Checkout @CodyHGaming here on youtube: ua-cam.com/users/sabbathb... He does some great historical recreations with NR2k3 and they're more than worth the watch! Here's one where he tried to recreate a crash into Lake Lloyd at Daytona from 1964. It's full of great obscure history that's right up my alley: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KCPJ...
They used 9/11/01 as another reason to restrict aircraft over the property. They used to have problems with aircraft towing messages over the park. The master property plan did include a nuclear power plant, but nothing came of it.
@@aidangarvey7049 Yeah, the head in the jar room is quite a sight...uh oh, did I say that out loud??? Computer crashes in 3, 2, ua-cam.com/video/Re72di5phM0/v-deo.html
I remember my first time going to disney world, and my dad brought me to track to check out the Richard petty driving experience, he hadnt told me before hand and i was like 6 so when i hopped out the car and saw a nascar chilling outside i was ecstatic, jumpin up and down and talking a mile a minute. We didnt drive or anything after showed the the people at the counter how much i knew about nascar (for a six yr old anyway) and after i said that joey Logano was my favorite driver, the guy behind the counter got a smile on his face and told me follow him outside. I look to my left and i see about 12 racecars, i remember one was denny hamlin one was dale jrs and i was awestruck, then he told me look behind me. I do and there it was 5 feet in front of me, joey logano's 2010 car, he gave me a helmet let me climb in, clicked the wheel on and my dad took about a hundred pictures. It was easily one of my best memories as a kid, which kinda made me sad to see the track go. But i did but like 3 diecast that day so. Il always have that
I had thr seem sort of experiance when Winn-Dixie grocery stores sponsored a car in the early 2000's. During the off season the driver did a little tour of some of the locations with one of the cars. He showed up at my local W-D one day. My mom swears she didnt know. Sadly it was the time before phones having cameras, and mom didnt have the film camera with her. I remember someone taking my photo. when we moved to Ohio, we had to leave alot of things behind, and we still are missing a box of family photos, so it was probably in there. One of my favorite childhood memories, as right after on the way home, we got stoped by a Florida East Coast MOW train. Work Gorman gave me a brand new unused spike, and I got to have a couple pennies smooshed. Said spike now resides in my railroad display with a pair of Baltomore & Ohio crossbucks, a Nickle Plate Caboose lantern, and some leftovers from the Pittsburgh Fort Wayne & Chicago when they tore out the old passenger main in Canton Ohio.
I drove this track with the Richard Petty Driving experience, and several years later when my son turned 21, I gave him the Driving Experience as a birthday present.
Didn't even enjoy Disney as a kid. Some shitty seagull took my dad's hot dog, the Disney bus sucked, the rides were scary for kid me and it was way to fucking hot. 0/10 would recommend
Two fun facts about this track: 1) To promote one of the Indy Car races circa ~2000, some driver drove his Indy car on the public streets from Orlando International Airport all the way to the WDW Speedway (with police escort and highways closed of course). 2) When the speedway was used by the Petty Driving Experience, they performed an actual wedding; Bride was a ride along in one car, groom was a ride along in the other car, minister was up on the flag stand performing the ceremony over the radios. When it came time for the "I pronounce you man and wife" moment, both cars crossed the start/finish line side by side with the flagman waving the checkered flag. I was working at WDW at the time and we were most proud of that example of Disney Magic.
I was land surveying for Disney at this time and the track was already set to close long before the accident, cause we surveyed the track for repurposing. The man who died was the manager and I had a 45min conversation with him about the track closing and he had been there for like 14years, he had a wife and young daughter. He was a really nice guy and I was really sad to hear about his passing. It really reminded me to remember that losing your job is not the worst thing that can happen. RIP
I don’t have a source but I remember reading at the time that because the super car tires couldn’t be rotated, they would run reverse to evenly wear tires. They ran reverse entirely to save money on tires.
I did the Richard Petty Driving Experience there in 2001. Had no knowledge of the previous racing events there! It was a very nice facility. A shame they didn't keep it going.
Student pilot here! Disney has had a TFR (temporary flight restriction) overtop of it since I think after 9/11. Doing any aerial stuff around Disney is a no go
Yes, and it is a permanent NOTAM for a TFR from the surface to 3000' above ground level in a 3 nautical mile (3.45234 statute mile) radius. Here is the FAA page on it: tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_4_3634.html
Disney does not even like fly overs at Anaheim either! you need special permissions to do that!...... www.phpa.org/faa-issues-notam-95145-to-replace-notam-32123-disney-tfr/
The fact was that they were going the wrong way. It wasn't the fault of the track or Disney, the track was properly designed for counterclockwise running. That driver's death was the fault of the company that employed him.
That's cause the track was built on Disney's private property with their own money and your school is a public institution paid for with your squandered tax dollars where every politician/board member/executive got their palms greased before any contractor went to work.
I lived in Orlando when the instructor was killed. The news said they were already closing at the end of that year, but that crash just accelerated it. When I worked at Disney, I had to drive by the track to get to the hr department buildings. It was pretty cool to see.
Yo, I was waiting for this. I started working for WDW in 2016 when the Speedway was torn down. Broke my heart. Absolutely loved coming to Disney as a kid and hearing teams run tests.
Actually, Disney has a permanent “temporary no-fly zone” around the magic kingdom. Also, their rules around filming are deliberately vague, but the general rule is no tripods.
The no-fly zone makes sense too. They want people to be totally immersed in their world they have created and seeing a jet or a drone fly over their re-creation of the wild west would ruin the immersion.
@@chadman1231 Imagine how many drone "Park Tours" there would be. Or how many "Virtual Visits" would be buzzing everybody. Passanger jets seem a bit extreme. But low level/altitude stuff, I can see why . . . ✌😎
Back in 2003 I paid $99 for a 5 lap ride a long at this track with the Richard Petty Driving Experience. Also this track was used for NASCAR testing up until the NASCAR testing ban. Teams would test here in January the week before or week after Daytona Testing. Danica Patrick's very first time in a NASCAR stock car ever was at Walt Disney December 2009.
It was so sad to hear about Gary’s passing. The day before my dad and I was at the track for the Richard Petty Driving experience. I was too going so I just did a ride along but Gary was my dads coach and instructor. The next day at the Orel we saw the news and couldn’t believe it. While this death definitely moved things along, we were told that day Disney was planning to eliminate the track for parking. Sad end to the speedway.
I remember going to Disney 3 times from 2010, 2011, and 2014 seeing the fences of the track. Because of the track not existing anymore, Disney is not the same. I’m honestly glad I didn’t go to Disney after 2014 after the track being gone.
@@christopherwinter2099 You likely were on the track tho. The back straight is the entrance into the main parking lot and the front stretch is the exit
This track was honestly my first exposure to the Truck Series so it's always had a fond place in my heart. Great work as always! Appreciate answering the mystery of what happened to this place. I never realized the wall angles were so abrupt. Definitely made sense to move away from there for IndyCar.
Nice video S1ap! My dad got a ride around WDWS with the Richard Petty Driving Experience In 2007. I was 6 at the time and wish I got to do the same! It’s sad the track is gone.
Also, Gary Terry was a friend of mine and many around the region. Following the accident of 2015, Terry's family would hold a Memorial race at Kalamazoo Speedway from 2016 through 2018 known as the Gary Terry Memorial "Follow Your Dreams 125" for Outlaw Super Late Models, the cars that Gary was so well known for racing in. Gary's longtime friend David Stremme drove Gary's #3 in the 2017 race, and in 2019 Gary's brother Adam won the track's "Intimidator 100" event that is in honor of Earnhardt, who also happened to be Gary's favorite driver... Hence the car number. I shot the Memorial Race in 2017, but due to the unpredictable early June weather seen in Michigan and the race not being that big of a financial success, the family chose not to do it again following 2018.
He was a good dude. I spent an hour or so driving three cars with him one day and his enthusiasm was genuine. He did everything he could to make it a memorable experience for me, and it was.
When we first started going to Disney when my kids were little, the Indy cars were doing practice one day (they are louder than nascar) and on the back straight away, there was a small piece of concrete and a break in the bushes where you could see through the wall and catch wires and I stopped for about 10 minutes and took some great photos of the Indy cars until security pulled up. Years later when they started the exotic driving experience, I was gonna book it on one of our trips but my wife said “NO”! We are DVC members and have kept up with everything (Disney World only) news wise going on there. Our kids have graduated college and have been out of the house for several years now but we still make our twice a year trip. That is the first time I have heard about the driving instructor dying in that crash! Thanks for making the video because my wife and I and especially my son because he really wanted to drive one of the exotics for explaining all the (W’s) about the track and it’s history. °o°
I went to the first race in 1996. Race was good. It was The IRL Inaugural and we really didn't know what kind of racing to expect. After listening to turbo-charged go-kart engines whine about tracks for a number of years, it was awesome to hear a normally aspirated engine growl. Like Indy Car racing was back. The track was fast and flat. Lots of sliding and room to maneuver. Overall, worth the price of a ticket. Sure did hate to see it go. Another thing that was unique... Disney has their own FM radio station. In addition to "scanner heads" listening toteam radios, a person with a portable FM radio could listen to the televised race commentary. I don't knoow it that was new or not, but the ticket package had a lot of information about it; more than i have seen in races since.
Good little piece you did there and EVEN scored some drone footage before they ran you off. A commercial drone pilot now myself, I used to work as an instructor at the Richard Petty Driving Experience during those days and yes even the driving school was a loss leader as far as the attraction was concerned. The sponsors were the one's that kept the lights on and the cars fueled up until that fateful wreck with the Exotic car. (After I had already left) The Indycar race was really exciting with ridiculous speeds on such a short track. Too bad it had to go but business is business. I miss the days of scaring the hell out of people in ride-alongs. I'd encourage EVERYBODY to take a ride at any of the tracks if they get an opportunity. It's worth every penny and will give you an appreciation for running three wide in ANY series.
Personally, I think someone should build an exact replica of this track somewhere else in the United States. The main reason Walt Disney World Speedway was closed was because they could never solve the parking problems. Also, since Kansas Motor Speedway is the closest track to Walt Disney's childhood home of Marceline, MO, Disney should promote some of their characters at one of those races.
@@andysee6996 I was wondering why no one had been comparing it to Pocono; my first look at the track made me think it was basically a store brand (if that) version of The Tricky Triangle. The difference in length certainly makes the similarity less apt.
This Walt Disney World Speedway was the idea to Tony George by the late Shelley Unser(Al Unser Jr’s wife) at an Indy Car annual dinner in the early 1990s. After the INDYCAR and IRL split and IRL needed more tracks and Tony George remember what Shelley Unser said and that how this happened. This was mentioned in 1998 in RACER(INDYCAR and IRL) Magazine about The Walt Disney World Speedway!
I remember going to Disney, being in the parking lot getting ready to go up to gates and you could hear stock cars running in the back of the parking lot! Richard Petty Driving Experience.
My dad helped construct the track; lots of stories racing their pickup trucks around the track, meeting Richard Petty and Rusty Wallace. Sad to see the track go away.
Totally useless fact: Disney World actually did originally plan to build a Nuclear power plant back in the 60's for Epcot. However for whatever reason the plans to build the nuclear planet fell thru and it never happened. Disney still has planning permission to build the power plant should they choose to (as unlikely as it is) and so as a result it remains a no fly area. Here is a video by Tom Scott explaining Disney and Nuclear Power far better then I ever could: ua-cam.com/video/OlJlBIMQy7k/v-deo.html Edit: I also figured I would mention that both Disney World and Disneyland are also designated as No fly zones. This is to prevent aircraft from flying over the parks and disturbing the guest.
the nuclear power plant wasn't built because EPCOT was scaled down from a city sized company town to a theme park and disney no longer needed anywhere near that much power
Fun Fact:Walt Disney World Speedway was used to film some of the final sequences in Herbie Fully Loaded (representing the Daytona 500). The scenes where Herbie is riding with the Nascar Pack where actually filmed in Daytona, opening race, 2005 season, just before the start. But aside from that, all the other scenes where filmed here....cause...it was a Disney movie. Lindsay Lohan, Justin Long and Breckin Meyer did some preparation on this track
I raced here when Stars of Karting (IRL sanctioned karting series) held a race in the parking lot outside of turn 3 back in 2004. It's a proper shame that they couldn't keep the track and continue to hold racing events. Then again, Florida has plenty of great race tracks. Really great video though! I'm a huge abandoned race track/circuit designing nerd so this was exciting to see. Keep up the great work man!
The reason why you got the nuclear power plant notification on your drone goes all the way back to Walt's original vision for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. The original plans included a nuclear power plant. The Walt Disney Company still holds the permit for it as a way to keep Disney World as a no fly zone. The reason why you had a chat with security is because of the movie "The Florida Project" (which was one of the code names Disney executives used for Walt Disney World), a part of which was surreptitiously filmed in Magic Kingdom without Disney's consent.
So Dale Jr. liked your idea about lost speedways so much, he's making his own show about them. Not sure if you should feel proud or offended. I hope he hires you as a consultant.
Matt Dillner, who works for Jr., has had a series like this forever, and when he went to work at JRM they pitched it to NBC who greenlit it for their streaming service
@@JohnSzulczewski Before UA-cam was much of anything there was "Silent Speedways of the Carolinas" written by Perry Allen Wood and published in 2007. It is pretty much a guide and script to about 50 "lost" tracks in North and South Carolina.
Quick and cheap sums it up. My wife and I attended the first race there. When the field came around to the start, virtually everyone stood up and many quickly sat back down with strange looking around as the stands shifted and swayed.
I remember actually getting to ride in a Lamborghini at the track when our family went to DW on vacation in 2014. I didn’t drive the car, only rode in it while the instructor drove, but it was damn fun. Shame it had to go, but bigger shame the reason why.
I saw this when I was at Disney for my 5th birthday. This blew my mind. I got to take a photo op that's unfortunately been lost to history and cat piss of me sitting in the famous Richard Petty 43. I loved the movie CARS and loved Nascar at that point.
Either I'm getting a migraine and can't read which is how they start for me or I really can't read this comment. Tried about ten times but what the heck are you saying here in the first sentence???? Second one is clear which gives me hope it's not a migraine.
SLap. I would love to see you do an on location for PPIR, and it's downfall. The track and grandstands are mostly still there. Plus it's only about 20 minutes from my house. When the Trucks raced there, it was a mainstay. Wish they still raced there.
Drive past it occasionally on my way home still. How quickly it went from being there to not is insane. Disney is also on the no fly list that's why you couldn't fly there drone. And darn I wish I knew you were here, I would have loved to meet you
Sucks "the company that shall not be named" shut you down but that was another awesome video! I knew about the injuries to drivers like Sam Schmidt but I didn't know that an accident in 2015 was the true reason the track no longer exists. Great work as always SlapShoes!
It's not the reason. I was a land surveyor for Disney and we had already done a survey of the track for it to be repurposed. I met Gary and he was a really nice guy. I was really sad to hear about the accident.
Great video, so informative. Ive been to Disney sooo many times and never even knew they had a track. So insane what happened to that instructor. Unfortunately, I've heard horror stories similar to this before. It's insane how there can be such a big disconnect between track owners/operators and the drivers who race on them.
Fascinating story. I probably saw one of these races...but I still don't recall a Disney World Speedway. SO this was very interesting to me. Thank you.
I did the Richard Petty Driving Experience there when I was a kid. I still go back and watch the in-car video of it every now and again. The track is like if Concord Speedway and Nazareth Speedway had a baby.
Great piece. I saw IndyCar do testing there when I went to Disney in 1998. The only thing you could have added was that 1996 IndyCar race was Tony Stewart's debut in IndyCar and he almost won the race.
We're no strangers to love You know the rules and so do I A full commitment's what I'm thinking of You wouldn't get this from any other guy I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling Gotta make you understand Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you We've known each other for so long Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it Inside we both know what's been going on We know the game and we're gonna play it And if you ask me how I'm feeling Don't tell me you're too blind to see Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you Never gonna give, never gonna give (Give you up) (Ooh) Never gonna give, never gonna give (Give you up) We've known each other for so long Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it Inside we both know what's been going on We know the game and we're gonna play it I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling Gotta make you understand Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry
WDW Speedway was the first track I got to ride around in a NASCAR race car, and to this day it was one of the coolest moments of my life. It was a pretty cool track, and its a shame it's gone. I loved passing by the track on my way to Magic Kingdom and hearing the cars go by (usually the RP Experience). I still drive by that site every so often and miss it.
I've been wanting to see you cover this track. I remember seeing billboards for this track growing up in Orlando whenever I'd go to Disney. Only went here once in 2011 for that old Exotic Driving Experience thingy with an old buddy of mine. I actually miss this track and I wish more series raced here. Great video as always S1ap, really brought back some memories for me. I'll always remember hearing some numbnuts instructor from the Exotic Driving Experience call the Porsche 911 (997) Turbo "an expensive Beetle"
Outstanding video as always, S1ap. If it's not too bold of me, I have a suggestion for a video idea that I think you'd be interested in. I'd like to see you go in-depth on what you would do if you could get the funding to build a race track anywhere in the country you wanted. Where in the country you'd want to build the track, proximity to major markets, distance from other racing facilities, etc. What sort of facility you'd wanna build (i.e. multiple tracks in one facility like Charlotte, Multiple configurations of one track, just one track, etc), and what shape of configuration of tracks you'd want built. How and why you think it would be successful, people you would want involved in the project (design, marketing, business, etc). I think it would be really interesting to see what you come up with after some research, study, and planning. Thanks for doing what you do!
I once did a ride-along with the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the WDW track. It was really cool. Those who did both the ride-along and the driving experience said that the ride-along was better since they limited the speed for the amateur drivers, making the ride-along a more realistic experience of going around a NASCAR track.
Really had never heard of this track, and it sure seemed to be a bit of a promotion for Disneyland or Disney World. Quite a fascinating episode, S1ap. Keep it up!
This was an awesome video. I had no idea that Disney once tried getting into racing. At least they kept Lake Mickey so I could find the actual location of the track on Google Maps and tag it as the Walt Disney World Speedway
Great video! I also did the Richard Petty driving Experience. Was on my bucket list cause I have cancer. 2 weeks later it was shut down. Heard teams would go there to practice with any car.
I'm happy I got to do the Exotic Driving Experience at the track back in 2013. Driving the GT-R was a great experience and they really let you push it on the track, and getting onto the tri-oval was so cool. Definitely sad when it was demo'd, but also understandable after what happened.
ive worked at the wonderful central florida mouse attraction for years and drove by the track every day for years....even used to 'race' the richard petty cars when id merge onto the road by the track coming from grand fla. Anyway, this was comprehensive and awesome to learn all the back story so thank you tons for this well done piece! Sorry security gave yall the axe, theyre the debby downers of the kingdom....though tbh you could totally film if it wasnt on a tripod. They dont know. They just saw a tripod and went ooh gotta get credentials. Just walk and film vlog style and 99% they wont say jack other than "need help finding your car?"
all the ppl who won at that track will never forget it must of been a great experience for the kids and parents since the can just say its a disney 'performance'
I was lucky enough to help promote the races at the Mickyard, always fun to see the mix of drunken racefans, and Magic Kingdom guests intermingling in the parking lot.
I actually had the honor and privilege to ride around Walt Disney world speedway back in 2013. I got to ride in the Richard petty driving experience car it was such a blast. Best birthday present ever!
Checkout @CodyHGaming here on youtube: ua-cam.com/users/sabbathb...
He does some great historical recreations with NR2k3 and they're more than worth the watch!
Here's one where he tried to recreate a crash into Lake Lloyd at Daytona from 1964. It's full of great obscure history that's right up my alley: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KCPJ...
CodyH is a good YTer
100%
@@S1apShoes 1000%
Ya know what you should call this series the "Goast Track Hunters"
@@S1apShoes ua-cam.com/video/2tAJtnl_1bQ/v-deo.html
You mean to tell me at one point in time, I could've gone on Space Mountain and watched Lightning Mcqueen race in the same day?!! Neat.
So sad
W
Super sad it didn’t last what a great revenue and way to bring f1 forward more or any competitive MS
Yes but unfortunately it got tore down while back
I drive by that when I leave Magic Kingdom and I never knew what happened to the track until now.
Imagine all the CARS promotion we would’ve got at this track. That would’ve been great
Disney/Pixar had Cars 1 Premiere at permanent facility Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2006.
would it have???
@@1234-b6n I think so
No kidding disney had a goldmine and they screwed up worse than last jedi and rise of skywalker
considering that this was the first pixar movie after Disney bought it, that would have worked
7:05
S1apSh0es: No nuclear power plant in the area....
Walt Disney: Yeah, yeah....keep thinking that....
They used 9/11/01 as another reason to restrict aircraft over the property.
They used to have problems with aircraft towing messages over the park.
The master property plan did include a nuclear power plant, but nothing came of it.
And it's actually the artificially preserved Walt himself saying that
@@aidangarvey7049
Yeah, the head in the jar room is quite a sight...uh oh, did I say that out loud???
Computer crashes in 3, 2,
ua-cam.com/video/Re72di5phM0/v-deo.html
I would not be suprised if the Walt Disney place has its own power plant of some kind though not Nuclear.
@@caseysmith544 They do. Disney World is a self contained city essentially including their own government: the Reedy Creek Improvement District
I remember my first time going to disney world, and my dad brought me to track to check out the Richard petty driving experience, he hadnt told me before hand and i was like 6 so when i hopped out the car and saw a nascar chilling outside i was ecstatic, jumpin up and down and talking a mile a minute. We didnt drive or anything after showed the the people at the counter how much i knew about nascar (for a six yr old anyway) and after i said that joey Logano was my favorite driver, the guy behind the counter got a smile on his face and told me follow him outside. I look to my left and i see about 12 racecars, i remember one was denny hamlin one was dale jrs and i was awestruck, then he told me look behind me. I do and there it was 5 feet in front of me, joey logano's 2010 car, he gave me a helmet let me climb in, clicked the wheel on and my dad took about a hundred pictures. It was easily one of my best memories as a kid, which kinda made me sad to see the track go. But i did but like 3 diecast that day so. Il always have that
I had thr seem sort of experiance when Winn-Dixie grocery stores sponsored a car in the early 2000's. During the off season the driver did a little tour of some of the locations with one of the cars. He showed up at my local W-D one day. My mom swears she didnt know. Sadly it was the time before phones having cameras, and mom didnt have the film camera with her. I remember someone taking my photo. when we moved to Ohio, we had to leave alot of things behind, and we still are missing a box of family photos, so it was probably in there. One of my favorite childhood memories, as right after on the way home, we got stoped by a Florida East Coast MOW train. Work Gorman gave me a brand new unused spike, and I got to have a couple pennies smooshed. Said spike now resides in my railroad display with a pair of Baltomore & Ohio crossbucks, a Nickle Plate Caboose lantern, and some leftovers from the Pittsburgh Fort Wayne & Chicago when they tore out the old passenger main in Canton Ohio.
I did the Petty driving experience back in 2002. It was a neat configuration.
I drove this track with the Richard Petty Driving experience, and several years later when my son turned 21, I gave him the Driving Experience as a birthday present.
I got to ride in one of the stock cars for my 13th birthday. It was a white Charger with Sprint decals. I will never forget that day.
I would love to see a s1ap on location of Nazareth speedway!
Disney World would've been an even more magical place if they kept the speedway around
I agree
Didn't even enjoy Disney as a kid. Some shitty seagull took my dad's hot dog, the Disney bus sucked, the rides were scary for kid me and it was way to fucking hot. 0/10 would recommend
Paul Carmi nah you’re tripping....Disney parks are pretty fun EXPECIALLY as an adult you’re just a salty fuck who hates everything
Paul Carmi ummmmmmmm
Yeah they could have done festivals and concerts inside the grass area around the track extra money in the off-season
I think one of my favorite aspects of this track is that it was nicknamed “The Mickyard” 😂😂
💀💀
Two fun facts about this track: 1) To promote one of the Indy Car races circa ~2000, some driver drove his Indy car on the public streets from Orlando International Airport all the way to the WDW Speedway (with police escort and highways closed of course). 2) When the speedway was used by the Petty Driving Experience, they performed an actual wedding; Bride was a ride along in one car, groom was a ride along in the other car, minister was up on the flag stand performing the ceremony over the radios. When it came time for the "I pronounce you man and wife" moment, both cars crossed the start/finish line side by side with the flagman waving the checkered flag. I was working at WDW at the time and we were most proud of that example of Disney Magic.
I'm so baked this is too much for my simpleton brain
I was land surveying for Disney at this time and the track was already set to close long before the accident, cause we surveyed the track for repurposing. The man who died was the manager and I had a 45min conversation with him about the track closing and he had been there for like 14years, he had a wife and young daughter. He was a really nice guy and I was really sad to hear about his passing. It really reminded me to remember that losing your job is not the worst thing that can happen. RIP
8:55 I got goosebumps, this is terrifying he’s pointing at the very thing that killed him
I don’t have a source but I remember reading at the time that because the super car tires couldn’t be rotated, they would run reverse to evenly wear tires. They ran reverse entirely to save money on tires.
His last words, if that's really true, are absolutely haunting!
I did the Richard Petty Driving Experience there in 2001. Had no knowledge of the previous racing events there! It was a very nice facility. A shame they didn't keep it going.
I drove it in '09. Good times. Sadly, Gary Terry was my instructor.
I did it in 2014 or 2015, was shocked to find out it had been abandoned since then
2011 for me , I thought it was just a exhibition track ... I didn’t know the history.
I did the Richard Petty Driving Experience in ‘99 at that track while on my honeymoon. Very fun time.
I remember the experience promos. I never did it but it looked cool.
Student pilot here!
Disney has had a TFR (temporary flight restriction) overtop of it since I think after 9/11. Doing any aerial stuff around Disney is a no go
almost 20 years now doesn't sound very temporary.
Actually you can't film at all nor take pictures
Came here to say the same thing
Yes, and it is a permanent NOTAM for a TFR from the surface to 3000' above ground level in a 3 nautical mile (3.45234 statute mile) radius.
Here is the FAA page on it: tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_4_3634.html
Disney does not even like fly overs at Anaheim either! you need special permissions to do that!......
www.phpa.org/faa-issues-notam-95145-to-replace-notam-32123-disney-tfr/
RIP to that Driver instructor, careless consideration led to his death.
The fact was that they were going the wrong way. It wasn't the fault of the track or Disney, the track was properly designed for counterclockwise running. That driver's death was the fault of the company that employed him.
Refuse to work in any unsafe environment, even if you dont get hurt or worse, the stress will kill you. Fix the problems, don't blame the victims
$6 Million to build a speedway? That's less than my school cost to build!
Disney slave labor comes cheap I guess 🤔
Faxxx LAMO
A basic ride inside of the Magic Kingdom would cost 10 times that much.
I wonder what it would cost to build it today?
That's cause the track was built on Disney's private property with their own money and your school is a public institution paid for with your squandered tax dollars where every politician/board member/executive got their palms greased before any contractor went to work.
I lived in Orlando when the instructor was killed. The news said they were already closing at the end of that year, but that crash just accelerated it. When I worked at Disney, I had to drive by the track to get to the hr department buildings. It was pretty cool to see.
Yep, track was planned to close before the incident
Yo, I was waiting for this. I started working for WDW in 2016 when the Speedway was torn down. Broke my heart. Absolutely loved coming to Disney as a kid and hearing teams run tests.
Actually, Disney has a permanent “temporary no-fly zone” around the magic kingdom. Also, their rules around filming are deliberately vague, but the general rule is no tripods.
The no-fly zone makes sense too. They want people to be totally immersed in their world they have created and seeing a jet or a drone fly over their re-creation of the wild west would ruin the immersion.
Yes it's literally called a "permanent temporary" no fly zone. Same for Anaheim.
They have a strict no filming and no pictures rule. It's why I don't go
@@chadman1231
Imagine how many drone "Park Tours" there would be. Or how many "Virtual Visits" would be buzzing everybody.
Passanger jets seem a bit extreme. But low level/altitude stuff, I can see why . . . ✌😎
@@Maverick33 you can take pictures and videos. You just can't do it commercially.
Back in 2003 I paid $99 for a 5 lap ride a long at this track with the Richard Petty Driving Experience.
Also this track was used for NASCAR testing up until the NASCAR testing ban. Teams would test here in January the week before or week after Daytona Testing. Danica Patrick's very first time in a NASCAR stock car ever was at Walt Disney December 2009.
The track reminds me of Nazareth Speedway a bit...
It does have a very similar shape to it!
Also an abandoned race track.
@@dronepro7316
All because the France family built a no compete clause in the sale of Nazereth speedway.
I wonder what happens to it
WE NEED A VIDEO ABOUT NAZ!!!
It was so sad to hear about Gary’s passing. The day before my dad and I was at the track for the Richard Petty Driving experience. I was too going so I just did a ride along but Gary was my dads coach and instructor. The next day at the Orel we saw the news and couldn’t believe it. While this death definitely moved things along, we were told that day Disney was planning to eliminate the track for parking. Sad end to the speedway.
They should’ve kept the speedway and made a Lightning McQueen attraction
TBH I'm surprised they haven't rethemed the Tomorrowland Speedway attraction to "Cars".
Downloaded this track for NR2003 and was wondering if it was real. Now I know it was both real, and a really cool story!
x2
The company shutting down your filming is too funny. It's just another example of the true heart of the company.
This track was the first time I got to ride in a nascar. I was 11 years old and the 189 mph we did felt like a movie. I’ll never forget that
I would love to see a s1ap on location of Nazareth speedway!
I would volunteer to help him with it. The track is about 30 minutes where im from. My father used to work with the emergency crews there
I'm from Nazareth! Omg would love a s1ap video from Nazareth! s1ap come on up to PA brother!
Welcome to S1ap on Loca-
Disney: *no*
I remember going to Disney 3 times from 2010, 2011, and 2014 seeing the fences of the track.
Because of the track not existing anymore, Disney is not the same. I’m honestly glad I didn’t go to Disney after 2014 after the track being gone.
I went to Disney back in 2014 in fourth grade when Minnesota got hit hard in the middle of January I can't believe I didn't see it.
@@christopherwinter2099 You likely were on the track tho. The back straight is the entrance into the main parking lot and the front stretch is the exit
I went there in 2012 but I don't remember this speedway, but I was 6 years old at the time sooo....
This track was honestly my first exposure to the Truck Series so it's always had a fond place in my heart. Great work as always! Appreciate answering the mystery of what happened to this place. I never realized the wall angles were so abrupt. Definitely made sense to move away from there for IndyCar.
Nice video S1ap! My dad got a ride around WDWS with the Richard Petty Driving Experience In 2007. I was 6 at the time and wish I got to do the same! It’s sad the track is gone.
Took my son to the first race there. It was his first race too. He's loved motorsports ever since. Thanks for rekindling those memories.
*THIS COMMENT WAS REDACTED BY UA-cam BY REQUEST OF WALT DISNEY SECURITY FOR MENTIONING A WORD OF DISNEY*
*THIS COMMENT ON A COMMENT HAS BEEN REDACTED BY DISNEY*
@@johngancarcik5682 THIS REPLY OF A REPLY OF A COMMENT HAS BEEN REDACTED BY DISNEY
@@hyraemous This Redacted by disney has been redacted by replies
_The Cherenkov Blue is Magical way down here and all, but someone......_
*_PUH.....LAYSE.................HALP!! 0.o_*
Redacted Disney redacted redacted redacted redacted
HES BACK WITH THIS AWESOME SERIES!
I actually went to this track for the Richard petty driving experience in 2014
If anyone cares
thats cool
Thanks
I care 🙋
Kyle Gustafson thanks, btw are you related to Alan Gustafson
At the time I see this comment, it has 43 likes.
Huge props s1ap. You're hard work doesn't go unnoticed and thanks for the amazing content.
Also, Gary Terry was a friend of mine and many around the region.
Following the accident of 2015, Terry's family would hold a Memorial race at Kalamazoo Speedway from 2016 through 2018 known as the Gary Terry Memorial "Follow Your Dreams 125" for Outlaw Super Late Models, the cars that Gary was so well known for racing in.
Gary's longtime friend David Stremme drove Gary's #3 in the 2017 race, and in 2019 Gary's brother Adam won the track's "Intimidator 100" event that is in honor of Earnhardt, who also happened to be Gary's favorite driver... Hence the car number.
I shot the Memorial Race in 2017, but due to the unpredictable early June weather seen in Michigan and the race not being that big of a financial success, the family chose not to do it again following 2018.
He was a good dude. I spent an hour or so driving three cars with him one day and his enthusiasm was genuine. He did everything he could to make it a memorable experience for me, and it was.
When we first started going to Disney when my kids were little, the Indy cars were doing practice one day (they are louder than nascar) and on the back straight away, there was a small piece of concrete and a break in the bushes where you could see through the wall and catch wires and I stopped for about 10 minutes and took some great photos of the Indy cars until security pulled up. Years later when they started the exotic driving experience, I was gonna book it on one of our trips but my wife said “NO”! We are DVC members and have kept up with everything (Disney World only) news wise going on there. Our kids have graduated college and have been out of the house for several years now but we still make our twice a year trip. That is the first time I have heard about the driving instructor dying in that crash! Thanks for making the video because my wife and I and especially my son because he really wanted to drive one of the exotics for explaining all the (W’s) about the track and it’s history. °o°
FINALLY someone covers this track! Thank you!
I went to the first race in 1996. Race was good. It was The IRL Inaugural and we really didn't know what kind of racing to expect. After listening to turbo-charged go-kart engines whine about tracks for a number of years, it was awesome to hear a normally aspirated engine growl. Like Indy Car racing was back. The track was fast and flat. Lots of sliding and room to maneuver. Overall, worth the price of a ticket. Sure did hate to see it go. Another thing that was unique... Disney has their own FM radio station. In addition to "scanner heads" listening toteam radios, a person with a portable FM radio could listen to the televised race commentary. I don't knoow it that was new or not, but the ticket package had a lot of information about it; more than i have seen in races since.
“We were shut down by the Disney world Gostapo” I died in laughter
Good little piece you did there and EVEN scored some drone footage before they ran you off. A commercial drone pilot now myself, I used to work as an instructor at the Richard Petty Driving Experience during those days and yes even the driving school was a loss leader as far as the attraction was concerned. The sponsors were the one's that kept the lights on and the cars fueled up until that fateful wreck with the Exotic car. (After I had already left) The Indycar race was really exciting with ridiculous speeds on such a short track. Too bad it had to go but business is business. I miss the days of scaring the hell out of people in ride-alongs. I'd encourage EVERYBODY to take a ride at any of the tracks if they get an opportunity. It's worth every penny and will give you an appreciation for running three wide in ANY series.
Personally, I think someone should build an exact replica of this track somewhere else in the United States. The main reason Walt Disney World Speedway was closed was because they could never solve the parking problems. Also, since Kansas Motor Speedway is the closest track to Walt Disney's childhood home of Marceline, MO, Disney should promote some of their characters at one of those races.
I mean, technically you could say that Pocono Raceway is similar
@@patrickracer43 But Walt Disney World Speedway was a short track. Meanwhile, Pocono is two-and-a-half miles long.
@@andysee6996 that's why I said "technically" as they had a similar design
@@andysee6996 I was wondering why no one had been comparing it to Pocono; my first look at the track made me think it was basically a store brand (if that) version of The Tricky Triangle. The difference in length certainly makes the similarity less apt.
This Walt Disney World Speedway was the idea to Tony George by the late Shelley Unser(Al Unser Jr’s wife) at an Indy Car annual dinner in the early 1990s. After the INDYCAR and IRL split and IRL needed more tracks and Tony George remember what Shelley Unser said and that how this happened. This was mentioned in 1998 in RACER(INDYCAR and IRL) Magazine about The Walt Disney World Speedway!
I remember going to Disney, being in the parking lot getting ready to go up to gates and you could hear stock cars running in the back of the parking lot! Richard Petty Driving Experience.
I love him because of his passion, without his channel, I won't even know about Nascar
I was just reading about this the other day.
Keep up vids there great
My dad helped construct the track; lots of stories racing their pickup trucks around the track, meeting Richard Petty and Rusty Wallace. Sad to see the track go away.
Totally useless fact: Disney World actually did originally plan to build a Nuclear power plant back in the 60's for Epcot.
However for whatever reason the plans to build the nuclear planet fell thru and it never happened.
Disney still has planning permission to build the power plant should they choose to (as unlikely as it is) and so as a result it remains a no fly area.
Here is a video by Tom Scott explaining Disney and Nuclear Power far better then I ever could:
ua-cam.com/video/OlJlBIMQy7k/v-deo.html
Edit: I also figured I would mention that both Disney World and Disneyland are also designated as No fly zones.
This is to prevent aircraft from flying over the parks and disturbing the guest.
I think being no fly zones after 9/11 was in hindsight very intelligent
the nuclear power plant wasn't built because EPCOT was scaled down from a city sized company town to a theme park and disney no longer needed anywhere near that much power
Fun Fact:Walt Disney World Speedway was used to film some of the final sequences in Herbie Fully Loaded (representing the Daytona 500).
The scenes where Herbie is riding with the Nascar Pack where actually filmed in Daytona, opening race, 2005 season, just before the start.
But aside from that, all the other scenes where filmed here....cause...it was a Disney movie.
Lindsay Lohan, Justin Long and Breckin Meyer did some preparation on this track
The only attraction that doesn’t have a 2 hour long line.
I raced here when Stars of Karting (IRL sanctioned karting series) held a race in the parking lot outside of turn 3 back in 2004. It's a proper shame that they couldn't keep the track and continue to hold racing events. Then again, Florida has plenty of great race tracks.
Really great video though! I'm a huge abandoned race track/circuit designing nerd so this was exciting to see. Keep up the great work man!
@3:05 you need to have a 'S1ap Dash' segment now
I did the Richard Petty experience there 18 yrs ago. Loved it and miss it.
At 18 years old I got a ride around this track at 140mph. It was so cool. It will be missed
The reason why you got the nuclear power plant notification on your drone goes all the way back to Walt's original vision for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. The original plans included a nuclear power plant. The Walt Disney Company still holds the permit for it as a way to keep Disney World as a no fly zone.
The reason why you had a chat with security is because of the movie "The Florida Project" (which was one of the code names Disney executives used for Walt Disney World), a part of which was surreptitiously filmed in Magic Kingdom without Disney's consent.
So Dale Jr. liked your idea about lost speedways so much, he's making his own show about them.
Not sure if you should feel proud or offended.
I hope he hires you as a consultant.
I doubt it
Matt Dillner, who works for Jr., has had a series like this forever, and when he went to work at JRM they pitched it to NBC who greenlit it for their streaming service
@@JohnSzulczewski Before UA-cam was much of anything there was "Silent Speedways of the Carolinas" written by Perry Allen Wood and published in 2007. It is pretty much a guide and script to about 50 "lost" tracks in North and South Carolina.
Quick and cheap sums it up. My wife and I attended the first race there. When the field came around to the start, virtually everyone stood up and many quickly sat back down with strange looking around as the stands shifted and swayed.
I remember actually getting to ride in a Lamborghini at the track when our family went to DW on vacation in 2014. I didn’t drive the car, only rode in it while the instructor drove, but it was damn fun. Shame it had to go, but bigger shame the reason why.
I saw this when I was at Disney for my 5th birthday. This blew my mind. I got to take a photo op that's unfortunately been lost to history and cat piss of me sitting in the famous Richard Petty 43. I loved the movie CARS and loved Nascar at that point.
you mean to tell you didn’t tell me you where heading into my backyard?? I have photos of basically 360 degrees of the entire track
do share
That would be cool
Either I'm getting a migraine and can't read which is how they start for me or I really can't read this comment. Tried about ten times but what the heck are you saying here in the first sentence???? Second one is clear which gives me hope it's not a migraine.
G G i can’t english
@@GG-ub4ej yeah it's given me an anureausm trying to read that
SLap. I would love to see you do an on location for PPIR, and it's downfall. The track and grandstands are mostly still there. Plus it's only about 20 minutes from my house. When the Trucks raced there, it was a mainstay. Wish they still raced there.
Drive past it occasionally on my way home still. How quickly it went from being there to not is insane.
Disney is also on the no fly list that's why you couldn't fly there drone.
And darn I wish I knew you were here, I would have loved to meet you
Good on ya Cody for filming. Camera guys are the best.
I wouldn't mind seeing another mini Pocono style track in NASCAR, it might make for some good races.
Sucks "the company that shall not be named" shut you down but that was another awesome video! I knew about the injuries to drivers like Sam Schmidt but I didn't know that an accident in 2015 was the true reason the track no longer exists. Great work as always SlapShoes!
It's not the reason. I was a land surveyor for Disney and we had already done a survey of the track for it to be repurposed. I met Gary and he was a really nice guy. I was really sad to hear about the accident.
That moment when Dale Jr decides to become a knock off s1ap
I feel like Sam Schmidt wasn't the first nor the last person to be paralyzed at Disney World.
Dale Jr's got a nbc show coming called "Lost Speedways" 😐
Slap did it first though
We need S1AP on that show
great video! I know this is far down your list; but Riverside raceway is quite interesting.
I think i saw a youtube video of a race here, strange layout i will have to say
Also nice shirt but it's at a bad angle
I did too. The inaugural truck race at the track in 97
Great video, so informative. Ive been to Disney sooo many times and never even knew they had a track. So insane what happened to that instructor. Unfortunately, I've heard horror stories similar to this before. It's insane how there can be such a big disconnect between track owners/operators and the drivers who race on them.
Where dreams come true!...
or not... because this track is gone now...
It is where dreams come true, as long as Disney decides its your dream and they can make money off it.
Fascinating story. I probably saw one of these races...but I still don't recall a Disney World Speedway. SO this was very interesting to me.
Thank you.
Chase Elliot Autodrome
I did the Richard Petty Driving Experience there when I was a kid. I still go back and watch the in-car video of it every now and again. The track is like if Concord Speedway and Nazareth Speedway had a baby.
7:34 “Very Unprofessional”
Great piece. I saw IndyCar do testing there when I went to Disney in 1998. The only thing you could have added was that 1996 IndyCar race was Tony Stewart's debut in IndyCar and he almost won the race.
We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it
And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too blind to see
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give, never gonna give
(Give you up)
(Ooh) Never gonna give, never gonna give
(Give you up)
We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Got rick-rolled in a comment section
WDW Speedway was the first track I got to ride around in a NASCAR race car, and to this day it was one of the coolest moments of my life. It was a pretty cool track, and its a shame it's gone. I loved passing by the track on my way to Magic Kingdom and hearing the cars go by (usually the RP Experience). I still drive by that site every so often and miss it.
Could we say the track was a bit goofy ? Padum tsss.
Bruh
RIP GT. I miss watching you on the racetrack.
I would like to have whoever gave this video a thumbs down leave humanity and never return.
Always wondered what happened to this track and why it even existed. Thanks slap
I've been wanting to see you cover this track. I remember seeing billboards for this track growing up in Orlando whenever I'd go to Disney. Only went here once in 2011 for that old Exotic Driving Experience thingy with an old buddy of mine. I actually miss this track and I wish more series raced here. Great video as always S1ap, really brought back some memories for me.
I'll always remember hearing some numbnuts instructor from the Exotic Driving Experience call the Porsche 911 (997) Turbo "an expensive Beetle"
Thank You!!! Love your content. Keep up the digging my friend.
Admittedly, Your VOICE drew me in.
Very well done my friend!
Outstanding video as always, S1ap. If it's not too bold of me, I have a suggestion for a video idea that I think you'd be interested in. I'd like to see you go in-depth on what you would do if you could get the funding to build a race track anywhere in the country you wanted. Where in the country you'd want to build the track, proximity to major markets, distance from other racing facilities, etc. What sort of facility you'd wanna build (i.e. multiple tracks in one facility like Charlotte, Multiple configurations of one track, just one track, etc), and what shape of configuration of tracks you'd want built. How and why you think it would be successful, people you would want involved in the project (design, marketing, business, etc). I think it would be really interesting to see what you come up with after some research, study, and planning. Thanks for doing what you do!
I've done laps there in a retired NASCAR cup car. Loads of fun... Kids did a ride-along with a Petty driver. Great day, too bad this is gone.
I once did a ride-along with the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the WDW track. It was really cool. Those who did both the ride-along and the driving experience said that the ride-along was better since they limited the speed for the amateur drivers, making the ride-along a more realistic experience of going around a NASCAR track.
Really had never heard of this track, and it sure seemed to be a bit of a promotion for Disneyland or Disney World. Quite a fascinating episode, S1ap. Keep it up!
This was a super interesting and well put together video. I'm real impressed you've got yourself another follower!!
How fun! Thanks for doing this man!
This was an awesome video. I had no idea that Disney once tried getting into racing. At least they kept Lake Mickey so I could find the actual location of the track on Google Maps and tag it as the Walt Disney World Speedway
Great video! I also did the Richard Petty driving Experience. Was on my bucket list cause I have cancer. 2 weeks later it was shut down. Heard teams would go there to practice with any car.
I did the Richard Petty driving experience here in 2004. It was AWESOME! Cool little short track.
I'm happy I got to do the Exotic Driving Experience at the track back in 2013. Driving the GT-R was a great experience and they really let you push it on the track, and getting onto the tri-oval was so cool. Definitely sad when it was demo'd, but also understandable after what happened.
ive worked at the wonderful central florida mouse attraction for years and drove by the track every day for years....even used to 'race' the richard petty cars when id merge onto the road by the track coming from grand fla. Anyway, this was comprehensive and awesome to learn all the back story so thank you tons for this well done piece! Sorry security gave yall the axe, theyre the debby downers of the kingdom....though tbh you could totally film if it wasnt on a tripod. They dont know. They just saw a tripod and went ooh gotta get credentials. Just walk and film vlog style and 99% they wont say jack other than "need help finding your car?"
all the ppl who won at that track will never forget it must of been a great experience for the kids and parents since the can just say its a disney 'performance'
I was lucky enough to help promote the races at the Mickyard, always fun to see the mix of drunken racefans, and Magic Kingdom guests intermingling in the parking lot.
I went to that track 13 years ago when my dad did the Richard Petty Experience and it was fun.
I actually had the honor and privilege to ride around Walt Disney world speedway back in 2013. I got to ride in the Richard petty driving experience car it was such a blast. Best birthday present ever!