Christmas day living rooms are often taken over by orange garlands, snaking from window ledges or fireplaces these day glow ribbons are the Hot Wheels tracks enabling all manner of cars to perform high speed stunts, loop the loops and jumps. Ultimately laughing turns to crying as the Batmobile or a 4×4 crash land in Nan’s glass of sherry or just enough out of arms reach under the family sofa to cause a carpet burn as you wriggle to grab your missing car. The RC Racer attraction in the Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris seeks to give guests a taste of the experience but this time from the car’s point of view, specifically RC the green remote control car from the beloved Toy Story movie franchise.
The ride comprises a bright orange halfpipe with a station at the base, the ride passes through the station. It looks stunning in the land and is only outshone for sheer height by the Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop. Usually, this ride attracts wait times of 30-60 minutes with the queue line comprising a complicated race track leading to a snap back in station cattle pen before you get to board the ride vehicle, a huge 16 seater version of RC. The nature of the ride means that there is only one ride vehicle in operation.
The ride itself sees RC move forwards and backwards rising closer and closer to the top of the half pipe both backwards and forwards. The track extends just beyond the halfway point of the half pipe so at the high points of the ride you get the sensation that you may fall out of the vehicle. The ride doesn’t look thrilling however in many roller-coasters the experience of an inversion is probably measurable in fractions of a second. For the RC Racer the whole ride is one portion of an inversion with lots of hang time and approach time, in a sense its almost like the threat of an inversion sustained for a minute is more thrilling than an actual inversion experienced for a second. As such I’d say that the ride is a family thrill, its accessible for children, especially if they ride in the middle of the vehicle, but any perception that this is a slow or boring ride are wildly out of sync with the experience. Our Ride Focus video here includes front row POV so you can see just how the ride looks when you are on board.
The RC Racer is a unique ride that adds a sense of danger and more than a few screams to detract from the charm and sanctity of the Toy Story Playland and the theming of Andy’s back yard. Perhaps Andy erected this half pipe to compete with Sid next door? The ride adds some kinetic energy to the land and it’s a shame that it’s a slow rider and a one track, one train ride, a few of these rides interacting would be amazing, but would take up much needed real estate in the park. It’s a great intermediate ride between the safe thrills of Big Thunder Mountain and the multiple inversions of Hyperspace Mountain. Let yourself feel slightly more afraid than the ride actually is and it’s a lot of fun.
Disney Parklife 