Chevrolet and Disney World Revamp Test Track Attraction

No longer just an automotive-themed thrill ride, Disney World's soon-to-be-re-opened Test Track Presented by Chevrolet will offer guests a three-part experience encompassing the design, testing, and marketing of a vehicle. Disney and Chevrolet hope to highlight the human element of automobile design, and fully expose their guests to the process of designing a vehicle from a blank sheet of paper. Upon entry via the all-new "Chevrolet Design Center," guests are met by several rows of touch screen–equipped design kiosks. Starting with a blank canvas, users can create their own virtual concept vehicle. Decisions made regarding the vehicle's shape, size, and engine will be reflected in their creation, their choices affecting the virtual vehicle's capability, efficiency, responsiveness, and power. Once completed, users get a card encoded with the details and specifications of their final design that drives some of the interactive functionality throughout the rest of the ride. The "testing" portion of the ride essentially consists of a reskinned version of the original GM Test Track ride, which Disney opened in 1999; the six-passenger cars still reach 65 mph, and the circuit hasn't been altered. The new part involves the packaging and interactive elements: now accompanied by a "digital multisensory media experience" that reflects how your virtual design would respond to some of the same tests GM engineers use to evaluate real vehicles. According to both Disney and Chevrolet, this is one area where Disney magic takes a backseat to pragmatic industrial design. "If you made some compromising design choices, it'll be reflected in your virtual vehicle's performance numbers," says GM industrial design manager Jeffrey Mylenek. Although it'd be undeniably cool if the physical ride actually responded according to how well or not—big engine, small tires? Hello, oversteer!—a rider's virtual vehicle designs were executed, Mylenek says it's not going to happen any time soon. Feature: The Cars of Pixar's Cars 2 Feature: Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Teases One of Two Planned Roller Coasters Upfront: Disney and GM´s Test Track Has a Birthday. In the third phase of the ride, guests can race their virtual creations on a digital race track against those created by others, pose for photos and create a video commercial featuring their car. Visitors are then ushered into a final area with a dozen or so Chevrolet production vehicles (natch) on display. According to Mylenek, it wouldn't be unheard of for the occasional concept or prototype vehicle to share some floor space with the production vehicles. According to Disney and Chevrolet, it took about 18 months of planning to finalize the design, work taking place both in Disney's Imagineering offices in Florida and GM's tech center in Warren, Michigan. Neither would reveal the amount of financial investment involved in executing the project. Disneyphiles take note: Questions pertaining to the location of any "hidden Mickeys" on the ride were met with nervous Imagineer smiles. The attraction opens on December 6, 2012. Read full story » from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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