As a theme park fan, it’s exciting to look forward to future developments, updates and upcoming Walt Disney World attractions. One such example can be seen in the temporary celebration of EPCOT’s recently concluded five-year refresh, which saw new delights added tothe park’s World Discovery section.
I say “temporary,” because the next significant change is already on its way, as Test Track 2.0 has now officially closed to make way for the next version of this classic ride. I sadly never got to ride the second iteration of this Chevrolet-sponsored attraction, and wrestling with that fact has led me to express a thought I’ve had for some time.
With the cycle of closure and refurbishment yet again underway, I think that Disney’s missing out on a major opportunity to connect with theme park fans. So if you've ever wished upon a travel agent to experience a ride you've either missed out on or are just simply nostalgic for extinct and revised attractions, follow the bouncing ball I'm about to put into motion.
R.I.P Test Track 2.0: 12/6/2012 - 6/17/2024
12 years have seen what fans call Test Track 2.0 existing in the World Discovery section of EPCOT Center. While I finally conquered Mission: SPACE in my last visit to EPCOT, there wasn’t enough time in the day for me to grab a ride on the second draft of the replacement for the classic World of Motion attraction.
I didn’t know it then, but my early 2023 visit ultimately became the final chance to visit this futuristic showroom of tomorrow. In September of the at same month, plans for Test Track 3.0 were announced, and the countdown was officially on.
That was some time after my last Walt Disney World visit in last March, which actually kept my proverbial hands full between covering the TRON Lightcycle/Run opening press blitz. Which, of course, gave me an opportunity to catch up with as much of the 20 years of change I’d missed at this Orlando dream factory as I could.
That excursion reenergized my love of theme parks and how attractions come and go in the grand scheme of things. Having now just missed Test Track 2.0’s era, a thought that resurfaced on that trip has now come to the forefront yet again.
Disney Parks Should Be Commemorating Their Park Attractions Through Disney+
We’re in an age now where there are full documentaries, vintage TV specials with Walt Disney himself, and even ambiance reels like the DisneyParks Sunrise Series, which show off these lands of enchantment for streaming audiences to see. Even the controversial nighttime spectacular Harmonious once had a spot in this library, but was eventually purged into the realms of obscurity.
So why isn’t there an effort to give those with a Disney+ subscription more access to their favorite Disney attractions we wish were still around? With assets and footage that must be hiding somewhere in the Disney vaults, bringing back rides like The Timekeeper and ExtraTERRORestrial: Alien Encounter, among others, shouldn’t be that difficult; especially when the magic of YouTube has seen some industrious content providers already doing this.
Theme Park Attraction Videos Have Been Popular For Years Now
Both of the attractions above are easily seen through home videos that people have taken in the classic era of such Disney World attractions. Now we’re seeing YouTube channels from fans and official brands sharing POV ride videos. Ever wanted to ride Universal Islands of Adventure’s Jurassic World VelociCoaster at night? There’s a video for that.
Disney Parks is no stranger to that form of video either, as Walt Disney World’s reveal of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure saw footage sent out to the world before the ride had even opened. Clearly park are trying to get in on the action, but instead of merely housing those videos on YouTube, Disney+ should be adding them to the library as well.
What if you could watch The Princess and the Frog and then switch over to the ride video of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure right after? Better still, as a subscriber exclusive, what if the full pre-show and queue experience was available as well, with an option to “sit” wherever you want on the ride?
Rare Cases Like Back To The Future: The Ride Have Even Had Home Video Releases
This next section is particularly applicable for simulator ride movies, as well as special filmed presentations that have been shown throughout theme park history. It’s because of nostalgic adventure seekers that experiences like the original Star Tours ride movie have been scanned and preserved for those who want to travel back to the galaxy far, far away, long before the prequel and sequel universe hopping that’s made Star Tours: The Adventure Continues into a fun, but sometimes confusing temporal anomaly.
Or, in the case of Back to the Future: The Ride, not only has the simulator film of this defunct Universal Studios attraction been preserved, it once had a home video release! Still included to this day in the Back to the Future Trilogy home video sets, a slightly modified version of that dearly departed adventure has been sent into homes for almost two decades.
Circling back to Disney for a moment, how much do you think it would please fans to share the entire making-of documentary and ride film for Michael Jackson’s Captain EO? It’s certainly possible, as the attraction film has been in heavy circulation on YouTube thanks to its airing on MTV in the ‘80s being preserved. I think it’s about time to give the folks at home an HD remaster on Disney+, don’t you?
Disney+’s Previous Park Content Has Already Primed The Audience
If we were still living in a pre-Behind The Attraction world, I would think that my goal of resurrecting extinct attractions on Disney+ would be a pipe dream. Of course, with two seasons of that show, as well as a full season of Prop Culture being available, the folks at the House of Mouse are clearly amenable to opening the archives for us nutty funsters who want more.
There’s even a recent National Geographic documentary, EPCOT Becoming, that’s going to be returning as part of everything new on Hulu in July. That is, surprise surprise, about the recent transformation that we’ve been celebrating, right up until the closure of Test Track 2.0. So if there was a documentary crew available to capture all of that pixie dust we’ve pardoned over half a decade of refurbs, is it too much to think that maybe there’s enough footage in the vault to bring back some of the joyous attractions we’ve lost over the years?
Short of having a DisneyParks cast member sneak me through the construction gates, I’m never going to get on Test Track’s second, supposedly “Tron-itized” incarnation, and that bums me out. While I can easily reference a YouTube ride POV video to see what I missed out on, I still think that Disney+ is missing out on a major opportunity to do what this company loves to do: preserve and share magic for generations to come.
