Does the thrill of competition send a surge through your spine? It’s okay to admit that you enjoy crushing your loved ones on the battlefield. Visiting a Disney theme park is supposed to be a get-together between family and friends wherein everyone relishes their time together. That’s nice in theory but in execution, several Disney attractions offer the opportunity to vanquish your foes, thereby earning bragging rights that last until the next vacation. Winning is power, and everybody knows it.
Over the years, I’ve heard countless anecdotes from theme park tourists. No matter how much they love their fellow Disney guests, everything changes on certain rides. Attractions such as Test Track, Toy Story Midway Mania!, and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin become opportunities to win bragging rights over companions and strangers alike. My job is to help you on your quest. I’ve got all the tips and hacks that will allow you to best your opponents. Here’s how to attain the highest scores on Epcot’s Test Track.
1. Don’t try to build the Batmobile
A dilemma exists at the start of Test Track’s design phase. Theme park tourists have the option of crafting a stylish car that they can show off to friends. By my estimate, 30 percent of people in line try to recreate the Batmobile. It’s this thought process that gets everyone in trouble. If you want to “win” Test Track, you can’t build the same vehicle as everyone else. Oddly, you have to choose some very specific options to attain a high score. If you visit the attraction a lot, you’ll notice a certain sameness exists for the daily high score winners. The explanation is that everyone who practices car design has deduced the same avenues for score-boosting. Let’s take a look at what those are.
2. Make some impractical design choices
Image: Matt C, Flickr (license)
When you reach the design console, quickly choose the vehicle style to the left, the sports car one. Don’t even think about it. Then, use your fingers to give it the smallest curves possible. Your primary goal here is to bag a solid score right off the bat. For whatever reason, the sports car does better than the SUV or bike. On the next screen, push up at the back of the ride. It’ll alter the look of your vehicle almost into a V-shape, and your responsiveness will increase. Afterward, shrink the length to the shortest size possible. If it’s a car only a small child will fit in, you’ve done it right. Finally, stretch the front of your car as wide as possible.
Following the suggestions above, I consistently get at least 200 as a base using this strategy and sometimes as much as 205. Unfortunately, if you aren’t at 195, you should probably just start all over again. Modifying your design to maximize points sucks up a lot of the allotted time and is tricky to do correctly. Test Track will let you start from scratch, which is much quicker. So, reboot if you mess up the first time. If you’re wondering how you can tell your score, don’t worry. A lot of people don’t realize this about the panel. By quickly adding your scores in the categories of Capability, Efficiency, Power, and Responsiveness, you can tell immediately how you’re doing.
What’s odd about the Test Track ride design scoring system is that it’s largely inflexible. That’s the explanation for why so many scores are in a similar range. Generally, when you improve your grade in one category, you lose a point or two somewhere else. It’s hard to advance your scoring in a zero-sum system. The skill you need to master is ignoring the cosmetic changes to allow yourself more time in the menus where you can add a few points. So, ignore the paint job and facing, places where most users will waste a lot of time.
3. Add some really ugly bells and whistles
The next menus are where you can squeeze out a few remaining points. The first thing to understand is that while it’s not sexy, the hybrid design is going to give you the highest score. What’s odd about the choices from this point forward is how much seemingly insignificant aspects of car design can boost your score.
As an example, few people pay any attention to tires. That’s a mistake. The next time you operate the panel, give no consideration to how the tires look. Your goal isn’t to build a hot rod. You want a top score, and you can game the system quite easily. Each selection comes with its own scoring data. If a tire design offers +2 Responsiveness and -2 Efficiency, you shouldn’t choose it. That’s a net score of zero, which literally helps you none.
Scroll through the options for each menu. Pick the one that offers the highest overall net score. Generally, it’s either +2 or +3. That doesn’t seem like much for a single selection. Over several screens, however, it’s the difference between a score of 210 as opposed to 225. The former one probably beats your friends. The latter puts you at the top of the leaderboard.
Circling back to tires, you’ll quickly realize that the ugliest tires imaginable, the ones that look like they belong on a James Bond amphicar, score the highest. To maximize your points, use the slider at the top of the screen on the next menu. Move your finger on the Capability side (the first few bars) to see where your score looks highest. Then, take a moment to laugh at the absurdity of your tires before moving on to the next menu. The quicker you make your peace with how ugly your car is, the better off you’ll be.
“Accessories” offers the final series of menus. This is the place where you can increase your score through the simple counting method above. The Front, Hood, Side, Top, Rear, and Trail should have about 15 points of additional scoring available. Presuming that you’ve followed all the steps listed above, your final selections should push your score past 225, possibly even 230. If you’re over 230, you’ll likely earn your place on the Today’s Top Design page, especially if you’re at the park early in the day.
4. Practice, practice, practice
Note that you can practice Test Track if you want to become a champion of the Today’s Top Design display. A few practice consoles reside in the post-ride portion of the Chevrolet area. After only a few minutes of messing around with the scoring system, you should have a strong grasp of how to attain a consistently high score. Then, you can easily set up a situation where you can show off to your friends.
Also, try to ride Test Track earlier in the day. That way, you’re competing against only a few hundred others. A score in the 225 range should easily place you at the top of the leaderboard. Toward the end of the day, a score of 230 or more is generally required to reign supreme. So, if your goal is not just to beat your friends but to take a selfie of yourself with your car as the winner of Today’s Top Design, earlier in the day is better.
Still, if you’re anything like me, the most important thing is having bragging rights over your friends. By following these tips, you can be a Test Track ringer then gloat about your win indefinitely. If you get a high score using these tips, feel free to leave a comment below!
