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41-469: Autopia is a race car track attraction at various Disney theme parks , in which patrons steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track. Versions of Autopia exist at Disneyland at Anaheim, California and Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France . There was also an Autopia at Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island , Hong Kong before it closed on June 11, 2016. Other versions of

82-512: A racecourse , is a nonpermanent track for sports, particularly road running , water sports , road racing , or rallying . Many sports usually held on race tracks also can occur on temporary tracks, such as the Monaco and Singapore Grands Prix in Formula One . Some evidence remains of racetracks being developed in several ancient civilizations. The most developed ancient race tracks were

123-506: A Gladden Products Corp. 4-stroke, single-cylinder 318 cc motor rated at 7.5 bhp at 3400 rpm. The cars were constructed with fiberglass bodies on a 64-inch wheelbase. The 475 Ib cars were limited to a top speed of 11 mph. Prior to 2008, the Disneyland Autopia cars were powered by 286 cc (17.5 cu in) two-stroke gasoline motors from Kawasaki . After Honda agreed to sponsor the ride, by 2008 cars were re-engined with

164-750: A breed of Mark VIIIs would hit the Autopia roadway. The cars were manufactured by Intermountain Design, Utah. The Tomorrowland version was not the only form of Autopia to exist at Disneyland. Other versions, separate from the Tomorrowland version, included the Midget Autopia, Fantasyland Autopia ( Rescue Rangers Raceway), and Junior Autopia. Of these, the Tomorrowland Autopia existed the longest. The Midget Autopia opened in 1957 and

205-423: A lush jungle and alien landscapes. Honda was the sponsor of the attraction. Hong Kong Disneyland's Autopia closed on June 11, 2016, which was originally set to be replaced by "Avengers Quinjet Experience". But, at D23 2024 on August 10, it was announced that "Avengers Quinjet Experience" has been cancelled to make way for a new unnamed Spider-Man attraction, a part of "Stark Expo". Race track A racetrack

246-427: A short course and a longer course which uses part of the shorter one, usually the main straight, such as Brands Hatch . The Le Mans road race venue is centred on a smaller permanent circuit within its complex. Surfaces include: Race tracks are primarily designed for road racing competition through speed, featuring defined start-finish lines or posts, and sometimes even a series of defined timing points that divide

287-572: A sports car; and Suzy, a Volkswagen Beetle -style car. Each was designed to be tied into the Chevron line of animated ' Chevron Cars ', and four versions of the Autopia cars were sold as toys during the 2000 summer season at Chevron stations nationwide. The queue featured animated dioramas featuring the Chevron Cars, and the ride's background music is taken directly from the park's former PeopleMover attraction, which had closed five years prior to

328-405: A unique sense of style and theming. The cars are more rounded to go with a 1920s retro-futuristic theme. This is also the only Autopia style attraction to have a storyline. The story was that the guests drove their cars, called "Astrocoupes", around a nearby city to Discoveryland , "Solaria". In 2012, the "Solaria" prop was removed from the attraction and all Discoveryland logos were removed from

369-569: Is Nardò where high-speed manufacturer testing often takes place, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . Some oval tracks are variations on an oval shape, for practical reasons or to introduce varying difficulties such as Talladega (a tri-oval). Most race tracks have meandering circuits with many curves, chicanes and changes in height, to allow for a challenge in skill to the competitors, notably motocross and touring car racing – these tend to predominate throughout most of

410-646: Is a permanent facility or building. Racecourse is an alternate term for a horse racing track, found in countries such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. Race tracks built for bicycles are known as velodromes . Circuit is a common alternate term for race track, given the circuit configuration of most race tracks, allowing races to occur over several laps. Some race tracks may also be known as speedways , or raceways . A race course , as opposed to

451-949: The Earl of Derby created a horse-racing course on his estate at Epsom; the English Derby continues to be held there today. Racecourses in the British Isles are based on grass, known as turf tracks. In the United States, the race tracks are soil. With the advent of the automobile in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, race tracks were designed to suit the nature of powered machines. The earliest tracks were modified horse-racing courses. Racing automobiles in such facilities began in September 1896, at Narragansett Park in Cranston, Rhode Island . The Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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492-487: The Interstate Highway legislation at the time Disneyland opened. Drivers can use the steering wheel along the track but the center rail will guide the cars along the track regardless of steering input. Drivers/children too short to depress the gas pedal are paired with taller individuals who can. Brakes are applied automatically when the driver releases the gas pedal. The original Disneyland Autopia cars used

533-719: The Monaco GP , and the Circuit de la Sarthe circuit in Le Mans , France. These are not permanent facilities built for racing (although parts of the Circuit de la Sarthe are purpose-built, and closed to the public). After World War II , many wartime airfields, particularly in Great Britain, were left without further use. This coincided with a post-war boom in motorsport, and many airfields were converted to race tracks, where

574-529: The Monorail , Submarine Voyage , and Matterhorn debuted in 1959, so did a new fleet with an all-new look – the "Mark Vs". The next design, Mark VI, came in 1964. It was at this time (1965) the center guide rail was first installed. 1967 brought another new design, the Mark VIIs, which cost $ 5,000 for each car and looked similar to the new Corvette Stingray . They would remain in service through 1999, till

615-759: The hippodromes of the Ancient Greeks and the circuses ( circi ) of the Roman Empire . Both of these structures were designed for horse and chariot racing. The stadium of the Circus Maximus in Ancient Rome could hold 200,000 spectators. Racing facilities existed during the Middle Ages , and records exist of a public racecourse being opened at Newmarket , in London, in 1174. In 1780,

656-455: The 270 cc (16 cu in) Honda iGX270 , a four-stroke gasoline engine which was quieter and produced fewer emissions. Disney announced in April 2024 that the cars will be re-powered with fully electric drivetrains by Fall 2026. Before the park opened, the cars were tested without the bumpers, and were almost completely destroyed by the test drivers. Bumpers were fitted around

697-485: The Chevron Cars still appeared in the attraction's preshow until Honda took over sponsorship, with all overt references to Chevron removed. On January 11, 2016, the attraction closed for a new building, walkway (now painted blue, white, and silver), sign, vehicle paint schemes, minor vehicle modifications, and sponsor. The attraction reopened on April 29, 2016, with Honda as its new sponsor, replacing Chevron. In early 2017 all remaining Chevron references were all removed from

738-538: The Flying Elephant diminishing the ride to ~2,119 feet. In the end, the current attraction has lost over 32% of its original length. In 1994, the Grand Prix theme and name was dropped in favor of Tomorrowland Indy Speedway , but the track and vehicles remained the same, as new theming to coincide with the "New Tomorrowland" overlay was installed. However, The Walt Disney World Explorer application—both

779-527: The Junior Autopia in 1956. Unlike the original Autopia, the Junior Autopia track had a center guard rail. It closed in 1958, and reopened on January 1, 1959, as the expanded Fantasyland Autopia. It was a duplicate version of the Tomorrowland Autopia and featured the same theme of the original until March 1991, when part of the Disney's Afternoon Avenue makeover of Fantasyland, the ride was transformed into

820-649: The Rescue Rangers Raceway. The theming was kept until the beginning of 1992, when the promotion ended. The ride remained open on an interim basis until September 7, 1999, when both the Tomorrowland and Fantasyland Autopias were closed. Disneyland Autopia’s original sponsor from 1955 until 1970 was Richfield Oil . In 2000, Disneyland replaced both existing Autopia tracks with a new, much larger Autopia sponsored by Chevron . The colorful Chevrolet Corvette Stingray -style cars were replaced by three different kinds of cars: Dusty, an off-road style car; Sparky,

861-759: The attraction can be found at the Magic Kingdom as the Tomorrowland Speedway and formerly at Tokyo Disneyland as the Grand Circuit Raceway . A previous generation of Disneyland's Autopia operated for over a decade at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri ; one of the retired cars is now on display. The name Autopia is a portmanteau of the words " auto mobile uto pia ." The term

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902-509: The attraction. On March 24, 2017, Honda revealed ASIMO in the attraction. Asimo is accompanied by Bird and are in various scenes throughout the attraction, most of the scenes replaced the carpark, and various billboards. The second Disney theme park to open was Magic Kingdom. An opening day attraction, the Grand Prix Raceway was based on an international car race rather than the futuristic roadways of Autopia. The original sponsor

943-560: The circuit layout usually combined parts of the runways and the surrounding perimeter taxiways. The famous British track at Silverstone is a former Class A airfield , as are Castle Combe and Goodwood . The long runways were perfect for drag strips such as at Santa Pod Raceway . This type of track also appears on the popular motoring show Top Gear , which is filmed at Dunsfold Aerodrome , in Surrey, United kingdom Arrow Development Too Many Requests If you report this error to

984-415: The construction of Space Mountain , with the two southern curves being shortened and the entire north portion of the track being reduced, thus shortening the ride to ~2,760 feet. An even larger section was removed to make room for Mickey's Toontown Fair sometime between late 1987 and early 1988, this time the track was reduced to ~2,191 feet. In 2012 the final curve was again shortened to make way for Dumbo

1025-534: The fleet of cars. The original storyline was also removed, turning it into a simple driving track, just like its American and Asian counterparts. Hong Kong Disneyland was the first Disneyland-style park to not open with a form of the Autopia attraction. Later opened in summer 2006 as part of its phase one expansion, the Hong Kong version was different from the other versions as it featured electric cars with lighting effects and an onboard audio system. Theming included

1066-575: The name similarity to the Disneyland car ride (it is a homage) Aquatopia is closer (as an attraction) to Disneyland's former Motor Boat Cruise . Tokyo Disneyland's version closed on January 11, 2017, to make way for a Beauty and the Beast themed area. In Disneyland Park in Paris , the attraction, which opened with Euro Disneyland on April 12, 1992, uses the original Disneyland name of Autopia, but has

1107-403: The new Autopia's opening. The voice of Dusty the Autopia car is voiced by Matthew Howard, who is said to be (as of 2004) the youngest Disney ride announcer. In response to several minor incidents, the ride safety spiel was re-recorded in 2004 in order to remind parents to watch their children. New for the track was a short "off-road" section. Chevron's sponsorship ended in the summer of 2012, though

1148-548: The original edition released in 1996 and the Second Edition released in 1998—used the original name for the attraction's slideshow topic in the application. On December 20, 1999, Walt Disney Company and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway partnered to change the theme of the track. The ride was changed to add items from the famous Speedway, such as the famous Yard of Bricks, the Scoring Pylon, Gasoline Alley and

1189-576: The ride next to the museum in downtown Marceline, launching a Kickstarter campaign to finance the project. The project attracted a fraction of the $ 500,000 required to reconstruct the vehicles and track. Unlike all other Autopia attractions, Midget Autopia was one of several of Arrow Development's "off-the-shelf" Arrowflite Tracked Auto Rides built at several amusement parks throughout the country, at least one of which still operates at Idlewild Park in Pennsylvania. The Fantasyland Autopia began as

1230-425: The ride was known as Grand Circuit Raceway . This version of the ride opened with the park in 1983 and remained largely unchanged. The ride was sponsored by Bridgestone and featured a grandstand for visitors to watch the "races" between drivers. The track was described as a "figure eight" shape, but was actually quite longer. A new ride, Aquatopia , opened at neighboring park Tokyo DisneySea in 2001, but other than

1271-426: The same track, or incorporating many tracks in one venue. Commonly, running tracks are incorporated within general use or soccer stadiums, either permanently visible or covered by stands or pitches. Many horse and motorsport tracks are configurable, allowing different routes or sections. Some venues contain smaller tracks inside larger ones, with access tunnels and bridges for spectators. Some racetracks incorporate

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1312-574: The track into time sectors. A racetrack for cars (i.e. a car track) is a closed circuit, instead of a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads . Race tracks can host individual or team sports. Racetracks can feature rolling starts , or fixed starts, with associated equipment (starting blocks, cages, wheel traps etc.) They invariably feature a pit lane , and usually timing equipment. Some car tracks are of an oval shape, and can be banked, which allows almost universal spectator views or high speed racing (cycling, stock cars). A famous one

1353-455: The vehicle, but there were still problems with collisions, as a guide rail had yet to be implemented on the ride. Eventually the vehicles were fitted with spring-loaded bumpers to discourage collisions. The first fleet of Autopia cars were dubbed "Mark I". Throughout Disneyland's first few years, Autopia went through a few fleets, as the cars took much abuse. Though basically the same look, they went through Mark I, II, III, and IV by 1958. When

1394-548: The way of permanent infrastructure other than the track; others incorporate spectator facilities such as grandstands , hospitality or facilities for competitors, such as pit lanes and garages, paddocks and stables. Several racetracks are incorporated into larger venues or complexes, incorporating golf courses, museums, hotels, and conference centres. Some racetracks are small enough to be contained indoors, for sports such as motocross , track cycling , and athletics . Many racetracks are multi-use, allowing different types of sport on

1435-699: The wheel and wing logo. The loading area featured panels with the three Indy events: the Indianapolis 500 , the Brickyard 400 and the United States Grand Prix . The name was changed in 2008 to Tomorrowland Speedway , resulting in the drop of the Indy portion of the title. In 2019, the ride underwent more track adjustments to accommodate the addition of TRON Lightcycle / Run . The attraction reopened on May 18, 2019. At Tokyo Disneyland,

1476-709: The world, but especially in Europe. Flatter meandering motorsport courses are sometimes called 'road circuits', originating in the fact that the earliest road racing circuits were simply closed-off public roads. Some car racetracks are specifically configured in a long straight, namely drag racing . True road circuits are still in use, e.g. the Australian GP has been run in Adelaide and continues to be in Melbourne on regular city streets. The most famous of these are

1517-469: Was Goodyear , as it supplied all of the tires on the Mark VII vehicles. The track length has been the subject of incorrect discussion over the years. Through aerial photography and research it has been determined that the attraction was never lengthened, but shortened 3 times. On opening day the track was approximately 3,118 feet. The attraction saw its length greatly reduced for the first time in 1974 for

1558-493: Was later popularized in academic circles by British architecture critic Reyner Banham to describe Los Angeles in his 1971 book Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies. The Disneyland Autopia, in one form or another, is one of the few current attractions that opened with the park on July 17, 1955. When it opened, it represented the future of what would become America's multilane limited-access highways, which were still being developed. President Eisenhower had yet to sign

1599-622: Was manufactured by Arrow Development . It was the smallest and was the third Autopia track, after the Tomorrowland Autopia (1955) and the Junior Autopia in Fantasyland (1956). It was located next to the Storybook Land Canal Boats and the Motor Boat Cruise at the very edge of Fantasyland. Adults were not allowed on the ride. It was closed in 1966 and dismantled to make way for It's a Small World . The ride

1640-623: Was opened in August 1909. Beginning in the early 1900s, motorcycle races were run on high, banked, wooden race tracks called board tracks . During the 1920s, many of the races on the AAA Championship circuit were run on such board tracks. Modern racetracks are designed with spectator safety being paramount, following incidents of spectator and track marshals fatalities. These often involve run-off areas, barriers, and high fencing. Racetracks are used for: Some racetracks offer little in

1681-488: Was then donated to the city of Marceline, Missouri , where it operated in the Walt Disney Municipal Park for 11 years until parts were no longer available for the cars. One of the cars is on display in the museum whereas the concrete track on which the cars ran was ultimately demolished in 2016 to facilitate replacement of the city pool. In 2015, the Walt Disney Hometown Museum made plans to recreate

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