Superstar Limo
| Superstar Limo | |
|---|---|
| Disney California Adventure | |
| Area | Hollywood Pictures Backlot |
| Status | Closed |
| Opening date | February 8, 2001 |
| Closing date | January 11, 2002 |
| Replaced by | Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! |
| General statistics | |
| Attraction type | Dark ride |
| Manufacturer | Ride & Show Engineering, Inc. |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Theme | Hollywood |
| Music | George Wilkins |
| Duration | 3:30 |
Superstar Limo was a dark ride opened in 2001 in Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.[1] The ride was judged an early failure at the fledgling park, and was closed in less than a year.
History[edit]
Superstar Limo was situated in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area and was one of the original attractions featured on the park's opening day on February 8, 2001.[1]
The celebrity figures in the ride were stylized and caricatured. Though they had moving arms and heads, none of Disney's human-like Audio-Animatronics technologies were used in the attraction.
The attraction closed in January 2002, due to poor reception[1], making it the park's first attraction to permanently close. It has since been replaced by an attraction based on Disney·Pixar's Monsters, Inc. entitled Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, which opened on January 23, 2006.[1] The Monsters, Inc. ride uses the same track as Superstar Limo, with Monstropolis taxicabs taking the place of the original limos.[2]
Synopsis[edit]
The attraction's purple "stretch limo" ride vehicles took riders through a cartoony rendition of Hollywood. Riders were introduced to animated figures modeled in the likeness of celebrities (some of whom appeared at the time on shows on ABC). The celebrities in the attraction were Joan Rivers (appearing only in puppet-form on TV screens in the attraction's queue), Regis Philbin, Melanie Griffith, Antonio Banderas, Cindy Crawford, Tim Allen, Jackie Chan, Drew Carey, Cher, and Whoopi Goldberg. A stereotypical Hollywood talent agent named Swifty La Rue appeared infrequently on small in-seat video screens, reminding the riders not to be late to their movie premiere.[1]
The story of the attraction placed the guest (rider) as Hollywood's newest celebrity, taking them through a variety of stereotypical locations and situations on the way to the premiere of their new movie. Locations included the greater Los Angeles and Hollywood areas including Rodeo Drive, the Sunset Strip, a nightclub, Bel Air, Malibu, the interior of a soundstage, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and a billboard that displayed an image captured of the guests.[1]
Criticism[edit]
Superstar Limo was criticized "as a prime example of offensive theme park design."[3] Critics charged it as lacking, poor in concept, and limited in having a motivating story. Moreover, due to the original theme of an exciting "paparazzi chase" storyline, development of the attraction was significantly affected after the death of Princess Diana due to insensitivity.[4]
An early review of California Adventure in The Boston Globe cited Superstar Limo as an example of the park's budget-cutting beginnings: "Kids will also like Superstar Limo, in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area. Here you play the star, riding in your purple limo past a few audio-animatronic Hollywood celebrities. Adults will notice, however, that other painted plywood characters and sets are about on a par with college theater constructions."[5] Similarly, The New York Times called it "probably the shlockiest attraction in the new park."[6]
A lengthy article in the Longview Daily News giving a mostly favorable review of the new theme park singled out Superstar Limo as a mistake, calling attention to the obvious self-promotion in featuring stars like Drew Carey, who appeared on a sitcom aired on the Disney-owned network ABC: "I think they should change the name of this ride from Superstar Limo to 'It's a Shill World.' The space would be better devoted to something more entertaining, such as an Audioanimatronic dentist doing root canals on all Imagineers who came up with the idea for Superstar Limo."[7]
Further reading[edit]
- "Spotlight On: Superstar Limo", Rainbow Caverns (2019)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Defunctland: The History of Disney's Worst Attraction Ever, Superstar Limo (YouTube). April 19, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
- ↑ Owen, Rob (March 26, 2006). "DisneyWhirl". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ↑ Macdonald, Brady (29 November 2019). "Disney+ show recalls the chilling reception for Disney California Adventure: 'I liked it better as a parking lot'". Orange County Register. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ↑ Hill, Jim (December 31, 2000). "Superstar Limo: What Went Wrong?". Jimhillmedia.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
- ↑ Chalfant, Anne (March 25, 2001). "Thrills mix with California cool at Disney's new park". Boston Globe. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ↑ Sterngold, James (February 11, 2001). "A Park Adults Can Love". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ↑ Rorden, David (February 25, 2001). "Disney Whirled: The new California Adventure theme park brings Mousekafun to a hip, fun 'PG-13' audience". The Longview Daily News (Longview, Washington). Retrieved 14 February 2020.
Coordinates: 33°48′29″N 117°55′03″W / 33.80806°N 117.91750°W
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- Closed amusement attractions
- Amusement rides introduced in 2001
- Amusement rides that closed in 2002
- Amusement rides by name
- Amusement rides manufactured by Ride & Show Engineering, Inc.
- Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions
- Disney California Adventure
- 2001 establishments in California
- 2002 disestablishments in California
- Dark rides
