PHOTOS - Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy now open at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Mar 31, 2019 in "Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy"

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Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy opening day

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Posted: Sunday March 31, 2019 9:53am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney's Hollywood Studios now has a Cars attraction in the all new Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy.

Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy opening day

The 10 minute show features a very impressive animatronic Lightning McQueen mixed with video displays on a large 200 ft wide wrap-around screen.

Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy opening day

Without giving too much away, McQueen demonstrates some driving skills on a simulator, and then a video game-style race. The story is a clever way to combine the physical character and then on-screen action in a believable way.

At the start of the show there is a no video-recording announcement, so we wont have full video of the show, but you can see some highlights from the Disney released promo video below.

Outside the theater in the courtyard, there is a photo op with Cruz Ramirez, and a dance party for the young ones with DJ.

Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy opening day

Overall, the new Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy is a very good addition to the park, and brings another attraction that can be enjoyed by the whole family, but especially kids. Once you take in the quality of the animatronic McQueen, the attraction lacks further depth, which will likely mean it wont be a must-do on every visit, unless you have young ones.

Lightning McQueens Racing Academy can be found just off the Rock n RollerCoaster Courtyard, in the Sunset Showcase space on Sunset Blvd. The show plays continuously, and does not feature FastPass+.

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MisterPenguinMay 15, 2019

The events team stopped doing Club Villain, so, serves them right!!

Magic FeatherMay 14, 2019

It was a planned location with easy bus access for private events and purposes that happened to adjoin to Hollywood Studios. Eventually, it was deemed more necessary for the park than for the events team.

TJJohn12May 14, 2019

Like a black box theater? New content - both high investment and low - is what drives frequency of repeat visits. So frankly, flexible spaces like Sunset Showcase are *exactly* what needs to be sprinkled throughout the parks to augment the tent-pole attractions that can’t be refreshed or replaced as often.

matt9112May 14, 2019

because its a random location designed from the ground up to stuff the flavor of the month into. i cant get behind cheap flavor of the month "attractions" even some that arent horrid like the frozen sing along or this one are poor excuses. real attractions could be built but its a cheap way out. imho of course.

tomastMay 14, 2019

Why not? i did not know there was a controversy about that building (i did not know it exist until some years ago)

ChrisFLMay 13, 2019

I'm a bit late in seeing this, but I saw it yesterday in person (I did watch a video of it on youtube before) and it's much better in person than I expected. The animatronic is really cool and there's some decent humor at times....the wrap-around screen does make it a bit more interesting. The show itself could be a bit more polished, but overall I enjoyed it.

whiterhino42Apr 12, 2019

I went to this today. The building inside looks nice. The animatronic was cool. I found the show itself very lacking. Maybe if it was 3d or something but it's not. My godson is with us, he's 10 and used to love cars. He was bored. There were some really young kids who seemed to enjoy it but felt like it was for the 5 and under crowd.

Magic FeatherApr 10, 2019

There are some awkward aspects that do reveal that this was not purpose built (door in bathroom area that leads into the show, weird holding area that a CM has to stop guests from leaving while wheelchairs load in, etc.), but once inside it feels very purpose built.

Notes from NeverlandApr 10, 2019

Felt designed for the space, in my opinion. People who didn't know the building's past would assume this was more or less what it was create for. It looks permanent in terms of quality.

ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰApr 10, 2019

To those that have actually been: Does the showspace feel complete, as if it were purposefully-designed for this building or does it feel more "open-air" with under-utilized building space?

Notes from NeverlandApr 09, 2019

Adding in my $0.02 here ... the show was nice! Nothing spectacular, but a fun addition in a park craving additions ahead of huge crowds. Great animatronic.

nickysApr 09, 2019

Partly. I believe they exist, just “questioning” if they’re simultaneous! :p Maybe it’s more of the “if a tree falls in a deserted forest, does it make a sound” philosophical debate (not the scientific version). If you can’t hear or see them all, how do we know? ;)