I am surprising my DH with a Richard Petty Ride-Along gift certificate and was just wondering how the experence is. He will probably want to do the Rookie Experience once he gets a taste of being in the car and on the track :eek: Also when is the best time to go? weekday right away in the morning ?? are weekends crazy/crowded? We will be at WDW from July 9 - 15 2008 which will be very hot hot hot.... Any feedback would be great. THANKS

As a new racing fan, I'd love to do this, but I probably couldn't afford it on top of the "normal" Disney expenses. Let me know how he likes it!

I have only heard good experiences with this event - mainly that it is a true rush of an experience. Personally, I want to do the driving experience sometime in the next couple of years.

Yes, it is expensive when you add it in to other vacation expenses, but I think it would be worth saving up for.

Thanks for the info - will definitely post when we come back

I spoke to a gentleman on the monorail who went as a birthday gift from his children. He said it was the highlight of his trip but wouldn't want to have to pay for it himself.

If you're renting a car during your trip and don't mind the drive time (45min-hour each way), it looks like they will be doing ride-alongs at the Daytona Speedway on the 10th.

If you're renting a car during your trip and don't mind the drive time (45min-hour each way), it looks like they will be doing ride-alongs at the Daytona Speedway on the 10th.

Have you taken the Daytona tour? We're doing WDW/Universal/Seaworld in August, and we thought about going to Daytona for a day. We're big Nascar fans - hopefully the "jeff" in "Ohthatjeff" stands for Jeff Gordon!

Have you taken the Daytona tour? We're doing WDW/Universal/Seaworld in August, and we thought about going to Daytona for a day. We're big Nascar fans - hopefully the "jeff" in "Ohthatjeff" stands for Jeff Gordon!

Ugh! (Mark Martin fan, actually. Last year's Daytona 500 hurt. A lot.) The only times I've been to the speedway have been during Speed Week in February. I was going to do the tour (minus the track part obviously) during race weekend this year, but the lady at the ticket counter kept trying to talk me out of it. She finally succeeded when she mentioned that they had already removed Kevin Harvick's car. Next time I'm down there at another time of year, I'm going to try to go.

This is better than Richard Petty, IMHO.
http://www.drivetech.com/

I've been thinking about the Ride Along Experience for my husband as well. Does anyone know how far the Richard Petty Experience is from WDW? We won't have a car, so will we need a cab? How long does the Ride Along experience take. Trying to see if this will fit into the plans.

Thanks!

It's adjacent to the Magic Kingdom parking lot.

Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=28.396686,-81.577027&spn=0.009023,0.014505&t=h&z=16)
(Oooh, hidden Mickey!)

From what I was told, They have bus' that run from Magic Kingdom directly to the race track.

Regarding the question of WHEN to arrange for the trip - in July (August and September, too) I'd book it for as early in the morning as you can. The summer is known for "Pop up" thunderstorms and bad weather will cancel/alter the experience. They usually happen in the afternoon, though, so booking for the morning would be best.

Thanks for the advise of booking early morning, I did not even think about the showers in the afternoon when we go in July, that would really burn to get there and then it pours. :)

Hi, so we too are NASCAR fans...go Kasey Kahne. My husband is also interested in this, but he thinks he might not enjoy the ride along. I think he is a control freak. Haha. How long is the experience itself, and although riding shotgun, wouldn't it be an experience? I also forget the cost. Is there annual pass discounts, or AAA?

Thanks