Disney's New Cars Ride May Be Controversial, But It Looks Incredible [SXSW]

The Mouse House brought a glimpse of the future to SXSW this year during a panel entitled The Future of World-Building at Disney. As part of that panel, Pixar's chief creative officer Pete Docter and Imagineer Michael Hundgen took the stage to talk about the upcoming "Cars" land that will be making its way to Magic Kingdom at Disney World, as was announced at last year's D23 Expo, amongst the many big movie announcements at that event.

While the ride and the land haven't yet been officially named, we were treated to a look at the development of this new "Cars" ride. It will be a big off road experience, one that admittedly looks like a blast. Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island are going to be demolished to make way for this "Cars" land, and that's proven to be controversial amongst fans of Disney World and the Disney Parks in general. I totally get that. What I can say from someone who got a glimpse of what Disney has planned first-hand is that, at the very least, what they are building looks downright incredible.

Real-world engineering meets Disney magic. 🚙✨ Walt Disney Imagineering shares a behind-the-scenes look at off-road testing for the new Cars attraction coming to the Magic Kingdom at @WaltDisneyWorld. https://t.co/oBkKleOwz8 #SXSW pic.twitter.com/jfpSYdsz59

— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) March 8, 2025

"For this Cars attraction, we need to invent a new type of ride vehicle," Hundgen explained during the presentation. "No one builds these in a factory because it has to do so much more than just carrying you from one place to another. We have to create a car that conveys a feeling when you ride in it."

Hundgen also explained that the Imagineers took a trip to Arizona to actually go off-roading to figure out how best to make this new ride work for visitors of the park. They also teamed with a motocross company to help build the dirt track. We were treated to concept art, as well as glimpses at the early stages of building this ride vehicle. Maybe it's because I grew up off-roading in Arizona, but this hit me just right. I say this as someone who has no fondness for "Cars," which is not amongst Pixar's most beloved movies, to put it mildly.

"We're using a customized production vehicle," Hundgen added during the presentation. "It has sensors all over it, and we're taking it for test drives on our dirt track to gather data on how the vehicle responds to different terrain. This is where we turn that feeling we want into real-world engineering,"

I am a huge fan of Disney's theme parks. My first trip to "Galaxy's Edge" made me literally weep, as a lifelong "Star Wars" fan. I also recalled seeing the Disney brass present a glimpse of the future at SXSW in 2023, where I was wowed by the company's continued innovation. I was similarly wowed today, unexpectedly by an attraction for a movie I don't care about.

The conundrum for the Disney Parks folks is that they have to continually innovate to keep the parks fresh. They also have limited space to make that happen. So, sometimes, that means out with the old and in with the new. I do feel for the people who love the classic attractions that are going away, but if there's any solace to be found, Disney isn't being lazy with what they're putting there instead. There is some sweet to go along with the bitter here, I must say, assuming they can pull this together.

No word yet on an opening date for the new "Cars" land at Magic Kingdom, but stay tuned.