EPCOT Test Track to be reimagined

[Sir_Cliff]

I have always enjoyed Test Track, but I don’t think it has ever cracked my top 10 attractions at WDW.

I am a bit the same on Test Track and kind of think the idea (Epcot's first thrill ride and replacement for WoM taking guests through the rigours of testing cars) was better than the execution. Mission: Space suffers from the same issue for me: an idea that sounds great on paper, a ride that never quite rose to the heights it was supposed to. I will also say that the crash test element of Test Track was a little unnerving considering how evocative it was of car accidents, at least for me. I'm surely not the only one who also has that blunt force trauma to the knee demonstration in the 1.0 queue seared into my brain!

All of that said, I think they did a good job with this in making a ride that actually hits suitably Epcotian notes in its celebration of technology and optimistic tone. Best case scenario would have been starting from scratch rather than having to rework an existing ride into something new, but given the assignment I think they did a good job.

 

[FettFan]

It’s a scenic drive of our customized vehicle and the ending is a speed test outside. Vignettes so like…. Dream flight? LWTL? UOE? SSE and other beloved classics?

That’s what Horizons was for.

Really tied the park together, did it not?

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I don’t see how, as literally every pavilion had a theme.

In fact that’s one of the reasons i gave Moana praise, despite its outwardly “Animal Kingdom” aesthetic. It bridges the gap between The Living Seas and The Land.
In fact, I would argue that Moana could actually be strengthened if TLS were to move back into the direction of the old SeaBase Alpha (albeit with Nemo and Friends) and focus on science and technology rather than “here’s an aquarium”.

They certainly had a theme, but they wouldn't have passed the same test comparing Test Track's queue to Ministry of Magic's to which I was responding. The architecture and queues in the pavilions were not 'themed' in the same sense as, say, Pirates of the Caribbean or Big Thunder Mountain, which would be logical comparisons for the time. The one possible exception would be The Living Seas, admittedly.

 

[flynnibus]

It’s a scenic drive of our customized vehicle and the ending is a speed test outside. Vignettes so like…. Dream flight? LWTL? UOE? SSE and other beloved classics?

Do you not see how the vignettes of those attractions actually are connected and are telling a story?

What is ‘the future of automobiles’ about this ‘scenic drive’? ‘Speed test outside’ again how does this connect?

You are are basically just saying it exists.. hence it works. That is the epitome of circular logic. ‘Its not bad, it’s exactly what they wanted…’

 

[flynnibus]

That is a lazy charge. I could easily say you cherry picked Potter which is arguably the best Uni has done, but I didn't because you were trying to make a point.

It’s called comparing contemporaries. It literally is comparing the latest headliners opened just a month apart… in the same region no less.

If we weren’t talking WHAT IS HAPPENING right now… one can talk about past attractions. Instead I’m talking about what disney is doing as they rework the two biggest draws in the park. This is what they OKAYED

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Do you not see how the vignettes of those attractions actually are connected and are telling a story?

What is ‘the future of automobiles’ about this ‘scenic drive’? ‘Speed test outside’ again how does this connect?

You are are basically just saying it exists.. hence it works. That is the epitome of circular logic. ‘Its not bad, it’s exactly what they wanted…’

Because the whole point of the ride is the outdoor thrill section finale? That’s always been the most memorable part and what draws guests in from the outside. The scenic drive i mean it’s certainly a better set then the first 2 versions but it could tie in better if it talked abit more about the speeding through terrain. The dusk set gives it a peoplemover diorama feel

 

[JackCH]

It’s called comparing contemporaries. It literally is comparing the latest headliners opened just a month apart… in the same region no less.

If we weren’t talking WHAT IS HAPPENING right now… one can talk about past attractions. Instead I’m talking about what disney is doing as they rework the two biggest draws in the park. This is what they OKAYED

And I'm arguing it is not a good comparison. But you aren't convinced. So fair enough.

 

[Drew the Disney Dude]

Did you ask him what is going in with World Celebration Gardens lighting? I didn't know he was still around, and one of the reasons I thought it was not being addressed was that there was nobody left from the World Celebration team who cared about it.

I didn't because I honestly wasn't thinking about it after riding TT for the first time. If I see the WDI team on-site again, I'll be sure to mention it. The lighting situation is abysmal. I'd genuinely love to know how management thinks that the current product is acceptable.

 

[Casper Gutman]

All 3 queues look fine for their respective themes? I mean I do wish we actually got the Milano in GOTG though

Disney determines the themes. And the minimal effort put into doing something interesting with that theme.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Rode it yesterday. I did 1.0 when I was 9, i remember it still fondly as it was my early start for my love of thrill rides. Watching POVs now I do realize I’d be a lot more critical of it today as the aesthetic was mainly just signage and cutouts through an empty warehouse. Didn’t take away from how fun the OG version of the ride was though, there was something so weird and unique about that experience that only 90s and 00s Epcot could capture.

Rode 2.0 in 2013 when I was 11 and I remember initially liking it just as much. But as time has gone on and I’ve become a bigger parks fan and purist, I came to realized how quickly the ride outdated itself. It felt slightly futuristic in 2013, but in the early part of this decade as I’ve started going to the parks more regularly, it just felt more sterile and boring the more I experienced it. The ride itself was still fun, but I felt the design studio fun every once in a while, but something easily skippable as I felt it didn’t actually add anything to the ride experience itself.

I was one of the few who was excited and pretty optimistic for a 3.0. The queue feels similar to 2.0, though one thing i noticed is how more open everything feels, the windows facing the final turn feel more open and along with the seatbelt check also being opened up by a window, give very nice kinetic energy that the 2.0 queue was really lacking. The exhibits in the first room feel very reminiscent of 2.0, but the open airiness of the room gives it more of a nicer feel. The second room where the design studio is feels a bit sparse, like they couldve added more, but the exhibits that are there give nice information about the future and sustainability, something that feels straight out of original Epcot Center which I really appreciated.

The ride itself felt like a modern day classic EPCOT Center attraction. I was initially disappointed after the incline still felt a bit like 2.0, but than the lights flash as you transition to darkness and that’s where everything gets going. The first street scene is great, with the projections smoothly transitioning into lights to create a very cool effect that goes into the Lidar sections. The house scene is what stood out to me the most. Seeing full scale physical sets of what could be a real life place felt like what 80s Epcot looked like. Having the WoM callback with the projection effect of the different car designs is cool as well. The scenic drive through the woods was awesome, as was the pine scent which is very earthy and smells almost as good as the ET forest scent over at USF. The scene leading up to the launch is really sweet, with a model of a future car transitioning into a dome screen which encapsulates the entire top 3/4 of the room. One of the cool little details I noticed is as you launch, everything around on the screen moves in sync with the launch, which is just such an awesome little touch.

All in all, 3.0 is, in my opinion, the absolute best iteration of this attraction. It is unfortunately so rare to see an example of what an 80s Epcot Center could be like in the modern day, but this iteration of the attraction felt like the closest it could be. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but if the SSE and JII inevitable makeovers are as good as this… than Epcot fans… we just might be back

Sorry for the long post but I have a lot of thoughts and very detail oriented haha

Awesome and thoughtful post. Haven't ridden it yet, but even from the videos...this just checks all the boxes for me. It isn't perfect, but this is the closest we've come to "modern" EPCOT in a long time.

 

[Casper Gutman]

This comes across as a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" sort of criticism.

When they do something that is evocative of the original idea of EPCOT Center (whether they do it well or not is another issue), people repeat the same complaints of critics of the original park that it isn't as whimsical or colourful as what they had come to expect from Magic Kingdom or other parks of that nature. When they just abandon it and go full IP, people complain that whatever they do doesn't feel very EPCOT.

It always makes me think that people think that they like the original EPCOT Center, but if it opened today they would howling about the lack of 'theming'.

A few thoughts:

1) One of the examples is GotG, to which your arguments really don’t apply. It’s an IP ride that could (should) be in MGM or even MK. The minimalistic “EPCOT” theming is a dodge. If that was the direction they wanted to go, it needed to be done with satirical wit and whimsy, not as a series of empty spaces with periodic pandering. The heavily cut pre-ride portion of Guardians is a big reason it failed as themed entertainment.

2) The EPCOT classics were people-eating omnimovers. The line was an afterthought because people moved through it fast.

3) There really were two EPCOTS - one part was witty, clever, history-oriented, with impeccable scene design. The other was full of big, empty spaces stuffed full of explicit advertising material or more pedantic “edutainment,” “interactive” games, and a few scattered spots of interest. You are correct that the nostalgia is largely for the first EPCOT. The second was the bit you ran through to get back to the first.

It is one of the core perversities of Disney history that the first bit was almost entirely ripped out over a very brief period, with only SSE left in the wake of WoM, Kitchen, Imagination, and Horizons. What was left - even (and I court controversy here) the surviving attractions - were all alligned more with that second EPCOT. We can discuss all the reasons this happened elsewhere. Suffice it to say that Test Track then and now carried on the portion of the EPCOT tradition featuring the straight-faced hard sell, the edu- with less tainment, the glorification of corporations without the hopeful and sometimes naive optimism, the big empty spaces stuffed full- all the stuff that would age very quickly.

 

[flynnibus]

Because the whole point of the ride is the outdoor thrill section finale? That’s always been the most memorable part and what draws guests in from the outside. The scenic drive i mean it’s certainly a better set then the first 2 versions but it could tie in better if it talked abit more about the speeding through terrain. The dusk set gives it a peoplemover diorama feel

So you can't connect them to your theme of "future of automobiles" - It's just 'thats the fun ride part'

Which is exactly what this attraction will devolve to.... lidar is cool and then the outdoor track section.

 

[Jrb1979]

So you can't connect them to your theme of "future of automobiles" - It's just 'thats the fun ride part'

Which is exactly what this attraction will devolve to.... lidar is cool and then the outdoor track section.

I get what you're saying. I also think todays average guest doesn't really care that much about the meaning or story of the attraction. They want something fun to ride.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I didn't because I honestly wasn't thinking about it after riding TT for the first time. If I see the WDI team on-site again, I'll be sure to mention it. The lighting situation is abysmal. I'd genuinely love to know how management thinks that the current product is acceptable.

At some point you’re gonna realize (I swear) that they don’t care what is “accessible” and what isn’t…they really don’t

It’s not about a cohesive sense or “quality”…it’s about just enough refreshing - minimum - to keep the upsell spigot flowing

 

[flynnibus]

I get what you're saying. I also think todays average guest doesn't really care that much about the meaning or story of the attraction. They want something fun to ride.

The reason they are important is because without it.. you are at best, less than the sum of your parts. It's not what the guest necessarily comes for, but it impacts what they get out of it.

An experience that is consistent with itself is easier to embrace and fall into. An experience that "works" can pull you in deeper and suspend the disbelief. An experience that has elements that support each other raise the total to be more than just the sum of the parts.

It's why people don't go on pirates just to see fake fire or canons... or experience drops. It's the difference between Space Mountain and Flight of Fear. It's what make's disney attractions more than just fancy carnival rides.

Guests don't shop for the story - but their payout is based on how good it is and how successfully it's executed.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I get what you're saying. I also think todays average guest doesn't really care that much about the meaning or story of the attraction. They want something fun to ride.

You’re using your “Sandusky” measuring stick there again.

Wdw still does not attract people as “ride parks”…it never did and it’s not equipped for it for a variety of reasons. The themes filled the gap on the lack of carnie volume. That’s why they’re genius.

Leaking toward “ride park”…with zero commitment to do it (mostly costs?)…I wouldn’t go there

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

So you can't connect them to your theme of "future of automobiles" - It's just 'thats the fun ride part'

Which is exactly what this attraction will devolve to.... lidar is cool and then the outdoor track section.

It’s a ride at an amusement park, not an English masters class. It’s a fun ride built around cars, that has some neat features inside, and ends with the rider “opening up” the car on the fast track. It has a general theme of cars, driving now and into the future. It’s not looking to create some hidden deeper meaning. In the same way pirates doesn’t get in depth into the history significance of pirates and privateers on the Caribbean and new world development. You want deeper themes, go read Tolstoy. Don’t think any of the kids visiting WDW on their vacation are going to say “that was fun, I love driving fast in a convertible, and that drop at the beginning is great, but I just don’t get the themearic linkage between the lights inside and the outside track”

 

[flynnibus]

It’s a ride at an amusement park, not an English masters class. It’s a fun ride built around cars, that has some neat features inside, and ends with the rider “opening up” the car on the fast track. It’s not looking to create some hidden deeper meaning. You want that, go read Tolstoy. Don’t think any of the kids visiting WDW on their vacation are going to say “that was fun, I love driving fast in a convertible, and that drop at the beginning is great, but I just don’t get the themearic linkage between the lights inside and the outside track”

Congrats - you completely failed how Disney parks differentiated themselves and why they are popular. Go checkout Siren's Curse instead. I hear they have some great flat rides for your young ones too.

 

[Jrb1979]

You’re using your “Sandusky” measuring stick there again.

Wdw still does not attract people as well “ride parks”…it never did and it’s not equipped for it for a variety of reasons. The themes filmed the gap on the lack of carnie volume. That’s why they’re genius.

Leaking toward “ride park”…with zero commitment to do it (mostly costs?)…I wouldn’t go there

That's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying it's a ride park. What I'm saying is that todays average guest do want theming but they don't want the education part of it.

 

[Jrb1979]

Congrats - you completely failed how Disney parks differentiated themselves and why they are popular. Go checkout Siren's Curse instead. I hear they have some great flat rides for your young ones too.

Hie post is what I was talking about. Todays average guest want theming but they don't want the deep story like Horizons and World of Motion had.