EPCOT - Test Track

The Original World of Motion Pavilion closed down on January 2, 1996 to make way for Test Track. After several years of development(delay) Test Track opened to the public in 1998. This is a truly MUST SEE attraction. It is truly a melding of theming, thrills, and education. The scenario is you get to go to General Motors proofing grounds and experience what they put a car through. The queue to Test Track shows you several tests that are performed on automobiles and their associated parts. The post show area features modern GM cars.

On April 15, 2012 the attraction was closed down again to be updated with a target date of late 2012 and a whole new experience featuring the Cheverlet design center.

On December 7, 2012 Test Track reopened with its new design center overlay. For more information on this new experience here is the Disney Press Release


Geek's Thoughts & Suggestions

In December 2012 Test Track re-opened as the Chevrolet Design Center. My first visit was in April 2013 and here are my thoughts/observations from that trip:

Next up we went for a ride on the new Test Track. The experience is much different than before. I thought they used the space better and it has more of an Epcot feel to it now, more future based and less reporting on a current way of doing things. The idea is you are now at the Chevrolet design center and learning about how they create cars. You then get to create your own and run it through a simulator for evaluation. The experience is much more interactive and I enjoyed it. The ride profile is still more or less the same as before but with the darker interior it works better in my opinion than the giant room you traveled through before where everything was visible.

On a later day I started the day off at Epcot with a visit to Test Track and a couple of times through to experience the different queues. Back on Day 1 I used a Fastpass. This morning I went through the Standby and Single Rider lines. I was there right after park opening so I only had to wait a few minutes in the stand by line, actually people kept pushing past me as I tried to take pictures and see what was in the queue since there was no line. There were a handful of exhibits and then you merge in with the Fastpass return before entering the rooms to design your car. I was a little frustrated today because my kiosk did not work and jammed up about 20 seconds into the design process. So I just sat there with a screen that did nothing and a car that basically a stock car since I could not change anything. The couple minutes of design time really drags by slowly when you cannot participate. The single rider experience was a little different. There are smaller kiosks and you basically choose from a prebuilt design, no customization options to keep the line moving.

 

Original thoughts/observations from Test Track 1.0

To help you get on with a minimal wait Disney has FastPass as well as a single riders line on this attraction. Also nice in 2006 they added the Disney Photopass system to the onride photo system so you can now just swipe your card and your photo is saved to your account.

I really enjoyed the original World of Motion attraction and showroom displays. I thought it would be hard for Disney to top it and it seems it has been. Test Track was in development and its opening delayed several years due to technical issues with the ride vehicles and other design challenges. I would really have enjoyed this being an "add-on" to the original attraction. Imagine what it would be like to have the family oriented original where you learn the history of human transportation, followed by this high speed adventure to learn about modern testing, followed by the original concept car displays and future looks at transportation. It would have been an amazing pavilion. Instead Disney opted for the cheaper way of doing it and removed the original show to make room for Test Track. Luckily for many of us we can still experience both, Test Track in the reality sense, and fond memories, video tapes, etc.. of the original.



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Quick Facts
  • Original Test Track facts by the numbers:
    • 5,246 feet -Total length of track traveled from, start to finish Disney's longest!
    • 65 m.p.h. -Maximum speed reached by test vehicles Disney's fastest!
    • 6 -Maximum number of guests each test vehicle can seat
    • 5 min. 34 sec. -Time elapsed during attraction's automotive adventure
    • 50,000 -Number of miles each test vehicle will travel per year -- equivalent to nearly four times the miles the average U.S. car is driven annually or more than 2.1 road trips from Orlando to Detroit and back!
    • 1 million -Number of miles each test vehicle was designed to last -- enough miles to make a trip from the Earth to the Moon more than four times, if ever such a highway in the sky existed!
    • 250 Horsepower -generated by each test vehicle -- roughly equal to the super-charged 3.8 Liter/240 horsepower 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix
    • 8.8 -Number of seconds it takes test vehicle to go from 0-65m.p.h. during attraction -- as speedy as the 1997 Pontiac Grand Am which reaches 0-60 in 8.6 seconds 50 degrees Angle of banking on "highway" which loops around building's massive 320-foot diameter
    • 3 -Number of on-board computers in each test vehicle which together have more processing power than the Space Shuttle
    • 34- Number of turns hugged by each test vehicle between start and finish 15 degrees Steepness of three-story hill climb at attraction's series of scheduled tests
    • 85 -Number of road signs lining the attraction's series of scheduled tests
    • 100 degrees -Temperature change between hot and cold during environmental chamber testing
    • 720 -Number of times daily that crash-test dummies will be struck in the chest, banged on the knees and have their necks bent in pre-show demonstrations
    • 2108 -Number of blue anechoic cones lining the walls and ceiling at electromagnetic compatibility test in attractions pre-show
    • 4 -Number of wheels per vehicle that are visible
    • 22 -Total number of wheels per vehicle
    • 6 -Number of braking systems on board each vehicle -- cars sold today have one or two braking systems
    • 0 -The amount of steel between the front and rear wheels --the vehicle chassis is made of composite materials
    • 4446 -The number of times daily that a display vehicle will collide headfirst, then reset, in high-speed barrier test
    • Sponsored by General Motors
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