Disney World Guests Are Already Waiting Hours for TRON Lightcycle / Run

A brand new attraction has arrived in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom, and with any new ride at Walt Disney World, long wait times (even virtual ones) are simply part of the process.

Disney has already confirmed that the new roller coaster will not offer a standby line when it officially opens to Guests this April. Instead, TRON Lightcycle / Run will operate on a virtual queue system with the option for Guests to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane to ride. (The process will be similar to how Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind operates in EPCOT.)

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Select Guests are already able to experience the newest Magic Kingdom attraction, with Cast Member previews already underway. While lines for Cast Member previews have moved along quickly (as the previews come with a registration process that designates a time to ride), some Cast have already reported slightly longer wait times for the ride’s ADA-style ride vehicles.

The majority of the seating options on the TRON trains include “Lightcycle” style vehicles (similar to the seating on Flight of Passage in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, however, with more restrictive leg restraints.) As such, some Guests may have a difficult time fitting on the ride (especially if you have larger calves). Thankfully, they can still ride thanks to the option of standard seating, but these ADA seats are only available on two of the seven trains, so some Cast Members have found themselves waiting longer to ride as a result.

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Following the news of Cast Member previews, Disney shared that select other Guests will be able to ride the attraction ahead of its April 4, 2023, opening date, including Annual Passholders, D23 Gold Members, and Disney Vacation Club members.

For D23 members, a preview opportunity was offered for $50 per ticket (plus a $7 handling fee) that would allow entry into the Magic Kingdom at 6:00 p.m. on March 16, 2023, with a ride on TRON Lightcycle / Run. The event, which would cost the $57 for current D23 Gold Members, or upwards of $150 if a Guest opted to purchase the fan club membership just for this event, reportedly sold out within 15 minutes.

RELATED: Riders Struggle to Fit on TRON Lightcycle / Run Vehicles During Early Previews

The next preview opportunity for TRON Lightcycle / Run came for Annual Passholders, with registration opening this morning, February 16, 2023. Guests who have already made it through the one-hour virtual queue to register have shared that the preview dates for Annual Passholders will be March 4-6 and 8-12, 2023.

As with past Annual Passholder preview opportunities, Passholders were sent links to the registration site via email to be placed into a virtual queue in which they would hopefully be able to sign up for the event. While links to register are sent via email (and they are likely sent sporadically throughout the morning to avoid long waits in the queue) anyone with the link can register so the wait time quickly soared to an hour or more.

The TRON Annual Passholder preview sign-up link is live.

Dates are March 4-6 and 8-12. https://t.co/OddyzOKZqY pic.twitter.com/soJ3cB6cwX

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) February 16, 2023

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The only other opportunity to preview TRON Lightcycle / Run ahead of its April opening, would be to take advantage of the Disney Vacation Club offer if you can. Registration for Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members will operate similarly to the Annual Passholder previews, with the link to sign up going live at 11:00 a.m. this morning, February 16, 2023. Dates for the DVC preview run March 4-6, 2023.

With wait times already soaring simply to sign up for a chance to ride the attraction, you might be curious about how long lines will be when the ride opens to the public. Since TRON Lightcycle / Run will only be accessible through a virtual queue or Individual Lightning lane purchase, we do not actually expect wait times to be long this April, but there is a catch…

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The catch is that you will need to be able to enter the virtual queue in the first place, which, if past virtual queues at rides like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind or Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance are any indications, will fill up quickly. EPCOT’s newest coaster, Cosmic Rewind, has alleviated this process somewhat by dropping more virtual queue timeslots later in the day, making the ride more accessible. However, for many Guests, virtual queues still come with a more stressful process.

Lightning Lane will likely be more available than the virtual queue when TRON (or any new attraction) opens at Disney World; however, this is expected to sell out quickly as well, especially for the first couple of weeks the ride is open. (And you may not want to pay extra to ride, anyway.)

How long will your wait time be for TRON Lightcycle / Run? It is difficult to say at this point, but with the ride already proving to be incredibly popular during previews, you may find yourself waiting until your next Disney trip if you are not quick to get through the virtual queue or Individual Lightning Lane purchase.