My son wanted to have a Lightning McQueen party for his 4th birthday so this is what I came up with and the kids had a blast!  His entire pre-school class was all boys so I knew that the party had to be fast paced and full of activities so they wouldn't lose interest. I used the Speed On Over invitations that have Mater and Lightning on the front because they are just such great pictures and would make good keepsakes.  Once I knew who was coming to the party, I created racing id's complete with the child's picture (that I scanned from the school's directory), age and team that they would race on at the party.  I laminated them and attached them to a lanyard that I made out of red and black cord (Wal-mart).  I also made up id's for the parents as well, with characters from the movie as their picture based on the parent's personality.  They got a kick out of it!  I had a huge sign set up outside that said Welcome Race Fans and had 2 checkered race flags on it.  I also had a sign that I created with the characters from the Cars Movie that said, Welcome to Radiator Springs... A Happy Place! When the guests arrived I had a table set up out front labeled racing check-in. They had to check in with me, receive their pit passes, checkered flags, parents verified their address (for me to use later for thank you notes) and if they were leaving their child they needed to leave a cell phone contact number. My son escorted them into Radiator Springs to start the party.  The first stop was at Ramones House of Body Art where the kids picked out a Cars character tatoo that was applied by one of the mom's that was helping me, and then the kids did some detailing of their own by coloring pictures of the characters that I had printed off the internet.  This served as a great way of keeping the kids contained until all of the guests arrived. The next stop was at Lizzie's Sovenier Shop where the kids made foam picture frames to take home with them. (I bought the kits at Party City) Then we headed over to the race track for the big race! I had planned on doing this activity outside, but it rained that day so we had to move everything inside but it worked out fine.  I created a racetrack out of orange cones that I bought from Target.  Before the party I had created 2 race cars out of cardboard boxes for the kids to use in the races.  I decorated one as Lightning McQueen and the other as Chick Hicks.  I went on the internet and printed off racing decals to put on the cars to make them look authentic. I used cupcake liners for the eyes/headlights to give them personality like the movie.  The grills were made out of silver cardstock and Chick even had a mustache!  I attached the wheels with velcro so they could be changed by the kids during the pit stops. I also made a gas cap attached with velcro for the kids to open.  My husband brought home 2 polevaulting helmuts from his work to use as racing helmuts since I couldn't find any.  The kids were instructed to look on the back of their racing id's to see what color star sticker they had. If they had a red star they were on the Lightning McQueen Team.  If they had a green star they were on the Chick Hicks team.  In addition, if they had a gold star, that meant they were starting out as the driver. I then had the adults help me position the rest of the kids at the different pit stop areas... gas station (hoses with nozzles), tune up (my sons tools that made noise) and a tire changing station. The race began and the drivers had to race around the track 3 times, each time stopping at a different pit stop" to acquire the service. They had a blast and so did the parents!  At the end of each race we switched out the drivers and rotated positions at the pit stops so that everyone got to try something different. After the races ended all the kids were asked to come sit in the "winners circle" which was the center of the track to receive their Piston Cups. I bought plastic cup trophies at Target and decorated them with a Piston Cup sticker that I created on the computer. They were so excited!  Then the adults helped place the trophies into the kids goodie bags to take home. The next activity was a bean bag toss. I got some old tires donated from a local automechanic and I couldn't find bean bags so I made my own using tyvec priority mail bags duck tape and cut outs of the CARS characters from wrapping paper scraps that I had. The kids lined up and had 5 tries to toss the bean bags into the various tires. If they hit the first tire they got a CARS sticker if they hit the second they got a piece of candy and if they hit the 3rd they got a gold medal to put around their neck that I bought from Target and attached a label on it with a CARS character. To calm things down we had the kids get back in the center of the racetrack to watch Liam open presents. While this was going on one of my parents took the picture frames that were now dried and placed them in the kids' goodie bags for me.  Another one cleaned up the coloring table and set it with plates and cups for the cake portion of the party. My son wanted cupcakes for his birthday this year so I bought NASCAR liners to use and I died the icing yellow and red. I also had Mater and Lightning decorations for each one. The kids each got a cupcake and some red punch.  After cupcakes we did the pinata! I purchased a Lightning McQueen pinata from Party City and we filled it with candy and toy matchbox cars. Each child got 3 chances to whack it with a small bat. We finished off the party with a game of FREEZE where the kids had to dance to the CARS theme and then freeze when the music stopped. They loved it. After that the guests were given their goodie bags that my son helped me make out of white paper lunch bags. We cut out CARS characters from wrapping paper and he glued them on the bags. I then printed out labels from the computer with each child's name so that their bags could easily be found.  The bags had the CARS blow outs CARS fruit snacks a juice box (I printed off a label that had a picture of Filmore and it said Filmore's Organic Fuel) some tattoos stickers their Piston Cups candy from the pinata and their frames that they made. Parents have told me that the kids are still talking about the party!"