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 in Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
History
Superstar Limo was situated in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area of the park and was one of the original attractions featured on opening day on February 8, 2001.
The attraction closed in 2002, being 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 It has since been replaced by an attraction based on Disney·Pixar's Monsters, Inc. entitled Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, which opened in January 2006.
Synopsis
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 ABC shows). The celebrities 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 character named Swifty La Rue further appeared infrequently on small inseat video screens, reminding the riders not to be late.
The story of the attraction placed the guest (rider) as Hollywood's newest celebrity, taking them through a variety of recognizable and somewhat 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, a pool party, Malibu, a tattoo parlor, the interior of a soundstage, Grauman's Chinese Theater, a billboard that displayed an image captured of the guests, and Downtown Los Angeles.
Criticism
Superstar Limo was criticized amongst Internet writers as lacking, poor in concept, and limited in having a motivating story, spurred by rumors of the elimination during its development phase of a more exciting "paparazzi chase" storyline, which was deemed inappropriate after the death of Princess Diana.[1]
The depiction of celebrities in the ride were stylized and caricatured. Though the celebrity figures were animated (moving arms or heads), none of Disney's human-like Audio-Animatronics technologies were used in the attraction. Between the time the attraction was designed and it opened, many of the celebrities depicted had lost much of their celebrity status.
See also
References
- ↑ Hill, Jim (December 31, 2000). "Superstar Limo: What Went Wrong?". Jimhillmedia.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
Coordinates: 33°48′29″N 117°55′03″W / 33.80806°N 117.91750°W