Richard Petty Nascar Experience, any one done it

[Chris and Pooh]

Hi,
I'm considering doing the Richard Petty Nascar driving experience near MK, has anyone tried it and what are your views and if you felt it was worth the money. My DW is going to be paying for it as a 50th birthday present if I decide to do it

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

No, you'll be the first one to try it!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

For a racing fan, someone I know said it was sooooo fun to actually drive the car.

 

[yxe dad]

YES IT'S WORTH IT!!!!

Were you planning on the ride-a-long, a driving experience or both?

I have done the ride-a-long and the rookie experience at WDW and IMHO are well worth the money. If you plan on driving do the ride-a-long first, it'll make driving a lot better because you'll know the car will actually stick to the track at those speeds.

Look for discounts with AAA or DVC and get ready to have a smile for the rest of your vacation!

 

[shoes99]

This 63 year old NASCAR fan has done the ride along twice. I had a blast.
Michele

 

[sjkwheeler]

We just got back from WDW and my husband did the Richard Petty Driving Experience 6 days ago. He loved it! It was one of the highlights of his/our trip. He originally had signed up for the rookie experience, but once there we decided it was best for him to do the ride along first (when doing it that way, you save money, instead of booking them both separate). He now is waiting for the lanyard they will send in the mail which will allow him to repeat the expererience at a track here in Texas for a discounted rate.

We also are already preparing to book next year's WDW vacation and he will upgrade to the King's experience.

He is still smiling from ear to ear and can't stop telling everyone about it (he's 45).

Hope that helps.

 

[aras4007]

I personally have never done it but a friend has. He liked it and thought it was fun but when he drove, you can't just go however fast you want. You have to stay behind the pace car so that may be something to think about.

 

[KigerKat]

I got the Rookie Experience for DH as an anniversary gift last October, and he loved it. He's not even a Nascar fan (he like F1 much better), but he really loved driving a car that fast.

One tip that I can give you - if you have a choice of when to book the experience, I would avoid booking it in the summer. You have to wear a fireproof suit during part of the training outside and while you wait until it's your turn to drive/ride along and in the summer FL heat that can be a bit much. When we did it at the end of Oct, we thought it was freezing that morning, but DH and the rest of his "class" were relieved when they got in the fireproof suits.

Also, I'm not sure if they do this during every class (it probably depends on attendance), but they offered a discounted ride along for anyone that wanted to add it at the last minute. So if you are wanting to do both, then I would recommend waiting to book the ride along until you actually get there.

You can let your wife know that there's a 20% discount if you are AAA members. I actually bought a single membership just for the discount on this when I bought it.

Have a great time!!

 

[smylie1]

DH did it at Daytona 2 years ago and still talks about it. He did the Highbanks 8 (I think that's what it's called) where he got to drive 8 laps. The whole thing was awesome! I did the ride-a-long. LOVED IT!!

 

[Promomx2]

My mil gave me a ridealong for christmas present (i got to pick it out). So I'm planning on going to Daytona while we're in the world in aug. The site says that the ridealongs start 1 hour after the start of the driving experiences, is this right? And where do you go once you get to the track?

 

[Chris and Pooh]

YES IT'S WORTH IT!!!!

Were you planning on the ride-a-long, a driving experience or both?

The experience I am planning on possibly doing is the Kings experience which consists of two sessions

 

[smylie1]

My mil gave me a ridealong for christmas present (i got to pick it out). So I'm planning on going to Daytona while we're in the world in aug. The site says that the ridealongs start 1 hour after the start of the driving experiences, is this right? And where do you go once you get to the track?

At Daytona, we went into Daytona USA and checked in, then drove our vehicle into the infield. There were signs telling where to go. We went into the clubhouse for the information session (the families go in too for this part). Then we went out to the pit area. We found a place to sit on the wall (SO COOL!) while DH, and all the others who were participating, went for the Driver's meeting. You can't sit on it while the cars are on the track though. They drew numbers to determine the order to drive in. Unfortunately, DH got a high number so we had to wait a long time for his turn and we had to wait for rain to pass. That was strange because it wasn't raining where we were, but it was raining on turn three! Talking to most of the "rookie" drivers, about 150 was about the average speed driving, on the ridealong we got up to 165.

There was only one student driver and his "leader" on the track at a time and there were ridealongs going on at the same time, but I can't remember when they started.

 

[Promomx2]

Thanks for the info. I'm sooo looking forward to this. It's on my "bucket list". Dh says he can't wait to see me s@#$ in my pants. He's so supporting.