Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I just hope it opens by mid october.

I think, totally unselfishly, that TT should be open before Food & Wine. I would suggest, toally unselfishly, September 21. What do you think Lil Lisa? :clint:
Link to post
Share on other sites

From WDW News Today...

Concept Art Previews New Queue, Marquee, and Logo for Epcot’s Test Track

Apr 16, 2012 by wdwntadmin

With GM Test Track closing at Epcot yesterday for a 5 month refurbishment, Walt Disney World wasted no time updating their website with concept art for Test Track presented by Chevrolet, schedule to open October 1, 2012:

Picture-11-800x360.png

The concept art shows the familiar blue vehicles we have seen appearing at the attraction for the last several months, but also shows the logo on the new marquee that will appear outside of the building. Upon closer inspection, you can see a rendering of guests using touch screens to create their own “SimCar” in the Chevrolet Design Studio, the planned queue/pre-show portion of the updated attraction. We assume that the lounge with concept cars in it seen in the upper left corner is the remodeled sponsor lounge in the top floor of the pavilion that looks into the attraction. The rendering in the upper right corner could be a show scene during the ride or the new post-show area where guests see how their “Sim Car” fared on the course, but it is too early to tell.

Whatever the case may be, stay tuned as more becomes available on Test Track presented by Chevrolet.

http://wdwnewstoday.com/archives/9192

Link to post
Share on other sites

From WDW Magic...

CONCEPT ART - New Test Track in-ride scene - augmented reality a possibility?

Apr 25, 2012

We've been sent some early unofficial concept art for what may be one of the show scenes in the new Test Track opening at the end of this year. One interpretation of the art is that it shows the existing hot/cold testing chamber completely redesigned with what looks to be large video displays on either side of the vehicle. Could this perhaps be some kind of augmented reality system that will place the riders onboard the "SimCar" vehicle that they designed in the new pre-show 'Chevrolet Design Center'? Disney has certainly had recent experience with this technology after using something similar in the new Haunted Mansion finale scene with the Hitchhiking Ghosts (see a video of that technology here). The focus of the new Test Track is to allow guests to design their own vehicle, and questions were immediately raised as to how this could be practically achieved. A projection system such as this would certainly be one way of giving that customized appearance to the vehicles.

As always, this is pre-release art, and may not represent the final project. It is expected that Disney will be releasing some official renderings in the near future.

Test-Track_Thumb_15663.jpg?Expires=1335406787&Signature=SkPutqdP-XgBUhfWkr0t8FGDDJbfEFn7Eu%7EwtnJwXWJc4-J9pJ1GP8hijoYuxDl8yLQro4i9nlO8T-huZr-ET-bwXuLzzRcUR8jvXPLVtJUz3jX8un1iG4Ohi7765HZCVgOfaaQ7aEiYLSYYc6h98OQx8q2Os5ccYZU233owNUA_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIXD73LCXQPO2WCKQ

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions/Test-Track/News/25Apr2012-CONCEPT-ART---New-Test-Track-in-ride-scene---augmented-reality-a-possibility.htm

Link to post
Share on other sites

From the Disney Parks blog...

New Renderings Depict a Reimagined Test Track at Epcot

posted on April 27th, 2012 by Jennifer Fickley-Baker, Social Media Manager

Many of you have asked for an update on what’s going on at Test Track at Epcot, and we’re happy to announce that new renderings were just released by Walt Disney Imagineering this morning!

1TT123234THUMB.jpg 2TT123234THUMB.jpg 3TT123234THUMB.jpg 5TT123234THUMB.jpg 4TT123234THUMB.jpg

When complete, the reimagining of this attraction will allow guests to design their own custom concept vehicle, and then put it through its paces on the exhilarating hills and switchbacks of the Test Track circuit. In the post-show, guests can make a TV commercial featuring their concept car or truck, race their car or truck on our virtual track and take a picture with their custom concept vehicle.

The attraction is currently scheduled to reopen late fall.

What do you think?

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/04/new-renderings-depict-a-reimagined-test-track-at-epcot/

Link to post
Share on other sites

From DaMouse. Follow the link for the full article and more photos.

Test Track Old Ride Signage Removed To Make Way For New Logo Design

Posted by Raphael De Varona on May 1, 2012

DSC09028.jpg

We recently visited Test Track where a major refurbishment is underway that will see everything from the queue and post-show to the actual ride experience itself change into a virtual design world theme. Placing you as a designer of your very own SimCar guests will travel with their vehicle into a digital design world and experience first hand the abilities of the vehicles they have created. While we must rely on the concept art previews to gauge what the interior of Test Track might look like we can already see that work is being done to gut the old attraction. The most visible sign of this is that Test Track’s old ride signage has been completely removed in order to make way for the all-new logo that shall enter in its place at some point in the future. To take a peak at the construction work going on at Epcot’s Test Track make sure to click past the break.

DSC09028-600x398.jpg

Not only has the Test Track ride signage been removed but so have the scrims that normally cover the white steel framing nearby.

DSC09029-600x439.jpg

If you look on the top right of this image you can see an old buggy that I believe has been removed from the queue.

DSC09030-555x500.jpg

I should have asked if these steel frames were coming down. My guess is probably not but what a glorious homage to EPCOT if the beauty of the original building’s design was once again featured.

http://damouse.com/2...ew-logo-design/

Link to post
Share on other sites

How much of a factor was the pre and post ride show to most people?

Wasn't the ride around the track the big enchilada? And that's not changing?

It sounds like much ado about nothing.

And there was no way that Chevy wasn't going to renew. The hundreds of company vehicles at WDW are all GM.

Link to post
Share on other sites

We usually hop in the single rider line, so we never see much of the pre-show. And we pretty much bolt past the post-show.

I'm all for interesting line queues to help pass the time though, so I guess we'll see what they can do with this one.

I'm also guessing if they wanted to make significant ride changes, that would mean the attraction going down for a LOT longer.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 months later...

Welcome Jeanie!

WDW's website is still showing a reopen day for Test Track of November 30, but these things do change. Lately it seems many refurbs have been ahead of schedule, so maybe we'll all get lucky and it will actually open sooner!

I hope so. Nov 30th will be our last day in the parks.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...