Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy Permanently Closes to Make Way For New Villains Show at Disney's Hollywood Studios

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Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy Closed - October 8 2024

Posted: Tuesday October 8, 2024 9:30am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy has permanently closed its doors at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, marking the end of the Cars-themed attraction that has entertained guests since its debut in 2019.

Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy Closed - October 8 2024

The closure of Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy paves the way for the new Villains-themed live entertainment experience, which is set to open in the summer of 2025. This new show, featuring iconic Disney villains like Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, and Maleficent, will be staged in the Magic Mirror’s mysterious realm, bringing guests closer to these notorious characters through immersive live production numbers.

Villains Show concept art

Permits for the construction work were filed earlier this year, assigning Whiting Turner Contracting Company to oversee the transformation of the venue.

Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy was known for its cutting-edge racing simulator, where guests could watch Lightning McQueen and other characters from the Cars franchise on a 200-degree screen in a high-energy show.

Construction will ramp up in the coming months, and more details about the Villains show are expected to be revealed soon.

Villains Show concept art

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Gusey2 days ago

Oh, saw Cars Meet and Greet and thought it was their most recent location. They sure have gone to a lot of areas of that park

DCBaker2 days ago

Wrong area - @wdwmagic posted an article discussing the permit location: https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/monsters-inc.-land/news/28jan2025-monsters-inc.-land-updates-new-permit,-and-fresh-paint-on-old-structure-at-disneys-hollywood-studios.htm

Gusey2 days ago

Are these the Cars meet and greets outside where Lightning McQueen was? I was expecting them to remove them, not reuse them. Villain meet and greets?

ToTBellHop4 days ago

Or if she wanted to kill dogs not for their fur but for their delicious spare ribs and loins?

Agent H4 days ago

I feel like I should clarify my position when it comes to this the animated cruella and the other live action version are supposed to be unforgivable the one in cruella is not if they ever get around to making the sequel I imagine it will be a twisted retelling of 101 Dalmatians where cruella will be shown to appear more reasonable.

Cliff5 days ago

Oh yes. What you say has been happening for thousands of years. The history books have hundreds of big-name villains who people thought were perfectly reasonable. I don't see this changing. It must be in our DNA??

ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ5 days ago

aka Microsoft Edge

Agent H5 days ago

You know I always thought even as a kid that there’s probably someone like cruella in the world and someone probably considers them reasonable

Cliff5 days ago

Y'know,...you bring up a very good point. Maybe we "all" have some "Cruella" inside of us??

etc985 days ago

Exactly it. And also, just because in the show the villains are trying to get you to feel sympathy for them, it doesn’t mean the message of the show is that you should feel sympathy for them. The message could be “wow, look at how crazy and deluded these villains are for thinking they’re in the right!”

Agent H5 days ago

As a vegetarian this is a good point

MisterPenguin5 days ago

Would Cruella be so evil if she wanted to kill not young dogs but young cows for a nice veal dinner?

Agent H5 days ago

Cruella is not cannon to the animated or live- action version of the story it is its own thing

Mr. Sullivan5 days ago

Not exactly. I mean that explaining why a villain does something doesn’t necessarily mean that the movie is asking you to excuse what they did. They just want to tell you why they did it. Like for example in a crime documentary, a lot of time is spent on the killer’s background and their motives. Not in an effort to make the audience feel what they did was alright, but rather to provide context to the act because human beings are naturally curious about “whys”. To use an example from this thread, I don’t think Cruella wants you to believe she is not a villain or that what she does is right, all the movie is doing is providing the context of why she does what she does.