Test Track to be reimagined with inspiration from the original World of Motion

By WDWMAGIC Staff · Saturday September 9, 2023 10:06am ET · "Test Track"
Test Track to be reimagined with inspiration from the original World of Motion

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New Test Track concept art

Concept art showing the new exterior of the reimagined Test TrackNew Test Track concept artNew Test Track concept artConcept art of new Test Track marquee and entranceConcept rendering of the exterior track section

Disney has today announced that Imagineers, along with teams from Chevrolet are reaching back into history for inspiration – from the original World of Motion – and bringing that spirit of optimism to the next iteration of the Test Track attraction at EPCOT.

Details are scarce, but Disney has released a piece of concept art of the new experience. The look of the concept art suggests that Test Track may be moving into the EV era.

The current version of Test Track opened in December 2012, and as part of Chevrolet's sponsorship deal with Disney, the attraction is due for a refresh. No closing date or timeframe for the update has been announced.

Test Track at EPCOT
Photo: WDWMAGICTest Track at EPCOT

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I'm curious to see if they'll keep the design your own car gimmick. It was a cool idea but I feel like the payoff is alway underwhelming once you get on the ride.
The concept art looks promising if they're going with physical detailed props as if you're in a forest.

Kinda reminds me of the ET ride..
↩ replying to gerarar
Just going off this alone, it will be an improvement over the previous two renditions.
I can't decide what's more surprising - that Test Track is getting another redo and they want to use WoM for "inspiration" or that Chevrolet is apparently sticking around as a sponsor.
Of all the things in Epcot to invest in right now, why this? Both SSE and Imagination need investment more desperately than Test Track. The current version of Test Track is a downgrade from the original version (IMO), but it certainly doesn’t feel dated.
↩ replying to aaronml
Because Chevy is gonna pay the bill
I thought for sure we'd end up seeing Lightning McQueen here.
↩ replying to SamusAranX
Crazy how Chevy/GM is the only sponsor that they've been able to keep all these years.
Just bring back Bill McKim, Sherry, and “It’s Fun to be Free” and call it a day!
Some of my long lost love for Epcot has been returned to me today
↩ replying to gerarar
Wait.. I WAS GONNA SAY ET TOO BECAUSE OF THE TREES
Some good news, finally.
The art, assuming that's physical scenery along the edge of the track and not projection, does look like it'll be an improvement over the previous versions of the ride. Almost anything would be better than the empty dark flat corridors though, or a boring industrial factory. I've always disliked Test Track, in either of its iterations.

That said, i'm really curious to know what is supposed to be "WoM-inspired" about it. At least going from the art, it's just a a generic looking forest... Are they keeping the WoM stuff a secret, or is that just nostalgia bait and it'll only be a quick hard to spot homage hidden somewhere?
Honestly, having John Michael Higgins (Bill McKim) serve as a narrator during slower sections, a la Gary Owens, would be pretty great.

The big question in my mind is if Chevy/Disney is willing to modify the track to have a WOM-style buildup for the first half of the attraction.

If they rebuild the former ABS runs to a more traditional dark ride layout, you could have quite a bit of story from the lift all the way to the start of the hairpin turns.