Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show
Encyclopedia
The Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show is a performance show at the Disney's Hollywood Studios
theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
.
It is based on the original show, Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular at Walt Disney Studios Park
in Disneyland Resort Paris
, France
, which premiered with the park's opening in March 2002.
Revolving around a series of energetic stunts featuring automobiles, the show had its soft opening on March 14, 2005, but had its grand opening on May 5, 2005, as part of the Happiest Celebration on Earth festival at the Walt Disney World Resort
, in honor of the very first Disney park, Disneyland, celebrating its fiftieth birthday. One aspect of the festival was each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks receiving a new attraction cloned from another Disney resort; the show was one of the star attractions at the Walt Disney Studios theme park at the Disneyland Resort Paris in France.
The show runs for just under 40 minutes and includes pyrotechnics, jet ski chases, and physical stuntwork among the car work. The cars are followed by cameras, and the film shown to the audience on a billboard television screen is both shot during the show and pre-recorded, and some shots are even from the Disneyland Resort Paris version of the show. This is to make the show appear as if it were a real movie shoot. Herbie
, the Volkswagen
from The Love Bug
, makes an appearance in an intermission in the middle of the show.
The show arena features scenery from a Mediterranean
village in the south of France
. The arena's construction forced Studio Backlot Tour
at the theme park to be almost halved in length, as the arena was built inside the backlot tour's attraction footprint.
The show has more than 40 vehicles featured in the show and backstage in the maintenance garage. The hero car is a custom-built design for the show, while the pursuit cars are Opel Corsa
s. The 3 different hero cars are all painted red, while the pursuit cars are black to easily allow guests to tell the difference between them. The show also includes specially designed cars that look identical to the others used in the show, two of which are red "hero" cars. One has the interior situated backwards to allow the driver to appear as if he's driving in reverse, and the other has a seat and steering wheel bolted onto the side of the car, giving the appearance that the car has no driver in the driver's seat.
One of the black "pursuit" cars is cut in half behind the front doors to give it the appearance of exploding during a scene in the show. The cars, while they appear simple and plain, are reinforced with rally car roll cage
s for driver safety. The cars are powered with 1300 cc, 150 hp motorcycle engines mounted directly behind the driver's seat. The cars have 4 gears in forward drive and 4 gears in reverse, allowing the drivers to accelerate to high speed going backwards. The car has a bump shift for easier gear shifting.
The driver merely bumps the shifter forward to go up a gear, and back to go back a gear. In order to go in reverse, the driver twists the top of the shifter and bumps it forward, or backwards. The emergency brake automatically releases when the driver lets go. The show cars weigh just 1,322 pounds. The drivers can switch the cars from front wheel drive, to four wheel drive, to rear wheel drive to suit the slips and slides of the show. The drivers must wear heavy protective suits. A cooling system in the rear of the car pumps water through a series of tubes and into the driver's suit to keep him cool in the Florida heat. The show also features jet ski
s on the small canal at the front of the theater, and motorcycle
s which maneuver around the cars.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being home to the Walt Disney World Resort. It is one of two Florida municipalities controlled by The Walt Disney Company, the other being Bay Lake....
.
It is based on the original show, Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular at Walt Disney Studios Park
Walt Disney Studios Park
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second theme park to open at Disneyland Paris, owned and operated by Euro Disney S.C.A.. It is located to the west of the hub, next door to Disneyland Park at the heart of the resort in Marne-la-Vallée....
in Disneyland Resort Paris
Disneyland Resort Paris
Disneyland Paris is a holiday and recreation resort in Marne-la-Vallée, a new town in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. The complex is located from the centre of Paris and lies for the most part within the commune of Chessy, Seine-et-Marne....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, which premiered with the park's opening in March 2002.
Revolving around a series of energetic stunts featuring automobiles, the show had its soft opening on March 14, 2005, but had its grand opening on May 5, 2005, as part of the Happiest Celebration on Earth festival at the Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
, in honor of the very first Disney park, Disneyland, celebrating its fiftieth birthday. One aspect of the festival was each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks receiving a new attraction cloned from another Disney resort; the show was one of the star attractions at the Walt Disney Studios theme park at the Disneyland Resort Paris in France.
The show runs for just under 40 minutes and includes pyrotechnics, jet ski chases, and physical stuntwork among the car work. The cars are followed by cameras, and the film shown to the audience on a billboard television screen is both shot during the show and pre-recorded, and some shots are even from the Disneyland Resort Paris version of the show. This is to make the show appear as if it were a real movie shoot. Herbie
Herbie
Herbie is an anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle, a character that is featured in several Disney motion pictures starting with the 1968 feature film The Love Bug. He has a mind of his own and is capable of driving himself, and is a serious contender in auto racing competitions...
, the Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
from The Love Bug
The Love Bug
The Love Bug is the first in a series of comedy films made by Walt Disney Productions that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie...
, makes an appearance in an intermission in the middle of the show.
The show arena features scenery from a Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
village in the south of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The arena's construction forced Studio Backlot Tour
Studio Backlot Tour
The Studio Backlot Tour is an attraction at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It is a combination of a walking and tram tour of the backlot area of the park.-The queue area:...
at the theme park to be almost halved in length, as the arena was built inside the backlot tour's attraction footprint.
Vehicles
Opel Corsa
The front-wheel drive Opel Corsa was first launched in September 1982 to replace the Opel Kadett C City, and to fill the gap vacated as the Kadett grew in size and price. Built in Zaragoza, Spain, the first Corsas were three-door hatchback and two-door saloon models, with four-door and five-door...
s. The 3 different hero cars are all painted red, while the pursuit cars are black to easily allow guests to tell the difference between them. The show also includes specially designed cars that look identical to the others used in the show, two of which are red "hero" cars. One has the interior situated backwards to allow the driver to appear as if he's driving in reverse, and the other has a seat and steering wheel bolted onto the side of the car, giving the appearance that the car has no driver in the driver's seat.
One of the black "pursuit" cars is cut in half behind the front doors to give it the appearance of exploding during a scene in the show. The cars, while they appear simple and plain, are reinforced with rally car roll cage
Roll cage
A roll cage is a specially constructed frame built in the cab of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured in an accident, particularly in the event of a roll-over. Roll cages are used in nearly all purpose-built racecars, and in most cars modified for racing...
s for driver safety. The cars are powered with 1300 cc, 150 hp motorcycle engines mounted directly behind the driver's seat. The cars have 4 gears in forward drive and 4 gears in reverse, allowing the drivers to accelerate to high speed going backwards. The car has a bump shift for easier gear shifting.
The driver merely bumps the shifter forward to go up a gear, and back to go back a gear. In order to go in reverse, the driver twists the top of the shifter and bumps it forward, or backwards. The emergency brake automatically releases when the driver lets go. The show cars weigh just 1,322 pounds. The drivers can switch the cars from front wheel drive, to four wheel drive, to rear wheel drive to suit the slips and slides of the show. The drivers must wear heavy protective suits. A cooling system in the rear of the car pumps water through a series of tubes and into the driver's suit to keep him cool in the Florida heat. The show also features jet ski
Jet ski
Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The name is sometimes mistakenly used by those unfamiliar with the personal watercraft industry to refer to any type of personal watercraft; however, the name is a valid trademark registered with the...
s on the small canal at the front of the theater, and motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
s which maneuver around the cars.
Attraction facts
- Soft opening: March 14, 2005
- Grand opening: May 5, 2005
- Show length: 35 min
- Stadium Capacity: Approximately 5,000 guests
- Show Space: 177000 square feet (16,443.8 m²) show area
- Sponsor: Brawny/Georgia Pacific