This work identifies sources of error in melt pool characterization tests that are frequently employed to study processing parameters in laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM). At an early stage in process parameter development, researchers typically characterize the shape of single, non-overlapping melt tracks formed with varying processing conditions such as laser power and scanning velocity. However, as L-PBF enters mainstream manufacturing, researchers must test the limits of these commonly relied-upon characterization experiments to avoid errors that could impact process development. Hence, this study expands on conventional methods by depositing single-tracks and overlapping multitracks on a powder layer at multiple interpass temperatures, thereby mimicking heat buildup during the manufacturing of a multilayer part. While single-track melt pool depth and width do not increase as a function of interpass temperature as expected, multitrack experiments demonstrate a clear gradient in both melt pool depth, width and bead height between the first and final tracks. This work quantitatively demonstrates that the setup of single-track characterization experiments has a notable impact on the process parameter development. Alternatively, multitrack experiments closely capture the deposition conditions and melt pool variability observed during multilayer part fabrication.