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The eagerly anticipated Test Track is the first public-access automotive proving ground in the global network of General Motors vehicle testing facilities. From entry to exit, Walt Disney World guests engage in an experience vastly unknown to the general public -- the exhilaration of taking a test vehicle out on a variable speed, multi-surface and multi-environment test-track course.
Test Track Pre-Show
The aura of the proving ground begins to take shape in the Test Track
pre-show -- an industrial looking testing laboratory filled with actual
test equipment and vehicle components. The many reasons hundreds of
tests are performed on GM cars and trucks are illustrated in the Quality
Zone, highlighting GM automotive technology, and the Safety Zone,
displaying GM safety innovations and practices. Simulations of tests
include brake, wheel, suspension, airbag, seat belt and windshield
tests.
Test Track -- The Automotive Adventure
Epcot guests reach the sanctum of the proving ground as they board a
six-passenger Test Track vehicle. The longest and fastest Walt Disney
World attraction engages Epcot guests in a rare sneak peek inside the
long-restricted world of automobile testing. Passengers in each "test"
vehicle experience a firsthand look at how GM cars and trucks are tested
before being brought to market.
Hill Climb Test
The "test" schedule begins with a tire-squealing, engine-roaring,
three-story ascent.
Suspension Test
Passengers descend to the second level over a series of harsh variable
road surfaces.
Brake Test
Two passes through a circular set-up of traffic cones shows how a
wildly-out-of-control skid can become a manageable steer with ABS
brakes. Rolling to a stop, guests view an instant replay of themselves
performing both tests from a bird's-eye view.
Environmental Chamber Test
Vehicles are exposed to extreme heat, bone-chilling cold and a
"corrosive" mist sprayed by industrial robots in a series of enclosed
environmental chambers.
Ride Handling Test
Exiting from the chambers, vehicles accelerate quickly up a switchback
"mountain road" to a dark tunnel full of surprises.
Barrier Test
Guests feel what it's like to be a crash-test dummy during this
attention-grabbing, high-speed sequence.
High-Speed Test
Outside the building, vehicles scream around a steeply-banked loop
turning them back toward the 50-degree banked curve hugging the
building's massive circumference. Heading back inside, each vehicle is
tested on the thermal imager, a device allowing guests to see the areas
of heat generated on the vehicle -- and guests -- during testing.
Test Track Post-Show
In the post-show, interactive demonstrations and GM vehicle design and
production displays further explain the benefits of GM's vehicle-testing
practices and its commitment to safety and quality. State-of-the-art
interactive equipment allows guests to witness the benefits of GM's
Smart Car Technology. A multimedia film takes guests through the steps
of bringing a GM vehicle to market. The glitz of top national car shows
entertains guests as featured GM vehicles are revealed in grand fashion.
Plus, guests have the unique opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind
automotive collectibles and merchandise at a specialty shop located
within the post-show.
Test Track is definitely on the cutting edge of technology, said senior show director Orrin Shively of Walt Disney Imagineering, himself a former automotive designer.
"With its incredibly sophisticated indoor/outdoor ride system, we have introduced an exciting and dynamic attraction to Epcot."
Latest News and Info
19 June 2000: A Test Track Cast member explains some of the inside facts on this amazingly complex ride
Some info on Zone Stops
Zone stops are not only caused by seatbelt malfunctions. In fact they
are
one of the least causes as when a vehicle leaves the Dispatch area, the
cast
member must physically check and lock the belts before the vehicle moves
forward. If the belts are not locked and the vehicle is advanced it will
cause an immediate zone stop. Other reasons for a zone stop include: A
low
tire pressure warning on one of the vehicles (this requires a tech to go
to
the vehicle and check/add air to the tire. The vehicle or the ride
computer
has lost track of where the vehicle is located on the track. There are
194
zones throughout the track and a vehicle must read the tags (located
under
the track) as it travels throughout the course. If a vehicle misses
reading
two tags in a row then the vehicle will cause a zone stop. There are
also
tags located on the vehicle that the main ride computer must read from
sensors (located under the track) as the vehicle travels around the
track.
If the ride computer loses track of a vehicle this will also cause a
zone
stop. Another situation includes if a vehicle encounters a minor problem
but
not safety related it will go into a ACO (automatic cycle out)
condition.
When this occurs the vehicle will slow from profile speed (normal speed)
to
a speed of 6 feet per second until it returns to the load/unload area
where
a tech will read the vehicles computer readout for a trouble code. At
this
point the vehicle will be reset for operation or the tech will have it
sent
into maintenance. All of the above is for safety reasons as I'm sure you
can
understand.
Another cause for delays include putting a vehicle into maintenance or
bringing a vehicle out of maintenance. This requires the ride to stop
momentarily while the cast member turns the track switch from the main
track
into or out of the maintenance bay to allow the vehicle to advance. The
same
hold true putting a vehicle into or bringing one out of storage.
Normally
this can be done without a ride stop by the control tower putting in a
"bubble" (a 40 second delay) into the ride computer. This stops any
vehicle
from advancing from dispatch to allow time to move the vehicle into or
out
of storage. Finally if we have a guest that needs assistance to load
into a
vehicle they will load at the dispatch area which makes it a little
easier
for some of our wheelchair guests to enter/exit the vehicle as it is the
same height as their chair at this point.
Your point below about replacing the seatbelts with a lap bar have been
considered but will not solve zone stops. There will still need to be a
cast member at the dispatch area as only one vehicle can advance at a
time into the ride. We use train sizes at the load/unload area to allow
a greater guest flow
into the ride. If there was no dispatch then we would have to use a
train
size of one from the load/unload so that only one vehicle advances at a
time. This would delay the load/unload process and slow everything down.
However, the lap bar is a good idea as we would not have to remind
guests to
check their seatbelts.
Fast Pass at Test Track
Fast Pass works pretty well as long as we do not have any zone stops
or down time due to a technical problem. When this occurs everything
gets backed up to include the Fast Pass return lane and the standby
queue. Fast Pass guests have priority and we get them through as fast as
we can but unfortunately the folks in the standby queue wait much longer
until we can get caught up again. We are currently looking at a few
alternatives that will reduce the wait time for our standby guests.
Hopefully these will be in place in the next few weeks and will keep
everyone moving in the queue. Until then I suggest to everyone that they
get
a Fast Pass ticket and return at their scheduled time. The other point
about
Fast Pass that many guests are not aware of is that the Fast Pass system
allows only one Fast Pass ticket at a time and you can not get another
Fast
Pass ticket at another attraction until the current tickets expiration
time
has expired. Also Fast Pass tickets are issued by "X" number of tickets
per
time period. This time period keeps advancing during the day until all
of
the time slots have been distributed. After which there are no more Fast
Pass
tickets available. During busy times such as Easter week, we were
running
out of Fast Pass tickets by 11:00am. So the best thing to do is get the
Fast
Pass ticket as soon as you enter the park in the morning. Guests should
also
look at the return time posted at each Fast Pass terminal to ensure they
do
not have dinner reservations or other planned events at the same time.
We
get a lot of guests that get a ticket only to discover they have a
planned
event during that time period. Other information is that each guest must
have their own Fast Pass ticket using each guests park entrance ticket
or
resort card. Remember you can only return to the Fast Pass return line
between the times printed on your ticket. Finally, if a guest decides
they
do not want to use their Fast Pass ticket for Test Track they can go to
another attraction that has Fast Pass and see a cast member who can
trade
our ticket for one of theirs.
The Single Rider Line
The single riders line works very well for us. However, folks need to
remember that they will NOT be riding together as a couple or a group or
even in the same vehicle as we fill in the empty seats when they are
available. The cast member loading the vehicles will NOT seat them
together.
We have a lot of folks who try and beat the system by asking to be
seated
together especially if they have a small child with them (We do not
recommend any child under 8 years old to ride as a single rider). When
this
occurs it only delays the process and creates turmoil among the guests
and
the cast member.
Lastly, The minimum height requirement is 40 inches. We can not allow a
child under any conditions to ride Test Track if they are under 40
inches
tall. This is for safety reasons and if we allowed this to happen and
the
child was injured in some way we (the cast member) can and would be
fired.
27 October 1999: FASTPASS Construction
As you can see in the photo below (thanks Dan, and to Darren for taking the shot), the blue wall is covering a fairly large construction area for the FASTPASS ticketing area.
It is still not confirmed, but it appears that FASTPASS will mean the end of the Singles Line that many people favor for riding Test Track.
12 October 1999: FASTPASS
Finally construction is underway on installing FASTPASS at Test Track. The blue construction walls are up around the line area, and CMs in the area confirm FASTPASS is on the way. Look for opening in November 1999.
15 March 1999: Official opening of Test Track is 16 March 1999.
7 March 1999: New photos being added constantly. Click TT Photos on the left.
16 February 1999: A great review of Test Track by Jason Travis, click here to read!
12 February 1999: NEW Dedicated sections for Test Track MultiMedia. Click Photos, Video or Sounds from the left.
Test Track is still having reliability problems. Greg and Raechel, who visited last night were in line when it failed.
(01.19.99) Another update from our Test Track Cast Member!
Let's clear a few things up...
**MY SEAT BELT ISN'T FASTENED!!!!!!
Yes... We know...
Some new procedures have been set up at Test Track to try to keep cars
moving and to shorten our wait time. One of them is the new way we
handle the seat belts.
Just like at Space Mountain and Countdown to Extinction (CTX) we now have you get in the car at point "A" (the load / unload area) and we check that your seatbelt is fastened at point "B" (the dispatch area.) The big problem that we have is that the cars are programmed to lock the seatbelts once the have been sent.
This creates a problem if either the Guest is too slow at buckling their seatbelt, or there really was not enough time for them to buckle before the cars had to be advanced. I know that this sounds like the same thing, but there is a difference! We do make sure that all the Guests have fully taken their seats before we give a clear signal to our Load Advance CM. Once the car has reached the CM at Dispatch, they will confirm that the seatbelts have been fastened. Once they have done this, they will press the lock button above the belt indicator lights. If this button is not pressed by the time the the dispatch interval counter has reached zero, the car will "zone stop" and will not go into the ride.
Once the Dispatch CM sees or is nicely informed by the Guest that their seatbelt is not fastened, they will press an inhibit button on the dispatch console, unlock the seatbelts, and assist the Guest with their seatbelt. Once that is done, the CM will lock all the seatbelts and send the car into the ride.
Changes that are in the works:
1. Raising the console that the seatbelts fasten into. This has already been done on car #4. It is much easier to buckle the seatbelt. This makes it faster for our Guests.
2. Changing the programming on the cars so that the belts will not lock as they leave the loading area. This will give Guests the extra time that they need to buckle up.
3. Change the dispatch console to work as a "real" dispatch console. The car will not advance into the ride until the Dispatch CM presses the advance button. The safety feature of the zone stop if the advance button has been pressed, but the belts have not been locked will stay in effect. A car will never go into the ride unless the seatbelts have been checked and locked.
** Something about billboards....
I haven't seen these, but I will keep on looking.
Marketing does have a way of getting ahead of everyone else. Why any advertising is up is beyond me. The ride is not ready. We keep finding new things that can go wrong. Imagineering has been working some mornings and quite a few third shifts to solve these problems.
Our Grand Opening is still two months away.
Why weren't these problems solved before we put Guests on? All that we could find were. Until you have a ride running under real conditions with conditions changing in the cars every five 1/2 minutes, you can't find them all.
It was the same way at CTX. The ride ran great during testing when no one was riding on it. As soon as the real conditions of real people riding it started, that is when the real problems surfaced.
We are having some real good days and some real bad days. Unfortunately right now each day is a crap shoot.
** Why would you unbuckle and get out of the car when they are saying over the PA to stay seated?!
I know of the incident that is being spoken of. The ride had gone down and we were beginning to walk Guests out of the ride. There had been numerous spiels over the PA to please stay seated and a track technician will be with you shortly. The ride was powered down. No power to the car -no power to the belt lock.
I believe that the Guest did not understand English (why can't they give us bi-lingual spiels?) and noticed that his belt was unlocked and got out for help. Let's just say that our person in tower was beside themselves about this.
Very shortly thereafter, one of our CM's that was assigned to that area appeared and walked the Guest back to their car to get the rest of his party. No one was hurt.
Lesson: Don't get out of the car if it stops in the ride unless instructed to.
** Velcro? Velcro?!
Yes, the seat mouldings are held on by Velcro. There are some access points to wiring below some of the seats. This also allows us to replace any damaged mouldings very quickly.
The seat cushions at CTX use Velcro as well.
** Party of One? Right this way! You just got to skip 40 minutes of line....
We have been trying a new thing to fill all of the car seats, and it has actually shortened our overall wait time for our Guests. It had also incredibly shortened our wait time for Guests who are on their own or parties who are willing to split up into parties of one. If you are a party of one, or are in a group that is will to be split up into several parties of one, let the CM who is at the door of Test Track know. During times of the day when we have long waits, you will be directed to a side door and will skip the entire inside line.
You will be put into a separate briefing room and will exit into a
separate line in the loading area. We pull people out of this line
to fill any empty seats that are left by our larger parties.
Amazingly this has shortened the overall wait by about 10 to 20 minutes.
Epcot management is so pleased by this that it will probably be made a
permanent addition.
(If you do not like this, please do not yell at us. Please direct it to Epcot management. There are some of us who feel that this "Party of One Line" creates an uneven playing field for our Guests. At this point we are just doing as told.)
** Why close Horizons if Test Track isn't really ready?
You've got me on that one! I agree!
** I just stood in line for four hours waiting to get on this thing and it's still broke?
Why did you wait? There is so much else to do in Epcot.
I'm sorry if you feel you have been mislead. At last look that Guidemaps still say "Coming Soon" under Test Track and we have this big "SNEAK PEEK!" sign out front. Sorry if you missed them.
(01.10.99) Test Track Officially-Unofficially Opened last Sat., Jan. 2nd. The Disney reservation centre are now telling guests of the soft open.
(12.29.98) Soft opening previews continue, although it is proving very hard to be sure when! Evenings have been generally the most popular time, but early mornings (8am) have also taken place. Dawn, who visited 20th, waited outside for over 2 hours, when the decision was made to open, the line was 15 minutes inside the building (so it is well worth the wait!). Breakdowns are still common, but remember folks, it is soft opening. Official opening is still scheduled for March 99.
(12.19.98) GM employees riding test Track today
(12.12.98) DisneyWorld MAGIC! is lucky enough to have some comments and insight into Test Track from a Test Track Cast Member!
I've been on the test and adjust team since the end of October. During that time Test Track has really come a long way. Thursday night / Friday morning during Graveyard we wondered who stole our quirky ride system and cars and replaced them with working ones! We didn't have to worry. It was returned in time for our first Cast Preview night!
Actually, the problems that we had resulted in two instances where we had to walk our Guests (CM's) out of the ride. This really couldn't have happened any better than if we had planned it. This is exactly the type of practice that we needed. And let me tell you! Both times went so well, we surprised ourselves! Our trainers and managers really came up with a great plan for us to follow.
The big topic that is always on here is "Is it safe?" My personal opinion is that this is probably one of the safest rides that Walt Disney Imagineering has ever built. It is certainly safer than driving the roads in Central Florida! There are so many failsafes built into both the cars and the wayside (ride computer system), that the ride will shut down or the individual car will shut down at any sign of trouble.
*"If one car shuts down, do all the rest?" If an individual car breaks down on the track, wayside will put out a "protection" behind it to tell the next car to go into a "parking" position. Wayside then puts a protection behind that car, and so on. Eventually all the cars on the track will stop in a parked position until the lead car is fixed and reset. Once the lead car is reset, it will slowly start moving until it has "checked in" with wayside and said that it is running fine. At that point wayside will let the car go back to full speed. Now, the other cars will not begin moving right away. The CM that has reset the car has to "check in" with wayside to tell it that they are out of the way. Once they do that, wayside will instruct each car in turn to resume motion once the car ahead of it is a safe distance away.
There are times where wayside will decide that it is safer to shut the whole ride down rather than try to stop an individual car. This is what happened at Friday's Cast Preview.
On the subject of Cast preview... Please don't harass CM's about taking you on the ride. This is one of the few special privileges that we get, and not everything at Test Track is completely "Guest Ready". Once we open to all Guests, we know that there will be huge waits. Previews give us the chance to experience the attraction so that we can be well informed when a Guest comes up and asks "So what is that Test Track thing about?"
(12.11.98) The Imagineer Test Track Party happened last night. 23 cars ran without many problems from 11pm to 5am. Disney and GM officials ride today.
The blue surrounding wall is back to prepare the queue area for guest previews.
(11.26.98) It is finally going to open!!!!!!
According to CMs Eyes&Ears newsletter.
Cast Member preview December 12-13 from 9am until 4pm, and December 14-16 from 8pm until 1am.
It will open to guests later December, and the public grand opening will be in March 1999.
(11.01.98) The latest rumoured opening dates.
- December 11th 1998 CM Preview
- December 18th 1998 Public Opening
(10.27.98) Chris Caines was lucky enough to take a tour around the inside of Test Track, and gave us this excellent report of what we can expect!
Yes, I was fortunate enough to be able to venture past the ropes, horses, and cones into the silver building once known as The World of Motion last night! Unfortunately I did not actually get to ride because WDI was cycling the cars and running a few more tests. Here is some insight as to what will await you:
Idea
The entire pavilion is about car safety and showcases what GM does to make sure that their vehicles are as safe as possible for their consumers.
Outside Queue
It seems that the shelter that has been used to showcase GM's cars since WoM closed is going to be an outside queue area. When the construction walls were moved (see past Test Track posts) interactive kiosks were installed in various places. The "interactive" part isn't out on display yet, the kiosk stands are. Also outside, Crash Test Dummies will interact with guests.
Inside queue
Very nice. At the beginning you will see how early cars were tested for safety. Then as you wind your way in and around different displays you will see how different areas of the car are tested for crumple points, stress, etc. As you reach the end of the queue, the dummies are being tested (like whiplash tests, knee impact tests, etc). Inside queue will be about 30 minutes long. Lots of things to look at all around you (including above you). A Model T from WoM is in here (look for it). The inside queue serves as a very good pre-show/queue.
Preshow
You will be grouped into one of 3 briefing areas. Inside are pictures of various test tracks that GM uses across the country. there are also 3 monitors inside that will show you what type of tests you will be conducting in your car and also go over safety instructions. Interesting note about the queue areas: It can be totally accessed by all types of wheelchairs!
Load Area
Once you exit the preshow briefing you enter the load area. It is similar to exiting the library door in Tower of Terror. There is a really small queue, but you will not be in it very long. It is about 50-75 feet long max. Also there is a mockup of a car along one wall. This mockup allows the guests who may be travelling in wheelchairs to practice entering and exiting the vehicle before they actually get to the vehicle.
The Vehicle
- Seats 6
- 2 monitors (during portions of the ride you will view a recording of yourself performing some of the tests)
- Audio
- Seat belts are standard belts (think Indiana Jones/CTX type belts)
Lots of sandbags were laying around... for the vehicle tests.
Post Show
Once you unload the first thing you run into is the wall of monitors that show the picture that you may want to buy. You will purchase the picture there. there is also a designated area for child-swap parents to wait. You then enter a room where parts are being assembled and there are various monitors telling you about teamwork, safety, etc. Think the droid room in star tours here. There are engines on belts overhead.. they go into one area w/o oil pans, come out with them on. Doors being worked on etc. There is even a die-press machine that is a very good effect.. kudos to WDI on this one (I'm not going to give it away, but it is an excellent effect). Also the room makes perfect use of mirrors to make it look HUGE... great work WDI on this optical effect.. especially the signs (again.. I'm not going to give this away).
Then there are the standard showcase areas. I'm not exactly sure what is going to be in these areas. I know there is an audio area. Plus there is a really large showcase type room with 2 huge turntables and 3 videowalls. There is an area for oversea cars to be shown.
To keep in standard Disney Attraction tradition, you exit through the gift shop. Nice Test Track merchandise available (well some of it is nice.. some of it is bad) and a lot of merchandise with the different logos from various GM automobile lines.
Caines' Walt Disney World College Program Page of Adventures
http://members.aol.com/goofytau/main.html
(10.22.98) Today more sightings of activity at Test Track! The blue wall removed earlier has now been replaced with just a single rope around the entrance. A new sign has also been installed. CMs were seen going in and out of the building regularly. A CM advised that it will soft open in December and full open in January 1999.
(10.21.98) Recent reports indicate a December 1998 opening. The blue surround around the attraction is being moved, the GM information booth has been removed, and CMs have been recruited.
Disney's ground breaking replacement for World Of Motion has been delayed for well over a year now. Originally set for May 1997, the rides best estimate now is Spring 1999 (although there is an outside chance of a December 1998 opening).
Testing continues on a daily basis, and cars can be seen by guests whizzing round the outdoor track at 65mph!! It is also possible to get a walk through of the ride (if you can bug any CMs in the area hard enough!)
There have been many rumours surrounding the possible causes for the delay.
- Poor operating life of the tires (rumoured to be around 30 per car).
- Software problems.
- Wet weather problems.
The most likely cause would appear to be a combination of the above, but mostly computer hardware and software problems. it seems that they can run around 10 cars on track at once with no problems, but adding more causes havoc with the ride control system. There are also rumours that Disney have fired the company developing the computer system, and have taken up the task themselves!
This shot was taken through a gap in the surround. This appear to be the main entrance, and shows one of the vehicles.