Epcot's Test Track closed??

[ScarletFire]

I believe Nestle stepped out as well. and if The Land can survive without Sponsorship, so can...

- The (Living) Seas
- The Universe of Energy
- Space Mountain

and others I'm sure

Really!?! No more Nestle at The Land? Can I wish for a decent cup of coffee at WDW?

 

[Experiment_626]

Building the attraction is just part of the cost. You have to RUN it after you build it. I'm sure a lot of the sponsorship costs after the first couple years were for maintenance.

And I remember that Test Track was subject to seriously lengthy delays in opening and staying open. Wasn't it delayed for a year or more in opening permanently? All that extra work in getting the ride up and running semi-reliably must have added significant costs.

SSB

 

[Jedi_Galvatron]

And I remember that Test Track was subject to seriously lengthy delays in opening and staying open. Wasn't it delayed for a year or more in opening permanently? All that extra work in getting the ride up and running semi-reliably must have added significant costs.

SSB

Sadly too true, and THAT is probably where 9/10 of the money continues to go. The up-time of TT is a known joke amongst Epcot cast members.

 

[jepperson1]

Do you know how much money $100 million dollars is? There is just absolutely no way. Nada. It's a tenth of the cost of the whole park.

 

[doconeill]

Do you know how much money $100 million dollars is? There is just absolutely no way. Nada. It's a tenth of the cost of the whole park.

Test Track wasn't built with the park. It was rebuilt from the structure of World Of Motion, some 16 years after EPCOT Center opened. Costs certainly had risen by then. $100m does seem like a lot though, but I don't have any data to know if it is real or not.

 

[Jedi_Galvatron]

Test Track wasn't built with the park. It was rebuilt from the structure of World Of Motion, some 16 years after EPCOT Center opened. Costs certainly had risen by then. $100m does seem like a lot though, but I don't have any data to know if it is real or not.

Not to mention it may have covered the removal of World of Motion (also sponsored by GM), the building of the ride, ENGINEERING and DESIGN of the ride, development of the ride vehicles and system fail safes, a few years of maintenance fees, initial promotional materials and advertising...

The list goes on, $100 million sounds like a lot but the economy of the late 1990s was a LOT different then the economy of the early 80s. The ride uses 4286 ft of track on a proprietary ride system and the entire area encompasses 150,000 sq ft where as the previous World of Motion was only 79,400 sq ft and used the designed/perfected much earlier and cheaper to maintain Omnimover ride system. The cost seems inline with similar construction projects of the time.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Even if General Motors was no longer the sponsor I am sure WDW would not close down Test Track and it could last without one until they found another one. Besides the thing I care about the most is being able to ride it and I say let WDW worry about it's sponsorship.

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

I think it brings to bear a much bigger problem for Epcot. Disney Parks and Resorts make almost $1 billion profit annually, but leave Epcot to fall apart. Norway and Canada's film has not been updated in years, if ever. They leave WoL to sit as a monument of what Epcot was. Mission Space has alienated a good bit of its riders by being too intense. Ellen's is one step away from total breakdown. Innoventions has lost quite a few exhibits that our family enjoyed. TT breaks down often, even with sponsorship. And, how can we forget 'the Wand' they tried to force upon the Epcot purists.

The only thing recently they seem to have done right was Seas and Soarin'. But, let's see if they keep their promise to update Soarin's film.

My point is that Disney needs to put more into Epcots upkeep, and soon.

 

[reedycreek]

Maybe they will close it and rebuild/reopen World of Motion.

Boy do I miss that ride...

 

[Planogirl]

Maybe they will close it and rebuild/reopen World of Motion.

Boy do I miss that ride...

I do too but Disney doesn't seem to be as much about animatronics as it once was. Plus there's the excitement factor - Test Track is way more thrilling than WoM.

I wonder about both Futureworld and World Showcase. Futureworld was meant to be ever evolving from what I understand and presumably for the better. I don't see much of that.

Plus World Showcase hasn't grown a bit in many years. I always thought that part of the idea of Epcot was growth.

I think that Bicker mentioned more cost cutting at Epcot. Where?

 

[gemmybear83]

I think it brings to bear a much bigger problem for Epcot. Disney Parks and Resorts make almost $1 billion profit annually, but leave Epcot to fall apart. Norway and Canada's film has not been updated in years, if ever. They leave WoL to sit as a monument of what Epcot was. Mission Space has alienated a good bit of its riders by being too intense. Ellen's is one step away from total breakdown. Innoventions has lost quite a few exhibits that our family enjoyed. TT breaks down often, even with sponsorship. And, how can we forget 'the Wand' they tried to force upon the Epcot purists.

The only thing recently they seem to have done right was Seas and Soarin'. But, let's see if they keep their promise to update Soarin's film.

My point is that Disney needs to put more into Epcots upkeep, and soon.

Canadas film was updated a couple of years ago - I saw it Jan 2008. Ellen was subject to a long rehab earlier this year

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

Canadas film was updated a couple of years ago - I saw it Jan 2008. Ellen was subject to a long rehab earlier this year

Thanks, it was about time they refurbed Ellen. We ride it every visit, so I'll see what they did in Sept.

While we're talking about TT and maintenance, can anyone think of any other thrill rides in which the individual rider car powers itself? That has to be a maintenance nightmare.

 

[bicker]

Plus World Showcase hasn't grown a bit in many years. I always thought that part of the idea of Epcot was growth.

Not year by year -- over the decades. If you grow too quickly, you often bite off more than you can chew.

Also, I don't believe "growth" (getting larger) was ever the objective. Rather, ever-changing was the objective; that means adding new, but also removing the old.

I think that Bicker mentioned more cost cutting at Epcot.

What I said was that one way to address the breakdown of the sponsorship model was to cut costs. People love to pick nits at things they like, but if anyone thinks that Disney has been doing any significant cost-cutting at Epcot then you're in for a really big shock if they ever actually start doing some.

 

[bradk]

While we're talking about TT and maintenance, can anyone think of any other thrill rides in which the individual rider car powers itself? That has to be a maintenance nightmare.

Dinosaur

 

[Texas Rob]

Very misleading thread topic. Either it is a closed ride or it is not. If there is no rumors of it closing then why would you start a thread questioning whether it remains open? This bewilders me.

 

[red15sox]

Even though you found the quote by Toyota guy, I have read otherwise. I read an article a while ago in an Orlando area paper and he said that the sponsorship of Test Track was interesting and could be done in the future

 

[Elvistelth]

i think it brings to bear a much bigger problem for epcot. Disney parks and resorts make almost $1 billion profit annually, but leave epcot to fall apart. My point is that disney needs to put more into epcots upkeep, and soon.

+1

 

[DISHoppy]

One possibility no one here has mentioned is changing over to a Cars theme should GM pull out. Especially with Cars 2 coming in a couple of years.

-Kevin

 

[chartle]

Thanks, it was about time they refurbed Ellen. We ride it every visit, so I'll see what they did in Sept.

While we're talking about TT and maintenance, can anyone think of any other thrill rides in which the individual rider car powers itself? That has to be a maintenance nightmare.

Besides dinasour TSM and Spiderman come to mind.

Edit: ok maybe TSM isn't a thrillride.

 

[Jedi_Galvatron]

I think it brings to bear a much bigger problem for Epcot. Disney Parks and Resorts make almost $1 billion profit annually, but leave Epcot to fall apart. Norway and Canada's film has not been updated in years, if ever. They leave WoL to sit as a monument of what Epcot was. Mission Space has alienated a good bit of its riders by being too intense. Ellen's is one step away from total breakdown. Innoventions has lost quite a few exhibits that our family enjoyed. TT breaks down often, even with sponsorship. And, how can we forget 'the Wand' they tried to force upon the Epcot purists.

The only thing recently they seem to have done right was Seas and Soarin'. But, let's see if they keep their promise to update Soarin's film.

My point is that Disney needs to put more into Epcots upkeep, and soon.

Canada's film "O Canada!" was changed on September 1, 2007 and is now narrated by Martin Short with Eva Avila, the winner of the fourth season of Canadian Idol, providing the theme song.

On May 19, 2006 Disney began offering a less intense version of Mission: SPACE (called Green Team) where the centrifuge does not spin, thus eliminating the forces of lateral acceleration for riders who choose the more tame experience. The cabs themselves still pitch and pivot, providing some motion. The normal ride is still available and is called Orange Team.

In 1992, the Norwegian investors sold their stake in "Norway" to Disney. Since nearly as many people visit Epcot as live in Norway, the government felt it still was a good promotional tool for their tourism industry. The federal government continued to contribute $200,000 annually for five years to help fund the exhibit. Renewed in 1997 for a further 5 years, the government stopped payments in 2002, against the recommendations from their American embassy. This is likely the reason we have yet to see an update to the Norway video as it would need to be produced by the Norwegian tourism board and obviously they have no interest in doing so.

Universe of Energy has only been running the Ellen themed version we know now since September 15, 1996. Sponsored until 2004 by ExxonMobil the corporate sponsor dropped its twenty two year sponsorship of the pavilion and all references to the company were removed from the signage and show, which was not changed. On March 28, 2009 the pavilion re-opened after a lengthy refurbishment that began in late 2008. The audio systems and the computer systems that operate the attraction were updated, the exterior of the pavilion was also repainted back to its original color scheme of reds, oranges and yellows (during the Ellen rehab in 1996, the exterior of the pavilion was repainted into a pastel rainbow color scheme). All of this done, I might add, on Disney's dime as the pavilion is still sponsor-less.

The Wonders of Life pavilion (a personal favorite of mine as a child) last operated it's attractions January 1st, 2007. Since then it has been altered internally (attractions walled off) and the double helix sign was removed from the exterior on August 5th, 2007. It has served as a festival hub for Food and Wine and Flower and Garden since 2007. The interior is in excellent condition, albeit no longer used as a true Futureworld attraction.

The accursed wand you mentioned was added to Spaceship Earth's exterior on September 29th, 1999 in advanced celebration of the new century to come. In May of 2001 the wand was changed to read "EPCOT" much to the dismay of those who had hoped it would come down with the new century now in full swing. Alas, this would not come until August 24th, 2007 just in time to prepare the park to celebrate Epcot's 25th birthday on October 1st, 2007.

So as you can see, even though Epcot may not be the EPCOT Center you remember or want it to be Disney is most certainly NOT leaving Epcot "to fall apart". We may not agree with the way things have progressed there over the years, but Epcot is (as mentioned above by others) about progress and even Walt understood progress means change sometimes, new attractions need to come in and sometimes that means older attractions need to be done away with. Corporate sponsorship was always a key piece of the puzzle in Epcot but it's not essential to a pavilion's continued success (see Spaceship Earth pre-Siemens, The Living Seas, etc) and so the fate of Test Track remains to be seen. One thing is for certain though, even without GM, Disney will not leave it "to fall apart".