Disney's new test track

Here’s a quick question for you: How can a theme park ride that is 26 years old still be drawing queues of two-plus hours? The answer is relatively simple: When it is EPCOT’s Test Track attraction!

July 22 saw the opening of the latest version of this ride, and it’s fair to say it was an instant success. And, having just tested out this particular track – which Disney aficionados are calling Test Track 3.0 – it’s easy to see why it is once again Walt Disney World’s newest star.

Like attractions such as Journey Into Imagination with Figment (currently also in its third version since it opened in 1983), Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (at the Magic Kingdom) and Star Tours – The Adventures Continue (which has had two official versions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios), Test Track is what they call a “plussed” ride, one that has been refreshed or reformatted around its pre-existing base and storyline.

And, in the case of EPCOT’s high-speed whizz in the company of General Motors, their new-look style and experience is already proving the big hit of the summer in the House of Mouse.

Test Track Basics

Brand new in March 1999, Test Track started life as a journey into the testing ground for all General Motors vehicles and was immensely popular, especially for its grand finale, which featured a 65mph whoosh around the outside of the building! It was fast, fun and detailed, and it drew substantial queues for most of the next 12 years.

Fast forward to 2011, and the 2.0 version was re-themed as the Chevrolet Design Studio, with car design touch-screens in the queue and a digital testing environment on the Sim-track (yes, it confused us, too). The long lines were still there, but, somehow, Test Track lost a bit of its lustre in this incarnation as it went through tests for capability. efficiency, responsiveness and power. Crucially for a Disney attraction, it lacked an engaging storyline.

With Disney renewing their sponsor partnership with GM, it was therefore time in 2024 for a second re-boot of the ride and an all-new way to approach it for our digital age. It took them just over a year (closing in June 2024), but Test Track 3.0 is now up and running, and EPCOT is all the better for it.

Test Track Version 3.0

Externally, there isn’t a huge difference in the ride itself. The big circular building still has its signature wraparound track, while the signage out front has simply changed back from Chevrolet to parent company General Motors. There is a new awning over the main entrance, though, replacing the rather temporary-looking, scaffolding-style covering that had been in place since the ride opened.

Inside, it is completely different. The former long, snaking line that formed the main queuing area for riders to design and create their own ride vehicle for testing has been completely replaced by a long, snaking line that is studded with eye-catching concept cars that hint at the future-focused technologies that are to come.

Once aboard the ride vehicles (which are basically the same, but have been given different paintwork and interior design), the whole experience is different, albeit the track is basically the same. Version 3.0 is all about current and future automotive technologies, including self-driving cars, computer-controlled elements, sustainable fuels and “Smart” roads that can re-charge a vehicle while it’s moving. At one point, the ride switches to “virtual” mode to demonstrate how a car’s computer views the world about it, with a spectacular lighting set-up that features 29,000 light nodes, representing future tech that is “making our cars smarter and our lives more fun.”

True, the top speed is still the same at 65mph/104kmh, and there are recognisable twists and turns of the track from the previous version that ride aficionados will still notice, but the whole ride feels fresher and more involving than 2.0. Yes, the post-ride show area is still a showcase for (rather dull) GM cars and trucks of today, but that has been the case since EPCOT first opened and is easy to overlook.

A Whole New World

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the ride that Disney fans will immediately latch on to, though, are the nods to the ride that previously stood on this spot in EPCOT’s original Future World before Test Track came along and Future World was split into three sections.

World of Motion was the original attraction that opened here in 1982, with visitors boarding Omnimover vehicles for a trundle through scenes populated by animatronic characters and projection effects. It offered a distinctly whimsical look at the history and achievements in transportation, showing amusing scenes from the invention of the wheel right up to the present day and beyond. The grand finale attempted to predict the future of transport in the city of CenterCore, a sparkling metropolis that seemed to be in perpetual motion, and is celebrated in the big cityscape projection before the new ride’s high-speed finale.

The ride’s over-arching sentiment was one of hope and enthusiasm for the future, and that is very much the back-story of 3.0. As Disney Imagineer Dan Brookwell insisted: “World of Motion had a great spirit of optimism about it, an excitement of the future and showing how transportation is, and how it takes us into new opportunities. And so we really looked back to World of Motion for inspiration on how to represent that optimistic spirit. And I think what we ended up with is something that’s just so uniquely EPCOT and so inspiring about what’s next.”

The end product is still Test Track, and it remains a ride with its own character and style. But now, with the essence of its predecessor, it has a distinctly more “Disney” feel to it, and we think this is something Walt would have loved.

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