It has recently been revealed that some major changes are in store for Disney's California Adventure theme park, and while people are certainly excited for more Marvel heroes, there's another area that could benefit. Disney Parks recently confirmed the long-rumored addition of a new land dedicated to Marvel that will begin construction later this year in the park across from Disneyland. Unfortunately, part of that new land will exist in the place where a land dedicated to the Pixar film A Bug's Life currently exists. A Bug's Land is scheduled to be closed down this summer to make way for a new Marvel Land set to debut in 2020, but Disney should consider making an additional move, and use some of that space to increase the size of Cars Land.
The new Marvel Land will be built near the location of Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission - Breakout, which currently sits on the border between Hollywoodland and A Bug's Land. However, on the other side of A Bug's Land sits Disney's California Adventure's most recent addition, Cars Land. While nothing has been stated to indicate that there are any specific plans to make changes to the existing Cars land, Cars creative director Jay Ward recently tweeted that he is involved in some sort of "new stuff" for the area.
To be fair, that new stuff could be anything. It could be new merchandise. It could be new decorations that will be included in the upcoming Pixar Fest. There has been no indication that any significant changes to Cars Land are planned. However, if they were going to do something more substantial, like add additional attractions to the space, now would be the time to do it, as the closing of A Bug's Land, would make even a minor expansion as easy as it's going to get.
What's more, adding attractions to Cars Land would be a good idea. As exciting as it is to know that Marvel will have an increased presence in 2020, the loss of A Bug's Land is really unfortunate, especially to guests with really young children. A Bug's Land was the closest thing that Disney's California Adventure had to Fantasyland, an area with rides that could be enjoyed by almost everybody, even the smallest kids. There were no rides with height requirements that limited them to only older kids and adults. With a Bug's Land going away and getting replaced by rides that will certainly be geared toward an older crowd, the park as a whole will have little to offer the youngest Disney fans.
Two of the attractions in Cars Land, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters, have fairly minimal height requirements, making them accessible to younger kids, and Cars is already a popular brand for the younger set. It would be nice to see Disney try to replace one or two of the four rides that are being demolished with experiences they won't need to wait to enjoy.
Disneyland is a place for the whole family, but unless Disney Parks plans to add four rides suitable for toddlers to Marvel Land -- which is unlikely -- Disney's California Adventure is about to be a lot less fun for little kids, and that's not great for families. If you want to turn little kids into 40-year-old Disney obsessed nuts who can't wait to bring their own kids to the parks (not that I know any of those people) you want to get them to fall in love early.
Image Courtesy Disneylandnews.com/Disney
