Party in the fast lane and host the ultimate racing birthday party. If your kid loves racing and go karts as much as ours, then this will be the winning combination. We celebrated our birthday boy at K1 Speed. Everything from the initial phone call to set up the event to the actual day of the party went off without a hitch.
Find out all the details about throwing a go kart racing party and hosting it at K1 Speed below.
THE SET UP
Ever since our son started driving go karts on summer vacation every year, he has been asking for a go kart themed party. We waited a couple years for him and his friends to all reach the appropriate height. When I called to set up the party, the event specialist, Micheal Cummings, was very knowledgeable and helped me pick the best package. Packages ranged from $40 – $55 per person. For the weekend, the $45 package consisted of two races and the $55 package included 3 races. We choose the 3 race option. Packages also include medals for the top 3 finishers with podium presentation, choice of head sock, and medal for birthday child. Add ons of all inclusive party rooms including pizza and drinks will make your party complete.
THE INVITATIONS
My go-to for finding party invitations is Etsy. There are so many talented graphic designers on the site. I picked a VIP pass and attached it to a K1 Speed lanyard for the invite. The boys all showed up to the party wearing them. It was a hit!
THE DECORATIONS
Lots of consideration and preparation go into the planning of the theme for any party. When time is limited to decorate, my professional tips are to have all the decorations unpackaged and organized into clear totes. I also keep a collapsible wagon in the car to transport all my totes and the rest of my party supplies in and out of the location. For this party, the majority of the decorations including the plates, balloons, flags, helmets, etc came from Birthday Express. I will include a list of all the party decorations below.
- Plates – Birthday Express
- Trophy Cups – Oriental Trading
- Trophies – Party City
- Flags – Birthday Express
- Balloons – Birthday Express
- Helmets – Birthday Express
- Traffic Cones – Lowe’s
- Stoplight Centerpieces – made using a 4×4 from Lowe’s cut to 12 inches tall then spray painted black and mod podged cardstock circles for lights
- Table runners – made using fabric from Hobby Lobby
- Fire Tablecloth- made using 2 yards of this fabric from Amazon
- Tire – Lowe’s
- Oil Cans – Hobby Lobby
- Gas Pump – Hobby Lobby
- ELIJAH License Plate name decoration – Hobby Lobby
- Backdrop and other printables – Etsy
THE RACING
By having a birthday party, we got exclusive track time. This meant that only the party goers raced together. We had a few nerves before the first race but after they got done, they were excited to do it again. The venue gives them a break in between races to do other adult only races. Arcade games and spectating other riders were the main entertainment when not on the track. I got no comments saying that ‘I’m bored’, which is a party planners worst nightmare. The total time to finish 3 races was about an hour and a half. This led up to the time of the party room and pizza.
THE FOOD
Along with the pizza provided for the party, you are also allowed to bring in cake, cupcakes, and/or cookies to celebrate. Well you know me, we had them all. Halls Takes the Cake made another amazing cake for us. If you are around Fort Wayne, IN then I suggest looking them up. It tasted just as good as it looked. The cookies came from another area must eat place called Cookie Cottage. My boys live for their iced sugar cookies.
THE FAVORS
I will probably sound like a broken record but for those of you who have been around my blog or parties know that my goal in a party favor is longevity. I dislike wasting money on things that either A. don’t make it home from the party or B. end up in the trash can in a couple days. For this party, my thought process brought me to pit crew and tool boxes. These would surely withstand a little more time in the hands of a pre-teen boy. Right? I found these orange tool boxes at Home Depot. Then filled them with all the fun stuff to go along with the party theme including aviator sunglasses, trophy with chocolate, chocolate coins, stoplight colored gum balls, miniature scale go karts, DeBrands chocolate race car, and a K1 Speed t-shirt (that they wore during the party).
Overall, the party was amazing and we will definitely be hosting another party here especially with 3 boys. After a long day with all boys, I am even more convinced that I was always meant to be a boy mom. Those little dudes raced their hearts out and I loved seeing the excitement on their faces. Comment below with you favorite party theme? I am going to need more ideas with all these boys.
