Test Track First Thing

[jenninaustin]

If we head straight to TT first thing in the morning, will the wait really be about 23 minutes? (Going on June 8th, so busier than it is now for sure.) My Touring Plan is telling me it will be that long but that sounds weird to me.

 

[LSUfan4444]

What is first thing?

If you are at Epcot for "rope drop" when the park opens at 8:45 am, no the wait will not be 23 minutes. If you arrive to Epcot/turnstiles at 9 am, yes the wait may be 23 minutes or longer.

Because it has a single rider line (if that is an option for you), Soarin usually presents a better option for a rope drop first attraction. You should be able to do Soarin standby and Test Track Single rider, if you are there when the park opens at 8:45 and be done with both around 9:40 ish

 

[Sandy Fisher]

We were there May 2-9 and the morning we went to Epcot was a "recommended day" and we also went later in the week when it was a recommended day. Crowd level was to be a 5, might have been that low the second day we went, but not the first for sure.
It's hard to say how long it would take for you to get from the gates to Test Track, but from what I saw the crowd still splits and half goes toward Soarin' and half toward Test Track.
We don't run at our age -- even if you could, but we went to Soarin and were there before the gates opened and they started letting people in. There was a big crowd waiting to get in. A lot of people in front of us. And when we got to Soarin, the standby time was something like 15 minutes -- a lot of people got there before us but it was nearly a walk-on. It's as far to Test Track, so I'd say it's possible.
The idea of doing rope drop and getting to do things quickly probably doesn't work that well with those two popular attractions. Quickly only exists if you're at the front!!!
Good luck.

 

[jenninaustin]

What is first thing?

If you are at Epcot for "rope drop" when the park opens at 8:45 am, no the wait will not be 23 minutes. If you arrive to Epcot/turnstiles at 9 am, yes the wait may be 23 minutes or longer.

Because it has a single rider line (if that is an option for you), Soarin usually presents a better option for a rope drop first attraction. You should be able to do Soarin standby and Test Track Single rider, if you are there when the park opens at 8:45 and be done with both around 9:40 ish

Ah - of course, I should have defined my term. (Not the same to everyone!) It DEFINITELY means rope drop for me. Right away, ready to go. On that day I have a FP later for Soarin' so the original plan was to do TT first then Sum of All Thrills. Even after I learned I could get more FP+s (when that changed) I still felt like this would work for us.

 

[JimmyV]

If we head straight to TT first thing in the morning, will the wait really be about 23 minutes? (Going on June 8th, so busier than it is now for sure.) My Touring Plan is telling me it will be that long but that sounds weird to me.

I contacted TP about this issue a few months ago. In addition, I asked them if there was a way to back-date the opening time of the park because we all know that a 9:00 park opening doesn't mean a 9:00 park opening. They replied (quite logically), that they have no way to predict actual park opening times, so they use 9:00 at Epcot even though 8:45 is fairly regular, and they have no way of knowing if you are going to be the first person at the tapstile (at which point your wait will not be 23 minutes) or the 50th person at the tapstile (in which case it might). What they suggested was that if you are confident that the park will open early and that you will be at the front of the line, delete that first attraction from your plan, start your day at the time you think you will exit that first attraction, and then go from there. So if you think that you will be done with TT at 9:10, then use 9:10 as your start time, and put in your second attraction as if it were your first. Hope that made sense.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Yeah, you should be fine. Your longest wait will just be to get into the design room, then in the design room and such. If you do single rider, you will bypass alot of those "delays", but you should be on your way to sum of all thrills by 9:10ish.

Have fun.

 

[madzy]

We were at Epcot on March 17, which was a recommended day but also spring break. We made sure were were there at rope drop, went right to TT. We were able to ride that and Soarin without FP+ by 10:15. I had originally scheduled a FP for Soarin but was able to change it out for Maelstrom for later in the day. Rope drop it key. It worked well for us.

 

[ericasatx]

If we are coming from Boardwalk, do they tend to open that gate at the same time as the front entrance?

 

[lovesdumbo]

Yeah, you should be fine. Your longest wait will just be to get into the design room, then in the design room and such. If you do single rider, you will bypass alot of those "delays", but you should be on your way to sum of all thrills by 9:10ish.

Have fun.

I was at Epcot alone last week and while I was at the park before opening I was not first in line at the turnstyle. By the time I got to Test Track the standby line was out the door so I tried to do single rider but they told me they don't open that line until 9:15. I did Mission Space instead and came back to TT.

If we are coming from Boardwalk, do they tend to open that gate at the same time as the front entrance?

It it supposed to but I have found in the past that they don't always seem to get the message to open the park which is frustrating.

 

[MiceFan]

It definitely could have changed in the last year or so, but we had a similar plan on a previous trip and Sum of All Thrills opened an hour after the rest of the park. TP had it wrong then. Good luck!

 

[jenninaustin]

Thanks! Sounds like we need to be right at the front. Shouldn't be an issue - it's our first day in the parks. I'll be lucky to SLEEP the night before!

 

[wrighter]

Nobody can know for sure, but I will tell you about our experience the week after Easter.

We got to Epcot very early - early enough to be the first people through our turnstile once they opened the park. We walked briskly to TT, following another family very closely. We pretty much went right into the design room and then got right into our car. We were so excited, and said, "The line can't be that bad - let's walk on again right now!"

And then we got outside and saw the line. It went all the way up right next to the Innoventions building!! No joke! We couldn't believe it! Needless to say, we counted our blessings and went on our merry way.

Now, there could have been a million reasons for a line that long. It was Easter week after all, although all week we kept saying how the crowds didn't feel bad at all. Maybe the line inside the TT building wasn't "snaking" yet? I don't know. All I know is that it was CRAY CRAY! Lol!

Good luck!

 

[Liljo22]

If the SB wait is long when you get there, Josh at EasyWDW recommends doing the single rider line even if you have a larger party. You bypass the design stage so while others are designing, you can get your full party on an empty car.

 

[WDIFanBoy]

What is first thing?

If you are at Epcot for "rope drop" when the park opens at 8:45 am, no the wait will not be 23 minutes. If you arrive to Epcot/turnstiles at 9 am, yes the wait may be 23 minutes or longer.

Because it has a single rider line (if that is an option for you), Soarin usually presents a better option for a rope drop first attraction. You should be able to do Soarin standby and Test Track Single rider, if you are there when the park opens at 8:45 and be done with both around 9:40 ish

+1 for this. It's always better to do Soarin' and then TT

 

[shan23877]

TT standby with a Soarin FP was our plan for last week. I figured we could squeeze in a few rides before the crowds caught up with us (we had a pre-open ADR), and then head over to the Land to use the Soarin FP. The only thing I didn't plan for? RAIN!

It poured for most of the morning and when the ride did finally open that afternoon the lines were outrageous.

If we'd planned to do Soarin standby and used our FP for TT we could have used that FP later in the day when the ride finally opened.

As it turned out by staying in the park all day we were able to get a 4th FP for TT for later that evening, but the availability was VERY limited. At a busier time or with a larger party we may not have been able to get the FP

 

[jennilouwho]

How long is the Soarin wait first thing then? I'm also trying to figure out which to do standby as we also need to do rider swap and I figure it's going to eat a good portion of our morning....

 

[Jfsag123]

How long is the Soarin wait first thing then? I'm also trying to figure out which to do standby as we also need to do rider swap and I figure it's going to eat a good portion of our morning....

I don't know about the Soarin' RD wait, but I did want to mention that you don't have to use the rider swap pass right away. You could go to Soarin' first thing and have the first part of your party ride at that time, collect the rider swap pass, then go to Test Track and do the same thing and then use the passes later in the day. It would mean some back-tracking, but it would also eat up less of your morning time, as you could use those passes later in the day when lines are longer.

 

[jennilouwho]

I don't know about the Soarin' RD wait, but I did want to mention that you don't have to use the rider swap pass right away. You could go to Soarin' first thing and have the first part of your party ride at that time, collect the rider swap pass, then go to Test Track and do the same thing and then use the passes later in the day. It would mean some back-tracking, but it would also eat up less of your morning time, as you could use those passes later in the day when lines are longer.

That's a good point

 

[LSUfan4444]

How long is the Soarin wait first thing then? I'm also trying to figure out which to do standby as we also need to do rider swap and I figure it's going to eat a good portion of our morning....

Hitting Soarin at RD would put you waiting longer to board your aircraft then it takes to get past the second Mickey Readers. Especially if you walk with any urgency.

Getting to Soarin require quite a bit of uphill walking and alot of people have to park a stroller, then some people walk to the escalator and some people take the stairs so the crowd disperses quite a bit.

 

[wisblue]

Nobody can know for sure, but I will tell you about our experience the week after Easter.

We got to Epcot very early - early enough to be the first people through our turnstile once they opened the park. We walked briskly to TT, following another family very closely. We pretty much went right into the design room and then got right into our car. We were so excited, and said, "The line can't be that bad - let's walk on again right now!"

And then we got outside and saw the line. It went all the way up right next to the Innoventions building!! No joke! We couldn't believe it! Needless to say, we counted our blessings and went on our merry way.

Now, there could have been a million reasons for a line that long. It was Easter week after all, although all week we kept saying how the crowds didn't feel bad at all. Maybe the line inside the TT building wasn't "snaking" yet? I don't know. All I know is that it was CRAY CRAY! Lol!

Good luck!

Sometimes (not always) a long line outside a building just after opening can be a result of intentional "line blocking" by the CMs. They don't open the entire line inside the building right away to allow the line to build up outside, thereby discouraging other guests from joining the line. It also keeps from having the first guests entering the ride from being unnecessarily slowed down by snaking through the entire maze inside the building. Once the line builds to a certain point outside, they open the rest of the line inside, and the waiting line slowly fills it in.