The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) has announced their 19th annual Thea Award recipients. Among the Disney winners for Outstanding Achievement are Radiator Springs Racers, Cars Land, and the Carthay Circle Restaurant.
THEA AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Category:
Attraction
In one of the
largest attractions ever built for a Disney theme park, the Radiator
Springs Racers ride at Disney California Adventure Park puts visitors
in the driver’s seat for a thrilling race through the world of the
Disney∙Pixar film Cars. This
family-oriented, indoor/outdoor thrill ride incorporates fast moving,
variable-speed, six-passenger vehicles that start their journey with
a calm and scenic drive through the colorful landscape of Ornament
Valley. Traveling into an interior dark ride environment, guests find
themselves face-to-face with Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater and all the
other 4-wheeled personalities of Radiator Springs, personified via
breakthrough figures that combine physical and projected animation to
bring the characters to life. Variable track paths allow for changing
and unpredictable scene experiences during the indoor portion of the
ride. The ride culminates in a high speed, side-by-side, outdoor race
between two ride vehicles that careen neck-and-neck through the
twisting Ornament Valley landscape. The winner isn't decided until
the cars reach the Finish Line at the end of the race!
This attraction
demonstrates true excellence in design, technical innovation and in
execution. In bringing a well-known movie to life, the designers went
the extra step in expanding it into a fully experiential world,
creating new details and gags throughout. The animated figures break
new ground in creating the illusion of live animation, and the
technical elements, including special effects, sophisticated,
in-vehicle sound, and a sophisticated ride system, have all been
transparently integrated into the highly enjoyable story and
experience. In addition, the design team incorporated an extremely
large attraction footprint into the plan of the overall Cars Land
footprint in a way that creates multiple notable scenic vistas, and
overlooks and seamlessly intertwines the environment and attraction
into a total experience greater than the sum of its parts.
Cars Land,
Disney California Adventure Park
Cars Land's 12
acres are particularly notable for the overwhelming scale of the
rockwork panorama that frames the
land, providing spectacular vistas and a sense of scale and
perspective that make the significantly large footprint of the
development even larger, seeming to extend for miles. At night, spectacular lighting takes the entire land to a new level of
immersion as the colorful neon lights of downtown Radiator Springs
come to life against the glowing palate of the Ornament Valley
landscape beyond.
Carthay Circle
Restaurant and Lounge, Disney California Adventure Park
Category: New
Theme Park Land
Guests visiting
Cars Land often remark that, “It looks like they took the plans for
the Disney∙Pixar movie and just pushed 'Print!'” Cars Land is
indeed a startlingly accurate realization of the town of Radiator
Springs and surrounding Ornament Valley, but the reality is not
nearly that simple. Walking down the main drag of Radiator Springs,
all of the storefronts and businesses which appeared in the Cars
films have been brought to life in
careful and delightful detail. From Flo's V8 Café, Fillmore’s
Taste-In and the Cozy Cone Motel to Sarge's Surplus Hut, Radiator
Springs Curios and Ramone's House of Body Art, each has been created
as its own distinct experience, drawn from the films and further
inspired by the lore and legend of Route 66. In addition to the big
“E-Ticket” ride, Radiator Springs Racers, two other attractions,
Luigi's Flying Tires and, in particular, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
are cleverly conceived reinventions of classic rides, each with a new
twist.
The sensitive
layout, sophisticated use of scale, extension of character details
and the high quality of execution combine to make this an outstanding
example of experiential design. Far beyond being a supporting element
of the Radiator Springs Racers attraction, Cars Land is a destination
attraction in and of itself.
Retail, food and
beverage programming begins with inspiration from the films, but
Imagineers have added humor, story and surprise extra touches
throughout. Every element has been thoughtfully considered to
maximize its character and story content, while simultaneously
providing optimal (but often invisible)
operational function and capacity.
Category:
Theme Park Restaurant
The Carthay
Circle Restaurant resides within a reproduction of the famous Carthay
Circle Theatre, renowned in Disney history for having been the venue
for the premiere of Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. The
Restaurant and Lounge are keystones in the storytelling of Buena
Vista Street, a newly added area to the park. (Buena Vista Street is
a new retail and entertainment entry to California Adventure and
showcases Los Angeles as it may have looked to Walt upon his arrival
in 1923).
This opulent
dining experience would be transportive in any locale - its interior
representing the refined and retro stylings of the Golden Age of
Hollywood, complete with beautiful historic photographs and archival
memorabilia. But this restaurant is in a theme park. From the lounge
on the ground floor that serves vintage cocktails to the restaurant
lobby and the dining rooms upstairs, the striking period décor is
befitting of such a theatrical setting.
The
reservations-recommended restaurant offers seating on the second
floor in an intimate main dining room, exclusive, themed,
single-table dining alcoves, private dining rooms, and two sunny
open-air terraces. The food is also exemplary for a theme park
setting. Award-winning chef Andrew Sutton (from Napa Rose Restaurant
at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa) created the menu to
feature the bold and diverse flavors of Southern California. The high
quality service, distinctive setting and cuisine in an
exclusive-feeling environment make Carthay Circle Restaurant a truly
outstanding achievement in a theme park.
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