Test Track

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Test Track

Locations, openings and status
Epcot March 17, 1999
General Motors Open

The interior of Test Track shows a simulated test lab, including test dummies and damaged cars.

Test Track is an attraction at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It is sponsored by General Motors ^[1]. It is one of the "Big Three" attractions in the park, along with "Mission: SPACE" and "Soarin'".

It opened to the public on December 19, 1998 after a long delay due to problems revealed during testing and changes to the ride design. The ride had many opening dates that it missed like May 1997 and August 1998. It replaced the World of Motion, though it uses the same ride building. It did not receive its official grand opening until March 17, 1999.

Guests ride in futuristic "test cars" in a GM "testing facility" and are taken through a series of tests to see how automobile prototype evaluations are done. The highlight of the ride is a speed trial around the outside of the Test Track building at a top speed of 65 miles per hour, making Test Track the fastest Disney theme park attraction ever built, next to California Screamin' and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.

The ride is usually kept running 20 or more hours a day, due to lengthy start up times and nightly maintenance. The advanced safety systems cut in and shut down the ride at times, increasing wait times — lines can often be two hours or so late in the evening, though there is rarely any line within half an hour of the park closing. Passes for Disney's FASTPASS system typically run out around 3 P.M., even on low attendance days.

1 Attraction facts
2 Trivia
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Attraction facts

Grand opening: March 17, 1999
- Soft opening: December 19, 1998
Construction started: September, 1995
Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering and General Motors Engineers
Sponsor: General Motors
Top speed: 65mph
Track length: 2,486 ft
Show building area: 150,000 sq. feet
Show scenes:
- Welcome Center (Queue)
- Hall Of Dummies (Queue)
- Briefing Room (Queue)
- Load/Unload (Queue)
- Dispatch
- Hill Climb Test
- Suspension Test
- Non-ABS / ABS Brake Test
- Environmental Chambers: Hot chamber 140°F; Cold chamber 40°F, Corrosion test.
- Ride & Handling: 20-25 mph
- Barrier Test
- High-Speed Test (Victory lap): 52 degrees banking at 65 mph
- Thermal Scan
Height requirement: 40"
Ride duration: 5:04
Previous attraction: World of Motion
Ride system: High speed simulated vehicle test track
Actor John Michael Higgins is featured in video sketches throughout the ride
Extra Options:

[edit] Trivia

The preshow video and video shown throughout the ride feature actor John Michael Higgins.
Originally, the car that crashes just before the barrier test would "slam" into the wall instead of only making a crashing sound.
Test Track is the ride that shuts down the most in the whole of Walt Disney World. The ride shuts down at least once a day due to technical difficulties.

[edit] References

Florida, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, 2004, pg 150

^ "General Motors and the Walt Disney Company sign a new contract that ensures GM's presence at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida until the 21st century. The contract extends the partnership at Epcot until 2007 and provides for a complete redesign of the existing GM World of Motion pavilion." http://www.gm.com/company/corp_info/history/gmhis1990.html