How Route 66 inspired Disney's 'Cars' and Cars Land - and the ride that never came to be

"Cars Land opened in 2012 as part of a reworking of the theme park and at long last gave it a striking land that could rival - and in many cases surpass - those of its next-door neighbor, Disneyland. Flanked by sun-scarred, reddish rocks that look lifted from Arizona, Cars Land is a marvel of a theme park land, with its backdrop mountain range ever so slightly nodding to the fins of classic Cadillacs from 1957 to 1962."

"That design element is a salute to the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, where 10 vintage Cadillacs are buried nose-first in the ground that to many resembles a 20th century Stonehenge. Yet before the area was attached to the 2006 film, it was envisioned as a theme park destination dedicated to roadside attractions and trips along the so-called Mother Road."

""We very much acknowledge that up front, that you're walking down Route 66," says Kathy Mangum, the retired Walt Disney Imagineer who served as the executive producer of Cars Land. "But you're also not walking down a part of Route 66 that exists anywhere," Mangum continues. "There's no part of Route 66 where you're looking up at a Cadillac range surrounded by red rocks. It's the spirit of Route 66. I wouldn't even call it a 'best-of.' It's just a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and combined it feels real.""

Route 66 stretches through Southern California, especially around Los Angeles, with connections from Pasadena and West Hollywood to Santa Monica. A major tribute to the road appears at Disney California Adventure in Cars Land. Cars Land opened in 2012 during a theme park reworking and created a land that rivals nearby Disneyland. The area features sun-scarred reddish rocks resembling those from Arizona and a mountain backdrop that nods to classic 1957–1962 Cadillacs. The design references Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, where vintage Cadillacs are buried nose-first. The land was originally envisioned as a destination for roadside attractions and trips along the Mother Road, aiming to capture Route 66’s spirit rather than replicate a specific existing stretch.

Read at Los Angeles Times