The Race Track at Magic Kingdom Parking Lot

[chapie1968]

Is there ANY reason this thing is still there? It seems like a HUGE waste to me. I think I have seen a car running in there maybe 1 or 2 times in like about 20 visits.

 

[Micca]

Chapie, probably just me being dense, but I don't understand the question. There's a race track in the MK parking lot?

 

[capttigger]

The Richard Petty Driving Experience is in the race track.

They also have a lot of race teams that come in practice and test in that race track. they can't test at the race tracks the race at it is in there rules. they also have a race at that track every year. So waste I don't think so.. they make good money with that track.....

 

[pharaoh]

I know what OP is talking about! I always wondered about it too and I have also never seen any event happening there. I just looked it up to see what it's all about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Speedway

Looks like they don't use it for very much, and that being so close to the MK parking lot is a big problem.

There's also a Mickey shaped lake in the middle of the track!

 

[Micca]

OK, I thought of the Richard Petty attraction, I guess I just didn't "place" it in the MK parking lot.

 

[audrey2580]

Is there ANY reason this thing is still there? It seems like a HUGE waste to me. I think I have seen a car running in there maybe 1 or 2 times in like about 20 visits.

Dear god don't let my husband hear you! We have a deal, anytime he goes to WDW he gets to drive the racecars. It was packed with drivers last time we were there. You may only see 1 or 2 cars because they don't let them all race at the same time. Plus there is a class and a ride along so not all your time is spent on track.

 

[thedonduck]

It is actually used quite often. Not just for the driving experience, but any professional race teams NASCAR, INDY and others use it as a place to practice.

 

[DOOM1001]

I've driven next to the track plenty of times and heard the cars zooming by,I've also done the Richard Petty ride along experience and ran inside the track twice during the WDW marathon,it seems to me it gets used plenty.I've seen plenty of threads asking about the Richard Petty ride along or driving experience,I definitely see no reason why it shouldn't be there,especially since it's in a location that isn't really going to be used for anything else.

 

[agavegirl1]

DBF and I were originally going to do the Richard Petty Driving Experience so I researched the track quite a bit. If you are arriving at the parking lot in the morning, whoever is doing any of the driving experiences (Nascar or Exotic Car) will be in classroom training with cars going around the track between 10-12 or late afternoon for afternoon appointments. There is actual driving going on only a couple of hours a day...unless the driving experience is closed for a practice or event as mentioned by PPs.

 

[pharaoh]

I had never even heard of the Richard petty driving experience. Just goes to show no matter how many times you go to the world, there's always something you haven't done yet.

 

[agavegirl1]

It's a little pricey, takes half a day and is totally cool. DBF decided on his own that my Disney Visa points would be better spent on something we would both enjoy. What a guy! I wanted to use my points to pay part of his reservation expenses to free up money for the experience. Anyway, because he said it would be an experience just for him, he didn't want to do it because I would be bored just taking pictures of him having fun. But, look it up...it is a cool experience. Teens can do the ride along but adults can drive a race car.

 

[lucyem]

Between the exotic car and the richard petty experiences my DH would be perfectly happy to spend part of every trip over at the race track.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

I thought the race track was a gas station

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Is there ANY reason this thing is still there?

To generate revenue, which it does.

 

[double r]

At one time they actually held Indy car races there.

 

[jarvigw]

I just did the exotic car drive yesterday. It was a real rush, getting upto 120 with no fear of a ticket was great. The Exotic allowed you to turn right and left because the infield has a series iof S curves. Our instructor told.me they only ran 2 races at the track, one Indy series which the track was built for and one Nascar truck series. He said they stopped because of the noise level at the nearby resorts. He also said they were limited to 3 Nascar cars at a time because of the noise, they can run as many of the exotics together as they safely can since they are much quieter. I was expensive but, I want to do it again it was really fun, and I am an old guy!

 

[dfb]

DVC or Visa rewards had a free tour of the track and facilty a couple years ago. We got to ride as a group in a high performance Mini Van on the track. Nice group of folks and an interesting tour. I'm not a NASCAR fan but I would love to drive one but it's too pricey for me. What I wanted to do was about a $1000 +/-. They indicated they no longer held any races because they had to build and tear down a grandstand each race which required a good portion of the traffic lanes for Magic Kingdom's entrance. The impact of the traffic flow and noise was too much trouble to continue with any race events. I can't remember but I don't think they had any major races there. The folks there seemed to be hurting for business. I can't imagine it being a huge money maker! At least not by Disney standards of money maker. I think NASCAR popularity and contracts are probably some of the reason it still exist. I think the main reason it hasn't departed is Disney doesn't have a plan to replace it with anything.

I would not be surprised to hear of it's closing at anytime in the future!

 

[11290]

Track was actually built by an arm of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was "home" to the first IRL (Indy Racing League) series race in January 1996. Most speculated that it was actually owned by the Hulman-George family to prop up the IRL but who knows. IRL ran there for several years (3 I think I remember) and several NASCAR events (truck series I believe) were held there, mostly in conjunction with and lead-up events to the IRL races.

IRL dropped the track from their schedules after a few years due in part to not wanting to run in January and the track supposedly having a "bad design" for Indy cars. Several accidents in races and testing with the IRL cars resulted in serious injuries to drivers (Sam Schmidt a current Indy Car owner was paralyzed in about '99 or 2000, don't remember which, I believe in a preseason test session) although some speculated that it had as much to do with car design at that time as it did with track design. In addition, the track suffered form a certain amount of neglect resulting in a somewhat rough surface which was not conducive to Indy cars.

Parking was always a big issue for the race events and most time ended up using the Epcot parking lot with shuttle busses, although later events were not well attended anyway. Noise was also a big issue because of it's proximity to Resorts and MK. Lake Mickey was built after the track opened, evidently someone forgot that it rains in FL and the water needed to go somewhere.

Some NASCAR teams still test there from time to time but not all that much anymore.