TRON Lightcycle Run is a brand new curler coaster beneath building by Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World. This covers every little thing you want to know: probably opening date, progress images, journey automobile check video, idea artwork, and solutions to widespread questions. (Updated October 29, 2022.)
To deliver you in control, this curler coaster was introduced 5 years in the past, is a clone of Shanghai Disneyland’s TRON Lightcycle Power Run, and will likely be positioned between Tomorrowland Speedway and Storybook Circus in Fantasyland. Like Space Mountain, it’ll be past the railway tracks that circle Magic Kingdom and, consequently, Walt Disney World Railroad is closed because of the curler coaster building the the operational cost-savings. Fortunately, that’s gearing as much as return very quickly. (See When Will the Walt Disney World Railroad Reopen? for extra.)
If you’re questioning when TRON Lightcycle Run will open…effectively, we’d quickly have a solution! After years and years of ready, it’s probably that Disney will announce the opening date between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2022. If you wish to be notified when that’s revealed (or another Walt Disney World information, low cost releases, and many others.), enroll right here for our FREE Disney publication right here.
In phrases of fundamental background, the attraction is formally generally known as TRON Lightcycle / Run (or Tron Lightcycle Power Run) and is a semi-enclosed launched metal bike curler coaster attraction. The seats are just like these on Avatar Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom; riders sit on particular person lightcycles, lean ahead, grip a set of handlebars, and a pad behind the seat comes down and snuggly secures the rider in place.
As the identify suggests, the curler coaster relies on the Tron movies. It begins with friends coming into an enormous gravity/present constructing the place they step onto the Grid and board their very own bike or lightcycle. Like Space Mountain or Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, a lot of the journey is in a darkened present constructing, however in contrast to these, the climax of the attraction is a loop beneath a big color-changing cover, which can be the long-lasting function of the attraction’s facade.
Above is my photograph of how all of this appears at Shanghai Disneyland. We’ve achieved Shanghai Disneyland’s model of the journey a number of instances, so plenty of the data that follows can be based mostly on our firsthand experiences using TRON Lightcycle Run. The greatest distinction is that it’s the focus of Tomorrowland in China, with the whole land constructed round TRON Lightcycle Power Run. There are a number of approaches and viewing areas for the curler coaster, which I believe is savvy.
By distinction, Magic Kingdom’s TRON Lightcycle Run is nestled behind Space Mountain, can have a cramped strategy between that journey’s exit and Tomorrowland Speedway, and the one viewing space for the curler coaster beneath the cover seems to be alongside the winding entrance and exit paths. (There are a number of recipes for congestion right here.)
Now let’s check out some idea artwork for TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom to see how its aesthetics will differ from the Shanghai Disneyland incarnation of the attraction…
Above is the latest idea artwork for TRON Lightcycle Run, which has been tweaked from the unique plans. There are some things that leap out from this new artwork by way of adjustments from its predecessor.
First, the marquee is now a planter out entrance of the attraction, slightly than hanging from the highest of the cover. Next, the doorway is now a winding and accessible walkway, slightly than stairs. Finally, there’s what seems to be a (very small) tunnel for the practice.
Above is the idea artwork from two years in the past, which additionally reveals how TRON Lightcycle Run matches with Space Mountain, the Tomorrowland Speedway, and Walt Disney World Railroad round it.
In that, you possibly can see the steps, path again to Storybook Circus, and unique marquee. You can’t actually see the place the practice would go, and it seems the doorway/exit from the present constructing all comply with one path down the steps.
For these wanting an thought of how TRON Lightcycle Run will match into the Magic Kingdom “skyline,” above is an aerial view from final summer season earlier than the cover cushions had been put in. Here it’s also possible to see simply how deep the gravity constructing is, extending all the way in which again to World Dr. on the far aspect of Magic Kingdom.
While the gravity constructing is outstanding in these images, it needs to be famous that that is an excessive angle. From inside Tomorrowland and when approaching TRON Lightcycle Run, friends probably received’t have the ability to see the ‘big box.’ It’s not seen from most of Magic Kingdom; simply as is the case at Shanghai Disneyland.
When the cover is completed, it’ll look lovely and be what attracts the attention of most friends.
TRON Lightcycle Run Construction Updates
Just a brief and candy replace right this moment, through the enjoyable and heartwarming video shared by Disney Parks on Instagram. In this, the Walt Disney World Ambassadors are notifying Cast Members that they’ve been chosen for the opening workforce of TRON Lightcycle Run. It’s enjoyable to see the joy that these CMs have at being chosen for these launch groups. A pleasant change of tempo from a few of the information we’ve been sharing these days!
This will not be essentially indicative of a gap date, as Cast Members could possibly be chosen a month or so earlier than they’re reassigned. However, they most likely would not obtain these alternatives a number of months upfront–that may be comparatively unprecedented. Once these Cast Members are assigned to their new roles on the curler coaster, there will likely be a pair months of coaching and testing. This means that our opening predictions beneath are nonetheless proper on observe–if something, TRON Lightcycle Run may enter previews or comfortable openings earlier than mentioned beneath. It’s extremely probably that we get the official information between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day!
Now, listed here are some updates on testing and building progress from the final couple months…
I’m so prepared pic.twitter.com/TbpdxnDxie
— Thomas Parris (@tparris3245) August 30, 2022
Over the course of the final month-plus, Imagineers have been testing the total cover lighting package deal on TRON Lightcycle Run. This is a primary, because it occurred with journey automobile assessments and reveals the curler coaster trains and lightweight results working in tandem because the lightcycles glide beneath the cover.
Walt Disney World additionally has been dispatching trains at or close to peak effectivity, with beneath 30 seconds between them. The attraction additionally has been working with human riders, and firm executives and others have already skilled it. This implies that the within of the attraction is completed and has been turned over to operations, and the one building to be accomplished is outdoors on the strategy and varied walkways.
Now, let’s check out building progress…
There’s been plenty of progress on TRON Lightcycle Run’s building within the final a number of months. Like different tasks that kicked into excessive gear with the beginning of the brand new fiscal 12 months, work on TRON Lightcycle Run has accelerated since across the begin of Walt Disney World’s fiftieth Anniversary.
Let’s begin by approaching from the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover with a recent take a look at the development web site.
These new images had been all taken throughout a busy morning on the Magic Kingdom building web site. You can actually see important progress happen whereas visiting Magic Kingdom.
In reality, we took a number of spins on the TTA PeopleMover this morning after wrapping up Halloween updates, having fun with the brand new narration and watching building employees proceed to make progress.
Here’s a take a look at the far aspect of the location, adjoining to the Tomorrowland Speedway.
Over right here, there are foundations for what we assume will likely be planters. Futuristic planters. You may also see the top of the walkway to Storybook Circus.
Continuing in the direction of the location, right here’s a wider view of the primary elevated walkway and first part of the swooping cover. You may also catch a glimpse of the Storybook Circus path beneath the flyover ramp that leads as much as the attraction entrance.
The principal work we noticed was on the lead-up to the flyover walkway. There are a collection of curved, concrete foundations being constructed. One of those is certainly for the attraction signage, per the idea artwork. The others aren’t even pictured within the artwork–one appears prefer it could possibly be a fountain, however given Disney’s aversion to water options, that appears unlikely. Probably extra planters.
Speaking of the attraction entrance, you possibly can see the collection of arches–and collection of scissor lifts–in entrance of the visitor entrance for TRON Lightcycle Run. There are a number of doorways right here, and clearly two separate sides–one for standby/digital queue and one other for the Lightning Lane.
You may also see a number of sections of wall paneling that should be completed. All comparatively minor work within the grand scheme of issues.
We haven’t observed as a lot taking place with the flyover ramp itself within the final couple months. Off within the distance, there are a handful of building employees. This wants its everlasting guardrail put in, however aside from that, this walkway is essentially in completed kind. Once cleaned up, it’ll (clearly) look lots nicer.
Ground-level paths have been the main focus extra just lately. We’re seeing the strategy from Tomorrowland take form, in addition to the walkway that’ll curve beneath the flyover and lead again into Storybook Circus. There’s additionally one other path with an unknown vacation spot–presumably main backstage.
It’s considerably troublesome to determine what’s taking place right here–that is virtually immediately beneath the PeopleMover–nevertheless it seems to be framing for extra swooping concrete partitions.
TRON Lightcycle Run is technically past the berm in Magic Kingdom, shoehorned into a good plot of land between the boundaries of Tomorrowland, Storybook Circus, and World Drive. Consequently, the realm across the attraction can have plenty of strategically-located partitions and walkways to direct visitors and conceal views into backstage and places outdoors the park.
Here’s a wider view that reveals just about the whole TRON Lightcycle Run worksite that’s seen from the TTA PeopleMover. Now that the ETFE cushion cover is full, crews have been engaged on the bottom and elevated pathway and progress is transferring briskly on these. There’s lots occurring within the photograph above and beneath, so let’s break it down.
The flyover walkway (far left) will weave friends beneath the cover, over the Walt Disney World Railroad tunnel (middle-left), and into the visitor entrance (far proper and beneath) of the present constructing. You can truly see an analogous path in our images of Shanghai Disneyland’s model of the curler coaster all through this publish (minus the practice stuff).
Speaking of the practice tunnel, we’ve seen plenty of work on this just lately. This is now totally enclosed, mirroring the idea artwork–a necessity so the practice doesn’t discolor the crisp cover of TRON Lightcycle Run.
Construction employees have been exhausting at work including a air flow system, lighting, and even beginning to set observe for the practice. There are additionally home windows minimize into the tunnel that’ll provide a view from the practice of TRON Lightcycle Run.
Work now primarily is on the bottom, specializing in the flyover and strategy walkways. Installation of the ETFE cushion cover has been completed for a number of months. As you possibly can see from the Imagineering pictures beneath, the biomimicry-inspired roof membrane appears superior when illuminated with present lighting at evening.
What’s pictured above is not that–there are work lights on on this picture, which explains the uneven lighting. This cover additionally serves a sensible function: overlaying friends as they strategy and enter the attraction, and permitting the journey to run within the rain. Thankfully, Walt Disney World has discovered its lesson on weather-related downtime for indoor/outside rides from Test Track.
Over the summer season, Walt Disney Imagineering launched new publicity pictures displaying that TRON Lightcycle Run has reached one other undertaking milestone at Magic Kingdom, with the beginning of present lighting testing on the attraction cover.
This curved-wave construction serves because the Upload Conduit to the Grid, the place friends (or “Users” in TRON parlance) will race beneath on Lightcycles as they start their competitors.
In preparation for the race, the Walt Disney Imagineering Show Lighting workforce is difficult at work testing the system and programming greater than 1,200 fixtures throughout the floor.
The cover and exterior plaza will likely be delivered to life within the coming months because the undertaking workforce continues importing and integrating further present parts.
In different phrases, just about every little thing is completed at this level except for the flyover ramps, ground-level walkways, varied planters, and a little bit of clean-up and landscaping work. While it nonetheless very a lot appears like an energetic building web site, plenty of that may be completed fairly shortly.
Obviously, it’s nonetheless an energetic building web site with plenty of work occurring, however the journey is now within the residence stretch. Seriously. After 4+ years, the curler coaster is sort of prepared. In reality, TRON Lightcycle Run may open inside a number of weeks given the work that is still. The query is…will it?
Possibly. The curler coaster itself is able to roll–fairly actually. Below the ETFE cushion roofing, you possibly can generally see curler coaster trains launching. We’ve seen these for a number of months now, and they’re now transferring at full-speed and at common intervals.
The different query is whether or not Walt Disney World even desires to open TRON Lightcycle Run anytime quickly. We’ll deal with that subsequent…
TRON Lightcycle Run Opening Date
Now let’s flip to the opening date of Magic Kingdom’s upcoming thrill journey. Walt Disney World has dropped the road that TRON Lightcycle Run “is set to open at Magic Kingdom Park in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary.”
This is no surprise, as that was the plan previous to the multi-month closure of Walt Disney World, throughout which all building stopped. Even after the parks reopened, work was gradual to renew inside Magic Kingdom on TRON Lightcycle Run.
We’ve speculated repeatedly that Walt Disney World would intentionally stagger its new attraction debuts this 12 months and in 2023 as a technique to incentivize new and repeat journeys. Our pondering was that the debuts of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot and TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom would needs to be sufficiently spaced to present new bookings two photographs within the arm.
Walt Disney World has already made its large addition for this 12 months: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which is now open. We’ve skilled that new Epcot E-Ticket many instances, and share ideas in our Spoiler-Free Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Ride Review. Personally, I believe it’s a lot better than TRON Lightcycle Run.
The query is when will TRON Lightcycle Run open?
To our disappointment and shock, Disney introduced that TRON Lightcycle Run will debut in Spring 2023. While unlucky that it received’t open this vacation season, it does make sense. This spacing after Cosmic Rewind could be strategic for the reason that attraction could possibly be totally completed effectively earlier than then.
This delay into Spring 2023 is extra about when it’s most financially advantageous to open one other headliner journey after Cosmic Rewind. Spacing them out in numerous calendar years would immediate some followers to take two journeys as a substitute of 1, permitting Walt Disney World to profit from two distinct advertising and marketing pushes.
This is disappointing as a result of we all know that TRON Lightcycle Run could possibly be achieved inside weeks or months if the corporate desired. It’s already being examined with dwell riders and there’s little or no work to be achieved on the concrete across the attraction’s entrance. There’s nothing stopping Disney from opening TRON Lightcycle Run for this Christmas season apart from the corporate’s want to take action.
There’s loads of current precedent for this. Walt Disney World has sat on completely completed tasks post-closure, ready to debut them when most financially advantageous. However, that has been with issues that had been considerably completed pre-closure. With TRON Lightcycle Run, the corporate slowed work…then resumed and accelerated it.
With all of that stated, if pressured to decide on doable opening dates for TRON Lightcycle Run, I’d go together with February 17, 2023 on the earliest. That’s nonetheless over a full 18 months after it was speculated to debut.
That places it in a brand new fiscal 12 months and simply earlier than the Presidents’ Day and Mardi Gras holidays, which will likely be one of many busiest weeks of the 12 months at Walt Disney World in 2023. It would make sense from a requirement perspective, and assist enhance Magic Kingdom’s capability as soon as Splash Mountain closes to be reimagined as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
However, I’m considerably skeptical that TRON Lightcycle Run will debut by late February 2023, if solely as a result of Walt Disney World doesn’t sometimes open main new points of interest within the winter months. To my data, there has not been a high-profile journey opening in January or February within the present millennium.
For my extra reasonable and “most likely” state of affairs, I’ll predict that TRON Lightcycle Run opens on March 10, 2023. If I may solely select a single date slightly than all of those ranges, that may be my exact prediction.
This would put the journey’s opening simply earlier than Osceola and Orange County, Florida are scheduled to have their spring breaks. That is basically the kickoff of the spring break season, which lasts till one week after Easter, which falls on April 9, 2023.
One factor that provides me pause about this prediction is that it’s so quickly after the busy Presidents’ Day and Mardi Gras window. That week goes to be bonkers, and it might actually assist if Magic Kingdom had TRON Lightcycle Run to assist with crowds. So…maybe it’s going to?
There’s a approach for each predictions to be true: previews. It’s probably that TRON Lightcycle Run can have a number of weeks of previews earlier than the journey formally opens for Cast Members, Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club members, and many others. In different phrases, previews may begin in mid-February with the journey formally opening in early March 2023. That timeline would work completely.
As for the newest date we anticipate to see TRON Lightcycle Run open, that may be May 26, 2023. That’s the Friday earlier than Memorial Day, which–despite the fact that technically nonetheless Spring 2023–is seen because the unofficial begin of summer season by Walt Disney World.
Given that TRON Lightcycle Run may actually open any time, this could not be as a consequence of building delays. Rather, it might be a deliberate determination if Walt Disney World already thinks spring break resort occupancy projections are sturdy sufficient, doesn’t care about addressing Magic Kingdom crowds after Splash Mountain closes, and desires to assist increase bookings for summer season. This state of affairs appears not possible to me.
To be crystal clear, that’s not a rumored opening date for TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom. It’s merely my speculative prediction based mostly on what’s probably and possible given crowds, demand, and advertising and marketing campaigns.
As for when Walt Disney World will probably announce the opening date for TRON Lightcycle Run, the 2 probably potentialities (however definitely not the one ones–it may occur a random morning in November) are in the course of the Thanksgiving particular or Christmas Day Parade on ABC. If you wish to be notified when that’s revealed (or another Walt Disney World information, low cost releases, and many others.), enroll right here for our FREE Disney publication right here.
There’s additionally the fact that TRON Lightcycle Run will likely be an Individual Lightning Lane attraction, which implies that it’ll instantly generate direct income for Walt Disney World as soon as it debuts. That means there’s much less incentive for the corporate to attend round to have or not it’s a part of a advertising and marketing marketing campaign.
The cash that TRON Lightcycle Run may make in the course of the busy vacation season may outweigh the worth it has for Walt Disney World’s 2023 advertising and marketing push. (Moreover, there’s no motive TRON Lightcycle Run must be model new to be the main focus of promoting–Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and different points of interest which might be a number of years previous stay a spotlight of advertisements.)
While I actually take pleasure in TRON Lightcycle Run, it “only” scored a 9/10 in our Shanghai Disneyland Ride Reviews. The large factor that prevented it from receiving an ideal 10/10 is length. The coaster itself, from launch to return, lasts virtually 60 seconds precisely. (Other web sources recommend it’s 2 minutes lengthy–that’s solely correct from load to unload, however a full minute of that isn’t a part of the journey expertise in any respect.)
Another concern is the seating, which I’ve beforehand stated (wrongly, I suppose) could be what precluded this curler coaster from ever being cloned at Walt Disney World. As famous above, TRON Lightcycle Run has bike seating, with friends straddling the lightcycle, leaning ahead and putting their chest and abdomen flush with the entrance pad whereas handlebars come ahead and a again restraint lowers.
It’s a cosy match, like a tighter and safer model of Flight of Passage in Pandora – World of Avatar. Shanghai Disneyland’s model has accessible vehicles behind the trains. More accessible seating will likely be needed within the Magic Kingdom model, as the conventional bike seats aren’t going to work for lots of Walt Disney World friends.
Ultimately, TRON Lightcycle Run is lots like Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster. Both are quick launch curler coasters that largely happen in darkish present buildings with a scattering of props and lean closely on thrills. TRON Lightcycle Run will likely be about 20 seconds shorter, nevertheless it’ll have an out of doors part, and superior visuals inside.
With all of that stated, what can’t be overstated about TRON Lightcycle Run is the coolness issue due to the distinctive seating, flashy visuals, and that outside loop. This is a particular benefit it has over different curler coasters at Walt Disney World. While I want it had been about one other 20-30 seconds longer, I believe most followers will find yourself loving TRON Lightcycle Run.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider TRON Lightcycle Run? Are you excited for this new Magic Kingdom curler coaster, or does it not curiosity you? Thoughts on how the aesthetic will match into Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World? Any questions? Hearing your suggestions about your experiences is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas or questions beneath within the feedback!