Ben A.
Yelp
When I was just a lad, i loved Autopia... I mean, what blue-blooded American kid didn't dream of racing a dragster along a winding road, only to brutally rear-end a perfect stranger without fear of reprisal? Still, I vividly remember my dad's prognostication: "The day you get your driver's license, Autopia won't be fun anymore... Until you bring your own kids on it."
Dad's assertions were all correct. The glorified riding mower engines cleverly disguised as go cart dragsters lost their appeal once I could swipe dad's keys to the truck, and take off on the SoCal roads and highways, unfettered by a raised center track that kept me in the one lane Autopia thoroughfare.
I happen to enjoy the smell of burning fossil fuels (must have been those formative years working as a deckhand on diesel-burning fishing boats) so the delightfully rich-running 50 to 1 engines harken me back to simpler times.
Indeed, taking my own offspring on this ride rejuvenates the experience: I pretty much stand on the accelerator, and my kid does his/her best to steer through the twists and turns at a screaming 4 miles per hour. "Improved" bumpers and throttle governors keep collisions somewhat less vertebrae-wrenching, but it's still fun to slam into an unsuspecting mom and her child, only to be reprimanded by Disney Autopia staff about the dangers of such maneuvers. A hard crash seems to kill the engine sometimes, too. Oh well, nothing a short walk to the Karl Strauss beer cart in California Adventure can't cure.
Interestingly, if you were to time it right, you can technically drive blotto on Autopia after sucking down several IPAs at the other park, high tailing it across the property with a fast pass, and experience the Disney whimsical magic of driving shah'fazzed drunk on Autopia and making it home alive... You can't do that one with a California driver's license on the I-5, Dad.