As usual, things are changing in EPCOT!
On June 10th, CommuniCore Hall and Plaza officially opened and fans are divided. With this opening came the debut of a brand new show, “¡Celebración Encanto!”. There’s also been a huge restaurant change in the Mexico pavilion and a new exhibit opened in the American Adventure pavilion. Now, there’s another change to add to the list — this time a ride closure.
If you want to ride Test Track in its current form, today is your last day to do so. As of June 17th, the thrill ride is closing to begin its refurbishment.
Why is this closure happening? Well, in 2023 Disney announced that the ride would see a reimagining. Later on, we saw another angle with some newer concept art, and a permit was filed for the attraction. There is currently no reopening timeline or date for this project, but we expect there to be some pretty hefty changes. That means it’ll probably be a lengthy closure!
Test Track has seen some changes in the past. In 2012, a 2.0 version of the ride debuted after an eight-month renovation. The track stayed the same, but the storyline had some differences. Even though Disney hasn’t revealed a ton of details about the changes, we expect the same thing out of this renovation.
Fans are speculating that it may have a nod to World of Motion, because of the ride vehicles. Test Track replaced World of Motion with the opening day EPCOT attraction closing in 1996.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to see some of the construction happening on the ride. It looks like the outside of the building will see some updates in addition to the ride inside, so we’ll keep you updated on everything we know.
We also want to mention that because Test Track is such a popular ride with high wait times almost all day, this closure will impact the other rides in EPCOT. We expect to see wait times increase at other attractions, especially the popular World Showcase rides like Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival also begins on August 29th which draws even more visitors so be prepared!
This isn’t the only attraction seeing some major updates. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (formerly Splash Mountain) officially opens in Magic Kingdom on June 28th. Although the ride track is the same, it’s a completely different ride now!
Right across the way at Country Bear Jamboree, the bears are putting on a new show starting July 17th. The show will feature new outfits and Disney songs in different styles of country music. We’ve heard a bit of the music coming to the new show and we’re looking forward to watching it later this summer!
Stay tuned to AllEars for the latest updates on this refurbishment and all other Disney World news. In the meantime, check out Quincy’s video about the 20 must-dos in EPCOT before your next visit!
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What do you think about the Test Track retheme? Let us know in the comments!
Thank you for mentioning lengthy closure and this is not just a slight rehab. Cms have been told to be able to wrk at test track again it will be 2 yrs if not longer this is no joke we will be getting a tech new ride.