New permits filed for interior work at TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom and when we may see the new coaster open

Apr 25, 2022 in "Tron Lightcycle Run rollercoaster"

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Posted: Monday April 25, 2022 9:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has filed two new permits this past week for work on the interior of TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom.

Filed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the work is to be carried out by Icarus Exhibits, a company that has most recently performed similar work on 'Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.' Thanks to danlb_2000 on the WDWMAGIC Forums for locating the permits.

Although we still don't have any opening timeframe for TRON at Walt Disney World, the pace of construction appears to have picked up in recent weeks.

Work on the exterior canopy is nearly complete

The opening of the new Magic Kingdom rollercoaster is likely to come down to a marketing decision of when to use the new ride to promote visits to Walt Disney World. With EPCOT's 'Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind' set to headline the marketing drive for the summer and fall, it would seem the earliest we could expect to see TRON Lightycle Run debut would be very late 2022, or more likely Spring 2023.

A wildcard in the opening roadmap is Genie+, which offers Disney the opportunity to monetize a ride's queue directly, which has not been available before paid Lightning Lane access. The temptation for Disney to begin earning Lightning Lane revenue may override any marketing decisions and move TRON's opening forward.

TRON concept art

TRON Lightcycle Run was announced almost five years ago on 16 July 2017, with an original opening set for Spring 2021. Construction began in May 2018, but then was put into a lengthy holding pattern when COVID-19 closed the parks in 2020.

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gerarar10 days ago

Cross-posting to here, but Tron just had its worst day operationally since the ride opened, and it just celebrated its first anniversary/birthday last week! Here are the top 3 days with the most downtime: April 9, 2024 (today) with 467 mins (~8hrs) of downtime July 12, 2023 with 392 mins (~7hrs) of downtime Sept 24, 2023 with 370 (~6hrs) mins of downtime Tron usually has very good uptime and reliability, so these kind of bad days are very rare. Today's problems stem from yesterday (4/8) where it shut down around 4pm and never reopened for the rest of the day. That continued 'til today until it finally reopened at 1pm, but then went down again for another 3 hours. Only 100 BGs were called today. Good news (kinda) is MK doesn't seem to be that busy as the morning and afternoon VQ windows lasted for minutes today, which is longer than the norm.

TrainsOfDisney12 days ago

dmc49312 days ago

No one told me I was supposed to be reviewing the rides on Yelp

Advisable Joseph12 days ago

It has a 4.3 on yelp. For comparison, Space Mountain also has 4.3. So does Big Thunder. Jungle Cruise has 3.7. Haunted Mansion was better: 4.5. EDIT: This article from Christmastime 2023 also gives context.

tparris12 days ago

Okay.

DonniePeverley12 days ago

Like every modern DIsney ride - way too short, rather than the epic attractions they once built. Probably with an eye on keeping the queues down, rather than building a ride that has legacy for all time. If Jungle Cruise, Pirates etc were built today they would last a minute.

GhostHost100012 days ago

Tron looks cool in Tomorrowland, but the ride itself is just short and meh imo. Wish it wasn’t a cookie cutter attraction and was enhanced or expanded from the original.

Unbanshee12 days ago

New character profiles added to the Team Green area recently https://blogmickey.com/2024/04/new-team-green-characters-introduced-on-first-anniversary-of-tron-lightcycle-run/

Rich Brownn13 days ago

My two complaints: It feels like the portion from load to launch, and from end break to unload is longer than the actual ride and the fact it brakes so hard entering the show building. It's like it teases you outside with the visible launch and then you hit the brake and slow waaaaay down. It's almost like "ah-ha! fooled you. Ya thought it was all high speed coaster!"

ChewbaccaYourMum14 days ago

To me, TRON is fun, but it needs like 15 more seconds and one more thrill, like a drop. The feeling of a drop in that position on the bike would probably feel insane.

SaucyBoy14 days ago

Yes 👀

Basil of Baker Street14 days ago

I don't hate it. Just too short of a ride for the amount of time you wait. Takeoff and 1st turn is exciting but that's about it. RnRC and Velosicoster does it better. I just wouldn't wait long for it. Would be a nice LL pickup. And I like Mission Space.

Brian14 days ago

The short ride time is a common complaint among surveyed guests. I'd expect that to become even more common once the VQ goes away.

gerarar14 days ago

It's been very reliable. There's only a handful of days where the ride has been down for an "extended period". I believe this and GOTG: CR have been superb for their uptime throughout the park days.