Test Track to Open 6 December 2012

[duggett]

I will be there later this week and again early next week. I will put a quick blurb out here if I find it to be open for business!

[GoldenBear]

I will be there later this week and again early next week. I will put a quick blurb out here if I find it to be open for business!

Thanks, looking forward to it! Will be there the 2nd week of December so it will be nice to have a first hand account before we get there.

[dstrawn9889]

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/tes ... -track.htm

[duggett]

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/tes ... -track.htm

Thanks for the link. Can't wait to see it.

[tjl151]

I am also eager to see the new Test Track, it does look and sound like something out of TRON.

[Soarin08]

Cast previews are this weekend, took the Boilers with me since we were allowed up to three guests apiece and we rode it three times in a row! It's absolutely incredible!

I'm actually glad there are no soft openings for anyone but cast and invited guests, the fact there are still bugs in the system would only make guests rant like they did for Fantasyland, and guests never understand the point of a preview IS to work out the kinks.

[Amy]

Cast previews are this weekend, took the Boilers with me since we were allowed up to three guests apiece and we rode it three times in a row! It's absolutely incredible!

I'm actually glad there are no soft openings for anyone but cast and invited guests, the fact there are still bugs in the system would only make guests rant like they did for Fantasyland, and guests never understand the point of a preview IS to work out the kinks.

Fun! I didn't know the doubleboilers were in WDW at the moment. Glad to know they are still doing well

[MadEye]

Brand new music for the attraction both inside and out. Hopefully we can get them on here soon.

[duggett]

Well, I was also able to get into Test Track yesterday. We don't know any cast members currently. However, we went up to the entrance to inquire about when we might be able to get in - ie, if there was going to be a soft opening prior to the 6th. One of the "manager cast members" (not sure of the official Disney terminology) who was guarding the entrance with her young cast memebers struck up a conversation with us, probably because we were wearing or "35th Anniversary" pins. She was very kind and offered to let us in as part of her "extended family". Probably agiainst the rules, but it's these acts of kindness that make WDW special. Anyway, we got in!

The new attraction is amazing. The "old" test track was 1970's or 1980's - very industrial in the garage setting in the preshow, the mechanical and safety testing on the "ride", and a typical boring showroom at the end. The "new" test track takes us into the 2020's and focuses on design and technology. Very high-tech. Very high-touch and participative. Cool modern graphics. A whole different feel - and very exciting. Even the "ride" seemed faster and smoother, although it probably wasn't in reality.
Now for the bad news. The technology has lots of bugs that must be fixed for the effect to be good. The touch-screen design modules are both very slow and super-sensitive at times. So there is a lot of "re-touching" the screen to see if it didn't sense your previous move, and thne all of a sudden, it does two or three things and zooms past screens. Very frustrating, since there is a countdown timer ticking away telling you to finish your design in the allotted time. As you enter the ride, there is a place to scan your card (with your personal car design on it), but the "reader" actually was registering about one read in 20 or so, so everyone was waving their cards over and over again on the reader until it finally registered. There is a room where you scan the card and then create a TV commercial for your car by choosong some options. There are about twenty screens in the room to do this - about half of them were blocked because they were "out of order". At the end of the ride, there are two different types of photos you can take with YOU in the photo - one with a real car and one with a simulated car and background. We did both, and the photos were emailed to us. However, the lighting was terrible and we are just black shadows in the photos. There is also a high-tech "slot-car racing" game at the end, but it was not working at all. A cast member told us that they discovered yesterday that when they had lots of people (cast memebers) playing these games yesterday, it was causing "system problems" that was actually causing both the full "ride" and design center to fail. So the entire network/system must be tied together through those personal swipe cards and the full system load hasn't yet been tested.
So, my intent is not to complain. The technology is fantastic, and Disney will get it fixed to work as planned, I am sure. But this explains the lack of a soft opening. And I wouldn't be surprised that there may be further delays or "unavailability" of the attraction. It is not ready for prime time yet! But the wait will be worth it!

[Amy]

Wow ~ thanks for the report Sounds like they are definitely still working on some bugs in the system. I can just imagine how many guests would be complaining if they tried a soft opening with these kinds of problems still happening. Sounds very cool!

[junebug1233]

I have seen the videos up on YouTube and I have to say, I'm not really a fan. Of course, I'm sure it will be totally different in person! I really liked the old version though, so who knows!

[MadEye]

Here's a video and some pictures. Looks like the guy at the vehicle creation screen didn't know what he was doing.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/tes ... t-show.htm

[TTA Traveler]

The new attraction is amazing. The "old" test track was 1970's or 1980's - very industrial in the garage setting in the preshow, the mechanical and safety testing on the "ride", and a typical boring showroom at the end. The "new" test track takes us into the 2020's and focuses on design and technology. Very high-tech. Very high-touch and participative. Cool modern graphics. A whole different feel - and very exciting. Even the "ride" seemed faster and smoother, although it probably wasn't in reality.

Yeah, I wasn't too big on the original queue line. Personally, I just thought it was an unpleasant experience what with the loud machines and repetitive music - especially when you had to wait in those typical long lines.

But the new queue line I feel fits in well with the 'Future World' theme. And the music has that Epcot sound you hear throughout the park which is fantastic. However, at the same time I almost want to say the actual theming is lacking.. perhaps a bit too minimalistic.. if that's the word you'd use. But in general I do like it a lot more.. at least from the videos I've seen.

Great write up!

[theBIGyowski]

I have seen the videos up on YouTube and I have to say, I'm not really a fan. Of course, I'm sure it will be totally different in person! I really liked the old version though, so who knows!

I also watched a video of the new, updated attraction. I will say that it was spot on in terms of the concept art released a long time ago. I felt like it was a bit plain and a little "cheap" looking...meaning that it did not seem to be very immersive at all in comparison to attractions like Indiana Jones and Dinosaur. It could just be that you need to ride it in person to get the full effect.

The other thing I noticed was that the outside track seemed to be too different from the first part inside. Maybe riding it at night would be better with certain lighting effects and all that...but the video I saw went from a futuristic/virtual world to the same old outside track reminding you that the attraction is the same one you've ridden before.

All that said...I am still excited about getting down there in the near future to ride this myself...and I hope it's good enough to steal some of the crowds away from Soarin'.

[MadEye]

After finally going through the single rider line, I can honestly say good riddance to not being shoved into a little room with 100+ other people. The actual singles line doesn't "break" unless you want to choose a car for yourself/your group (optional) until you get to the load platform.