R1 Indoor Karting is a family entertainment center in Lincoln, Rhode Island. As the name
suggests, the complex is home to some impressive indoor go karts, but those aren t even the
best activity at this place. That honor goes to TimeZone, an innovative series of puzzle
rooms. In this video, I will discuss why R1 Indoor Karting should be on your radar if
you re in Rhode Island or Southern Massachusetts. The complex opened 4 years ago as Rhode Island
s first indoor go kart track. In 2019, the complex added an ax throwing bar. But I think
their 2021 addition is the most interesting in TimeZone. Advertised as the world s biggest
time machine gaming experience, this activity has 25 different rooms or portals consisting
of a series of mini games. These games test your coordination, speed,
and puzzle solving abilities. It s a workout both physically and mentally.
On the surface, this may sound like an escape room, but TimeZone is significantly better
in my opinion. When you participate in an escape room, you spend all your time in one
room and the activities are usually all mental. Plus you re often paired with other parties,
so you sometimes miss what s going on. TimeZone corrects both these issues.
All 25 rooms have a different challenge. Some require you to dodge a series of lasers like
you re robbing a bank vault. Some require you to walk a tightrope while racing to press
a series of buttons. Others require you to throw projectiles through tiny holes. And
others challenge you to solve riddles. The diverse range of tasks reminded me of one
of my favorite game shows as a kid in Legends of the Hidden Temple.
Depending how fast or thoroughly you complete each room, you earn a score between 0 and
100. The goal is to score as many points as possible across all 25 rooms. You re welcome
to repeat rooms over-and-over to either improve your score for that particular room or if
you found the mini game just plain fun. We certainly did that for a few of the physical
ones. TimeZone requires teams of 2-5 people. Because
of how small the rooms are, you don t want a team any larger. And you definitely need
at least 2 or 3 people to effectively complete some of the challenges.
The only other complex I ve encountered with a similar set up is Boda Borg. This is a chain
that has several locations in Europe, but a few years ago they opened a location just
north of Boston. The biggest difference between TimeZone and Boda Borg is that TimeZone makes
it clearer what the objective of each room is. For Boda Borg, it s a riddle just trying
to figure out what you need to do in each room.
TimeZone costs $25 for 1 hour, $30 for 1.5 hours, or $35 for 2 hours as of this recording.
You do also need to have an annual membership for the complex, which will cost $4-7. It
regularly costs $7, but there s a secret deals page on the website where you can procure
one for $4. I strongly recommend booking 2 hours for TimeZone. We barely had enough time
to visit each room and repeat our favorites. And this was with there being very little
crowds. The replay value for several rooms is high and you really want to push yourself
to get that max score of 100. I do wish there was an all-day option like Boda Borg, but
I suspect they need to limit capacity right now due to covid.
While I think TimeZone is the gem of the complex, most people come for the high speed go karts.
The track was designed by renowned European race car driver Mike Hezemans. The track is
made of asphalt, which allows for a smoother ride with better traction. This means the
go karts can go faster. These are some of the fastest go karts in the country. The go
karts are electrically controlled depending upon who is racing. Children can top out at
25 mph. Standard racers top out at 35 mph or 56 kph, but experts can reach speeds of
45 mph or 72 kph. To qualify as an expert, you need to post a low lap time on the standard
setting. In the races I participated in and witnessed, no one had a time low enough
to qualify. Because of how fast these go karts are, you
need to get suited up. As with TimeZone, you need to have a membership to participate.
And that membership will provide you with the mandatory gear. Everyone must wear a neck
brace, headsock, and helmet. The helmets are deliberately tight and if you wear glasses
like me, I strongly recommend removing your glasses while you put on the helmet and then
slide them back on afterwards. Otherwise, your glasses could get warped from the tight
clearance of the helmet. The complex also offers gloves if desired,
but I didn t see anyone use them. While this gear may seem like overkill for
go karts, it s quickly apparent why you want this gear. You are almost guaranteed to see
multiple collisions each race. Whether it be someone crashing into a wall after a hairpin
turn or a jarring collision. I was fortunate enough to avoid any crashes during my races,
but others in my party weren t so lucky. Those who did crash said it felt like a car accident
and they felt it the next day. There were 11 other racers with me. Considering
the size of the course, that was the perfect number to have enough room to maneuver around
the track and competitively race. To counteract the staggered start times, you re more racing
against the time than the other racers. To help you score the best lap time, the track
has a green strip that is the recommended path you should follow. And there was definitely
a learning curve figuring out how tightly I could take a turn without spinning out.
The course is very well designed. It has a little speed hill, a sharp banked turn, and
several hairpin turns that will really test drivers how well they can maneuver their vehicles.
Each race consists of roughly 9 laps and takes roughly 7 minutes. But the time passes way
faster since you re likely having so much fun. These are without a doubt the best go
karts I ve ridden. While I have done some interesting multi-level courses, none of them
had the speed and intensity of these go karts. If you buy a race in person, it will cost
you $25 per race. Which is quite pricey. The price point drops as you purchase more races.
However, on the aforementioned secret deals page you can purchase a race for $15, which
is a much better deal. The only downside is that you then need to place a separate order
with your QR code to reserve a time slot online, or you can book a race in person but you may
have to wait a few races before they can accommodate you. For us, we had to wait roughly 30-45
minutes on a Saturday night which wasn t too bad.
And if you have loose articles for either the go karts or TimeZone, your membership
gets you complimentary lockers. I strongly recommend using them so you don t lose something
while crawling around in TimeZone or if you get into a collision on the go karts.
Beyond TimeZone and the go karts, the complex also features an ax throwing bar, an arcade
filled with modern games, a restaurant and bar, and a party room. We only participated
in TimeZone and the go karts, but the whole facility looked clean and well-maintained.
So do I recommend R1 Indoor Karting? It may be a bit pricey, but TimeZone and the go karts
will appeal to all ages, particularly teenagers and young adults. I didn t see anyone leave
the complex disappointed. Really the only downside is the price point, especially if
you fail to take advantage of the secret deals page on the website. So if you go, I strongly
recommend purchasing your membership and items in advance online if you want to save some
money. This channel is primarily about roller coasters
and amusement parks, but I had more fun at this complex than several theme parks. Especially
at TimeZone. The experience was that unique, enjoyable, and both mentally and physically
stimulating. So those are my thoughts on R1 Indoor Karting,
one of the newest and most interesting family entertainment centers in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
Have you been to this complex? What are your thoughts on TimeZone or the indoor go karts?
I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review,
I d appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since
there will be a lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster.
Thanks for watching.