The previously announced renovations will start in June
BREAKING: Disney Announces Closure Date For Test Track in EPCOT - MickeyBlog.com
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I’m glad it’s sooner rather than later, but I was really hoping they’d open the Standby Line for Cosmic Rewind to help suck in some crowd volume.
This also makes Genie+ even less desirable for Epcot though. So it might make even more sense to move Cosmic Rewind to Standby/G+ to help sell more of it.
Can’t wait for MickeyViews to claim credit for this breaking news, despite being a month and a half off.
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All the hoorays!
We won’t have to ride it this time!!
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This might be the ride most in need of a refresh. It’s so underwhelming if you’ve ever been on RSR at DCA.
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If they are bothering to refub they really should update it to this, though I recognize that that doesn’t really fit the science-y point that Epcot at least once had
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I wonder how long it will take to complete the renovations.
Just as a frame of reference, Splash Mountain closed January 23, 2023 and Tiana’s is opening Summer 2024. Eighteen months. Same time frame would be around Christmas 2025.
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Haven’t really been following this much but the first picture looks like the outside track will be enclosed?!? That will be great when it reopens, reducing the amount of times it shuts down for weather…which seems like all the time!
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It’ll be interesting to see the timeline from the budget perspective too. A 3rd party didn’t sponsor the refresh of Splash Mountain, but Chevy is providing TWDC with a bunch of cash for the conversion and they probably don’t want it down any longer than necessary.
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This would definitely open up some theming options. I just hope they can make it a little less jerky somehow.
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I’ve seen discussion that this isn’t necessarily true, but it sure would be nice if the outside portion had a canopy that kept the rain off the track, so it didn’t have to close so much. Tron has just a canopy over the outside portion.
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I miss the old Epcot. It was such a unique theme park in the 80s and 90s.
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I have no inside information, but I suspect WDW will go with a canopy. I think the outdoor environment is a key part of that short stretch of speed.
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They just did it with Tron, there’s no reason not to in order to help keep the ride open and operating during inclement weather.
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Exactly my reaction
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This will still be open when we go in early June. 
I could do without it but my kids love it. And we won’t be there in the final week it is open, so that will help. Looking forward to whatever the reimagining brings.
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I look at the concept art and think - ooooh, Dinosaurs. I would lose my mind of they had us driving through time back to the Universe of Energy set! 
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If this will be a throwback to world of motion then I’m all in.
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They said it would be! I don’t know how much of an homage it will be, but whatever they do will be better than what they have now, IMO. The ride system is great but the show is tired.
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I’m voting for some combination of World of Motion, Horizons and Universe of Energy.
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How cool would it be if they refurbished or recreated at least one old animatronic from each classic Epcot attraction and somehow incorporated all of them in one ride? Not necessarily the new Test Track, maybe make Journey Into Imagination great again. We could name it “Figment’s Journey Into Retro Epcot”.
Could include: Horizons (robotic butler?), World of Motion (Da Vinci? guy in the mud with the pigs?), Universe of Energy (brontosaurus?), Journey Into Imagination (Dreamfinder), Cranium Command (Buzzy), Living Seas (JASON deep sea rover?), Spaceship Earth (something removed - Egyptian on the scaffolding?), CommuniCore (SMRT-1), Maelstrom (viking, troll, or polar bear), and El Rio del Tiempo (Aztec Priest?).
Disney nerds would love it. Casuals would be mostly confused. 
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