START YOUR ENGINES… A new area inspired by the Pixar Animation Studios movie Cars is coming to Frontierland in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Get ready to visit Piston Peak!

The cars are leaving Radiator Springs to explore the West and head into new frontiers. Piston Peak will invite you to enter the world of Cars with a National Park twist. And one of the TWO new attractions coming to the land is Cars Ridge Run Rally!

Cars Ridge Run Rally

Get ready to race through the mountains on wild terrain along mountain trails as you dodge geysers and splash through mud holes on an exciting and thrilling ride: Cars Ridge Run Rally!

Disney shares that “The course will take racers through the rugged beauty of America’s national parks, including a climb up Piston Peak itself, where an icy, snow-covered mountaintop awaits.”

“After reaching the top, racers will plummet down for a camelback descent and later navigate an exhilarating geyser field. The race ends by circling the Old Tankfull geyser before a sprint to the finish line where Lightning McQueen and Mater are covering the race live on Racing Sports Network.”

Disney presented the concept art you see directly below when the as-then-unnamed Piston Peak was first announced.

However, at D23: The Ultimate Fan Event held in August 2026, NEW concept art was on display.

The most recent concept art presents a single track ride, as opposed to a head-to-head race from the original concept art. Additionally, models on display at D23 2026 made the ride appear as though it’s less of a race and more of a ride through Piston Peak.

Another piece of concept art from 2026 shows the finish line, which signals the end of the attraction. Guests will be met with Lightning McQueen, Mater, Guido, and Luigi, as well as a camera operator.

The finish line sign reads, “Rally Racers Finish,” with another sign under, reading, “Piston Peak Ridge Run Trail.”

Disney Imagineers have revealed that the queue for this ride will be housed in the visitor lodge area of Piston Peak National Park, which will be constructed to look like an A-frame mountain lodge.

In March 2025, Disney shared a bit about what’s going on behind the scenes when it comes to creating the new Cars attractions. Specifically, the Disney Imagineering team traveled to Arizona to take a ride in some real off-road vehicles to gain inspiration. Afterwards, the team worked with a motocross company to build a dirt track and work on creating the new ride vehicles. 

To ensure the attraction feels as realistic as possible, the team is using a customized production vehicle with sensors all over to gather data on how it feels to drive on varying terrain. Disney also revealed pieces of concept art for the ride vehicles, as you can see above and below!

Each vehicle (a car, of course!) will have its own personality along with its own name and number.

Imagineer Michael Hundgen explained, “Our primary goal is creating an emotional experience for our guests. For this Cars attraction, we need to invent a new type of ride vehicle. No one builds these in a factory because it has to do so much more than just carrying you from one place to another. We have to create a car that conveys a feeling when you ride in it.”

Additionally, Disney created their own outdoor track to better understand off-roading, and you can take a peek here. Ultimately, as Disney shared in August 2026, the new ride vehicles are being “designed not to simulate an off-road car, but to BE one. Michael [Hundgen, Vice President Creative] explained that the attraction design is unlike typical theme park systems, promising that guests will feel every bump, drop, and rock because this vehicle’s tires and suspension are truly driving over and reacting to them.’ ” 

At D23 2026, a new look at the ride vehicles was presented in a display. As you can see, these are designed to look like off-road vehicles with those lovable faces up front.

The details extend right down to the splashes of mud on the vehicles, which feature two rows of three seats each.

As you move through the queue for the attraction, you’ll be introduced to a new character: Ranger J. Autobahn Woodlore. (This is a nod to Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore, the park ranger from Disney’s Humphrey the Bear and Donald Duck cartoons.)

An animatronic of Ranger J. Autobahn Woodlore will be featured in a pre-show, where he’ll tell you about the history of Piston Peak and its folklore (which Disney has promised we’ll learn more about at a later date).