The Red Car Trolley

The Red Car Trolley

 

There is new ride at Disney California Adventure that is not in Cars Land! DCA finally has a “Main Street Transportation”. Well, not Main Street, USA, Disneyland but Buena Vista Street, DCA!

Right inside the gates of Disney California Adventure is the first of four stops for the Red Car Troll, the Buena Vista Street stop. The Red Car can carry 20 people in the car. There are two cars. You can get on at the Buena Vista Street and get off at any of the other three stops. You can get off at the Carthay Circle and use that to get to the rest of the park.

The two cars of the DCA Buena Vista Street Red Car Trolley Line are different from each other. One is a replica of the 600 series Pacific Red Car Trolley car with the classic red and tan pain job. That car is number 623. 600 for the series and 23 in memory of the year Walt Disney came to California. The second trolley is a replica of the 700 series Pacific Red Car Trolley car with a “Butterfly” paint job that also adorned the Pacific cruiser trains of the day owned by the same company. The number of the 700 series car is 717 in honor of the date Disneyland opened, 7/17/1955.

This is not a time saving way to get from the front gate to the Tower of Terror or Hollywood Land. You could walk the rout much faster. So why ride? Ride because it takes you back to the time and once again pulls you into the atmosphere of Buena Vista Street. Also as you ride you get a fun and informative history lesson about the Red Cars. Another reason is to save your poor abused feet a few steps.

Unlike the Main Street Transportation at Disneyland the Red Cars can accommodate wheelchairs. The steps come down and form a ramp to load a wheelchair and there is a place to lock the wheelchair down while the car is in motion.

You can get on at Carthay Circle if there is room and continue onto Hollywood Land. You can get off at the third stop and the first stop in Hollywood Land in front of the Animation Building. Great foot saver if you want to hurry over to catch a drawing class.

The fourth and last stop is over by the Hollywood Tower of Terror and the gates of the parade route. All guests are required to get off the Red Car at the Tower of Terror stop. You can get right back on if there is a short or no line.

One thing that can delay or lengthen your ride on the Red Car is the shows. The Red Car News Boys use a car during their show. So if you are on the other trolley car you will have to wait at one of the stops until the show is over or get out and walk the rest of the way. Also when 5 & Dime perform in the Carthay Circle the Red Cars stop running until the show is over.

I will be honest and say I do not know how long these beautiful cars will run for the guests. I can see them continuing to be used for the shows but I’m doubtful if the cars can continue to run. The reason is crowing on the streets where it runs. The Toontown Jolly Trolley quit running because it was hard to keep guests from stepping out in front of it as it went down the route. I think this will happen with the Red Cars. At this time it takes three or four Cast Members to run each of the Red Cars. You have an “Engineer” and a “Conductor” inside each of the cars running. You also have one or two Cast Member/Conductors walking in front of the car clearing the track of pedestrians as it moves down the street. I hope I’m wrong and this fun mode of transportation from the past contuses to run for a long time.

Here is video taken the first time we rode the Red Car. It is in several parts going from stop to stop.