California Adventure has been undergoing a massive expansion over the past few years, with Disney’s goal being to make the park a worthy companion to the behemoth that is Disneyland. Friday marked the grand re-opening of the theme park, with the additions of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street being the two headliners. Crowds lined up throughout the evening prior to the opening, with thousands ready to race straight to the new rides, which would no doubt bring extremely long wait times.
With Fastpasses gone before 10 AM, Radiator Springs Racers, the biggest new ride in the park, reported wait times of 240 minutes at its height (that is a whopping four hours for those who are mathematically challenged), as seen in the following video filmed by Ricky of Inside The Magic. Crowds were heavy, but it looks like Disney’s Cast Members did a remarkable job at maintaining order and keeping things organized. Take a look at the massive crowds below:
Ricky also has a great video of day vs. night views of Cars Land. In the footage and photos taken by the press, the Cars-themed area looks beautiful at night. I can only imagine its beauty in-person:
It is difficult to deny the impressive nature of the Disney California Adventure expansion. Cars Land and Buena Vista Street are now open, but expect large crowds to continue to flock to the park for the foreseeable future.
Marking the special day, Disney kept Cars Land open for hours past its scheduled closing time. As of 11 PM, the wait time for the last people in line was still listed at an insane 4 hours. That means that Cast Members worked throughout the late night and early evening to make sure every last one of those riders on the line had the chance to ride – a very classy move by Disney.
