Tampa Bay Grand Prix — Attraction in Tampa

My girlfriend and I decided to take advantage of the Buy 2, Get 1 Race Free special last Thursday. This was our first but unfortunately also our last time visiting. Pricing seemed a little high for go-karts as we figured it was roughly $1 per lap each. There was also a mandatory $6 charge per person for an annual "Gran Prix Racing License" which was nothing more than a reloadable gift card — more on this later.

We arrived around 2pm and we were told that there would be a 2 hour wait. It didn't seem like there were very many racers there but we decided to walk around the facility and play a game of pool. This game only accepts quarters so we asked the nice associate at the counter to make change for a dollar but unfortunately they were completely out of quarters... Bummer. We discovered the concessions counter but there was only a handful of items available. Definitely no pizza or fries. We opted for a candy bar and a hot pretzel.

Finally, our names were called and we were excited to jump in a kart! Initially, we were expecting some type of instruction considering there were multiple signs and flags to pay attention to. We also thought that this was where the $6 "Racing License" fee would be applied. However, there was no instruction and we simply boarded our karts. We were required to wear helmets which were provided to us and each kart had a buckle restraint system to keep us in our seat. However, not once did a ride operator check our helmet or seatbelt restraints. This was actually quite concerning since the karts are advertised to run up to 50mph!

The first and second race went very well and I managed to post some quick times on the board. It was nice to see our lap times on the large projection board near the start/finish line. There were a few good places to pass slower drivers around the track but at times there would be a line of four or five karts stuck behind a slower driver. The flagman would waive the "move over" flag (blue flag with an orange stripe) at the slow driver but because there was no instruction prior to the race she had no idea what the flag actually meant!

Up until our 3rd race we were enjoying ourselves. For the first two races we boarded the karts on the left but for the final FREE race we were told to board the karts on the right. These karts were not in very good condition and had a list of issues once we got out onto the track. There were even exposed wires behind the steering wheel. Once the final race began it was apparent that there was a major problem with both our karts. My girlfriend's kart was extremely slow and rattled uncontrollably and my kart would hesitate to accelerate at least 2-3 seconds each time I stepped on the gas. At one point my kart completely stalled and I put my hands up to notify the flagman that there was a major problem with my kart. After a minute or two arguing with him he eventually started the race again and I was left to deal with it on my own. After the race ended we were both quite upset and felt like we were shorted on the free race. I spoke with one of the ride operators and notified him that both kart #19 and #20 had multiple issues. He said that it had something to do with us pressing the gas and the brake at the same time, however this was our 3rd race and we had not experienced that issue before!

Our overall experience was not very good. We would not recommend to a friend or...

Mostly a good experience. I went with a group and we waited about an hour to ride the go kart's. My problem is that the guys running the track let one of their buddy's join our group although he showed up moments earlier. We were there for fun while this guy was there to terrorize the track. In our pre-ride instructions the instructors said there was to be no hitting or bumping of other kart's. Well their friend didn't care about this rule and ruined my wife's first time ever in a go kart by hitting her broad side and slamming her into a wall. This same guy basically used our entire group as a way to vent as he hit all of us. As a man I know that there is contact in racing but the level of contact that was tolerated by the instructors was unacceptable. It scared my wife so bad that she stopped racing. I didn't find out what happened until after the race because I kept going. I just thought she didn't like it, now I know why. When confronted the guy racing with us just laughed as well as the instructors, although I will say the instructors looked more concerned that something may come this. Because this guy was the instructors friend he didn't have to follow the rules. When the instructors were asked to speak to the manager, all of the sudden they were all managers. When asked to speak to the owner none of the "managers" knew who owned the place. When my wife asked for her money back since she didn't go much more than a lap they said she chose to stop so no money would be refunded. When the staff was asked why since the guy they added to our group didn't have to follow the rules and made continuing the race unsafe was her money not being refunded. We once again got the we're all managers and nobody knows the owner. If everything goes well for your group then you may be alright. If you have any problems don't expect any kind of help from anyone there because they'll give you the we already have your money attitude and everyone is a manager with no known owner. Very disappointed with the staff. I almost forgot one of our group had a go kart with no breaks. Safety at this place is about a 2 out of 10. I think this should be higher when you have the public in your hands. There are quite a few others to choose from in the area. They have to be safer...

NOT A PLACE FOR KIDS!!!!!! I don’t care what the employees say, do not let your kids race with anyone but the party you came with. This is my experience at the Clearwater location. When my party was called out I was honestly in shock to hear other names called out with it, as no other parties had been combined previously. Despite being a bit sketched out, my party of 4, 3 kids and 1 adult, continued to go forward with the race. BIGGEST MISTAKE. It begun with the two older men trying to cut us off, purposefully, and then trying to cause crashes left and right. I had never had an experience like this before. As 2-3 crashes happened and we were constantly slowed down, the men continued with their aggressive nature towards CHILDREN on a RECREATIONAL racing track. This led to a possibly hospitalization for one of our party members as the men continued to cut off, whip directly past, and crash into our party. One of our party members ended up fully on top of another. The employees rushed to help them to safety, but nothing was done or said to the men, who allegedly told the employees it was our fault. Our experience was extremely unsatisfactory and the men left with a statement saying “some people just shouldn’t be allowed to race”. Men, let me remind you, this is a RECREATIONAL TRACK, if you were looking to cause injury and hospitalization, please join a serious derby, and not play go karts. Management will be alerted of this incident and I hope not to experience something like...