Test Track

Test Track
Sign for the current attraction.
Epcot Area Future World Coordinates 28°22′24″N 81°32′52″W / 28.373277°N 81.547663°W / 28.373277; -81.547663 Status Operating Cost $100,000,000 (estimated)[1] Soft opening date December 19, 1998 Opening date March 17, 1999 (original) December 6, 2012 (reopening) Closing date April 15, 2012 (original) Replaced World of Motion
General statistics
Manufacturer	Dynamic Structures
Designer	Walt Disney Imagineering General Motors Corporation
Theme	Vehicle Test Facility
Music	"Test Track Medley"[2]
Speed	65 mph (105 km/h)
Site area	150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2)
Vehicle type	Slot car
Riders per vehicle	6
Rows	2
Riders per row	3
Duration	About 4:00 minutes
Height restriction	40 in (102 cm)
Sponsor	Chevrolet (2012 – present) General Motors (1999–2012)
Fastpass available
Single rider line available
Wheelchair accessible
Must transfer from wheelchair

Test Track is a giant slot car attraction at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The ride is a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures that General Motors uses to evaluate its vehicles, culminating in a high-speed drive around the exterior of the attraction. It closed for refurbishment in April 2012 and re-opened on December 6, 2012.^[3] It is now sponsored by General Motors' Chevrolet brand rather than General Motors as a whole, who sponsored the attraction from 1999 up until the refurbishment.

Test Track soft-opened to the public December 19, 1998 after a long delay due to problems revealed during testing and changes to the ride design which prevented the ride from opening on its original date, May 1997. Instead, the attraction officially opened on March 17, 1999. Test Track replaced World of Motion, though it uses the same ride building.

Before the 2012 refurbishment, guests rode in "test vehicles" in a GM "testing facility" and were taken through a series of assessments to illustrate how automobile prototype evaluations are conducted. The highlight of the attraction was (and still is) a speed trial on a track around the exterior of the Test Track building at a top speed of 65 miles per hour (104.6 km/h) making it one of the fastest Disney theme park attractions ever built. After the 2012 refurbishment, guests design their own car in the Chevrolet Design Studio. Then they board a "Sim-Car" and are taken through the "digital" testing ground of the "SimTrack". Throughout the ride, guests see how their designs performed in each individual test. After the ride, guests can see how their car did overall, film a commercial, and race their designs.

History

Test Track (March 1999 – April 2012)

World of Motion was an attraction that was located in the current building of Test Track and was sponsored by General Motors. When the sponsorship expired, GM was in the process of conducting lay-offs and cutbacks forcing the company to question whether or not to sign another sponsorship agreement. Upon deciding to sign another agreement, GM wanted Disney to construct a new ride (in the location of World of Motion) that focused specifically around their automobiles, rather than the fanciful history of transportation from the pre-historic (animal transportation) to modern age (automobiles, planes, etc.) previously housed in the space. In 1976, Disney Imagineers had visited the Milford Proving Ground (owned by General Motors) and later made a second trip to the facility and worked with GM to create Test Track. After numerous problems encountered during the construction of the ride, Test Track soft-opened on December 19, 1998 but didn't officially open until March 17, 1999, nearly 2 years after the original scheduled opening date.^[1]

Construction

After World of Motion had closed on January 2, 1996, everything inside the ride building was removed. After, new track was constructed outside of the building which is used as the high-speed test for Test Track. Work inside the building also continued at the same time. The ride was scheduled to open in May 1997 but after numerous problems rose, the ride opening was delayed by nearly 2 years.^[1] Also, the cars used on the ride were designed to resemble the look of a test car that is used to go through multiple safety tests.^[4]

Problems

Over the course of the construction of Test Track, numerous problems occurred causing delays in the ride opening. One problem that Imagineers had to overcome was that the wheels used on the ride vehicles could not stand up to the demand of the ride course and speed. This problem was resolved but a second, more severe problem caused the ride to be delayed by over a year. In order for Test Track to run with the highest hourly capacity possible, twenty-nine ride vehicles would be needed. The ride programming system could only handle operating a maximum of six cars over the layout of the ride. One by one, programmers were able to get the computer system able to run twenty-nine ride vehicles all at once. After these problems were resolved, Test Track soft-opened to the public on December 19, 1998. The ride was still prone to breakdowns and didn't officially open until March 17, 1999.^[1]

Test Track Presented by Chevrolet (December 2012  – present)

On January 6, 2012, Disney Parks announced plans to renovate Test Track during the second and third quarters of the year and re-open the ride by fall 2012.^[5][6] As part of the update, Test Track's sponsor became General Motors' Chevrolet marque instead of GM as a whole.^[5] The new additions include a pre-show area where guests "design" a new car for testing in the Chevrolet Design Center, then they will board Test Track's existing six-passenger ride vehicles, to be known as "SimCars", to see how their design fares on the Center's driving course.^[5] The experience concludes in a renovated showroom featuring current and future Chevrolet products. Also, the ride vehicles used on the original Test Track, will remain the same but receive new "skin".^[5][7] On April 27, 2012, Walt Disney's social media manager Jennifer Fickley-Baker released a set of concept design photos. Within the photos, it was confirmed that the ride will have 4 main tests: capability, efficiency, responsiveness, and power.^[8] The ride closed on April 15, 2012 and soon later, barriers were placed along all walk-ways leading to either the entrance or exit of the ride. Also, a musical show called "Test Track All Stars" has been added in front of the former main entrance to Test Track. The refurbished attraction first opened to guests during a soft opening on December 3, 2012. The grand re-opening took place on December 6, 2012.^[6][5][9][3]

Ride overview

1999 - 2012

Entrance to Test Track before the 2012 refurbishment.

The interior of Test Track shows a simulated test lab, including test dummies and damaged cars before the 2012 refurbishment.

Queue

During the first part of the queue, guest viewed a sample repair and test shop. As guests entered the queue in the welcome center they were shown tests performed on cars and parts before being released. The queue wound by different tests for tires and 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 would be brought into a briefing room where they were shown automobile testing facilities and examples of tests being performed. The host, Bill McKim (John Michael Higgins) told the guests that they would take part in some of these tests and also told the technician Sherrie what tests to set up. Small videos of each test were shown as he spoke. He finally told her to choose one final "surprise test," and a video of a car crashing into a barrier was shown as a door opened for guests to enter the interior queue.^[10]

Ride

Upon reaching the end of the second queue, guests were loaded into test cars. Upon dispatching from the loading dock, the car was brought through an accelerated hill climb. Next, the car's suspension was tested over different types of road surfaces, including bricks and cobblestones. Next, the car's anti-lock braking system was turned off and the car tried to navigate a course of cones, knocking many over in the process. The anti-lock brakes were then turned back on and a similar cone course was navigated easily. Guests were shown a video overlay of the difference. Then, the cars were brought through 3 environmental chambers: a hot chamber, a cold chamber, and a corrosion chamber.^[10]

The handling of the car was then tested. It climbed 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 was now brought to the final test shown in the briefing room: the barrier test. The car lined up across from a barrier and began to accelerate towards it. Just before hitting the barrier a series of flashes occurred, where a picture of the guests was taken, and the barrier opened to a track outside. The car took a lap around the building with banked turns and a max speed of 65 mph (104.6 km/h). As the car returned to the loading dock, a thermal scan was taken of the guests and shown on a large screen.^[10]

Like many Disney attractions, Test Track exited into a themed gift shop featuring merchandise associated with the attraction. Guests could also view and purchase photos taken of their vehicle on the ride or scan their Photopass to view or purchase the photos later. There was also an area where there was a showroom of all new, prototype, or legendary GM vehicles.^[10]

Post Show: The Assembly Experience

With the change from the original World of Motion attraction to the new Test Track attraction, the post shows were also replaced. In place of the original post show attractions: "Bird and Robot," "Water Engine," "Lean Machine," " Aerotest," and "Torture Test," which were designed by award winning experience designer Bob Rogers (designer) and the design team BRC Imagination Arts,^[11] Rogers and BRC were commissioned to create the new post show experience entitled: "The Assembly Experience."^[12] The Assembly Experience is a walk-through environment, giving guest the illusion that they are on the floor of a vast automotive assembly plant. Automotive doors, seats and engines glide overhead on assembly line chainveyors, while simulated automotive dye-press caused the floor to "rumble" as each automotive part was pressed. Video monitors provided real GM workers a chance to tell EPCOT visitors how they felt about their products and their work.^[13]

2012 - present

One of the two Design Studios.

Queue

The first queue uses the same area as the old but is themed to Chevrolet's Design Studio. Riders pass by two concept cars. After, the standby queue leads to a section where a small model car is drawn on through lasers while one of Chevrolet's employees discusses the design process for cars. The standby queue then splits into two lines where riders can take tutorials on how to design a car. Once at the front, riders receive a RFID card and wait for a set of doors to open leading into one of the two design studios. Once in the studio, riders have a set amount of time (that differs depending on how busy the attraction is) to design their own car that will be tested on the sim-track. Once the time expires, riders move to the second queue which leads to the boarding area. For Fastpass and Single Riders, riders receive their RFID card and then, riders have 30 seconds to select a pre-designed car from either Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness or Power. Once the 30 seconds expire, riders move to the same second queue. While waiting to board the sim-car's, they must scan their RFID chip to upload their car design to the ride.

Ride

After riders board the sim-cars and the seat belts are fastened, the car that they designed will undergo four different tests: capability, efficiency, responsiveness, and power. In the capability test the car first connects to OnStar, then accelerates past a rain/snow projection and skids out of control. Next, the continuing path disappears and the sim-car turns around to speed up again. A short time later, the sim-car makes a sharp left turn as a lighting bolt strikes. The car then passes by a futuristic city. Following the capability test, the results of which car designs scored the best in the test are displayed. The sim-car then begins the efficiency test. In the first part, the sim-cars are scanned for "optimum eco-efficiency". The second test performs an aero-dynamic test on the vehicle. Finally, a "hyper-spectrum imaging" takes place. Again, after the test is complete, the best scores are displayed. The third test, responsiveness, is next. The sim-car accelerates around hairpin turns with laser-projected trees. It then enters a tunnel to encounter the 18-wheeler from the original version though it is now shown with lasers. When the vehicle exits the tunnel, the results for the responsiveness test are displayed and all of the test icons are displayed. The final test is power where the sim-car stops for a moment then accelerates through flashing purple arches to a wall with the ride's logo on it leading to the outside portion of the ride. As the sim-car's speed is increased, it makes a right turn, followed by a wide left, a straight section, and one final long left turn. When the test is complete, the vehicle returns to the loading station where the next riders board. Then, the people use the card that has their sim-car that they made in the Design Studio to play games in the "Chevrolet Showroom" where the people play games with their sim-car. There is also a shop located at the exit like the original version of the ride.^[14]

In the current version, many World of Motion logos can be found throughout the attraction, such as on trash bins, murals, and also the attraction's main sign.

See also

• 2012 in amusement parks
• Epcot attraction and entertainment history
• Journey to the Center of the Earth, the second generation of Test Track technology, located at Tokyo DisneySea, at Tokyo, Japan.
• Radiator Springs Racers, a similar attraction at Disney California Adventure themed after Disney·Pixar's Cars.

References

• Florida, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, 2004, pg 150

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Test Track, Epcot.

• Walt Disney World Resort – Test Track
• Video (POV) of the new Test Track
• Video (POV) of the old Test Track