When Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters opens in the old "Flying Tires" lot in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure in the next few weeks, it will be the first of Disney's next-generation trackless ride systems to open in Southern California. This trackless ride concept debuted with Pooh's Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland in 2000, but the new Luigi's will represent the first time that Disney has brought one of these ride systems to the United States. (SeaWorld actually built the first such system in America, with Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, which debuted in Orlando in 2013.)
I take a look at the history of trackless rides in my Orange County Register column this week. Disney's first go at automated trackless rides relied on thin guide wires in the ground, but the newest trackless rides rely on wireless positioning systems that allow ride vehicles to cross paths while spinning and "dancing" with one another. The effect is to make each ride on the attraction feel unique, as visitors take a different path with their vehicle on each ride.
Luigi's won't use its ride system in the context of a narrative dark ride, as on Tokyo's version of Pooh, Hong Kong's Mystic Manor or Paris' Ratatouille ride — three of Disney's most popular recent trackless rides. Instead, the new Luigi's will be a landlocked version of Tokyo's Aquatopia ride, a "boat" ride in the Port Discovery section of Tokyo DisneySea.
Disney has not yet announced a specific official opening date for Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters, but the ride has been testing behind construction walls for several weeks and its debut is expected sometime this month or next.
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