Is the Tomorrowland Speedway fun or not?

[slickpoetry]

First timer going to WDW in October. I got a pretty good handle on ride quality (Haunted Mansion=good, Stitch's Escape=terrible), but I'd love some feedback on the speedway. We have go kart tracks all around where I live, so flying to Florida, paying thousands of dollars for a disney vacation, and spending any more than 5 minutes doing something I can easily do here seems silly.

My son is 4 and for what its worth he does enjoy when we ride go karts at the facilities near us. But when I look in MDE i routinely see wait times of like 20 minutes or more for the speedway. Is it worth the investment of time to ride this one or should we skip it?

 

[Hisgirl]

We took our grandsons who are 9, 7 and 6. They were not impressed. At their home, they get to rides similar carts, and the oldest one told me these were slow and boring.

If you have a tight schedule, maybe save it for later. I would also skip the astro orbiters as it is a very slow load and the view is basically flat tops of buildings. I was way underwhelmed and spent about 30 minutes in line.

You're right on Stitch. Lordy, that thing needs to go. I feel the same about Figment at Epcot. A huge waste of time, IMO.

What surprised us, though, was how much fun the boys had on Tom Sawyer Island. We took lunch and they had such fun exploring the fort and tunnels. Also, the big paddle boat was fun.

When asked what their favorite thing at MK was the other day.....they said the shop in the Pirates ride. The SHOP. Enjoy your trip!

 

[brockash]

First timer going to WDW in October. I got a pretty good handle on ride quality (Haunted Mansion=good, Stitch's Escape=terrible), but I'd love some feedback on the speedway. We have go kart tracks all around where I live, so flying to Florida, paying thousands of dollars for a disney vacation, and spending any more than 5 minutes doing something I can easily do here seems silly.

My son is 4 and for what its worth he does enjoy when we ride go karts at the facilities near us. But when I look in MDE i routinely see wait times of like 20 minutes or more for the speedway. Is it worth the investment of time to ride this one or should we skip it?

This is the only ride that I pawn my kids off on other relatives if possible while we're at Disney lol. My kids like it, but I'm not a fan at all.

Stitch would be the same way, but my kids don't usually want to do that anyways.

 

[slickpoetry]

We took our grandsons who are 9, 7 and 6. They were not impressed. At their home, they get to rides similar carts, and the oldest one told me these were slow and boring.

If you have a tight schedule, maybe save it for later. I would also skip the astro orbiters as it is a very slow load and the view is basically flat tops of buildings. I was way underwhelmed and spent about 30 minutes in line.

You're right on Stitch. Lordy, that thing needs to go. I feel the same about Figment at Epcot. A huge waste of time, IMO.

What surprised us, though, was how much fun the boys had on Tom Sawyer Island. We took lunch and they had such fun exploring the fort and tunnels. Also, the big paddle boat was fun.

When asked what their favorite thing at MK was the other day.....they said the shop in the Pirates ride. The SHOP. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for your input! I agree with you about Astro Orbiters but I still want to go on it after dark. I heard the experience is better with all the lights in the park on.

 

[fabulousfive]

It's one of our family's favorite rides! In fact, we used a FP+ for it this past time to make sure we got the time slot we wanted to ride. You can also ask for a driver's license at the end. We have all girls and think its a blast!

 

[Chuckers]

Thanks for your input! I agree with you about Astro Orbiters but I still want to go on it after dark. I heard the experience is better with all the lights in the park on.

The whole park is much better at night.. but Astro Orbiters is more fun then.

As for the speedway.. meh. It smells of gas and the cars are not easily steerable. Plus if you get in on the left side, the pedals and steering wheel are on the wrong side of the car and I just feel awkward. It doesn't go fast. They're really made for the little ones to get the experience of driving.

However, if your little guy doesn't get to drive the carts at home, he might get to drive these and have more fun. You can work the gas and he can steer. (I don't know the height/age limit for actual driving.)

 

[alan_renfroe]

In my opinion, if your son likes go-karts he will be very bored with Tomorrowland Speedway. I've never understood the incredibly long waits. The cars go VERY VERY slow! I'd skip it and get in an extra ride on Buzz Lightyear.

 

[EMode]

First timer going to WDW in October. I got a pretty good handle on ride quality (Haunted Mansion=good, Stitch's Escape=terrible), but I'd love some feedback on the speedway. We have go kart tracks all around where I live, so flying to Florida, paying thousands of dollars for a disney vacation, and spending any more than 5 minutes doing something I can easily do here seems silly.

My son is 4 and for what its worth he does enjoy when we ride go karts at the facilities near us. But when I look in MDE i routinely see wait times of like 20 minutes or more for the speedway. Is it worth the investment of time to ride this one or should we skip it?

I would wait and see if your 4 year old wants to do it. For me the 20 minutes waiting are worth it if my kid is super excited about it. WDW is give and take, sometimes I give for my kids and sometimes they give for me when I make them ride Peter Pan and IASW
My dses liked it alot when they were younger but we skip it now. I don't think its a must do, but when kids are that little you never know what their must do is going to be

 

[shyjade]

It's AWFUL!!! Last year we were there for a late PM EMH and every ride was walk-on. The park was EMPTY! As we passed the speedway we decided to ride it for fun just to try it out since there was no line. Even as a "walk-on" we felt it was a complete waste of time. Although we did have fun laughing at just how awful the ride was, if that counts for anything. It's now our #2 "never, ever again" ride (behind Stitch).

And this is coming from someone who is perfectly content to ride TTA, CoP, and It's a Small World!

 

[asmit4]

My kid is 2 and loves cars...VROOM VROOM he says. So for him? It will be a highlight! It's our first ride of the day at MK when we go!

 

[ckoshka]

my 5 year old daughter loved it and laughed the entire time. I hated it... she is a bad driver and the bumps were killing me as well as the exhaust fumes.

 

[ericstac]

my 5yr old likes it.. not to sure about my 10 and 12 yr old though.. I know they will ride it but not sure if it is a must.. we skipped it this past weekend. I HATE IT!! so I made sure to claim the line was too long lol.

it stinks, slow, and the go karts are not free wheeling.. you are guided by a rail and most of the cars have poor steering so you wind up bouncing off the rail from one tire to the next.. headache.. but for some reason the line gets ridiculously long.. nostalgia maybe?

 

[Princess_Nikki]

Our family thinks the Tomorrowland Speedway is terrible. Loud, boring track, and you go super slow. My DS7 thought it was lame. Lol. I personally think it's totally a ride you can miss.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

First timer going to WDW in October. I got a pretty good handle on ride quality (Haunted Mansion=good, Stitch's Escape=terrible), but I'd love some feedback on the speedway. We have go kart tracks all around where I live, so flying to Florida, paying thousands of dollars for a disney vacation, and spending any more than 5 minutes doing something I can easily do here seems silly.

My son is 4 and for what its worth he does enjoy when we ride go karts at the facilities near us. But when I look in MDE i routinely see wait times of like 20 minutes or more for the speedway. Is it worth the investment of time to ride this one or should we skip it?

~No -- it's not fun. But, kids totally *love* this. That queue is so hot and those fumes, ugh -- this is one of the worst queues in all of WDW.

~With that said, we do manage to ride this every trip even though it's not a "must do"!!!!! Have fun!

 

[L&Lfan]

I wouldn't mind if this whole attraction were replaced with something worthwhile. Having said that, I do think the track is a bit more interesting at Disneyland. I only do the Speedway if I'm with someone who really wants to do it.

 

[Vylette Rose]

Don't go into the trip with preconceived notions. I'd say try everything you can. Just because others don't like a ride doesn't mean you and your son won't.
As for your actual question... Tomorrowland Speedway- we love it. Is it slow, yes. Is it noisy, yes. But we have fun every time. And even though they are now 16 and 10 we still have to ride this every trip. Anyway, have a great trip!!

 

[slickpoetry]

Thanks everyone! It sounds like it will be pretty skippable for us. I'll just keep it in my back pocket in case we get bored with everything else at some point.

 

[Yubbie]

The ride is really not a "must do". However, something I do enjoying doing every trip is taking a break to watch the ride. There is a spot where you can see the cars leaving the loading area and heading into the first turn. Most of the riders are parents with kids and the kids are almost always driving. When the cars go into the first turn, most kids will bounce the cars into the guide rail and the car will jerk. The reactions/facial expressions of the parents is priceless! I almost always grab an ice cream bar and spend a good 15 or 20 minutes watching and laughing.

 

[PEC]

If it is your 1st time at Disney, you may want a priority lists but I would not rule anything completely out for children the age you have given (unless there are height restriction issues). I am not a fan of Speedway (keep in mind I have driven a real car on the German Autobahn at 120+ right on the rear bumper of another car). My children from 5-13 loved it. Some other children may not like it for the reasons mentioned. My advice would be come up with a priority list the 1st time (say HM first and Stitches last) and go down the list touring the the park smartly and do all you can.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

The speedway is one we skip. Did it on our first trip and that was enough. But at least we did it!

I would suggest the same to you with any of the rides. Don't go ruling anything out just because of what you read here. Even though you won't do it all in one trip, I think just about everything is worth trying once!

Stitch gets put at the bottom of almost everyone's list, but it's a must-do for our family! The kids giggle and laugh about it and it's become part of our family language. "How bad did it smell? Worse than the Stitch ride???" The chili-dog has become our standard for smell nastiness!

But those are the kind of great memories we'd miss out on if we hadn't tried it! May sound silly, but those little things count!