For five years, guests visiting Magic Kingdom Park watched — and slowly lost patience — as Disney crews constructed Walt Disney World Resort’s newest roller coaster. That coaster was TRON Lightcycle/Run, which takes up residence in Tomorrowland, right near another popular ride, Space Mountain. TRON Lightcycle/Run takes fans into the grid and makes them a part of the game.
As fans most likely know, TRON was supposed to open in 2021, when Disney World kicked off its epic 50th anniversary celebration. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Almost from the beginning, construction on the highly-anticipated coaster fell behind schedule, and things only got worse when the pandemic hit. TRON didn’t open at the Magic Kingdom until April 2023.
Just months after the ride opened, Disney was forced to remove one of the really cool effects that guests saw when they walked through the queue.
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One section of the walls had an incredible blue light effect that helped immerse guests as they ventured into the grid. The walls quickly began to peel as Disney park guests picked, and pulled at the covering. Disney had to remove the futuristic walls, leaving plain, gray walls in their place.
But Disney Dining can happily report that, after just about two months, the blue light walls have returned to the queue!
Just One of TRON’s Problems
From the beginning, there have been a lot of issues surrounding TRON, from the delayed construction to the damage caused by guests, and mold covering sections of the attraction. However, there is one issue that Disney can’t fix so easily.
TRON is probably the most restrictive ride that can be found in a Disney park at the Walt Disney World Resort.
The ride not only locks behind a guest’s back, but bars behind the calves must also lock into place. Unfortunately, for guests with larger calves, that can be extremely hard to do. And it is not an issue that can be solved for most people by simply “losing weight.”
It has been said that Disney directly copied the version of TRON that can be found at the Shanghai Disneyland Resort. However, they did not account for the fact that Asian guests are typically much smaller than the average American guest. Many people have ventured into Tomorrowland in the hopes of riding TRON, only to be told that they have to sit in the modified seat, which is not a bike.
TRON Lightcycle/Run is still utilizing the virtual queue. Guests can also purchase an individual Lightning Lane if they are unable to get in the virtual queue, or if they want to be able to ride the attraction more than once.
Are you excited to see the blue walls back at TRON? Let us know in the comments!