'Disney Parks Presents a 25 Days of Christmas Holiday Party' TV special gives a preview of the upcoming Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy

Nov 27, 2018 in "Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy"

Posted: Tuesday November 27, 2018 10:57am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The 'Disney Parks Presents a 25 Days of Christmas Holiday Party' TV special is offering a sneak peek at the upcoming Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, opening at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Spring 2019.

You can check it out now on the DisneyNOW app, or wait until December 1 at 8pm to see the airing on Disney Channel. If you are using the app, head to around the 19 minute mark to get straight to the sneak peek.

Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy overview

The all-new show-attraction, to be located in Sunset Showcase near Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, will immerse guests in the world of Cars and bring them face to face with racing legend Lightning McQueen.

Taking on the role of rookie racer, you’ll cruise into the theater and find yourself face-to-face with Lightning McQueen, appearing live on stage. McQueen and the entire audience are enveloped by a giant, wraparound screen that is nearly two stories tall and stretches more than 200 feet from end to end, pulling everyone into the action! The racing legend is excited to showcase what he’s learned over the years. Of course, as Lightning McQueen has discovered throughout his career, things don’t always go according to plan, and he has to think fast to get back on course. Friends like Tow Mater, Cruz Ramirez and Lightning’s pals from Radiator Springs chime in with their support, as Lightning gears up for the challenge.?

Disney Parks Live Entertainment is working closely with the creative team at Pixar Animation Studios to bring this new “Cars” story to life.

The Sunset Showcase venue opened in 2015 as "flex space," allowing Disney to use the building for different purposes. Since its opening, it has been home to the Club Disney dance party, and a Villains-themed ticketed event.

Sunset Showcase

Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy is planned to open early 2019 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

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MisterPenguinMay 15, 2019

The events team stopped doing Club Villain, so, serves them right!!

Magic FeatherMay 14, 2019

It was a planned location with easy bus access for private events and purposes that happened to adjoin to Hollywood Studios. Eventually, it was deemed more necessary for the park than for the events team.

TJJohn12May 14, 2019

Like a black box theater? New content - both high investment and low - is what drives frequency of repeat visits. So frankly, flexible spaces like Sunset Showcase are *exactly* what needs to be sprinkled throughout the parks to augment the tent-pole attractions that can’t be refreshed or replaced as often.

matt9112May 14, 2019

because its a random location designed from the ground up to stuff the flavor of the month into. i cant get behind cheap flavor of the month "attractions" even some that arent horrid like the frozen sing along or this one are poor excuses. real attractions could be built but its a cheap way out. imho of course.

tomastMay 14, 2019

Why not? i did not know there was a controversy about that building (i did not know it exist until some years ago)

ChrisFLMay 13, 2019

I'm a bit late in seeing this, but I saw it yesterday in person (I did watch a video of it on youtube before) and it's much better in person than I expected. The animatronic is really cool and there's some decent humor at times....the wrap-around screen does make it a bit more interesting. The show itself could be a bit more polished, but overall I enjoyed it.

whiterhino42Apr 12, 2019

I went to this today. The building inside looks nice. The animatronic was cool. I found the show itself very lacking. Maybe if it was 3d or something but it's not. My godson is with us, he's 10 and used to love cars. He was bored. There were some really young kids who seemed to enjoy it but felt like it was for the 5 and under crowd.

Magic FeatherApr 10, 2019

There are some awkward aspects that do reveal that this was not purpose built (door in bathroom area that leads into the show, weird holding area that a CM has to stop guests from leaving while wheelchairs load in, etc.), but once inside it feels very purpose built.

Notes from NeverlandApr 10, 2019

Felt designed for the space, in my opinion. People who didn't know the building's past would assume this was more or less what it was create for. It looks permanent in terms of quality.

ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰApr 10, 2019

To those that have actually been: Does the showspace feel complete, as if it were purposefully-designed for this building or does it feel more "open-air" with under-utilized building space?

Notes from NeverlandApr 09, 2019

Adding in my $0.02 here ... the show was nice! Nothing spectacular, but a fun addition in a park craving additions ahead of huge crowds. Great animatronic.

nickysApr 09, 2019

Partly. I believe they exist, just “questioning” if they’re simultaneous! :p Maybe it’s more of the “if a tree falls in a deserted forest, does it make a sound” philosophical debate (not the scientific version). If you can’t hear or see them all, how do we know? ;)