Changes

When developing a new attraction for the pavilion, General Motors gave Disney Imagineers instructions to narrow the focus of the pavilion to the automobile (as opposed to all of transportation) <ref name= "Martin"/>. With this in mind, Disney Imagineers went back to an old idea. During the initial development of the World of Motion, in 1976, WED Engineers had gone to a GM testing ground in Milford, Michigan. While on a tour of the grounds, Imagineers they got to see how prototype cars were tested<ref name= "Martin"/>. Taking their inspiration from this trip, Imagineering had originally planned on having a secondary attraction in the World of Motion pavilion that would have allowed guests to "test" futuristic automobiles<ref name= "Martin"/>. Although this idea was eventually dropped by 1979, 25 years later, Disney resurrected the concept <ref name= "Martin"/>. To this end, Imagineering pitched the idea of Test Track- an “E-ticket” attraction that would allow guests to experience the rigorous training that vehicles went through before they were brought to the public. Initially, the ride vehicles that guests rode in on Test Track were to be "sled-like" <ref name= "Martin"/>, as . As development continued however, Disney decided that guests should ride in cars instead. By doing this, the experience would be as similar to the General Motors testing process as possible <ref name= "Martin"/>.

Although development on Test Track began in 1992, the World of Motion did not close until January 2, 1996. Following the closure, almost the entire pavilion was gutted and a new track was built<ref name= "Martin"/>. Unlike the World of Motion, which took place completely inside of the pavilion, Test Track featured an indoor and outdoor track. While the majority of the attraction took place inside, with the “speed lap” portion of Test Track would bring bringing guests outside. The idea of an exterior track was originally planned for the Transportation pavilion as far back as 1978; however it never came to fruition<ref name= "Martin"/>. Finally, in order to facilitate Test Track, a third story was added to the pavilion <ref name= "Martin"/>.

After three years of construction, Test Track was officially dedicated on March 17, 1999 <ref name= "Martin"/>. On hand for the event were NASCAR driver Richard Petty and supermodels Christine Brinkley, Angie Everhart, Carol Alt, and Frederique. Musical Also at the dedication, musical bands Earth, Wind and Fire and The Spinners played as fireworks flew over Epcot<ref name= "Lou"/>.

Although Test Track remained essentially the same (apart from the minor changes listed above), things began to change when GM's sponsorship of the pavilion ended in 2009 <ref name= "book"> Pedersen, R.A. The EPCOT Explorer's Encyclopedia:. United States: Epcyclopedia, 2011. Print. </ref>. Initially, GM agreed to continue sponsoring the pavilion on a yearly basis <ref name= "book"/>. In January of 2012 however, Disney and GM agreed to a new sponsorship agreement that included a makeover of Test Track <ref name= "book"/>. Subsequently, on January 6, 2012 Disney announced that Test Track would be closing for a lengthy refurbishment on April 15th of that year <ref> https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/01/re-imagined-test-track-will-put-guests-in-the-designers-seat-this-fall-at-epcot/ </ref>. During the renovation, the premise of the attraction was changed, so that guests now designed their own Chevrolet car in the queue, and then tested their car on the attraction. Although the refurbishment was significant, the ride track and vehicles remained essentially the same. When discussing the changes, Imagineer Melissa Jeselnick noted: