Test Track | Love it, hate it or update it? | Epcot

[*NikkiBell*]

Join Oliver and take a ride on Test Track located in Walt Disney World's Epcot in this 'Love it, hate it or update it?'

What do you think?

 

[disneysteve]

We all loved Test Track before they changed it. It made sense and had a great story line. Now it's just a ride. Even though it is the exact same ride, it just isn't as good as an overall experience. We don't care about the whole "design' nonsense. We walk right past that and get on the ride. We still like the ride but not nearly as much as before.

 

[Phdmama06]

I'm kind of on the fence about this one. I adored the old test track. When I initially rode the new one, I went in the single rider line and didn't get to do the car design part. I thought the update was OK but I wasn't really excited about it since I didn't see much of a story component to it. When my son and I rode it recently, we got to design a car (I had never done that before!) and it was a lot of fun seeing our car compete with the other cars in our vehicle. So I don't know...I like it, but if you don't get into the design component (or don't get to do it) the ride is just okay for me.

 

[OKW Lover]

I'm not a fan. Didn't really care for the previous incarnation and still not impressed with the latest version. Perhaps some of that is a longing for World of Motion.

 

[NeuroCindy]

I find it way overrated.

 

[disneysteve]

Perhaps some of that is a longing for World of Motion.

It isn't nearly as good as World of Motion. I agree with you on that for sure. And Mission:SPACE isn't nearly as good as Horizons. Sadly, thrill rides are what it's all about now. Mine Train isn't nearly as good as Snow White's Scary Adventures either. But Walt isn't here anymore and the company doesn't care about his original vision of a place that families could enjoy together.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Have only done the "classic" version, so can't say. I will comment that since my neck surgery, I found out (the hard way) I can only do it ONCE in a week-long trip.

 

[samsteele]

Completely agree with @disneysteve. I enjoyed the old Test Track. I miss my Belgian Blocks. Anyone else remember the hot and cold rooms? Old Test Track had personality. It was quirky & outdated but still fun in a nerdy kind of way. New Test Track is soulless & boring. Most trips now I just skip it & do another go-round on Soarin'.

 

[disneysteve]

Completely agree with @disneysteve. I enjoyed the old Test Track. I miss my Belgian Blocks. Anyone else remember the hot and cold rooms? Old Test Track had personality. It was quirky & outdated but still fun in a nerdy kind of way. New Test Track is soulless & boring. Most trips now I just skip it & do another go-round on Soarin'.

I agree with everything you said except the Soarin' part. I wasn't all that impressed by the new film. I thought they tried too hard. I also didn't like the distortion.

As I said, the original TT had a cohesive story that followed through from the queue to the pre-show to the ride. The new one just doesn't.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Completely agree with @disneysteve. I enjoyed the old Test Track. I miss my Belgian Blocks. Anyone else remember the hot and cold rooms? Old Test Track had personality. It was quirky & outdated but still fun in a nerdy kind of way. New Test Track is soulless & boring. Most trips now I just skip it & do another go-round on Soarin'.

Yep, Sam, I used to chuckle every time that lady would sound amazed they were "adding the Belgian blocks" to the test sequence. And I LOVED the cold room, and HATED the hot. I also used to chuckle at the obviously-fake-looking wooden cutout pine tress that always looked like Christmas trees to me right by one of the sharp turns. They were so fake and handmade looking, I thought they were actually clumsily charming. Good times. LOL

 

[BigAlsGal]

Not a fan of the old one. I feel the new one was a nice improvement. We love designing our cars. Our family gets highly competitive.

 

[pjweaver]

I went 85 in a convertible to get to Disney so the ride doesn't thrill me, and I miss the old safety course. In all I am a miserable old grouch that doesn't want anything to change except if it means changing back to the way things were. It's great when they make new rides, but these overhauls just never do much to improve on the originals.

 

[disneysteve]

these overhauls just never do much to improve on the originals.

I wish someone at Disney would get that message.

 

[Phdmama06]

It isn't nearly as good as World of Motion. I agree with you on that for sure. And Mission:SPACE isn't nearly as good as Horizons. Sadly, thrill rides are what it's all about now. Mine Train isn't nearly as good as Snow White's Scary Adventures either. But Walt isn't here anymore and the company doesn't care about his original vision of a place that families could enjoy together.

Well, if bring back the World of Motion were an option, I'd take that in a heartbeat. Loved that ride.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It isn't nearly as good as World of Motion. I agree with you on that for sure. And Mission:SPACE isn't nearly as good as Horizons. Sadly, thrill rides are what it's all about now. Mine Train isn't nearly as good as Snow White's Scary Adventures either. But Walt isn't here anymore and the company doesn't care about his original vision of a place that families could enjoy together.

Is that largely the nostalgia factor though? I loved horizons and Snow White's Scary adventure - but purely as a ride, Mine Train is a "better" ride than Snow White - the animatronics are much better the ride is smoother, etc. Like, if both of those rides were introduced as brand new rides would you still feel Snow White is better than Mine Train?

I know when I went to Disneyland I got such a kick out of getting to ride Mr. Toad again - but my kids had no idea what was going on and didn't get why I loved the experience

 

[TheMaxRebo]

DIS confession - I've never ridden Test Track (either version)

With the tiering we always get Soarin' (and now Frozen) and never want to wait on the lines

 

[disneysteve]

Is that largely the nostalgia factor though?

There's probably an element of that but I really don't think that's the issue. The older rides focused on telling a story. More and more, the newer rides just don't. Snow White's Scary Adventures went through the story. The Mine Train gives a little snippet and that's it. It's mainly about the ride, which isn't even a great coaster.

World of Motion told a story and was educational. The original Test Track did the same. The new Test Track does nothing of the sort.

Mission:Space at least has a good story and presentation. I enjoy it and ride it every time. But it's another thrill ride that many guests can't experience whereas Horizons was one that the entire family could enjoy.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

There's probably an element of that but I really don't think that's the issue. The older rides focused on telling a story. More and more, the newer rides just don't. Snow White's Scary Adventures went through the story. The Mine Train gives a little snippet and that's it. It's mainly about the ride, which isn't even a great coaster.

World of Motion told a story and was educational. The original Test Track did the same. The new Test Track does nothing of the sort.

Mission:Space at least has a good story and presentation. I enjoy it and ride it every time. But it's another thrill ride that many guests can't experience whereas Horizons was one that the entire family could enjoy.

I definitely hear you about the "telling a story" aspect and how that is missing in some of the newer rides (one of the complaints I hear about the new Frozen ride is the story is muddled/not very clear)

I do think thrill rides can tell stories - Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror to name a few

Seems like with a lot of the new plans they are having one "thrill ride" and one "Family ride" (so for Pandora the boat ride is for everyone, the banshee ride is not, etc.)

Sorry for taking the thread off topic

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I definitely hear you about the "telling a story" aspect and how that is missing in some of the newer rides (one of the complaints I hear about the new Frozen ride is the story is muddled/not very clear)

I do think thrill rides can tell stories - Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror to name a few

Seems like with a lot of the new plans they are having one "thrill ride" and one "Family ride" (so for Pandora the boat ride is for everyone, the banshee ride is not, etc.)

Sorry for taking the thread off topic

Interesting you bring that up, Phil - I am wondering if I will be able to do the Banshee ride or not. Like I mentioned previously - I've found that I can do Test Track once a trip without hurting my neck too much, but there are a lot of rides I've never changed going on since my surgery in '98, and it seems that for the longest, most of what they were building was "neck rides", so I'm curious to see what the future brings.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Interesting you bring that up, Phil - I am wondering if I will be able to do the Banshee ride or not. Like I mentioned previously - I've found that I can do Test Track once a trip without hurting my neck too much, but there are a lot of rides I've never changed going on since my surgery in '98, and it seems that for the longest, most of what they were building was "neck rides", so I'm curious to see what the future brings.

I don't know if anyone knows the exact "thrill level" of the banshee ride (though I have read 2 of the 4 theaters are operational so maybe some news will come out). My guess would be if you have ridden the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride at Universal you would be fine here (but I don't think that you have) ... so not really sure what to compare it too. I would think it would be like a bit more extreme version of Soarin.

But this (and the new attractions planned for the Star Wars Experience) are all new technology so until they are fully up and running it is hard to know