Construction walls and Epcot have been close friends for almost five years. Back in 2019, a major redevelopment project for Epcot was begun that, due to the global pandemic delay, still isn’t quite done. Epcot fans were overjoyed to learn that the final construction walls would come down on June 10 with the opening of Communicore Hall, but those fans should enjoy the seven days that follow, because walls are going back up on June 17 when Test Track’s reimagining begins.
It was revealed at last year’s Destination D23 event that a redesign Test Track was on the slate of new Disney World attractions, but no date for when that would happen had been announced. Today the Test Track webpage was updated to announce the June 17 closure, and a new piece of concept art, seen above, was released to show what the exterior of the new ride is planned to look like.
The June 17 date is a little surprising. First, as mentioned, it comes only a week after the last piece of the previous Epcot project was completed. It’s a bit of a shock that the park isn’t being given a longer break. Especially since there are major projects at other parks, including a reimagined land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and an entirely new land at Magic Kingdom, that we hope will be getting underway sooner rather than later.
There’s also the fact that this major Epcot attraction is closing in the middle of June. While there’s basically no such thing as a “slow season” at Walt Disney World anymore, summer is still the busiest time of year, and the resort tends to avoid major closures during the period because a closed Disney World attraction is one less place for all those guests to go.
Of course, this is a major redevelopment of Test Track, not a simple refurbishment. The work will take months, and it’s possible that, no matter when the closure started, it was going to run into the summer months, so there was no reason not to just start it in June.
This will be the third version of Test Track since the attraction replaced World of Motion in 1998. The first iteration gave guests the experience of being a crash test dummy, riding along as a car was put through a series of performance and safety tests. Test Track 2.0, which opened in 2012, saw guests “design” their own vehicle, which was then put through a series of performance tests. Exactly what Test Track 3.0 will be isn’t clear yet, though Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro has said it will pay homage to World of Motion in some way.
If you happen to be visiting Epcot between June 10 and June 16, you’re in luck. You’ll experience a park with nothing closed, and no walls blocking your view. Epcot will be something we haven’t seen in a long time. After that, it’s back to the construction walls.
