Travel Tools from The Unofficial Guide™ Team  -  See Our Books Here!
  • Background Image

    Test Track

Subscribe Now: 1 Full Year for Only $15.95!

Get full access to the WDW Crowd Calendar, Lines Mobile App, Touring Plans and More!

topsub_examplefamily

"Our TouringPlans subscription was a lifesaver on our trip. One of the busiest days of the year, and we never waited longer than 20 minutes!"

- Smith Family, KY

Subscription Type:

1 Year WDW Subscription ($15.95)

Visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando?

Add Universal Orlando to your subscription for only $5.95!   That's 25% off!

Payment Method:

Pay With Your Credit Card
Pay With Your PayPal Account

Discounts:

Click here to close the subscription form

Description And Comments

Test Track takes guests through the process of designing a new vehicle and then “testing” their car in a high-speed drive through and around the pavilion.

As they enter the pavilion, guests pass displays of sleek, futuristic concept cars and glossy video screens where engineers discuss the work of car design and consumers explain the characteristics of their perfect car.

After hearing about auto design, guests are admitted into the Chevrolet Design Center to create their own concept car. Using a large touchscreen interface (like a giant iPad), groups of up to three guests drag their fingers to design their car’s body, engine, wheels, trim, and color. The computer screen reflects each design decision’s impact on the car’s capability, efficiency, responsiveness, and power. (For example, designing a large truck with a huge V-8 engine increases the car’s capability and power but drastically reduces its efficiency.) The entire creative experience takes 5–8 minutes.

Next, guests board a six-seat ride vehicle, attached to a track on the ground, for an actual drive through Chevrolet’s test track. The idea here is that guests are taking part in a computer simulation designed to test their vehicle’s performance characteristics. The vehicle’s tests include braking maneuvers, cornering, and acceleration, culminating in a spin around the outside of the pavilion at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour.

The ride visuals are sleek and eye-catching, but trying to understand them as a coherent narrative is pointless. At various points during the ride, video screens show the virtual cars designed by the guests in your vehicle and a status update on how the vehicle’s tests are progressing. Most guests figure out quickly that absolutely nothing in their car’s design has any effect whatsoever on their ride experience.

Test Track’s postshow area continues the design process by allowing guests to create commercials for their concept cars. Farther into the pavilion are displays of actual Chevys, many of which you can sit in. We’ve never heard of anyone attempting to buy a car from Test Track, but let us know if you have.

Touring Tips

Test Track breaks down more often than any ride in Walt Disney World, experiencing an outage roughly 4 out of every 10 days of operation. It’s also one of the attractions most likely to be offline at park opening. Ask a cast member whether the ride is operating before you make the trek to this corner of Future World.

When it’s working properly, it’s one of the park’s better attractions—but for this London, Ontario, mom, such instances never materialized:

Test Track breaks down more than any ride I’ve ever seen. We went back there over and over again, got in line, and then had to get out. FastPass+ lines would have a 40-minute wait because no one got to ride at the proper time.

A repeat visitor from East Aurora, New York, suggests that all is not lost when the ride malfunctions:

If the ride breaks down, tell a cast member. They’ll most likely give you a slip that allows you to skip the line and ride again. This happened to us twice during the busiest time of the year, and we rode again with no problem.

Be aware that FastPass+ reservations often run out by afternoon. In that case, try the single-rider line. Because most groups are unwilling to split up, this line is usually much shorter than the regular standby line.

Ride Through

Test Track Wait Times

This chart shows you roughly how long you'll wait for Test Track when you visit on a day with a given Epcot Crowd Level. The blue bars represent the average "peak" wait time (that is, how long the line will be at its busiest). The bottom and top black lines represent the range of peak wait times to expect (for you fellow nerds out there: it's the 5th percentile and 95th percentile of peak wait times). Please note that these are estimates, and for a better forecast for your travel dates, see Test Track Wait Times.

Special Comments

40" minimum height requirement.

Special Needs

Other Attractions in Future World

Touring Plans with Test Track

What is a Touring Plan?

Top