Test Track refurb???

[ChrisFL]

Honestly, that side-by-side comparison makes the improvements so glaringly obvious its not even funny.

If you would take someone who's never been to Epcot before and showed them that side-by-side, they'd think the right one (2.0) was the real attraction and the left one (1.0) was a cheap knockoff attempt.

As always IMO.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Honestly, that side-by-side comparison makes the improvements so glaringly obvious its not even funny.

If you would take someone who's never been to Epcot before and showed them that side-by-side, they'd think the right one (2.0) was the real attraction and the left one (1.0) was a cheap knockoff attempt.

As always IMO.

I think a lot of the criticism is coming from people who grew up with TT1. They are emotionally invested in it. TT1's sights and sounds are their formative memories, part of their magic Disney memories. People genuinely love the WDW they grew up with, fell in love with.

I (we) grew up with WoM, and so never truly emotionally accepted TT1. I would've considered it an improvement if TT2 consisted solely of burning TT1 down and the Bird and the Robot roasting marshmellows over it.

 

[Gregoryp73]

I haven't read Kevin's review, but I also don't care to read reviews much until I experience something (and I will be shortly). But Kevin has seemed to be going soft on the Mouse of late ... I mean when structures are crumbling and Disney is about to totally change the way guests experience WDW (not for the better, not for the cheaper), I'm not sure my focus (not that I have a column) would be on Test Track 2.0.

That said, I spoke with a friend who I greatly respect last night and he had been on it 15 times in the last few days. He kept spoilers out for me, but said it certainly is much better than TT 1.0 ... but that's it's no RSRs (and, of course, no JTTCoTE). It's a Tron dark ride with some kewl effects and lighting, computers that are still based in 1997 and don't always work right and suddenly a loop outside that in no way fits or has a transition from what's basically been a dark ride.

I'm glad Kevin is enjoying the new WDW more than many of us.

I think the only ball that was dropped on this ride is the lack of attention on the outside... there is still the awful jolt of backstage that you see all over the place on this one...this could have been fixed with an enclosed awning (with sound absorbing material) type of tunnel over the doubled up track and outer walls around the outside loop. And LED's along the way and make it the highway of tomorrow as well...They could have worked in a "driverless car performance test" storyline.

I hope that they decide to add something to hide the backlot and utility trucks on this ride...it really does stand out now that the inside is so awesome.

 

[ChrisFL]

I do agree with the others that the exit going to the outside portion needs help...even if it was a few of those rings going over parts of the track that could look cool at night.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Let me preface this by saying that I have not watched any videos...but I have seen the concept art.

Going by the concept art, it looks as though you're entering a "digital world" on the old ascent...and then prior to the outdoor section you see the same thing... Is this suppose to represent you leaving the "digital world?"

(Which would represent your design hopping out of the "digital drawing board" and into the reality.)

If this is the case, then continuing the digital "tron-look" wouldn't fit with the story of the attraction.
Is this "Story" just not clearly explained or is it just not implemented well?

 

[marni1971]

The one in the Efficiency Chambers?

Not that one as well? I meant the semi rig outline tracer.

Regarding enclosing the exterior... One other little item... It'd need to be hurricane proof. Just a small item. But yes. Outside still needs help. Loose the 90s lamposts. Add LED under rail lighting. LED embedded light effects. More markings on the surface to match the visuals inside. And some suitable music.

Maybe next year...

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Not that one as well? I meant the semi rig outline tracer.

Regarding enclosing the exterior... One other little item... It'd need to be hurricane proof. Just a small item. But yes. Outside still needs help. Loose the 90s lamposts. Add LED under rail lighting. LED embedded light effects. More markings on the surface to match the visuals inside. And some suitable music.

Maybe next year...

What if it was it's own structure like a continuous "arch" over the track? It could be completely separate from the track/supports.

Or even add "rings" like the ascent hill has...

 

[WDWBryan]

Yes they could at least try to make the outside cool at night but they still have the street lights on. They should replace them or put blacklights in then. add more purple as that's the them of that section. The left and right lines are still street white and yellow. those should've been painted over purple

 

[towerofterror8]

don't yell at me, but i think it is absolutley awful. everything fun about the ride is gone. The enviromental rooms are just wasted space. Since the track is the same it makes no sense with the weather. Nothing will work half the time. the responsivness test is meh except for the lazer trees. I like the barrier test and i still like the outdoor part. In my mind, the voices bore me to death as they have no emphasis or emotion. (I know it's supposed to be a computer, don't yell) As the old saying goes, 'don't fix it if it isn't broke'. and also, why is it still called test track. They call it sim track like 4 times. Bad job disney and gm. This is really disappointing

 

[montyz81]

Love the Future City. I am not sure if this is a direct reference to the original city in WOM as a tribute, but even so it does give a little bit of the WOM feel. So excited about the job the did here. I also noticed that the entrance canopy doesn't go all the way to the pavilion building. has it always been that way?

Can anyone help answer. Is the Future city a tribute to WOM? Did the entrance canopy always have a huge gap between the building and the canopy?

 

[ShookieJones]

But it might be better to wait for the morning after before submitting a review. Let the adrenaline wear off a bit, give sober reflection time to take over. .

Agreed, and let's face it-- pretty damn good advice when anyone decides it's time to start flapping their jaws.

 

[misterID]

From what I can tell from the vids: This TT fits FW. TT1 never fit FW.

And you can't fault someone for liking TT2 more than RSR, or somone who hates it compared to TT1. But when you say it's better than WOM you crossed the line, buddy.

 

[towerofterror8]

they took world of motion, a horribly boring ride, and turned it into test track, an exciting ride. they then took test track, an exciting ride, and turned it into test track2, a boring ride

 

[GLaDOS]

they took world of motion, a horribly boring ride, and turned it into test track, an exciting ride. they then took test track, an exciting ride, and turned it into test track2, a boring ride

Ignoring your point about WoM....

Ummm...what!? It's the same ride. Literally the same exact ride. It does the same exact motions save for the block tests. How in the heck is it less exciting?

 

[dreamscometrue]

Ignoring your point about WoM....

Ummm...what!? It's the same ride. Literally the same exact ride. It does the same exact motions save for the block tests. How in the heck is it less exciting?

I wouldn't even bother man if I were you. This can't end well.

 

[HMF]

TT 2.0 is really awesome but saying its better than Carsland is a huge stretch.

It's better suited for Epcot than Cars Land would be.

 

[HMF]

I think a lot of the criticism is coming from people who grew up with TT1. They are emotionally invested in it. TT1's sights and sounds are their formative memories, part of their magic Disney memories. People genuinely love the WDW they grew up with, fell in love with.

I (we) grew up with WoM, and so never truly emotionally accepted TT1.

I grew up with TT1 and I feel TT2 is far superior.

 

[HMF]

TT 2.0 reviews are getting a little out of control here guys.

When we call out the negatives at WDW people get defensive and call us Doom & Gloomers when we praise the positives we are "Getting a little out of control" ?

 

[whylightbulb]

Well I rode Test Track 2.0 three times just to make sure my impression was fair. I promise you I went into this trying to be objective as possible. In fact I found myself getting mad at the negative reviews before I rode because it seemed people were being overly picky but as it turns out that they were right. This ride sucked before the rehab and now it has just been improved about 10%. That is all I can honestly give it unfortunately. Believe me that isn’t saying much because TT 1.0 was a big warehouse with minimal everything. Now it is a series of simple UV flats, lasers and video, hence the 10% improvement. What a huge opportunity that was squandered here! This is simply a matter of budget cuts and laziness. Where’s the dual UV effects? Why just the one minor video mapping effect? Some of the craftsmanship and artistry was truly low quality.

Some of you guys that are giving this rave reviews are once again giving WDW license to produce substandard quality. I had just visited Cars Land the day before so it really put things in the proper perspective. There has been enough written about Radiator Springs Racers so I’m not going to go into it but the difference is night and day here. I left RSR feeling satisfied and that I had traveled into a different world. I left Test Track 2.0 feeling unsatisfied and that I had ridden through a building with a cheap light show and cheap flats. At no time was I able to suspend disbelief and imagine that I was riding through a computer world.

As far as the interactive elements I’ll say that I enjoyed designing my car but once I completed that there was very little to keep me interested. As others have stated – why is there no connection in the ride experience? This was a huge missed opportunity which I’m confident was talked about and then cut due to time/budget constraints. I forgot who said this but I think it sums it up pretty nicely, “this redo is just lipstick on a pig.”

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

*snip*

I'm actually inclined to agree. While I think TT2.0 is a noticeable improvement over the original, TT1.0 was basically a terrible ride IMHO. Especially in light of what was there prior to that, the fantastic World of Motion (I still fondly revisit it thanks to Martin's wonderful blog and it never gets old). I've not witnessed Test Track 2.0 in person but after my first good impression of the video, subsequent watches have caused my positive impression to wear off and the cheapness starts to seep through and become more and more obvious (perhaps it doesn't help that I was exhausted the first time I watched and about to fall asleep).

I still think aspects of the ride are definitely cool and better than what was there. But my impression of the ride has definitely gotten worse with every watch I give it. I'll have to ride it in person to get the full effect, but that's not likely to change the fact that there's still a ton of ugly leftovers from TT1.0 that simply have some black lights shining on them.

My favorite part is that city around the braking part. If nothing else because it reminds me of portions in classic Epcot rides (like SSE's city of light in the Irons version). The outside portion is absolutely ugly and jarring to the experience.