Test Track
| Test Track Presented by Chevrolet |
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|---|---|
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Sign for the current attraction.
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| Epcot | |
| Area | Future World |
| Coordinates | 28°22′24″N 81°32′52″W / 28.373277°N 81.547663°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Cost | $100,000,000 (estimated) |
| Soft opening date | December 19, 1998 (original) December 3, 2012 (current) |
| Opening date | March 17, 1999 (original) December 6, 2012 (current) |
| Closing date | April 15, 2012 (original) |
| Replaced | World of Motion |
| General statistics | |
| Manufacturer | Dynamic Structures |
| Designer |
Walt Disney Imagineering General Motors Corporation |
| Theme | Test Track Medley |
| Music |
George Wilkins (1999-2012) Paul Leonard-Morgan (2012-present) |
| Speed | 64.9 mph (104.4 km/h) |
| Site area | 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2) |
| Vehicle type | Slot car |
| Riders per vehicle | 6 |
| Rows | 2 |
| Riders per row | 3 |
| Duration | About 5:00 minutes |
| Height restriction | 40 in (102 cm) |
| Sponsor |
General Motors (1999–2012) Chevrolet (2012 – present) |
 Fastpass+ available |
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 Single rider line available |
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 Wheelchair accessible |
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 Must transfer from wheelchair |
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 Assistive listening available |
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 Closed captioning available |
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Test Track is a high speed giant slot car attraction at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The ride 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. It closed for refurbishment on April 15, 2012 and re-opened on December 6, 2012. It is now sponsored by the Chevrolet brand rather than General Motors as a whole, who sponsored the attraction from 1999 until the refurbishment.
Test Track soft-opened to the public December 19, 1998 after a long delay due to problems revealed during testing and changes to the ride design which prevented the ride from opening on its original date, May 1997. Instead, the attraction officially opened on March 17, 1999. Test Track replaced World of Motion, though it uses the same ride building.
Before the 2012 refurbishment, guests rode in "test vehicles" in a GM "testing facility" and were taken through a series of assessments to illustrate how automobile prototype evaluations are conducted. The highlight of the attraction was (and still is) a speed trial on a track around the exterior of the Test Track building at a top speed of 64.9 miles per hour (104.6 km/h) making it one of the fastest Disney theme park attractions ever built. After the 2012 refurbishment, guests 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 individual test. After the ride, guests can see how their car did overall, film a commercial, and race their designs.
World of Motion was an attraction that was located in the current building of Test Track and was sponsored by General Motors. When the sponsorship expired, GM was in the process of conducting lay-offs and cutbacks forcing the company to question whether or not to sign another sponsorship agreement. Upon deciding to sign another agreement, GM wanted Disney to construct a new ride (in the location of World of Motion) that focused specifically around their automobiles, rather than the fanciful history of transportation from the pre-historic (animal transportation) to modern age (automobiles, planes, etc.) previously housed in the space. In 1976, Disney Imagineers had visited the Milford Proving Ground (owned by General Motors) and later made a second trip to the facility and worked with GM to create Test Track. After numerous problems encountered during the construction of the ride, Test Track soft-opened on December 19, 1998 but didn't officially open until March 17, 1999, nearly 2 years after the original scheduled opening date.
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Wikipedia