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Last September, the Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, Josh D’Amaro, announced some significant changes to Walt Disney World. But since those announcements six months ago, there has been nothing. And Disney fans were rightfully worried that the significant tests D’Amaro laid out at the Destination D23 Expo would never happen.
Test Track, EPCOT, Disney World / Credit: Disney
Related: Disney Finally Starting Work On Its Animal Kingdom Expansion
Now, in a flurry of activity over the last two days, Disney fans have some hope that these announcements are starting to become reality. We learned that Disney has filed permits to expand Disney’s Animal Kingdom yesterday. This expansion will include retheming DinoLand U.S.A. into a Central and South American-themed land, including an Encanto attraction and replacing Dinosaur with Indiana Jones Adventure.
Today, we learned that Test Track at EPCOT will close for a year for a complete refurbishment. According to reports, the EPCOT attraction will be closing in July and will take a full year to complete at a cost of around $100 million.
At EPCOT, Test Track will be reimagined!
Imagineers along with teams from Chevrolet are reaching back into history for inspiration—from the original World of Motion—and bringing that spirit of optimism to the next iteration of the Test Track attraction! #DestinationD23 pic.twitter.com/sKGFs9ZJ9o— Disney D23 (@DisneyD23) September 9, 2023
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When Disney announced the new Test Track in September, they said:
Imagineers along with teams from Chevrolet are reaching back into history for inspiration—from the original World of Motion—and bringing that spirit of optimism to the next iteration of the Test Track attraction!
Test Track began its life at the World of Motion before that was torn down to make room for “Test Track Presented by General Motors” in 1999. In 2012, the attraction became Test Track presented by Chevrolet.
Test Track allows guests to build and design their vehicles in the Chevrolet Design Center and then test their designs in a series of real-world scenarios similar to the ones Chevrolet puts its designs through. The ride culminates with the speed test, taking guests around the course at 65 miles per hour, making it the fastest ride at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Credit: Disney
Related: Disney Announces ‘Largest’ Expansion In Magic Kingdom History
Disney World has not confirmed these reports and neither Disney Imagineers nor D’Amaro have said anything publically about the potential changes coming to Disney World. However, the reports also suggest that Disney World cast members have been informed of the changes and are being reassigned to other areas of the parks.
With the transformation of EPCOT finally nearing its conclusion, this update will prolong the construction at the park. But guests won’t mind if it improves the Disney experience.
With news of work starting on the Animal Kingdom and EPCOT changes, Disney fans are now waiting for news on D’Amoro’s third announcement from Destination D23, the “largest” expansion of Magic Kingdom ever.
Disney fans are also hopeful for an expansion of Disney’s Hollywood Studios and potentially the announcement of a fifth theme park. But for now, these rumors about changes coming to the Walt Disney World Resort will be enough to hold Disney fans over.
What do you think of the news that Test Track will be updated soon? Let us know in the comments.
Glad to hear that Disney is FINALLY moving ahead on something AT LAST. A Re-Imagined Test Track sounds intriguing. If they put it back to the original it would be wonderful. We’re especially happy about the Disney plans at Animal Kingdom to replace Dino Land (it was always sort of temporary looking) into a South American/Encanto experience, as we LOVED the movie! We also think that re-utilization of the DINOSAUR ride building and apparatus into Indiana Jones Adventure is something we’ll gladly line up for. Beyond the Mountain in Magic Kingdom? PLEASE! Mary Poppins and additional countries in EPCOT? PRETTY PLEASE! PS: We’re Seniors and we’d like to see these attractions so we’re hoping Disney can move these along…
Why redo Test Track?? The newer iteration is awesome. Spend it elsewhere, adding new rides or expansion in Epcot. smh
Why kill the current test track when they admit it’s the fastest ride they have. Are they trying to make it so Disney doesn’t have a single ride for thrill seekers? Seriously they need to keep test track a 65mph fun ride or else the park will be a a dud like Hollywood
Disney can’t do anything right anymore. From tv to movies to theme parks. Nothing is ever done correct. At epcot it took years upon years to get the mediocre current update that wasn’t worth even a dollar. Now Test Track is going to be butchered up again for round 2. They want to bring the inspiration of optimism from World of Motion to Test Track. Firstly, what does that vague statement mean? Secondly, don’t bring World of motion back it was a lousy rip off of Spacheshop Earth.