Growing Outcry Against Disney Attraction, “Barely Qualifies as a Ride”

Disney parks may be magical 365 days a year, but magic doesn’t always equal sunshine and rainbows – something to which anyone who’s visited Disneyland Paris in winter can attest.

Disneyland Paris is among the coldest Disney resorts, with average January highs of just 43°F. According to AccuWeather, the first month of 2025 saw temperatures drop as low as 26°F.

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While the park’s two locations—Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park (soon to become Disney Adventure World)—typically operate as usual, extreme cold can lead to ride closures or adjustments to character meet-and-greets. As per one guest’s recent experience, it may even lead to a totally different ride experience.

Cars Road Trip Sends Disney Guests on a Detour Mid-Ride

A recent Reddit post described an unusual experience on Cars Road Trip at Walt Disney Studios Park, where a guest claimed their ride unexpectedly took a detour.

“The ride had a stop shortly after starting,” they wrote. “Then we continued with no music and drove behind the canyon scene in what looked like a service area with some construction equipment. After that it continued like normal. So as you can imagine that was quite the underwhelming ride and ending to the trip (we decided to ride Ratatouille again to not end it on such a disappointing note).”

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They added: “I was a bit shocked since it barely felt like a ‘ride’ to me and I feel like it shouldn’t have been running at all if there was a problem with the canyon.. There were no apologies or explanations by cast members either so I am wondering if this is normal?”

In response, another Disneyland Paris fan suggested that this is standard protocol in low temperatures. “The canyon scene is skipped when the weather is near freezing,” they wrote.

While this hasn’t been officially confirmed by Disney, it would make sense. The Cars Road Trip attraction—originally Cars: Route 66 Road Trip—replaced Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic in 2021. It includes a Car-tastrophe Canyon sequence where fire and water effects simulate a disaster scene.

Naturally, freezing temperatures don’t work well with splashing water, forcing Disney to bypass the scene entirely. However, as the original poster pointed out, the modified version of the ride may not be worth running at all. “Driving in a circle looking at two cars props barely qualifies as a ride,” they wrote.

Should Disney Close Cars Road Trip?

Guest reactions to Cars Road Trip are not positive, with some suggesting it should be removed entirely. “Hopefully they’ll demolish it soon,” one Reddit user said. “Waste of space.” Another added: “This ride is really just a placeholder, since the other Studio changes meant it got shortened from being a ‘studio tour’ and lightly re-themed to Cars. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s planned to bulldoze it for future expansion because when you look at it from above, it takes up quite a bit of land in the park and the canyon is really the only thing of interest.”

While Disney hasn’t announced plans to close Cars Road Trip, a major expansion of Walt Disney Studios Park is already in the works which some believe will eventually require the ride’s closure.

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At D23 Expo in 2024, Disney confirmed a new ride based on The Lion King (1994), which will include a large recreation of Pride Rock and a water-based ride system. Ironically, this new attraction may also face seasonal challenges in winter due to its water elements.

Do you think Cars Road Trip should be replaced?