EPCOT · World Discovery

Test Track

Design a virtual concept car, then take it through a dark proving ground and a sixty-five-mile-per-hour lap around the outside of the building.

  • Minimum height40in (102cm)
  • Ride length5 min
  • Lightning LaneMulti Pass
  • Opened1999

Ride facts

Type
Dark ride
Height
40in (102cm)
Intensity
Moderate
Motion sickness
Low motion risk
Getting wet
You may get splashed
Indoor / outdoor
Mixed
Air conditioned
Yes
Single rider
Available
Rider Switch
Available

Last verified July 2026

What it is

Test Track has now existed in three versions. The original opened in 1999 with a General Motors sponsorship and a literal automotive-proving-ground theme. The 2012 rebuild wrapped it in a blue-grid Tron aesthetic under Chevrolet. The current version reopened on July 22, 2025, with General Motors back as sponsor and a new presentation that leans on the history of automotive design and testing rather than neon abstraction.

The ride hardware underneath has not changed. It is still a slot-car-style vehicle running a dark interior circuit of environmental tests — heat, cold, rough road, braking, a hairpin — before the doors open and you take a long banked loop around the exterior of the building at roughly sixty-five miles per hour. That outdoor lap is the fastest thing at Walt Disney World and remains the reason to ride.

Two planning facts matter and are frequently reported wrong. Test Track is on Lightning Lane Multi Pass, not Single Pass, so it is included in the standard day purchase. And it has a single rider line that regularly cuts a seventy-minute wait to fifteen.

What riding it is actually like

Before you board, you use a touchscreen to design a vehicle — you are picking sliders for efficiency, responsiveness, capability, and power rather than drawing anything. It takes about three minutes and the design follows you onto the ride as a score. Groups can link designs so you compete against each other. If you are alone or indifferent, tap through it; the ride is identical.

The interior circuit runs about three minutes through darkness, weather effects, and a series of near-misses. The cold room actually gets cold. The rough-road section is the roughest ride surface Disney operates in Florida and will rattle a phone out of a loose pocket. The braking test brings you nose-to-nose with a barrier in the dark, which is the moment that scares small kids.

Then the exterior doors open, the car launches, and you spend roughly forty seconds outside doing a banked oval around the show building. It is genuinely windy — hats go, sunglasses go, and long hair becomes a problem for the person behind you. On the return, a post-show floor lets you photograph your design and play with a few interactives; most people skip it, and most people should.

Is Test Track scary?

The indoor portion is dark and includes a near-miss with a barrier and a large truck that reads as a collision to small children. The outdoor speed loop hits about sixty-five miles per hour in open air, which is the fastest anything moves at Walt Disney World, but it is smooth and banked with no drops. The wind is the intense part, not the ride.

Overall scare factor2/5
Darkness3/5
Drops1/5
Speed5/5
Loudness4/5
Sudden effects2/5

Scores are editorial, on a 1–5 scale, judged against what frightens a typical four- to seven-year-old rather than an adult.

Accessibility

Wheelchair
Must transfer to the ride vehicle
Audio description
Available
Handheld captioning
Not offered
Assistive listening
Not offered
Sign language
Not offered
Service animals
Must use a kennel or wait with a companion

Riders transfer into a six-seat vehicle with a lap belt and must be able to hold their own head and torso upright at speed. There is a test vehicle near the entrance. The design station before the ride is fully accessible with height-adjustable screens.

Full EPCOT accessibility guide →

Tips that actually help

  • Use the single rider line. It is on the far right as you face the entrance, it is almost never advertised loudly, and it typically runs at a fifth of the standby wait. You lose the design station and you will be split from your party, which for a five-minute ride is a fine trade.
  • Sit on the right side of the vehicle for the outdoor loop. The banking puts the right seats on the outside of the curve, higher up, with the better view over the parking lot toward the park.
  • Test Track shuts down in lightning because the loop is outdoors. Florida afternoon storms take it offline regularly, sometimes for an hour. Ride it in the morning if the forecast is bad, and do not save it for the evening in July.
  • Tie back long hair and put sunglasses on a strap. This is the one ride at EPCOT where things genuinely blow off people.
  • If the standby wait is posted at over sixty minutes and you are with kids under seven who cannot do single rider, spend the Multi Pass selection here rather than on Frozen Ever After — Frozen's line moves in visible chunks, Test Track's does not.

Timing

Best time to ride
First hour of the day, or after 8 PM. Avoid the 11 AM to 4 PM block entirely.
Typical wait
Fifty to eighty-five minutes midday; single rider usually ten to twenty-five.
Lightning Lane
Lightning Lane Multi Pass

Test Track: common questions

What is the height requirement for Test Track?

Forty inches. Measurement is at a fixed stick with shoes on and hats off, and borderline riders receive a wristband good for the whole day.

Is Test Track on Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Single Pass?

Multi Pass. It is included in the standard Lightning Lane Multi Pass purchase for the day rather than being sold separately à la carte, which makes it one of the better value selections at EPCOT.

How fast does Test Track go?

About sixty-five miles per hour on the outdoor loop, which makes it the fastest attraction at Walt Disney World. The indoor portion never exceeds a crawl by comparison.

Does Test Track have a single rider line?

Yes, and it is the best-kept time-saver at EPCOT. Look for the separate entrance to the right of the main queue. You skip the vehicle design station and get assigned to fill empty seats.

Is Test Track the same ride it was before 2025?

The track layout, vehicles, and outdoor speed loop are unchanged. The theming, pre-show, interior scenes, and post-show were rebuilt for the July 2025 reopening under a returning General Motors sponsorship.

Does Test Track get you wet?

Only lightly, and only if it is raining outside — the outdoor loop is uncovered. There is no water effect on the ride itself.