Test Track at EPCOT at Walt Disney World is set to be re-imagined once again. As a result, the attraction will close temporarily beginning June 17. A brand-new rendering of the attraction was recently posted on the Disney Parks Instagram account.
Test Track is a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures that General Motors uses to evaluate its concept cars, culminating in a high-speed drive around the exterior of the attraction. The attraction originally soft-opened to the public on December 19, 1998 after a long delay due to problems revealed during testing and to changes in design. As a result of this delay, the attraction officially opened on March 17, 1999. Test Track replaced World of Motion, which closed three years earlier in 1996. The original concept of Test Track had guests ride in “test vehicles” in a GM “testing facility” through a series of assessments to illustrate how automobile prototype evaluations were conducted. The highlight of the attraction is a speed trial on a track around the exterior of the building at a top speed of 64.9 miles per hour (104.4 km/h) making it the fastest Disney theme park attraction ever built.
Test Track closed for refurbishment on April 15, 2012, and re-opened on December 6 in its second edition, sponsored by the Chevrolet brand instead of General Motors as a whole. Guests now design their own car in the Chevrolet Design Studio. Then they board a “Sim-Car” and are taken through the “digital” testing ground of the “SimTrack”. Throughout the ride, guests see how their designs performed in each test. After the ride, guests can see how their car did overall, film a commercial, race their designs, and have a picture taken with their own virtually designed vehicle with a chosen backdrop in the background.
During the Destination D23 Event held September 9, 2023, Disney announced that Test Track would be receiving a third retheming inspired by the original World of Motion ride. World of Motion was an opening day attraction at EPCOT Center in 1982, and closed in 1996 to make way for Test Track. Visitors would board moving four to six person Omnimover vehicles, and would be taken through scenes that were filled with Audio-Animatronics figures and also projection effects. World of Motion was a whimsical look at the history and achievements in transportation, showing scenes from the invention of the wheel right up to the present day and beyond. The grand finale of the attraction attempted to predict a real future for transportation, with CenterCore, a sparkling metropolis that seemed to be in perpetual motion, and Pepper’s Ghost illusions putting guests into futuristic vehicles. At the ride’s conclusion, visitors disembarked into the TransCenter, an interactive area about new products in development by GM. World of Motion closed in 1996. GM has continued its sponsorship in World of Motion’s replacement attraction, Test Track, since its opening in 1999. Since that attraction’s 2012 overhaul, GM has sponsored the attraction through its Chevrolet division.
What do you think of this re-imagining? Is Test Track one of your favorite EPCOT attractions? Let us know in the comments below.
