Go Karting - Orlando GP

We just got back from our wonderful Florida vacation.  I have several posts lined up including about 100 pictures I took at the Old Town car show which I need to go through and edit.  One of the more fun outings we had was to the Orlando GP, here is the website:

http://www.orlandogp.com/

I was pretty sceptical going there, electric go-karts, how fun can that be??  Apparently a LOT OF FUN.  My two older sons wanted to go so we set out on our 20 mile journey to the track.  If you have ever driven Florida highways you know how well the traffic moves there, there is hardly a bonehead driver to be found.  Unlike good old Newfoundland where boneheads are in the majority.  Only took us about 20 minutes to get there thanks to the handy dandy GPS.  The set up is really nice there, they have a big reception area where you first have to register which costs $5 and they give you a plastic "license" which tracks all your results.  We got there lunch time and they have a rate of $12 for a 12 lap race.  I signed the three of us up for two races and off we went.  When you go to the track area they a have a race start pit area that shows what race you will be in and what time it starts.

I watched one of the races and it didn't look too bad, the cars were fast for the winding track but I figured it would be no trouble.  We signed up for a race, got our helmets and got behind the wheel. They tell you that they can adjust the car speeds based on how well you drive, I think the starting top speed is 50km/hr, quite fast for a small indoor track. I started out for lap one and at the starting speed you can pretty much navigate all the turns without any brake but you do have to let up on the gas every now and then.  Once you do a couple good laps they bump up your speed and you REALLY feel the difference.  It is actually really difficult to navigate at the higher speed, you need to use quite a bit of brake so that you don't spin out in the sharper turns.

I managed to best my two sons in race one and race two, it was so fun we signed up for one more race.  At the end of each race they give you a print out like the picture above which gives you your best lap times and average times as well as placing throughout the race for your group.  My best time was about 30.2 seconds a lap, some guys there were in the mid 28's.  In the third race my oldest son beat my best time with a 29.8, not only that he actually passed me, I got blue flagged and had to move over!  With fire in my eyes I could not catch him, I started pushing too hard and just kept going into the turns too fast.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this operation, it was really well put together and not overwhelmingly expensive.  The three races for three of us was about $125, but it was well worth it.  I would strongly recommend this if you are in Florida on a family vacation.