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I've been inside, and actually I have seen the FP and Single Rider queue lines completely bypassing the design-your-car rooms. FP and SR will have standard models to test.
Here's another large and -very- detailed review from a member at TPR.
Two rooms for the design (got to nab 6 rides on it yesterday). Fastpass riders will have the opportunity to select a pre made car before moving to the merge point in the queue. I love the overall new experience! The world of motion icons put into the signage, and some awesome visuals. I think a def win for the GP, as they will eat it up for sure!
Spoilers from my ride experiences. I apologize in advance if I loose you in this review or if I reiterate too often.
Walking into the queue, and seeing just how different the layout is, well stunning. Chevy displays a full-size concept vehicle on the left of stand-by, and a case containing the four aspects of the "design": Capability (yellow), Efficiency (green), Responsiveness (blue), and Power (purple). The yellow pulled apart car thing was also very cool eye candy, and rounding behind it all to see the white car shaped blob that had projected imagery on it was a nice touch. Heading up to the staging area for the design studio, it was nice to see interactive monitors that allow the designer to preview how to create their car before actually doing it.
When you get to the design studio, you begin with the choosing a car or truck design, and draw a line, which ultimately shapes the vehicle. The line becomes "optimized" into a more defined shaped, that allows you to alter at certain points, and a vehicle is generated. Once created, the designer can sculpt the vehicle by pulling and pushing parts of the car, as well as change the size of the wheel base, widen the car, etc. When this is all happening, the top of the screen displays the 4 categories (Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness, and Power) and the values are changed as you alter the car. You then choose the engine for your car, with several choices from eco friendly - to power hungry, sacrificing values in efficiency or power. The final step includes some final touches to the vehicle, painting it, adding decals, and accessories and wheels. At this point, you'll see how outlandish (but fun!) you can make your vehicle, from monster truck sized tires to over the top hood scoops. Some of these things adjust the values of the 4 categories, and display when it boost points in one or subtract from the other. We saw that some accessories did change the values of the 4 categories, even though it wasn't mentioned beside the accessory on the screen.
You then continue the merge point, where it was in the old TT. The design of the new queue is clever, since the Fastpass and single rider are so separated, the things such as the design studio and layout keep stand by riders occupied and distracted from the quick flow that fastpass lines generally have with guests.
The boarding process is the same as the old TT, except RFID readers with small displays have been added to each "spot" that you stand on. I was told that it is important to scan your card before the gate opens to the car, as if you scan when the gate is open to board, your vehicle design will be uploaded to the next car. As this was just testing, my vehicle never uploaded to the Test Track car that I rode in.
Onto the ride portion, as you pull towards the seatbelt check, the "hello, the seatbelt check is around the corner" spiel is the same, but a male voice now talks in a much more mellow pace, the new voice of TT. It sort of sounds like one of those voices that you'd hear on one of those relaxation cd's. (No idea if anyone knows what I mean). When you get to the seatbelt check CM, that has you tug on the yellow strap, It is easy to notice that the lighting on the track to the left to the maintenance bay has been turned off, and the focus goes to uphill portion of the ride (easily one of my favorite parts).
The uphill climb has massive murals on both sides of the track, with some containing projection effects, as the car says, "welcome to the sim track". It is an awesome open to the ride, with cool black lighted stars on the celling. You pass under the first of many arches, this one being yellow, marking the Capability testing. The track and guard rails are painted with yellow black light painting. The Belgium and German blocks are going, and more big murals with projectors are on the sides, and your car "connects" to On-Star. Into the old abs off / on sequence, the old monitor that Bill talked to you on has been replaced with a frosted piece of glass, that is projected onto, a very nice appearance. The car does the same effect, swerving off at the end of the "track" like it lost control, and turns the corner to repeat the test. As it does, a projector effect occurs, where it looks like a virtual waterfall comes towards the car on the left. The next stretch of road( the old abs on test) has blue outlined black lit set pieces on the sides, (as others have said, heavy usage with black lighting) and you launch towards the efficiency testing (the old hot/cold chambers), and a bolt of lighting hits on the right. Think of it as a virtual tron-like world and appearance. Just before going in, to the left of the car, a model of a futuristic city sits, with projection effects, as well as a monitor displaying the 6 vehicles that were made by the designers, and who scored best in capability. (This part did not work when I rode, as the vehicles were not ours on the monitor).
This is the trend for the ride, as you go through each category, the results are displayed. Moving on to Efficiency (green theme), the old hot chamber "scans" the car with lighting. The old cold chamber, shows a wind tunnel effect, and then the old corrosion chamber also has a "scan" effect on both sides of the car. Overall, this part was just ok, as the effects were just nothing special and non surprising. As you move into the Responsiveness (blue theme) test, a laser effect projects onto cut out black tree shapes, to appear that it is drawing the trees. When going through the curvy road, black light again is heavily used, as the cut out trees from the old TT are reused, outlined with blue black light paint. The track and guard rails are also painted with blue black light paint. You continue to the truck, yes it's still there, now with blue headlights, and a neat effect where rather than putting show lighting on the truck, they outlined it with lasers. As you arrive to the power effect (old crash test) you round the corner to see all 4 categories illuminate (almost like they are loading up). And the car says, " and now its time for the final test. Power. The room lights up, and plays epic (ok, well I like it) music as you launch through several purple arches, onto the outside portion of the track. The outside is the same, no more "Push it, Harder!" quote though.
When exiting the photo viewing area is the same, and a massive screen with RFID readers allows you to see the layout of the ride, as well as where the cars are on the track (no idea if it is truly synced with the cars, or if its just a cool display) and allows the guests to scan their car, and compare to friends to see their final score and how they did. It also displayed the top 10 cars for scoring the highest in each category.
I didn't get a chance to see the rest of the post-show, but as others said, it sounds promising. It is very re-rideable and I found myself wanting to go back to the design studio, trying to optimize the score of my vehicle.
I'm really excited about RFIDs being added to the parks. I'm sure it'll be shoved down our throats before long, but for now, it's pretty amazing. Between turnstile-free entrances, magic rose dining, and now interactive car design in an attraction, it's really spectacular. It's so seamless and simple. I'm actually pretty excited to see how these bracelets work when they're finally instituted. And scared. I'm pretty scared, too. Scheduled ride times and extended stand-by queues make me shudder :stunned:
So far it's sounding like a good investment. I'm excited. My friends and I have already decided to play the design game as lowest score wins. We want to see who can come up with the most ineffective automobile possible. This is going to be fun.
Member rct247 posted the following graphic further explaining the reworking of the queue, minus some specifics of the single rider and Fastpass lines:
Here is a very rough Photoshop job of the two queues based on my memory and me guessing. Please excuse any errors. Red=Standby, Blue=Single Rider, Green=Fastpass.
I rarely get the opportunity to go to Disney these days, but the last time I did they had a bomb squad call out in front of test track. probably the only exciting thing that has happened in that area since they shut TT down.
I rarely get the opportunity to go to Disney these days, but the last time I did they had a bomb squad call out in front of test track. probably the only exciting thing that has happened in that area since they shut TT down.
