Located right next to the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Speedway, the Richard Petty Driving Experience (RPDE), has been providing thrill of a lifetime experiences to adult race and exotic car fans for over a decade. A new program will allow RPDE to… Read More »Richard Petty Driving Experience adds “Junior Ride-Alongs” at Walt Disney World Speedway
The Richard Petty Driving Experience is a must-do for racing fans who visit the Walt Disney World Resort. But not everyone dreams of driving a race car. On the other hand, almost everyone has watched as a high performance automobile, such as a Ferrari or Lamborghini, zoomed by them on the road and said to themselves, “Gee, I wish I could drive one of those.” That’s the premise behind “Exotic Driving Experience” where you get the chance to drive, or ride along, inside a very expensive automobile and put it through its paces.
Exotic Driving Experience opens officially today and this weekend The Disney Blog was invited out to experience it ourselves. Disney has modified its existing Walt Disney World Speedway track to include a new infield section with hard turns and sweeping esses, that will offer unique challenges and lots of fun for drivers. Driving experiences start at $199 and Thrill Rides with a professional driver behind the wheel start at $99.
Lots more below the jump including on-board POV video of Christian Fittipaldi putting a Ferrari 458 Italia through its paces around the track:
Read More »Exotic Driving Experience with Christian Fittipaldi at Walt Disney World SpeedwayPixar’s Cars characters are no longer the only talking cars at Walt Disney World, the U.S. Department of Transportation sponsored a special test at the Walt Disney World Speedway last week, where cars communicated with each other to improve roadway safety. On hand was U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who received a firsthand look at “connected vehicle” technologies that have the potential to improve safety and help drivers avert crashes.
“Thanks to the efforts of automakers and the safety community traffic fatalities have reached historic lows. Despite these great strides though, more than 32,000 people are still killed on our nation’s roads every year. That’s why we must remain vigilant in our effort to improve safety,” said Secretary LaHood. “This research should bring us a step closer to what could be the next major safety breakthrough.”
Analyses by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show connected vehicle technology could potentially impact approximately 80 percent of vehicle crash types involving non-impaired drivers. Specifically, NHTSA research shows these technologies could help prevent a majority of kinds of crashes that typically occur in the real world such as crashes at intersections or while switching lanes.
I’m sure Disney finds this potentially useful technology given the size of the bus fleet they operate in and around the resort.
Read More »Feds Test Communicating Cars at Walt Disney World