Earlier this afternoon the
Disney Parks Blog hosted a live chat with Imagineer Melissa Jeseinick to discuss the new Test Track that will open in the late Fall of this year (no exact date yet).
Below is a summary of her comments - much of it is direct from her, word for word, and we have linked together a few conversations that go together for the ease of reading.
The first item that was shown was a piece of new concept art showing the new marquee:
Then Melissa went on to explain various questions, here is the summary:
In the “studio”, an interactive design kiosk in the queue, you will have a chance to design your own concept vehicle. That design follows you into the ride, which is still the same physical ride that you know and love (the same track). You'll ride in a sim car. As you move through the space, your custom design will be scored in areas such as Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness and Speed. Capability is where your car is tested for rough road and weather conditions. Efficiency tests your car design's environmental footprint. The Responsiveness phase tests maneuverability, and finally, Speed is tested. You start from a line, shape your vehicle and add attributes-pick colors, the tires, “make it your dream vehicle.”
Single Riders and FastPass lines allow for an expedited queue experience-you select a custom vehicle to take with you instead.
Everybody in the vehicle will have their ride design, whether they designed individually or as a group. As you move through the four groups, you'll see how the design stacked up against the sim car design.
Inside the attraction building there will be a lot of new technology used to tell the story. All new custom software, the guest will be at the center of the experience.
The pre-show and post-show are also integrated. Your vehicle travels through the entire experience with you, and you can keep interacting with your ride vehicle after the attraction.
The post-show will start with a scoring opportunity, not just with the guests in your car, but guests throughout the day. From there, you move into other opportunities to play with your design with multiple interactive elements. The show room space will still be there with the Chevrolet cars, and there will be photo ops with different concept cars. Some of the things that will be displayed have never been shown outside of Chevrolet.
We are a bit baffled by what kind of technology will allow for a custom sim car for EVERY person in the ride vehicle regardless if you designed as a group or individually. Perhaps some sort of project technology similar to World of Color or the Magic, Memories and You!? Or perhaps something ala old school virtual technology head-gear? What do you think?
