Test Track Overrated

[jonmar]

Curiously, Does anyone agree with me that Test Track is the most overrated ride in the Walt Disney World Resort? Let me know what you think. They should have never gotten rid of Horizons, World of Motion and the original Journey into Imagination. They should abolish the Living Seas and redo Body Wars. Anyway let me know what you think about these ideas I have. Thanks


Jon

 

[bearboysnc]

I too think TT is way over rated. I can drive that fast on the freeway.

I could ride WoM again & again. But, I see no need to ride TT again. Even if the line was less than 15 minutes long.

 

[disneydudette]

I disagree.....

I enjoy TT...its a good ride...should it be in EPCOT....no...I think horizons and World of Motion was more of Epcot than TT....but still....since everything is a money market these days...maybe it was nessecary to have a ride such as TT in EPCOT...

 

[yankeeboy1638]

I agree that World of Motion was better, but Test Track has more appeal to those theme park guests who have short attention spans and don't want to learn anything at Epcot. But atleast the ride is still somewhat educational as you can learn something about automotive testing- they could have just shoved you in a car and drove you around for 5 minutes with no story at all....

And yes, the living seas is pretty bad, but there's not much hope in changing it as it is pretty hard to reconfigure a ride inside a huge aquarium. They would have to drain the whole tank and get rid of all the animals to do something major to the pavillion. So we're pretty much stuck with what they've got.:snore:

 

[GGG1]

I agree, TT is not on one of my "must do" lists. Lines are ridiculously long, it breaks down all the time, and whenever it starts to rain they must shut it down for safety. I thought the WOM was fabulous as well and I am beginning to worry that they are going to continue to take away the classic rides out of all parks.

 

[SpongeScott]

I guess i disagree with the masses here--I enjoy TT and the rest of my family consider it their favorite attraction at WDW. As for having a "short attention span" and not wanting to learn to EPCOT, I take offense to that statement (not trying to argue or fight, just defending my position). EPCOT is very educational and you do learn a lot and TT is not an exception to that. You are given insight into the automotive industry and you learn what is done and required before a car is allowed to hit the showroom. Is it different from other venues at EPCOT? Yes, but does that make it wrong or useless? Funny how those that seem to detest TT the most are the ones who suppoty JIYI the most. Personally, I can't stand that attraction. But, different strokes for different folks. Let us Test Trekkies have our fun!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

If TT is vastly over-rated, why are there queues all day for it and why do the FP tickets usually disappear around mid-day.
EPCOT is NOT about education - it started (as its acronym suggests) as a concept of the future - therefore the car proving & development grounds (providing safer and better cars for tomorrow) is perfectly in place within EPCOT.
As for the other rides disappearing to make way for TT - well, thats progress.

 

[christopher]

I Like test track, but do think that it is overated. When I went in July, it was the only ride that was out of fast passes by 1pm

 

[celticdog]

TEST TRACK/LIVING SEAS

For anyone interested in cars the Test Track is a good ride. It may not be thrilling, in comparision to others, however I found it to be a great ride. The wait was extremely excessive (it didn't have fast pass at my last visit). The abomination with the ride is the auto showroom at the exit, it's a giant 3D GM ad. With all the crass commercialism within the parks, you'd think ticket prices and food could be cheaper.

The living seas is an absolutely fantastic exhibit. All one has to do is watch the reactions of children as they gaze in amazment at the fish, tutrles, sharks and dolphins. I could literally spend hours watching the aquarium. The bonus to this exhibit is the Coral Seas, It is one my favorite restaurants.

 

[yankeeboy1638]

sorry, i guess i wasn't clear on my statement, but I also like TT very much, and like how they show what the test cars must go through before they are sold to the public. I was just stating that there has been a move away from the Epcot attractions of the 80s and early 90s where the park was less about thrill and was more about, no matter how you want to put it, education. Thats why most of the rides-SSE, WoM, Horizons- were slow, long, omnimover attractions, and in my opinion they were better rides than TT because they did not need the thrill t entertain. And on Epcot not being about education, EPCOT the city was the experimental part which never happened, EPCOT Center the theme park was meant to educate and entertain. But nevertheless, I still think Test Track is a good ride, but is overrated and is only crowded all the time because it is the only thrill ride in Epcot worth seeing more than once.

 

[stingrock23]

I have mixes emotions. I think test track is a good ride, but it is a little overrated. I mean, I think it should still be in Epcot, but not at the expense of World of Motion. I would prefer World of Motion and Horizons still be there, as well as Test Track and Mission Space. I think having all 4 of those attractions still in operation would keep Epcot's attendance at a good level. I miss the old omnimover style rides that i really associated with Epcot in the 80's. Test track is a good attraction that is informative, but i wish it did not have to replace world of motion.

 

[jcmayid]

Dude, you are out of gas here. Test Track ROCKS!!! It is a change. Living Seas will always have a place in Epcot!! You are right though, Horizon, World of Motion and Journey were great but it's time to move on. Living Seas could use an upgrade, but I love it.

 

[dreamer]

I wouldn't wait to ride Test Track again. I don't think I learned much from it and the thrill part wasn't too much of a thrill.

I like the Living Seas. My family always has to drag me out of there. Some people just like watching fish. I hope they don't get rid of it. (Ripley's aquarium in Gatlinburg is great, too.)

I used to like World of Motion. Probably better than TT. I haven't seen the new Journey into Imagination, but think the old one needed redoing. (I'll see it in 5 weeks when we're there.)

I think EPCOT will have to constantly update. They need to keep up with technology and culture. The only question is whether they will make good changes or worthless ones.

 

[Rehabilitated]

Unfortunatley although many thought the premise of seeing inside the testing facilities of GM would be cool, it comes off boring. Vehicle development is comprised of moments of exhilaration followed by long stretches of boring routine. I worked at the Milford Proving Ground in the Embedded Systems Group focused on engine calibration for a few years right of out college. It was cool, but at a geek level that doesn't translate well to a 3D general public environment.

What Test Track doesn't do is give you the thrill of the 5 mile circle track at 150MPH, of flying over a hill where the car almost becomes airborne, the jostling of the real belgian blocks, nor the high speed cornering and eventual side skid of the skid pad. So in the end, the little bits of excitement that are part of vehicle development were left out and the ride ends up being interesting, but not fun. Best part for me is being able to show my kids where I worked!

Of course perhaps I'm jaded because I'd rather be in a prototype Vette at 150 than an electric slow-mo-bile at 65.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I love Test Track and think it's a fun ride. I have no clue what you people are talking about driving like that. You would get into accidents all the time flying around hair-pin turns like that...the point behind Test Track is you CAN'T drive like that, and this shows the limits we put cars to in order to see them as safe. Education is great, but not something that will make this park more popular. Disney wants more guests in this park, and fun rides is the way to go...I personally found Horizons, the old Universe of Energy, Living Seas, and Spaceship Earth to be dull...those are not the types of attractions that today's theme park goers want to spend a whole day on...as for Horizons...the attraction did not belong in Future World. All the other pavillions took on a specific theme (health, energy, agriculture, oceans, etc) but Horizons was...hmmm...the future? Didn't belong...and its space was to be inhabited by a Space attraction from the time planning began. Back to Test Track..as someone said, a boring attraction would not generate the lines Test Track does. It's certainly the most popular "boring" attraction every constructed...

 

[Sketch105]

I liked TT, but it is over-rated. As someone said in line once "just like driving a fast car."

True, theres not that many banked turns on the highway, and the "crash test" scene is neat, but the ride really isn't much of a thrill. The increase in speed is never really felt because the acceleration distances are too short, the turns are not that tight, etc. Plus those flat trees really don't add much to it.

While TT was not just created to give you some thrills, but also teach about the amount of testing that goes into a car's design, it was not made just to make it look like a sunday drive in the country. I think a little extra kick would really give this attraction some rave reviews.

What they should look for in designing a ride with a automobile vehicle is something like the tricks James Bond does: Donuts, three sixties, and hair pin turns.
Its that type of stuff that we usually can't do on the highway, at least without getting a ticket for reckless driving. This would give us a "license to thrill", unlike some of the boring stretches of very uneventful turns.

I would be cool if an attraction created the feeling of jumping a bridge.

Hey, I got it. How bout a "Stuntman" ride. Its sort of like the video game in concept, but thats as far as it goes. Your hired to be voluntary stuntman in a movie, and you must film a long action sequence. This ride would be excellent at Disney MGM Studios

Its nice to see something new and refreshing in Epcot. I wish I had gotten to ride World of Motion and Horizons one more time before they closed, just to be able to soak it up. And videotape it.

 

[SpongeScott]

Yankeeboy, now we're on the same page. Thanks for re-clarifying in your post. EPCOT has changed since it's early days. I guess it depends on how you view the changes they are making if they are for the overall good of the park. Some will like it, some will not.

 

[monorail256]

I dont think TT is over-rated.. its just a ride that people enjoy.. and can ride over and over again. I like TT and... will continue waiting in line to ride it... but the single riders line is muuuuch better!

 

[JLW11Hi]

Ok here are my thoughts:

Yes, WOM seemed to be a good ride, although I seriously can't remember it. I just watched a video from someone else who rode it, and it seemed a lot like Spaceship Earth. The problem with WOM was that it failed to give any real ideas for the future. Spaceship Earth, which also used the idea of going through history, also went beyond it and into the future. WOM didnt seem to do that.

However, I do find it funny that after the show lacked refrences to the future, the reinovation, TT, is basically about the present. I still doont see any signs of the future from the pavillion! But mabey that is teh poin Disney is trying to get across? Mabey the future of transport as of now still lies in cars? It is funny that WOM never showed more ideas of transportation, because the original idea for EPCOT was very reliant on showcasing transportation. The WED Way peoplemovers, for instance, were its main ways of getting around. The streets were practically perfect in design, almost impossible to get into a car accident. Different levels for different vehicles (underground level for visitors, and another level for shipping trucks.) And of course, DIsney's favorite, the monorail. Yet in all versions of WOM, they fail to bring up any of these ideas.

Yes, yes, I know. The original EPCOT idea may have been a bit too into the future. But isnt that what EPCOT is supposed to do? It has to showcase these ideas. I, for one, feel that a system like WED Way could have helped a lot. They eliminated the need to take short drives to and from work, saving people gas. Plus, lets not forget the main reason I think they wanted a seperate above ground transportation system: NO ACCIDENTS! I have heard that a majority of car accidents occur in short drives, such as driving into town, or work. With a system like WED Way, the number of accidents could lower noticeably.

No? Well, that's my idea. And I think Epcot shoud at least attept to show these ideas to the public, so they can give theri own opinions on the subject. I think Epcot is about education in the way it tries to show us some of the concepts of the future, and shows like Spaceship Earth also show us how we got to where we are so far, ala Carousel of Progress.

As for Test Track, I like the ride. I also like the part at the end where you are in a little "replica" of a GM factory, where it tells you parts of the process cars go through to be built. I think it is pretty interesting. Not to mention some of the sweet cars on display in the GM post show place.

 

[goofyfan13]

I personally do enjoy TT but I do think that the ride is over-rated. It's not as thrilling as they say it is and I think the ride would be much better if they tore down the building and built from scratch. But they did it the way they did and I guess where stuck with it.:brick: It is a ride I must hit but I wouldn't be that dissapointed if I didn't.