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Today, Good Morning America gave viewers an exclusive look at the new TRON Lightcycle / Run rollercoaster coming to Tomorrowland at the Walt Disney World Resort. You can view the video below, and read on for everything we know about the attraction’s opening in 2023.
When the Walt Disney Studios released TRON in 1982, it was the first live-action film to utilize computer-generated visuals and “backlit animation,” which gives it the distinctive style fans love (or can’t stand). Furthermore, the movie’s success led to a franchise, including its sequel TRON: Legacy (2010), ElecTRONica at Disney California Adventure Park, companion games, comic books, and an animated television series for Disney Channel.
Credit: Disney Plus
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Originally, TRON Lightcyle Power Run opened in 2016 at the Shanghai Disney Resort in lieu of the classic Space Mountain attraction. The semi-enclosed steel track rollercoaster allowed Guests to experience user gameplay in TRON’s digital world of “the Grid” via “groundbreaking computer animation and brilliant visual effects.” Now, the thrill ride is coming to the Magic Kingdom, allowing US Guests the same chance to “speed across a world with no horizons in a high-stakes race based on the Disney sci-fi film TRON: Legacy.”
Plus, the Walt Disney World website describes its version of the attraction:
Lean forward into the ultimate race of survival! Leave the real world behind and join Team Blue in an epic quest across the Grid—the dark, computerized world with no horizons from TRON. Here, there’s no limit to the excitement.
Climb aboard your very own Lightcycle and take off on a high-speed adventure, racing against the Grid’s most menacing Programs. Surge past your fierce opponents as you attempt to cross through 8 Energy Gates and secure your team’s victory—so you can survive to race another day.
Credit: Disney
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In fact, in today’s feature on Good Morning America (GMA) the team experience the new roller coaster for the first time:
Here's the clip that @GMA shared this morning of TRON Lightcycle Run, the new roller coaster set to open at Disney World in the spring. pic.twitter.com/J6w39z8LgB
— Ashley Carter (@AshleyLCarter1) December 25, 2022
Moreover, sporting TRON-themed grey jackets, the three announcers themselves got to ride TRON Lightcycle / Run (advertised as “one of Disney’s fastest coasters”) ahead of any Disney World Guests. The attraction begins by engaging Guests in the Lightcycle Run “upload sequence” to bring each Guest, now a “user,” onto the Grid.
“Remember,” the electronic announcer reminds them, “hold on, keep your head up, and face forward” before the coaster blasts off, causing the GMA team to scream. Of course, as the Guests fly by through portions of exposed and enclosed tracks, futuristic light sequences flare in tunnels, and animations of TRON light cycle riders drive “alongside” the ride vehicle.
Credit: GMA
Finally, the ride experience concludes with the narrator greeting them upon their return to the loading zone: “Congratulations users, a championship performance, and victory for team blue.”
Although according to Disney Parks, the TRON thrill ride will open in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park in the spring of next year, so far Disney has not revealed an exact opening date. DisneyTips will provide updates as they become available.
Will you be uploading to the Grid for the thrill of TRON Lightcycle / Run?
