SirWillow
Well-Known Member
Used to work at Epcot, quite often actually in the photo area of Test Track where people would see their pictures and attach them to their photopass. There is absolutely no way that 40% number is accurate. Talk about a highly, ridiculously exaggerated number.
Yes, Test Track has a bit more downtime than other attractions. Part of that is because it goes outside, and any ride that goes outside is going to have to close during a Florida thunderstorm for lightning, "covered" or not, unless it's fully enclosed. That's just a safety issue.
And because of the nature of the vehicles, yes, it does close sometime due to guest stupidity. Much of the time when it does it's because of the safety system kicking in and making sure everything is good. If the computer system senses anything that may not be quite right, it will stop it. That's the vast majority of the stops, and those are almost always very brief. 5-10 minutes or so. And it's something that you would far rather have be a bit to sensitive than not sensitive enough.
Even with all of that though, there were only a handful of times that it shut down when I was working in the area, and only had a couple when I encountered that visiting with my family. I've seen many other rides in other non-Disney parks have more downtime than Test Track.
Oh, and my vote on outdoor attractions? I'd far rather have a bunch outside that have to shut down due to weather than have them all enclosed. Just see the differences between WDW's version of Small World compared to Paris or Disneyland.
Yes, Test Track has a bit more downtime than other attractions. Part of that is because it goes outside, and any ride that goes outside is going to have to close during a Florida thunderstorm for lightning, "covered" or not, unless it's fully enclosed. That's just a safety issue.
And because of the nature of the vehicles, yes, it does close sometime due to guest stupidity. Much of the time when it does it's because of the safety system kicking in and making sure everything is good. If the computer system senses anything that may not be quite right, it will stop it. That's the vast majority of the stops, and those are almost always very brief. 5-10 minutes or so. And it's something that you would far rather have be a bit to sensitive than not sensitive enough.
Even with all of that though, there were only a handful of times that it shut down when I was working in the area, and only had a couple when I encountered that visiting with my family. I've seen many other rides in other non-Disney parks have more downtime than Test Track.
Oh, and my vote on outdoor attractions? I'd far rather have a bunch outside that have to shut down due to weather than have them all enclosed. Just see the differences between WDW's version of Small World compared to Paris or Disneyland.
