Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy had its final performance on October 7, 2024 at Walt Disney World.
This show, based on the Disney Pixar Cars movie franchise, ran for 5 years at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It originally opened on March 31, 2019, as part of the park’s 30th anniversary celebration. It was located in the Sunset Showcase building which is behind the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith in the Sunset Boulevard area of the park.
Before entering the building, guests could take photos in front of life-size cars: Cruz Ramirez and DJ.
The show lasted approximately 15 minutes and included a pre-show where Sally and Mack asked the audience trivia questions based on the three Cars movies.
The show itself took place after the events of Cars 3. Guests got to see an animatronic of Lightning McQueen which looked and moved like a real car. He had a digitally animated mouth and spoke to guests throughout the show. The animatronic was the only physical set piece of the show, as everything else happened on screens around Lightning McQueen.
The storyline of this show followed Lightning McQueen as he attempted to teach the guests all about racing, including showing them how he trains on a simulator. When Chick Hicks hacks the simulator, Lightning McQueen gets help from his trusty friends from Radiator Springs to finish the race.
Some of the Cars characters that were featured on the screens in the show include: Cruz Ramirez, Mack, Tow Mater, Luigi and Guido, Flo, Chick Hicks, Sally, and Fillmore.
Why Did Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy Close?
Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy closed in order to make way for a new Disney Villains show that will take place in that same building in Hollywood Studios. The new show is slated to open Summer 2025.
Some of the Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy’s show elements such as the Lightning McQueen’s animatronic may be relocated to the new Cars Land that will be built in Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland where the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer’s Island currently are. The same could be possible for the Cruz Ramirez and DJ photo ops that were located outside the show building.
Do you miss Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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