Cruise Street? The Alternate Cars Land That Almost Happened (Ep. 549)

The Disney Dish with Jim Hill

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Leisure

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, Jim Hill and Len Testa dig into the wild backstory of Disney California Adventure’s Cars Land and the strange “what ifs” that could’ve changed Radiator Springs forever. From Marty's Malt Shop to a road trip attraction fueled by beef jerky and Diet Mountain Dew, the alternate ideas were as quirky as they were ambitious. A new Disneyland ticket discount that signals softer bookings Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind’s Earth, Wind & Fire overlay Disney Cruise Line’s delay of the Disney Adventure out of Singapore Universal Orlando’s Golden Ticket Award wins and Len’s trip to Halloween Horror Nights The evolution of Cars Land - and how close we came to driving through “Cruise Street” instead Whether you’re here for the theme park news, HHN survival tips, or Jim’s deep dive into Disney Imagineering history, this episode has something for every fan. Buckle up - Radiator Springs wasn’t always the only road Disney could’ve taken. SHOW NOTES Support Our Sponsors Unlocked Magic Unlocked Magic, powered by DVC Rental Store and DVC Resale Market, offers exclusive Disney & Universal ticket savings with TRUSTED service and authenticity. With over $10 MILLION in ticket sales, use Unlocked Magic to get the BIGGEST SAVINGS. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn More⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to another edition of the Disney Dish podcast with Jim Hill. It's me, Lan Testa,
0:04.6	and this is our show for the week of Schmers Day, September 15th, 2025 on the show today. News,
0:10.9	including a fantastic Disneyland discount. Plus, I go to Halloween Horror Nights. And we have listener
0:16.4	questions. Then in our main segment, Jim continues the story of a Disney-California adventure prepared for its Carsland redo in 2012.
0:24.6	Let's get started by bringing in the man who says that if you can keep calm, while everyone else around you is freaking out, it's possible you don't understand how bad this situation is.
0:34.1	It's Mr. Jim Hill. Jim has it going.
0:36.0	It's going well, Lendo.
0:38.7	To my way of thinking,
0:42.7	that sounds an awful lot like if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, which of course, key line out of Richard Kipling's famous poem, if,
0:49.0	by the way, written back in 1895, which makes that poem 130 years old this year.
0:55.4	Wow.
0:55.7	All right.
0:56.2	By the way, Richard reportedly wrote this thing to offer some parental advice to his son, John,
1:01.3	which probably explains why the final stanza of this thing is,
1:05.1	Which is more, you'll be a man, my son.
1:08.4	And clean your room while you're at it.
1:10.6	There we go. There we go.
1:11.8	There we go.
1:12.5	Wouldn't kill you to write to your mother.
1:14.8	For regards, dad.
1:17.7	Very much so.
1:19.8	Okay.
	...

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