In case you haven’t heard, there is a new ride at Walt Disney World, and that is Tron: Lightcycle Run. In this post, I’m breaking down all the things you need to know about this long-awaited attraction coming to the Magic Kingdom. What is it? Where is it going to be located? How you can ride it- all the good stuff.
What Is Tron?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the ride details, here’s a little background on TRON itself. If you’re like me, you may not be familiar with the story of TRON. This ride is based on the TRON film franchise. The first TRON film came out in 1982 and starred Jeff Bridges as the main character, Kevin Flynn. I’m not going to give you any spoilers because I recommend checking these films out, especially if you are planning to take a trip to Disney World to ride TRON. Basically, Flynn is a video game maker who hacks into his company’s system and is transported into the digital world known as The Grid.
In 2010 TRON: Legacy was released. The main character of this film is Sam Flynn, who is the son of Kevin Flynn. He also gets transported into the Grid for some adventures. If you do decide to check out these movies on Disney +, there is also an animated series called TRON: Uprising that you can check out as well.
There is also another film in the works titled Tron: Ares. This film is supposed to start filming in the Summer of 2023 and be released in 2025.
What is TRON Lightcycle Run?
The story of Tron Lightcycle Run, the ride itself, takes place after TRON: Legacy. The story is that you’re transported to the grid for a light cycle race against an enemy team.
Now that you have a bit of the story, let’s get into the details of the ride itself. TRON Lightcycle run was set to open on April 4th at Magic Kingdom, but Disney announced there would be a soft opening between March 20th and April 2nd. This ride has been a long time in the works. It has been under construction since 2018.
TRON Lightcycle Run is located in Tomorrowland right near Space Mountain. There are two entry points to the attraction – one from Tomorrowland near the Space Mountain gift shop, and another in Fantasyland near the back of Storybook Circus.
The ride is a steel motorbike roller coaster. It’s the same ride as the original, which is in Shanghai Disneyland. That version of the ride is called Tron Lightcycle Power Run.
The ride will use a Virtual Queue that works the same way as we have seen with other new rides at Disney World. The virtual queue will open up at 7 am and 1 pm each day. If you’re trying to join the 7 am queue you’ll need to have a Magic Kingdom park pass reservation, but you can be located anywhere when you are joining the queue. For the 1 pm queue, you’ll need to have scanned into the Magic Kingdom for the day in order to join the queue. This will also be a ride that offers an Individual Lightning lane, which is the pay-per-ride option.
TRON Lightcycle Run is a unique ride in a lot of ways. One of those ways is that it’s the first ride at Walt Disney World that requires loose items to be stored in lockers. There will be free lockers available, and they will need to be used for anything larger than a phone. You will be able to tap your park ticket or magic band to open the lockers. There is a small compartment on the ride vehicle for small things like your phone or sunglasses.
TRON Lightcycle Run Ride Vehicles
The ride vehicles are unique as well, they are motorbike-style vehicles. The closest thing you’ll find at Disney World would be the vehicles for Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom. When you’re boarding the ride you’ll climb onto the bike as you would a regular bike and then rest your shins on the leg brace and lean forward. There are restraints that hold you in place.
There’s been a lot of talk about the ride vehicles not being size inclusive. There are test vehicles outside of the ride for you to test out to see if it’s a good fit. One thing to mention is that for most people who have had trouble with comfort, the issue seems to be more the calf restraints than it is a chest or waist area issue.
There is a modified ride vehicle available which is like a typical roller coaster seat. It’s an upright seat with a lap bar. So that is an option if the regular vehicles won’t work for you. Those seats are limited so it might just be more of a wait, and you’ll want to check in with a cast member.
The ride has a 48-inch height requirement, which is on the high end for Disney attractions. The only other ride at Disney World with that height requirement is Rock N Roller coaster. This is also the fastest ride at Magic Kingdom with a top speed of 59 miles per hour. The ride itself is short- only about a minute long.
For those who are wondering if the ride is going to be too intense for them – it’s considered to be the most intense ride at Magic Kingdom. It’s compared in intensity to Rock n’ Roller Coaster and Expedition Everest, with those two rides considered more intense than TRON. These conversations are always subjective because everyone is different. One thing to note is that this ride does not go upside down, and there are no major drops.
If you’re nervous and want to know as much as possible about what the ride does, I recommend checking out POV ride videos on YouTube to give you a better idea. Sometimes that can help to ease some of the anxiety of the unknown.
Conclusion
Overall, this is an exciting addition to the Magic Kingdom. It fits well with the theme of Tomorrowland, and it’s another thrill ride in a park that offers a lot of different levels of attractions. Even if this ride is not your thing, it’s another option to spread out the crowd in Magic Kingdom. It will be interesting to see whether Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will also still be an Individual Lightning lane attraction or if it will move to be a regular Genie Plus attraction.
If you have a trip coming up and you get to ride I would love to hear what you think. Leave me a comment and let me know how your experience was.
