RC Racer
The ultimate racecar track.
Andy has unpacked his RC Racer play set to construct a "Hot Wheels" halfpipe of epic proportions. Towering above you, the curved orange track comes complete with its own lime green RC race car, zooming back and forth, flying up into the air at breathtaking 90-degree angles.
Situated at the back of Toy Story Playland amongst mature trees which double as overgrown bushes in this oversized universe, RC Racer is the big thrill of the land and the park's third roller coaster when it opened in August 2010.
The ride takes inspiration from Mattel's popular Hot Wheels line of toy cars, which famously come paired with the unmistakeable orange track as seen in the Toy Story films. Climbing aboard the huge remote-controlled RC car, riders are propelled forwards and backwards through the station building in a semi-circular "half pipe" of track, quickly building up enough speed to hit the top height of almost 80 feet (24 metres) and the thrilling free-fall back down to Earth which follows.
With its boy racer theme and a ride experience unique across both parks, RC Racer often attracts some unbearably long queues. Even though the outdoor extended queue line provides a brilliant trail along "Scalextric"-style track, past countless clever "plastic" props (such as a garage with stickers for decoration), guests can ultimately spend up to 80 minutes queueing back and forth in a terribly dull and uninspired covered waiting area for a brief 1 minute ride.
Despite this, race car riders always emerge at the end with the beaming smile of a child given a brand new toy — an enormous 80-foot new toy — and a single wish: "Again!"
- Minimum height: 0.81 m (2' 8")
- Physical restrictions
Race forward and back aboard RC at high speed through a 180-degree halfpipe car track.
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Opening Date
17th August 2010
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Attraction Type
Halfpipe roller coaster
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Duration
1 minute
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Capacity
20 (4 Riders per row,
5 rows of seats) -
Height
24.8 m (82 ft)
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Category
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Wait Time
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Suitablility
- Children 3-7
- Children 8-12
- Young Adults
- Adults
- Seniors
Trivia
- World-reknowned theme park ride manufacturer Intamin produced RC Racer, which is actually a version of their Half Pipe Coaster model. However, much of the bare steel structure was "dressed" in theming designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, such as the orange cladding around the track itself. The RC ride vehicle was designed from scratch and is entirely different to the vehicles normally used on these coasters, which can often have spinning seats. Walt Disney Imagineering instead chose to keep the vehicle faithful to its appearance in Toy Story — albeit redesigned with 20 seats and small enough to fit within the track, about the same size as a Hot Wheels die-cast car.
- Disneyland Paris had to seek permission with toy company Mattel to use an orange track, which is a trademark of their world-famous Hot Wheels toy car line, featured in the Toy Story films themselves.
- One leaked blueprint for Toy Story Playland actually showed two RC Racer halfpipes right next to each other, doubling the capacity of the ride with a large station building between them. It is not known why Disneyland Paris did not follow this option, which would have also provided back-up in case of technical difficulites with one track, although space and budgetary reasons could be possible, as could the desire to simply have one, definitive RC ride, since the track is already very dominant on the park's skyline. A second version of the land, to be built at Hong Kong Disneyland, will also only have a single RC track.
The giant RC ride vehicle weighs almost 9 times as much as a modern Formula 1 car!
Tips
- Ride RC Racer as early or late in the day as possible. This very popular ride also unfortunately has a very low capacity, leading to 70 minute-plus queues on the busiest days.
- Although the front seats give a big "rush" as you dive back down into the halfpipe, the seats at the back might be the best as they offer a better view over the whole ride vehicle.
Advice
- Minimum height: 1.20 m (3' 11")
- For safety, you should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness or other conditions which could be aggravated by this adventure.
- Expectant mothers and those wearing an orthopaedic device or surgical collar should not ride.
- The safety restraints on this attraction may not be suitable for guests with certain body sizes or shapes.
- Transfer required. Must be accompanied in order to assist in transfer to the ride vehicle.
