Richard Petty Driving Experience to close

[TheRabbit]

This is from 1995 (via Google Earth)
View attachment 82692

Funny, since Google Earth wasn't around in 1995 LOL Nice try though.

 

[mm121]

How popular was this experience anyways? it seemed cool, but also pretty pricey.

would be good if they built a path for south world drive to east vista without a fourway stop

though this could be accomplished with a simple roundabout if a full flyover wasn't deemed necessary

Or build a garage within walking distance of MK, make the fleet resort/EPCOT transfer service only.

i doubt they'd ever build a real parking garage at MK, maybe like a 1 deck parking structure, but nothing taller than that.

Move MK parking south, add A hotel tower to Poly? Maybe let's not give them ideas!

this would mean that they actually care about being innovative, they haven't done anything requiring the moving of a road in a super long time.

i could imagineer WDW till i'm blue, but there is no point, as they aren't going to ever do any of it.

like expanding adventureland, and futureworld at the MK.

That's a truly sensible statement. WDW busses stopping at the tollbooths is dumb enough, add in guests of the WL, CR, PR and GF and it's super inefficient. I wonder if they'll also find a way to plug the "free parking" hole?

free parking hole? does this still exist, pretty sure this was closed awhile ago.

it would make sense to create a path for busses to avoid the toll plaza.

part of the guests stopping at the plaza to get to the contemprary etc, is partially more a deterant message than anything, since not everyone knows you can just get waved thru to tour the property.

I wouldn't put all the money on "additional parking" at this point. Recall that a north entrance is being built to WDW property. That's going to lead to guests coming down Floridian Way to reach the Magic Kingdom and the current roads really aren't prepared for an increase in traffic.

agreed, right now there isn't really a path for cars coming in from the north to enter the MK parking lot, which is definitely something that will need to be adressed once the new entrance is built, as they wouldn't want to "require" a u turn.

 

[Goofycanuck]

My son had a blast on the junior ride along experience they introduced not too long ago.

 

[WDWGuide]

Funny, since Google Earth wasn't around in 1995 LOL Nice try though.

That doesn't mean that Google Earth doesn't have old imagery. And those 1995 images are certainly available in Google Earth.

 

[NearTheEars]

Didn't they just introduce a new Cars themed ride along too?

I'm a huge racing fan, but never wanted to pony up the cash to go fast.

 

[flynnibus]

Funny, since Google Earth wasn't around in 1995 LOL Nice try though.

 

[khale1970]

Concept art of Disney Speedway redevelopment.

Spoiler

Wand Stroking, telling some lies. Shouldn't you...be loving some screen based rides?

The fat women in bikini tops I saw waiting on queue for Dudley Do Right were way more "people of Wal-Mart" than anything I saw at WDW. And that includes the 3rd world types laying out their pic-nic spread at the entrance to the the fancy new bathrooms in NFL. UNI fanbois are every bit as uninteresting as those who think Voyage of the Little Mermaid is an e ticket.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Good.

Maybe they'll overhall the Vista and World Drive connection.

 

[Daniel Johnson]

These are not full blown NASCAR race cars... They were detuned and have mufflers. I've driven two, one at Daytona, and one in Atlanta. They are quick, but a little more controlled than a 500 horse power race car that you see Dale Jr whipping around.
The exotic sports car show was amazing though, I always wanted to do that at wdw. I did it at road Atlanta. Sad it's going away

 

[Grumpy1973]

I wonder if they'll also find a way to plug the "free parking" hole?

I hope not.. We park free anyway so to us it's not a "free parking hole" but it sure saves us a lot of time as we always go in and out through the backside Reams Rd entrance/exit..

 

[roj2323]

I hope not.. We park free anyway so to us it's not a "free parking hole" but it sure saves us a lot of time as we always go in and out through the backside Reams Rd entrance/exit..

That hole is being filled FYI. This is part of why they relocated cast connection to south end of the property. They are building a new entry way with a security checkpoint to the west of the parking lot.

 

[Donald Razorduck]

I never took the time to research if that track had actually hosted sanctioned races but as just an experience type thing just seemed like a huge waste. Like whats been mentioned here, most of these take place at tracks that host races. Don't Fox and NBC have Nascar rights?

 

[lukacseven]

I never took the time to research if that track had actually hosted sanctioned races but as just an experience type thing just seemed like a huge waste. Like whats been mentioned here, most of these take place at tracks that host races. Don't Fox and NBC have Nascar rights?

I remember being there quiet some time ago (maybe late '90's) and there being an IRL (Indy car) race. There used to be metal grandstands around part of the track. Not sure if those were just put up for the race, or if they were a more permanent part of the track. No NASCAR or stock car races ever there that I am aware of.

The past 3 years, they did re-route the January Marathon course through the speedway - 1 loop around the bottom of the track and they invited local car clubs to park along the track - lots of nice cars - really fun part of the race.

 

[Darth Sidious]

My most vivid memory of the track is when it was on TV in the mid 90s and they panned the camera overhead to show views of the birthday cake castle.

 

[stlphil]

I never took the time to research if that track had actually hosted sanctioned races but as just an experience type thing just seemed like a huge waste. Like whats been mentioned here, most of these take place at tracks that host races. Don't Fox and NBC have Nascar rights?

The very first ever IRL race was held at that track right after they split off from CART (I was there for that race) and my thought at the time was the track was built specifically to host races. RPDE came later. I don't know why they stopped having races there.

 

[TomDisney]

Two words....Frozen overlay

 

[PhilharMagician]

Funny, since Google Earth wasn't around in 1995 LOL Nice try though.

Try using the timeline feature in Google Earth before making incorrect statements. Just because you did not know about Google Earth in 1995 does not mean the imaging did not exist. There is imaging available on Google Earth for NYC back as far as 1959.


I hope they raze the track area and put in more parking spaces and line the whole parking area with some trees.

 

[GhostHost1000]

How about a major peoplemover type transportation hub for all theme parks and resorts?


actually I agree with @marni1971 - this racetrack was WAY out of place and not something you really want to see (personally) while driving into the magic kingdom area

 

[Brad Bishop]

The racetrack was out of place. I don't see how you could possibly come to any other conclusion. There were parking problems when it was used for NASCAR places and it really doesn't belong nestled in next to the MK parking lot. A better place, built around the same time: ESPN Wide World of Sports area. It would have fit in perfectly there and may very well have been in continued use by NASCAR even today.

My guess for the new use: Increased parking. They recover some of the parking spaces that they had before and now have overflow parking at the MK for the busiest of days.

Hopefully "transportation improvements" means moving the MK Parking Lot toll booths up a bit and fixing the silly thing of everyone having to to through those toll booths (and know which lane to be in) to get to their MK resorts. If they fix that intersection with a flyover then it also stops everyone, including all of the Disney buses, from having to drive over to the Polynesian to get back out to World Drive.

 

[kdouglas97]

I always liked the idea of the RPDE, but I never liked the placement. It always felt like a bit of an eyesore to me on, especially on the Floridian way side of the track. With the embankment and the retaining fence, I felt like I was driving by a prison. Had it been on another part of the property I would have had no problem with it.