Test Track ‘3.0’ at Epcot is much improved, but I still miss the original | 2025 ride review
Test Track at Epcot has once again been made over, and the 2025 version is better than the last. But I wouldn’t say it’s the best version.
The original Test Track ride at Epcot was a replacement for a ride called World of Motion, which opened with the park in 1982. The building went from housing a slow-moving dark ride to an indoor and outdoor ride with some slow parts and some very thrilling parts. The theme of the 1999 version of Test Track was all about being on General Motors’ test track for in-development cars, showcasing test dummies in the queue and having you take the place of the dummies on the ride. Fans loved it.
A little over a decade later, General Motors and/or Disney decided it was time for an update. In version 2 of Test Track, which debuted in 2012, Imagineers added lots of interactivity and cool lighting. It was almost as if it wanted to be a “Tron” ride without calling it that. While not hated, many fans, myself included, liked the original version better.
Well, the time has come for a new version of Test Track again. Unofficially known as Test Track 3.0, the interactivity and “Tron”-like theming is gone. Now it’s all about the future of motion with automated driving, roads that charge, and even flying cars — and I love it.
New queue for Test Track 2025
As soon as you walk into the building, you’ll notice it’s much wider and lighter. Disney added some concept cars of what General Motors used to think future cars would look like, leading into how GM is practicing sustainability and what we see as the future of cars now.
Set designers also added back the window above the queue, where you can see other guests going by on the ride. This window was here in the original (but was opaque so you could only see shapes), then hidden in the second version. It’s a cool touch.
There’s no more designing your own car to test on the track. There’s also no area where you need to stop and watch a pre-show, like in the original. It seems Disney knows most guests just want to get on the ride, and have their phones to keep them occupied while waiting in line if they aren’t interested in checking out the concept cars, or have already done so in a previous ride.
Disney still offers a Lightning Lane and a single-rider line.
The ride experience of Test Track’s 2025 makeover
On the ride itself, don’t expect a complete overhaul of Test Track for this new version. Just as with the first redesign, the ride track is exactly the same, but the storyline and visuals are all new.
You’re introduced to a male and female voice who narrate the ride. The female voice is supposed to be the AI voice of your vehicle (although it’s voiced by a human). Just as some cars already have some form of self-driving, like Teslas and GM’s own SuperCruise, your Test Track car is driving you and teaching you about current technology, as well as what’s coming in the future.
The first part of the ride shows you how computers see buildings, roads, and other cars to navigate. The next part takes you down a fast road that will charge your electric car. Then we see how future cars may be able to be customized, before heading on the twisty roads through a forest, while the automated car keeps a semi truck from running over you.
Next it’s time to head outside for a race around the track. The storyline is that you’re racing into the future, and while the large screen surrounding you as you go outside is very cool, showing a futuristic city with lots of flying cars, the outside part of the ride is the same as it’s always been, and you’re not given much explanation of why you’re on it. (In fact, there’s really not much you’re “testing” on the ride at all.) But it’s just as fun and thrilling as ever, taking you 65 mph around a curve.
References to Epcot history
When Disney first announced this Test Track redo, they mentioned how they were being inspired by the original World of Motion ride. Besides a few musical notes from that old ride, a couple of props, and the automated car mentioning “it’s fun to be free” (a lyric from the World of Motion song), there isn’t much in common with World of Motion.
There are also a couple of other Easter eggs and nods to old Epcot and previous versions of the ride you may spot.
Post-show for 2025’s Test Track
All of the games and interactivity in the post show area are gone. Now it’s just about seeing some of General Motors cars up-close. The automated photos you used to be able to take with the cars is also gone, but the on-ride photo is still available.
When we attended our media preview, there were only about six or seven cars on display, and no electric options, but a General Motors representative told me they hope to have some by the official opening on July 22, 2025.
Overall thoughts
Test Track 3.0 is a big improvement from the last version, but the original is still my favorite. Be sure to check it out on your next visit. Passholder previews are happening July 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, and 19.
Watch the three versions of Test Track side by side by side and let us know which is your favorite:
A second opinion on the 2025 Test Track
For another opinion on the 2025 version of Test Track, here’s what our reporter Mateo Osorio thought after his first ride:
The third iteration of Test Track is a bittersweet addition to Epcot. Amidst the park’s current identity crisis, the new re-theme serves as a reminder of what we used to have, and what could’ve been.
Test Track 3.0 is one of the most impressive re-themes I have ever seen in my time going to Walt Disney World. It’s the perfect blend of the park’s previous goal of blending entertainment with education. Instead of the “Tron”-esque cutouts the 2.0 version had, 3.0 boasts physical sets and dazzling special effects that make me wonder what could have been for Epcot’s future.
As we sit in limbo wondering what will become of the park’s future message, Test Track 3.0 is a return to form. Any fans of the Epcot long gone will love this iteration and is sure to be a hit with first-time riders!
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