Test Track

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Test Track

Epcot
Designer	Walt Disney Imagineering, General Motors Corporation
Attraction type	Hight speed simulated test track
Theme	Vehicle Test Facility
Propulsion method	Onboard Electrical Motor
Soft opening date	December 19, 1998
Opening date	March 17, 1999
Hosted by	John Michael Higgins
Vehicle capacity	6
Ride duration	5:34 minutes
Length	4286 ft (1306.4 m)
Maximum speed	65 mph (104.6 km/h)
Height requirements	40" (102 cm)
Site area	150000 ft²
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 10°F, Corrosion test Ride & Handling: 20-25 mph Barrier Test High-Speed Test (Victory lap): 52 degrees banking at 65 mph Thermal Scan
Previous attraction	World of Motion
Sponsored by	General Motors (1999 - present)

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 illustrate how automobile prototype evaluations are conducted. The highlight of the ride is a speed trial on a track 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', Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and Tokyo DisneySea's Journey to the Center of the Earth (which uses an improved version of Test Track's ride system).

The ride remains powered up 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, contributing to long standby wait times that are among the longest of any Walt Disney World attraction. Tickets for Disney's FASTPASS system typically run out by mid-afternoon.

1 The Ride
2 Trivia
3 References
4 External links

[edit] The Ride

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

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

As guests enter the queue in the welcome center they are shown tests performed on cars and parts before they are released. The queue winds past different tests for tires, car doors, an anechoic chamber for radio receivers, and an area for crash test dummies to be tested. At the end of the queue a group of guests are brought into a briefing room where they are shown automobile testing facilities and examples of tests being performed. The host, John Michael Higgins tells the guests that they will take part in some of these tests and tells the technician in charge of testing what tests to set up. Small videos of each test are shown as he speaks. He finally tells her to choose another test and a video of a car crashing into a barrier is shown as a door is opened for guests to enter the interior queue.

Upon reaching the end of this second queue guests are loaded into the test cars to begin. Upon dispatching from the loading dock the car is brought through an accelerated hill climb. Next the car's suspension is tested over different road surfaces, including bricks and cobblestones. Next, the car's anti-lock braking system is turned off and the car tries to negotiate of course of cones, knocking many over in the process. The anti-lock brakes are then turned back on and a similar cone course is negotiated easily. Guests are shown a video overlay of the difference. Next the cars are brought through environmental chambers: a hot chamber of 140°F, a cold chamber of 10°F, and a corrosion chamber.

The handling of the car is tested next. It climbs a set of hills with blind turns while increasing its speed each time. At the top the car almost crashes into an oncoming semi-truck before swerving out of the way. The car is now on the final test shown in the briefing room: the barrier test. The car lines up across from a barrier and begins to accelerate towards it. Just before hitting the barrier a series of flashes occur, where a picture of the guests is taken, and the barrier opens to a track outside. The car takes a lap around the building with banked turns and a top speed of 65 mph (104.6 km/h). As the car returns to the loading dock a thermal scan is taken of the guests and shown on a large screen.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

Test Track is among the most breakdown-prone attraction in the whole of Walt Disney World. Days without one or more 5-15 minutes delays caused by "Technical Difficulties" are nearly unheard of, and it's not uncommon for the Operators to be forced to perform an "In-Show Exit" (evacuation) and dump the queue. Among Disney Cast, it's commonly mentioned that Track Technicians don't require refresher evacuation training, as they're the unchallenged Evac Champions across property.
Almost all of the cars in the attraction are GM models, but the cars that are involved in crash tests (Barrier Test and Crash Examination in queue area) are all made by other manufacturers.

[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