Disney Creating New Type of Ride Vehicle for Upcoming New Cars Thrill Ride

Work begins soon on an ambitious Magic Kingdom project that will introduce two attractions themed to Pixar's Cars in a reimagined section of Frontierland. We have just received new details about the vehicles in development for the new Cars thrill ride from the SXSW Conference!

This new area in Frontierland themed to Cars will introduce a major new thrill ride as well as a family-friendly attraction. With the news that has been shared so far on this big Disney World project, it looks like Disney is really going all out with this to make it as immersive as the beloved Cars Land in Disney California Adventure on the other coast.

Keep reading for the latest news that Disney has shared about the new type of ride vehicle Disney is developing for this new Cars ride…

New Details on Cars Ride at Magic Kingdom

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Disney previously shared how the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island in Frontierland would be removed to make way for this new Cars area, which would include a new thrill ride that would be a “thrilling rally race through the mountains.”

At D23 in Brazil last November, Disney shared some footage of behind-the-scenes testing for the ride that they are doing to capture the sensation of how it feels to be in an offroad rally race. This news left many to wonder about the details of how this seemingly trackless all-terrain ride system would work.

Now, Disney has shared some more details on the development of the new type of ride vehicle that will be used for the experience, which will navigate “racing over rocky terrain, ascending to mountain peaks, and dodging around geysers.” Imagineers worked with a motocross company to build a dirt track to race around on and took that data to inform their work on how these ride vehicles will move.

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“We’re using a customized production vehicle,” Imagineer Michael Hundgen explained. “It has sensors all over it, and we’re taking it for test drives on our dirt track to gather data on how the vehicle responds to different terrain. This is where we turn that feeling we want into real-world engineering.”

Disney also shared a look at some early concept sketches for the ride vehicles, which you can see below!

You can also see a model of the new cars released during the presentation below. In the video footage that was included in the presentation you could see how the cars would go over lifted areas of the road that simulate bumps in the driving.

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