The ceremonial last ride of World of Motion in 1996 marked the beginning of what amounted not to a dramatic 2 year refurb, but instead to a complete rebirth of one of EPCOT Center's original attractions. Test Track, due to many different issues during its construction, missed 2 opening dates, and finally opened to the public on December 19, 1998. I can remember many trips during the construction where we would see ride vehicles screaming around the exterior track but no one being allowed in. There was a lot of speculation about what the experience would be and when it would finally open. As an "EPCOT Center purist," I can't say that I was totally disappointed, but I was not 100% happy with World of Motion's replacement. Rather than the whimsical history of transportation that was both fun and informational, and also a great nap spot for my dad, we were now transported inside of GM's proving grounds to experience the rigors of automobile testing. Although they tried to keep the mood somewhat light hearted, I more often find the interior stark and kind of slapped together. Long waits and even longer downtimes might have had something to do with the overall experience, as well as the industrial look of the queue area which just seems to lack the normal level of imagination seen in other attraction queues. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy this attraction, but I often wax nostalgic about the predecessor of this technological marvel. One of the really good things about the change to the attraction was that it sparked a pretty good number of license plates. There was a cast member plate:
The public, however, was not left out this time around, and we were graced with several license plates fit for public consumption:
There have been several other license plates issued since this first run was produced, and I will cover those in another post. I would also like to reiterate that I think this is a fine attraction, I just happen to be one of those people who is a sucker for the "vintage" attractions.
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