Disney has announced the closure of Red Car Trolleys in preparation for construction of the Avengers Campus expansion at Disneyland Resort. Although not confirmed officially, this is all but certain to mean the attraction will close permanently, heading to the extinct ride graveyard in the sky. Here’s what we know along with our commentary.
For starters, this news is the latest ‘shoe to drop’ following the 2024 D23 Expo. A lot of news came from that, including ‘shovels in the ground’ construction dates for most major projects on the horizon at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Few parks are going to see as many changes in the next 5 years as Disney California Adventure as a result of those announcements.
One of the major projects confirmed to be coming to DCA is the long-delayed Avengers E-Ticket Multiverse ride. The new ride now has a name, Avengers Infinity Defense, and will be the flagship attraction that anchors Avengers Campus. In addition to that came the surprise news that the Marvel land is getting another attraction, Stark Flight Lab, that will feature Robert Downey Jr. returning as Iron Man. Sadly but unsurprisingly, the Red Car Trolley is collateral damage to the construction of these two new Marvel attractions in Avengers Campus.
Disneyland Resort representatives have shared that construction on the expansion of Avengers Campus will be starting in early 2025, requiring the demolition of the Red Car Trolley barn. As a result, Disney will discontinue operations of the Red Car Trolley attraction in early 2025.
The specific date that the Red Car Trolley will cease operations in 2025 is not yet known. Disney has only indicated that the precise closure date will be shared at a later date this winter.
Disney has further declined to address whether this is a permanent closure. Again, more information will be shared in the future. Today’s announcement is only so that Cast Members can prepare for the upcoming closure. We would likewise advise fans to say their goodbyes.
In our view, this is almost certain to be a permanent closure.
For one thing, backstage space is limited in this area of Disney California Adventure. It’s likely that Imagineering is going to use most of it for the massive show building that’ll be required of the Avengers Multiverse E-Ticket, which is almost certain to be similar in size and scale to Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure at Tokyo DisneySea (which has a huge building).
And on top of that (not literally–although that wouldn’t be a bad idea!), they’re building this new flight simulator thing, and will have to find space for that attraction and queue. Imagineering is going to have to get creative for this Avengers Campus expansion, and bringing back the Red Car Trolley may not be an option even if they want it to be one.
Second, it’s hard to believe that the Disney of 2024/2025 would spend the money to rebuild infrastructure for a slow-paced transportation attraction that has relatively low capacity and is not at all marketable at this point. I’m sure Imagineering wants to, but whether the people controlling the purse strings have any such desire is highly doubtful.
Finally, the odds-on favorite for the location of Pandora – World of Avatar at Disney California Adventure is in the Hollywood Backlot. Even though this land wouldn’t necessarily preclude the Red Car Trolley from continuing to exist, it makes it less likely. (My guess is that the Hollywood facades will remain and the entrance to Pandora will be nestled by what’s currently the Hyperion Theater.)
If it goes there, Pandora will likely be another exercise in Imagineering maximizing every square foot of space to make that parcel work–and that’s even after eating into the bus loop. On top of that, there will be a massive increase in crowds on this side of the park, making the Red Car Trolleys more of a logistical nightmare. The bottom line is that I just don’t see it happening.
For those unfamiliar with it, the Red Car Trolley are modeled after the Pacific Electric Railway trolleys that crisscrossed the Los Angeles area from 1887 until 1961, with more than 1,000 miles of active track. The red car trolleys were controversially removed from L.A. in the middle of the last century, as famously retold in the documentary, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Currently, Red Car Trolleys run continuously at DCA between the following locations:
- Buena Vista Street near the DCA Main Entrance
- Carthay Circle across from Carthay Circle Restaurant
- Hollywood Boulevard near the Disney Animation building
- Sunset Boulevard near the Hyperion Theater
The Red Car Trolleys opened in 2012, as part of the overhaul of Disney California Adventure. The attraction immediately became a fan-favorite, thanks in part to its leisurely atmosphere (the closest thing Disneyland fans have to a PeopleMover) and because of how they transformed DCA.
Arguably more than anything, the Red Car Trolley was symbolic. It signaled an end of Disney California Adventure 1.0, a park that failed the basic test of being an Imagineered Disney theme park with a sense of place. Gone was the tacky entrance with big box stores and soulless expanses of concrete.
In its place, the lived-in world of Walt Disney’s Los Angeles. The fully-themed Buena Vista Street may not have had the drawing power of Cars Land, but it offered attention to detail, kinetic energy, and was a complete 180 from what was there before. It was an admission by Disney that the original DCA had not been up to the company’s standards, and the replacement offered a compelling counterpart to Main Street at Disneyland.
Turning to commentary, my first thought is: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” ~Walt Disney (possibly)
Due to the faux cable lines (they’re purely for show), it was once feared that the Red Car Trolley would be retired in order for Paint the Night Parade to run at Disney California Adventure. Or at the very least, that the overhead catenary lines would be removed. Instead, the parade was altered to fit the DCA parade route.
Not long after that, Avengers Campus was announced. Fans once again worried that Disney would use construction and the new land being tonally at odds with the Red Car Trolleys (versus the thematically-apt Hollywood Tower Hotel) would offer a convenient excuse to kill off the Red Car Trolleys. And while the attraction was down for much longer than expected, part of that was due to the pandemic.
In the end, the Red Car Trolley did return. Neither Avengers Campus nor the COVID closure could bring about the demise of the Red Car Trolley. Even though it’s only been around for a little over a decade, it’s honestly remarkable the attraction has lasted so long given the circumstances. It was an against all odds attraction from the outset, and it’s amazing it’s lasted so long.
My second thought: “An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted.” ~Walt Disney (possibly)
Walt Disney World fans still haven’t recovered from the bombshell announcement that Cars land is replacing the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. It might seem like hyperbole, but this Red Car Trolley closure is of a similar nature. Much of the commentary in defense of the Rivers of America applies here. Not nearly as emphatically, but the Red Cars are an asset to the atmosphere of Disney California Adventure, enjoyed by everyone–not just their riders.
If you asked me to name one ride that defines Disney California Adventure, it’d be the Red Car Trolley. It’s obviously not as popular as Radiator Springs Racers, Soarin, Mission Breakout, or just about any ride in DCA. But that wasn’t the question. It’s what defines the park.
At this point, DCA has only the most tenuous of thematic connections to California. It’s basically a theme park in California, which obviously isn’t the same thing. If it were, every park in the state would be California-themed. The Red Car Trolley was symbolic in the park’s transformation for the reasons noted above.
The Red Car Trolley has also been a stalwart of thematic integrity. Even as fans could point to other lands and attractions as “proof” that Disney was abandoning the California theme, the Red Car Trolley offered a compelling counterpoint that it had not–that, yes, maybe the theme had been relaxed or broadened, but it still had some semblance of existence.
With almost every change in the last several years, this position has been less and less defensible. Pandora – World of Avatar will probably be the final nail in its coffin unless some really clever narrative framework is concocted. Both story-wise and as a portal into that portion of the park.
(I’d bet against a name change, if only because they won’t want to fan the flames on narratives of the park having an identity crisis. And also, they aren’t exactly good at new names–see “Disney Adventure World.”)
Nevertheless, I’ll end this on a positive note, which is that I’m somewhat convinced that the Red Car Trolley has advocates in high places. Back during the original DCA relaunch cycle, CEO Bob Iger and Pixar’s John Lasseter both seemed particularly proud of and partial towards it. (If it was solely the latter who loved it, uh oh–his opinion is worth less than nothing to Disney now!)
Even in the years since, it feels like Disney has had every excuse or opportunity to kill the Red Car Trolley…but hasn’t. It’s exactly the type of attraction that Bob Chapek would’ve salivated at the prospect of killing, but he didn’t. (Couldn’t?) It’s a love letter to a bygone era of California, and there are few things Californians love more than that. Likewise, it’s the type of attraction–transportation rides–that Imagineers themselves appreciate. I dunno. Every rational bone in my body says that the Red Car Trolley is going to be gone for good…but I’ve also thought that before. Maybe I just want to believe that it has a chance at returning, but I’m not ready to completely count it out just yet.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on the Red Car Trolley closing in 2025 for Avengers Campus construction? Think Disneyland will work to reopen this ride down the road, or is it likely gone for good? Are you disappointed by this news, or did you consider it inevitable? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
