Last Christmas, DH took me and the girls to WDW to visit all things Disney. It was amazing and I loved it. Jo's favorite ride turned out to be Test Track at Epcot.
(On a side note - I really liked Living with the Land and DH loved Expedition Everest. Violet - well, that's a DIFFERENT trip report.)
So, as I was telling Jo about the rides, I kept comparing Radiator Springs Racers to TT and she was super excited. I mean check this out:
The que took us almost 1 hour because the ride broke down for about 15 minutes. It wasn't too bad though. I got some cute que pictures:
and
and
(Hmmm... where'd all the people go?)
Finally, we get up to the front and it's Twinkle Toes Again!
Hi Ladies!
And then we were on our way by here:
To answer my husband's question... no, we don't drive over that bridge; it's a miniature. But it super pretty!
So, just like TT, RSR is really slow at first, as a few "fast" points, and then you hit the track. I was explaining it to DH and he noted that only the theming is different. Um, yes and no. The RSR track feels much shorter. And it has a "race" of 2 cars at once. That is awesome - and problematic, I would imagine. Any time a track needs to go back and forth and back and forth, it could easily be a break down point. Whenever I heard about the ride being down, I thought of this. But, you load the same way you do at TT: 3 to a row 6 per vehicle. And each vehicle is on the same track. There are not 2 tracks until later on. There is no cheesy video like at TT, but the concept is very much the same, depending which track you take. The first part of the right is the same:
You take a brief ride outside (see picture above) and then you go through a cave and Whoa! Theres Mac (think of the truck right before your outside speed race at TT EXACTLY THE SAME.) Same place same horn, same timing; actually, I think the TT truck might be red as well or is it yellow? And then you turn a little, see Van and Mini and then speed up and slow down to listen to the Sheriff and Mater. This is not a full stop like in the break check in TT, but it reminded me of it a little. Then you go through the town and Sally and McQueen send you to one of two tracks:
Track 1: Luigis
This one was my favorite. Its very much unlike TT because there is a mirror to the left of the car where you can get new white wall tires. My husband had to point out how they did that because even I was fooled. What DID remind me of TT was the shaking of the car. Just like the road bumps at the first part of TT, the whole vehicle shook as we got new tires. The only difference was that we werent moving.
We then went out to see Doc Hudson and waited for our racing partner:
We raced. We lost. And we did NOT go as fast as TT. There were much tighter corners. Three ascents and descents. But it was still going really really fast. The turns are much better on RSR, but Ill explain that on the next track.
Track 2: Ramones
I love Ramone, but I honestly can say that Luigis track is better. For those of you who know TT, I know theres a part in there thats called environmental testing. I cant remember if they spray you in the cool temperatures or in the warm temperatures, but getting a paint job was just like that. JUST. And then you are out to meet your racing partner. It wasn't very climatic. But heres where it gets interesting
the banks on RSR are steep. Very steep. Josephine just had lunch before going on this for the second time, and we got Ramones track. It almost puts you parallel to the ground (well, it feels like it.) Since Luigis Track is on the inside for turn #1, that track is not as high on the bank. Josephine almost said she didnt like the ride because she didnt like being up so high. Theres the last couple of turns on TT that bank hard, but those arent as intense as RSR.
And heres my theory: Ramones side usually wins. Not always, but usually.
You cross the finish, bank one more time and then you meet McQueen and Mater one more time and wait for the cars to switch back to one track.
That was fun!
Stay tuned for Luigis helpful hints.