Strategy Needed: Soarin' & Test Track

[nexttripdisney]

My family of 6 (dh/dw/b13/b12/b9/b4) would like to maximize our ride experiences with Soarin' and Test Track at Epcot.

We've never ridden Soarin' but we've done theTest Track many times.

Anyone have a good strategy for us? We'll be there at rope drop on a Sunday.

p.s. Our 4-year old refuses to ride Test Track.

 

[KellyNY]

My family of 6 (dh/dw/b13/b12/b9/b4) would like to maximize our ride experiences with Soarin' and Test Track at Epcot.

We've never ridden Soarin' but we've done theTest Track many times.

Anyone have a good strategy for us? We'll be there at rope drop on a Sunday.

p.s. Our 4-year old refuses to ride Test Track.

I would just run to Soarin and if line is still short get in line and get FP as well,
then go to TT and go in line.

 

[cvallee]

The usual strategy for seeing both of these rides would be to send family to Test Track while someone runs to Soarin' to get fast passes. Then that person would rejoin the rest of the family at Test Track and wait in stand-by queue. Soarin always has longer wait times than Test Track.

 

[BrettS]

My family of 6 (dh/dw/b13/b12/b9/b4) would like to maximize our ride experiences with Soarin' and Test Track at Epcot.

We've never ridden Soarin' but we've done theTest Track many times.

Anyone have a good strategy for us? We'll be there at rope drop on a Sunday.

p.s. Our 4-year old refuses to ride Test Track.

If you're arriving at rope drop... especially if you'll be there all day you really shouldn't have too much of a problem. If you plan to take your 4 year old on Soarin' (and I suggest you do, the younger kids that I've been on with love it) then I would suggest that everyone head over that way first and grab a fast pass for it and then wait in line (or maybe in the other order). That way you can hit it at least twice.

Then, go over to do test track and just ride in the single rider line. That line usually moves pretty quickly and since one of you will need to stay back and watch the 4 year old no matter what it doesn't sound like you could ride it together anyway.

 

[Sandi]

I agree. Head first to Soarin' and either ride and get FPs or just get FPs. For Test Track, you might consider doing the single rider line. You'll all get separated for the actual ride, but if you've done it several times, that shouldn't be a problem and it does typically get you through it faster than the standby line.

Someone will have to say with your 4 yo, but that person or persons could do something else with the 4 yo and then do the single rider line when the others are done.

The main challenge at Epcot is Soarin'. While I like the ride a lot, I cannot imagine waiting 2 hours to ride. The line was 120 minutes when we were there last week and I think the FPs were gone by very early in the afternoon.

 

[dissybroad]

i've read different opinions here, but the prevailing opinion seems to be that it is frowned upon by many for one family member to join others in line midway through wait. as much as it seems like a time saver, i'd agree that whole party should go directly to soarin' and get FP, then proceed to TT and ride.

 

[bosox2001]

i've read different opinions here, but the prevailing opinion seems to be that it is frowned upon by many for one family member to join others in line midway through wait. as much as it seems like a time saver, i'd agree that whole party should go directly to soarin' and get FP, then proceed to TT and ride.

I would say that the first group may be done with TT by the time the Soarin group gets the FPs. So the OP may be suggesting that the Soarin FP group meet at TT and ride separately. Perhaps I'm wrong in assuming this.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I would just run to Soarin and if line is still short get in line and get FP as well,
then go to TT and go in line.

This is what we do at RD. We head straight over to Soarin then after we ride we immediately get a FP for later then we head over to TT and stand in the stand by line there. I especially love doing this during early EMH because the line is much shorter and you can almost walk right on.

 

[Praying Colonel]

The usual strategy for seeing both of these rides would be to send family to Test Track while someone runs to Soarin' to get fast passes. Then that person would rejoin the rest of the family at Test Track and wait in stand-by queue. Soarin always has longer wait times than Test Track.

That's what we do--with the family waiting at the TT entrance for me, and then we all enter the queue together.

 

[PatsMom]

We usually send DD to Soarin with all of our passes to get FP's. DH and I don't walk as fast as she does so we proceed toward Test Track and wait for her at the entrance. We would never get in line before she arrives. If the line for Test Track is already long, we'll do the single rider option - we've done the attraction often enough that we don't mind being split up.

Next trip it will be just DH and I. We plan to do as some have suggested here - we will go to Soarin first and either fird or get FP's, then walk over to Test Track.

For the 4 year old, I think that Test Track offers the child swap option.

 

[g-dad66]

Given your specific situation, I would have the entire group go to Soarin and ride immediately (assuming the 4-year-old is 40" tall and can ride -- and also assuming you have a stroller for him, so that he can can keep up with the RD pace to get there).

Then after riding, get Soarin FP. Then on to Test Track where you could do single-rider lane as others have suggested. Or if you don't want to do single-rider, and if the standby line isn't more than 20 minutes, ride TT but first get the Parent Swap passes, so that the person(s) with the 4-year-old doesn't have to do standby line during the second shift.

While waiting for the others to finish TT (both first and second shifts), Innoventions is a good place to kill some time, or maybe take the 4-year-old to Epcot Character Greeting (and some in the group could possibly do Mission Space, which could have standby times of 10 minutes or less).

Once your Soarin FPs mature, you could get another set there (thus allowing you to ride Soarin three times that day without long waits), or you could get a set for TT (thus allowing you to ride it twice, same as Soarin).