Luigi's Flying Tires was an

amusement ride Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

Cars Land ''Cars'' Land is a themed area of Disney California Adventure, inspired by the Disney·Pixar franchise, ''Cars'', and Route 66 in America. The area, built as part of Disney California Adventure Park's $1.1 billion expansion project, opened on J ...

Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...

, At the Disneyland Resort In

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. Guests rode on tire-shaped

bumper car Bumper cars or dodgems are the generic names for a type of flat amusement ride consisting of multiple small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. Bumpe ...

vehicles that floated on a cushion of air, similar to an air hockey game. The ride's concept was based on

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

's Flying Saucers attraction from the 1960s. The attraction closed on February 17, 2015. It was replaced by

Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters is a trackless dancing cars ride located in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. The attraction, which opened on March 7, 2016, features Luigi, the Italian roadster who runs the Casa Della Tires shop in Radiato ...

History

The attraction, originally titled "Luigi's Roamin' Tires", was announced in late 2007 along with the rest of the Cars Land multi-year expansion plans for Disney California Adventure. The ride was based on the Flying Saucers attraction that was located in Disneyland's

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...

from 1961 to 1966. Instead of floating bumper cars in the shapes of flying saucers, the Luigi attraction featured bumper cars whose riders steer big levitating truck tires. Executive Vice President of

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attra ...

Kathy Mangum said in 2011 that designing the ride, now named Luigi's Flying Tires, was not easy even with advanced technology. "I think our ride engineers, when we went to them and said, 'Hey we want people to fly', they would tell you that designing a way for aerodynamics to make that happen was actually pretty difficult", she said. Mary Niven, vice president of Disney California Adventure Park, likened the ride to an air hockey table. "It's like sitting on the table and you're the hockey puck", she said. When the attraction initially opened on June 15, 2012, it also featured giant beach balls in an effort to give the ride a more colorful look (the attraction was originally intended to open without beach balls.) After two months, however, they were removed due to increased wait times and some "minor incidents" that occurred when visitors were hit by the beach balls, according to Niven. On February 6, 2015, Disney announced that Luigi's Flying Tires would close on February 17 to make room for a reworked attraction. It was replaced by

, which opened on March 7, 2016.

Ride

The queue took visitors through Luigi's Casa Della Tires shop and out back through an Italian garden to Luigi's tire yard where the ride took place. Once seated in their tire, Luigi gave a countdown and then a compressor pumped air up through the floor's 6,714 air vents. The tires lifted about two inches off the floor, at which point riders could make their tire move by leaning in the direction that they wanted to go. The ride lasted for approximately two minutes.

References

{{Disney California Adventure Amusement rides introduced in 2012 Amusement rides that closed in 2015 Cars Land Pixar in amusement parks Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions 2012 establishments in California 2015 disestablishments in California

History

Ride

See also

References