WDW website update features Test Track concept art!

[tdpolo26]

Yeah, that's what I sort of meant. If one were to do it (and believe me, they won't and quite honestly I'm one of the peoples who prefer Track over WoM), it is theoretically possible but severe changes to the ride system/ride vehicles would have to take place.

They would have to re-engineer the system to somehow make it an omnimover AND a dispatched vehicle system at the same time (which would be a programming/creation nightmare but that's a whole different story).

All in all though, the capacity on Track to begin with is relatively big. Sure, it isn't the 2400 SSE can do, but, if all things are going well within a particular hour and if you have the CM's dispatching the vehicles like no tomorrow, the max capacity per hour you can hit is 1700.

btw just wanted to say i prefer track over wom also i understand peoples thinking on wom and i def miss WOL pavillion. Test track was always fun to me and i cant wait to see what they do with this new one

 

[t3techcom18]

1700/hr isn't terrible. But really, they've designed themselves into a corner purely from a dispatch interval point of view.

First, they made ride vehicles with 3-seat rows. That means the loading CMs have to assemble complete rows from two different queues every single time.

Second, it's a seatbelt ride, which means yet another step in the loading process. Fortunately, they don't actually do the safety check until they send you up to the initial holding point, which is where the computer ACTUALLY times the dispatch interval, but the long loading process means you get backups coming into unload.

It would help the situation immensely if load and unload were isolated from each other. Come in from the speed test, unload, and then the cars go into a "dead zone" and advance to load when called for. Similar to HM or SSE (granted those are omni's, but same idea....you're not loading and unloading at the exact same moment).

There's VERY big pros and cons to putting a separate Load/Unload area. Reason being is that, very easily, cars could get stuck waiting for people at Load, then CM's not paying attention at Unload to advance them...it works for an attraction like Pirates and Mansion cause those are much easier systems to do (just like Space Mountain or Everest, where the entire unload platform is easily to do when a whole train can fit the ENITRE Unload platform).

However, at Track, it's also much more difficult BECAUSE there's a little thing in the system that tells you what management has declared into how many 'platforms' are open. The computer then compensates for it when Ops input that in. That complicates matters about x100 times more and I don't think the system would like it if they put two separate points for the system to monitor that. If it was a roller coaster, sure; but for something like this complex, nope.

Lastly, even if they wanted to put an Unload station...there's no room for it whatsoever. The ingenius thing they're putting in at RSR at DCA that us in Ops are begging to get from them once we heard bout it (and this is still rumor until I see it in pics/action from DCA), is that they have a separate station for wheelchair transfers a la TSM. That would help us a LOT because some transfers do take a while and the only place to do them is at Dispatch. If they take too long a time, the entire ride cascades (Cascade is the term for when the cars start backing up too much. If you've ever been on Test Track and you go through the Ride and Handling scene or any scene after that, you know you're supposed to be going faster yet you're going slow, that's the result of a Cascade. The system is spacing out the cars it's sensing that the cars are getting too close and you're getting too close to the holding area, because, yes, the main holding area is at the entrance to the Barrier test area.).

Stacking inside the ride is an option, but you're absolutely right - it would have to be before the Barrier test. There are two hold spots that are regularly used in the ride: load/unload and the seatbelt check. They're right next to each other so one effects the other from a bottleneck standpoint. Having said that, I have to assume that the dispatch interval correlates pretty closely to the distance required on the outside loop.


1700 is a good capacity for a thrill ride. I was hearing 1400-1600 for Radiator Springs Racers and I assumed that Test Track would be similar.

Just as I mentioned, the true (and usually only) hold spot found within the attraction is at the entrance to the Barrier test. The holds that are found at Load/Unload is when there isn't enough space for the train size to go forward into Dispatch. Amazingly, if there's a hold at Dispatch and there's only one car left from the prior train size, the system will grant you clearance to move the cars forward so the entire train size behind it can get into Load/Unload, so altogether you can have 5 cars between Dispatch and the edge of the first gated area, PLUS 4 cars getting loaded/unloaded, AND you can have up to 5 cars waiting to go into unload. If the cars are backed up to the point of being at the entrance outside of Thermal Imaging, the cascade process will fully begin (ie, holding the cars outside the Barrier test).

As for the ride counts, I consulted with some folks and turns out it's between 1300-a lil more than 1500. Reason I say between those numbers is because it depends on how many cars are on the Track at any one time. You can have up to a maximum of 27 out of 35 cars if need be; however, Ops likes to keep it running at between 20-25. If it's 25 and higher, the more increased chance you'll have of cascading, so for show purposes, it's good to be kept between 20-25.