Disneyland is a place where no matter your age; it brings out the kid in you! As we walked in, I said to my manager that after winning the Indy 500 one day, I'd definitely want to go to Disney. And why not...
After racing at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, I had the opportunity to take a tour of Cars Land, which is about 30 miles from Long Beach over in Anaheim. I often wonder if when going to Disney, if everything is just naturally perfect. As they say, the devil is in the details and of anywhere I've ever been, Disney is all about the details.
Cars Land is of course based off the movie Cars. Cars Land has nine different 'pit stops' including anything from, Sarge's Surplus Hut to Flo's V8 Café. My favorite 'pit stop' was Radiator Springs Racing. After getting a tour through Radiator Springs in a racecar, the cars take off in a low speed race. You really feel just you are actually cruising through the movie and what a treat this really was!
I even got to check our Lightning McQueen and Mater! They are both cruising Cars Land and watching the kids get so excited when they pulled up was really special.
I took a stop at Flo's V8 Café where I tried the famous salted caramel French toast and could have probably finished off just about anything off the menu!
The festival of the flying tires was also super cool. The tires were about the size of tires you'd see on a combine or other big machinery and it's basically like bumper cars and it's as if you are on top of an air hockey table and you are the puck.
A few of the Disney "cast members" even asked about the racing at Long Beach from last weekend, so it was cool to hear about their interest from our racing weekend. One even asked if I was driving around one of the cars at the park today, "no not today!" (Haha.)
Disney reminds me a lot of my race team Andretti Autosport and how everything has to be about the details in everything you do. I think you find opportunity in the little things and paying attention to things that others might overlook. At Disney, it was little things that have umbrella tables as cones, and flower baskets in the shapes of tires, and bushes and shrubs as racecars and tires.
In anything you do, look for the devil in the details and see what other opportunity you might find -- you may be surprised!
A big thank you to the Disneyland PR department for hosting us at Cars Land! I know many of the Disney characters came to the Indy 500 back in 2006 and perhaps making another visit in the near future is right around the corner. Otherwise, I'll be back after I win Indy.
-- Zach