?
  If you like
Mater
’s catchy square dance tunes, you can take them home on the limited edition CD
The Music of Cars Land
by
Walt Disney Records
.
Did You Also Know?
  Far from being mere copies, each of the baby tractors in this attraction has its own unique design.
FastPass:
  No.  A
FastPass
is not a good fit for this attraction, which loads and unloads
en masse
like
Dumbo
, the
Mad Tea Party
, and
Flik’s Flyers
.  However, a short ride time, efficient Cast Members, and short queues mean you’ll seldom have to wait longer than half an hour.

Radiator Springs Racers
(FP) (S)
Must be 40” or 102 cm tall to ride.

[
FastView:
  Cars Land
’s
E-ticket
adventure for the whole family.  Part dark ride, part thrill ride.  Grab your
FastPasses
early!
]