Becoming a Champion at Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy

Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is a fun, fast-paced racing experience for Cars fans of all ages. Lightning is ready for some racing! Ka-Chow!

Located just beyond the Rock N’ Roller Coaster Starting Aerosmith on Sunset Boulevard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll find Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. It is a fun first-of-its-kind show that transports you to the Pixar’s Cars universe.

It opened March 31, 2019 in the Sunset Showcase Theater to bring Cars fans along for a fast-paced thrilling adventure to teach you hot to become a champion racer.

There is tons of fun before the show even starts with some dancing in the courtyard. DJ blasts some great music to get the party started! The dancers are great at getting everyone excited for the upcoming show.

Plus you can snap photos with DJ and Cruz Ramirez and one of the many billboards on the walls around the courtyard.

(Just a heads up! You can’t get too close to the cars. Don’t step in that blue zone)

The big ’95’ when you enter the Sunset Theater is another great place to get photos, before and after the show. Gotta show your love for Lightning McQueen!! Go 95!!!!

Enter and grab your seat in the theater. Thankfully, there isn’t a bad seat in the whole places because there is an awesome jumbo sized screen that wraps around the theater.

While you wait for the McQueen’s Racing Academy experience to begin you can test our your Pixar’s Cars related knowledge with some fun trivia. Tow Mater and Cruz Ramirez ask you some great questions to get you ready to have some fun when Lightning McQueen comes out!

Before you know it, the show starts with some revved up engines! Lightning is ready to demonstrate everything that he’s learned over the years speeding through Radiator Springs. He comes out to show you how to race with his new simulator on the jumbo sized wrap-around screen.

One of the coolest things about the Racing Academy experience is that it uses a brand-new, state-of-the-art racing simulator. This helps you feel that you are part of the action as you ride around the race track with Lightning McQueen.

Just like in the Cars movie, Chick Hicks is there to cause some trouble again. He is extremely rude, arrogant and self centered! He challenges Lightning to a race to determine who is the best driver. Of course, Lightning is ready to rev up his engines and take him on. The Lightning McQueen the car zigs and zags on his stage as he works through the obstacles on the simulator.