[disney&byudad]

At TT, we zipped through the fast pass line and were off and running in short order. Here's a shot of our Photo Pass pic.

[disney&byudad]

Afterward, when we walked through the gift shop, there were signs telling us that all hats as well as some other items were 40% off. As we looked around, I found a Mark Martin DEI hat that had a price tag of $26.99. Ricky used his CM discount, as well as the store mark down, and my new chapeau wound up costing a whopping $8!!!!

After browsing through Mouse Gear again, we decided to call it an early night. We hopped the bus back to OKW, rented "Finding Neverland," and went back to our room to pop it into the DVD player.

Ricky and I, however, hit the hay early because tomorrow.............We're going racing!!!!!!

[Peppertink]

Originally Posted by disney&byudad

We decided to make this a slow, enjoyable, people watching day at EPCOT. After TT, we spent some time in Mouse Gear checking everything out and planning on what to get later.

We walked over to World Showcase and stopped in Mexico while Ricky got a margerita. Here's Lynnae and I just relaxing and enjoying the day.

Great picture!! Love your t-shirt and cap!

[timon71]

I have to say this is a GREAT TR. Keep it up.

[WishUponAStar]

I love your TR & pics so far! Your family always looks like they are having SUCH a blast, I love it! I am glad you had a good experience at Marrakesh, I always liked it there but Daniel isn't so big on the food. I hope I can convince him to try it again.

[disney&byudad]

Monday, Jan 5

Today, we get to go racing with Richard Petty!

I've seen threads regarding the RPDE and questions about how it works at WDW, so I'll try to be thorough in my description.

Ricky and I were up at 6:30 a.m. and on the bus to the MK by 7:00 a.m. Our session started at 8:00 a.m., but they want you there about a 1/2 hour early to sign in, make sure all your forms are properly completed and get into your racing suit.

After arriving at MK, we took the monorail over to the TTC (you can also take one of the ferry boats across the lake to the TTC as well). Here's what the monorail platform looked like at 7:20 a.m.

[disney&byudad]

Here's the view looking toward the Contemporary.

[disney&byudad]

Here comes the purple monorail! And we're off to the Transportation and Ticket Center.

[disney&byudad]

Once we arrived at the TTC, we walked over to the Disney kennel. There's a space for the RPDE van to park, awaiting the arrival of the participants. And there he is, just waiting for us.

[disney&byudad]

We arrived at the track at about 7:40 and turned in our signed paperwork. These are release and waiver forms absolving RPDE of any responsibility if you hurt or kill yourself on the track .

I can see the need for these forms, however, because they wouldn't be able to afford to operate this enterprise if they didn't adequately protect themselves. It probably also keeps their insurance costs relatively reasonable, as well.

There were 10 drivers today, 8 of them doing the 8 lap rookie experience, while Ricky and I were doing the 30 lap experience of a lifetime. Everyone was there by 8:00 a.m.

Tommy was the RPDE guy in charge of the program today, and after watching a short video with Richard and Kyle Petty, Tommy introduced us to our instructors Daniel and Dewey. After some classroom instruction on how to maintain the proper driving line, how to stay within 3 car lengths of your instructor and what each of the flags that may be waved at you mean, we were off with our respective instructor for a van ride around the track to illustrate what was discussed in the classroom.

Following this, we gathered around one of the cars as our instructor explained how to properly enter and exit the vehicle (through the driver side window opening since there are no doors), the safety features and what to do in case of a problem (blown tire, loss of oil pressure, cockpit fire).

Finally, we each had our picture taken standing outside the car and we're ready to go.

[disney&byudad]

Tommy pulled Ricky and I aside to let us know that since we had done this before, they were going to send us out first so the other people could get an idea of what they should do.

We are both now totally excited and ready to get this going. I drove the No. 79 car on the inside of pit road and Ricky drove the No. 43 on the outside.

[disney&byudad]

I went out first (Daniel was my instructor) and Ricky followed shortly thereafter (obviously, Dewey was his instructor). You follow your instructor, staying 3 car lengths behind him and in his tire tracks. If you maintain that position, the instructor will gradually increase his speed with each lap, eventually getting you up to the fastest speed you can attain. At Walt Disney World, that is 131 mph, if you do the 30 lap experience. As soon as we were on the track, I tucked in behind Daniel and we hauled!!!

He even gave me a wave off through the window, which means I got closer than 3 car lengths and he wanted me to back off just a bit (in fact, they tell you in the classroom to get at least one wave off so you'll know exactly where the 3 car length spot behind your instructor is).

With the 30 lap experience, you do a session of 8 laps, come in for a breather and any advice from your instructor on how to improve, then back out for 11 laps, back in again, then out for your final 11 laps.

The first 8 lap session has a high speed limit of 122 mph. We found out later that both of us hit 123 mph during our initial run. When we came in, we both were told "You're doing great. Don't change anything, just keep it up" from our instructors. What a great start!!

I was able to get these shots of Ricky on the last two laps of his first session and once he came back in.

[disney&byudad]

Now we had to sit and wait for the other folks to do their laps before we went out again.

There was a father and son (from Philly, I think) and husband and wife (from France!!!) driving today as well as 4 other guys who were there with their families. This is a very family-friendly activity and everyone seemed to have a good time. In fact, some of the family members who didn't drive actually did the ride-along experience. This is a 3 lap ride with an instructor, who gets the car up to 145 mph. It usually costs $109 for this, but I think they give family members of the guys driving a discount.

[disney&byudad]

It was finally our turn to head back out onto the track. This time, Ricky went out first. The second session was, once again, a blast. As we came in, I noticed that Ricky was still in his car. When I pulled up, one of the pit crew guys let down the window net and handed me a cup of cold water.

Turns out that since everyone else was done for the day, instead of making us get out of the car and wait for our last 11 lap run, they gave us some water, checked under the hoods of the cars, checked the tires and away we went! This was very cool. Not having to wait keeps you in the zone (so to speak ) and very focused on maintaining your run.

This time, since Ricky finished first, he was able to catch these shots.

[disney&byudad]

At the awards ceremony, we got our timing sheets and both of us ran just under 131 mph as our fastest lap on the last 11 lap session. And although I'll admit that Ricky's best time was 0.15 mph faster than mine, I actually ran 3 laps under 38 seconds, while he only ran one .

After spending a few minutes talking with Tommy, Daniel and Dewey, we thanked them for a great time and hopped aboard the van for the trip back to the Disney kennel.

This time we took the ferry over to the MK then walked over to the Columbia House for lunch (the 3 piece fish and chip meal). Boy, talk about hitting the spot!