One assumes that plenty of filmmakers who make a project for Disney ponder the possibility that just maybe, in success, their movie could be turned into a Disney Parks theme park attraction. Of course, it’s unlikely they consider that if it does happen, it could be around 40 years after their film opened.
Such is the case with 1982’s TRON, which told the story of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) and his journey into a computer world, fighting in video games where the stakes were very real, alongside a sentient computer program turned warrior named Tron. TRON wasn’t what you’d call a small movie – it was, in fact, incredibly ambitious and groundbreaking in terms of technique and its early use of computer animation and effects – but it wasn’t a huge hit when it opened. However, TRON has proven to have quite the afterlife, with an ever loyal and continually expanding fanbase leading to periodic resurgences and expansions of the franchise, all of which has now resulted in the opening of TRON Lightcycle / Run at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom park.
At the recent media event for the new attraction, TRON director Steven Lisberger observed, “Everything about TRON has been unique from the beginning and it doesn’t stop being unique. That’s the one of the most thrilling parts about it. And so the fact that we had to wait 40 years for this ride, it’s just more unique TRON. And I will say, if people want to complain about wait times… we waited 40 years!”
LOVE THOSE LIGHTCYCLES
There are a lot of different cool aspects to the world of TRON, but if you were to pick one to turn into ride, as Walt Disney Imagineering’s Jerold Kaplan (Executive Ride Project Engineer) put it, “You watch TRON and of course you want to ride that lightcycle.” Which is why it’s no surprise the lightcycle is indeed the core of the attraction, even if it wasn’t in the name.
One of the most iconic aspects of the original film and nearly all iterations of the franchise since, the lightcycle makes a big impression the second you see it. Added Kaplan, “Even if you’re not familiar with the TRON story, just being able to ride on a lightcycle in that kind of a unique riding position is really a thrilling experience.”
That aforementioned unique riding position is because the lightcycle is, like in the films, a form of actual cycle and requires you to sit on it accordingly. Rather than a traditional roller coaster seat, you straddle the bike, putting your knees in a bent position so your knees are resting against pads, as you lean forward. The only Disney attraction I’ve experienced anything similar for is Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom’s Pandora: The World of Avatar, but this feels even more notable both as far as the position you’re getting into and how you’re secured to keep you safe for the fast-moving ride that follows.
You’re locked into place, compete with a back piece that, in a fun touch, displays your Identity Disc – one of many elements on the vehicles that lights up in that distinct TRON manner (while you obviously can’t see your own back, unless you’re seated in the front row, you can see the lit up discs on the riders ahead of you).
Steven Lisberger recalled knowing the lightcycles were working early on while making the original TRON. “When I first saw the lightcycles actually rendered, I can remember seeing it for the very first time with a bunch of guys on the TRON team and it was unbelievable. We knew what we were supposed to be looking at but we still couldn’t believe it when we saw it.”
When it came to translating the lightcycle into a theme park attraction, Walt Disney World’s Steven Miller (Senior Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility) noted, “We always talk about unique ride vehicles and unique experiences and this certainly lends itself to that. That sensation is unlike anything and it’s one of the fastest coasters that you’re gonna find at any Disney park.”
One person impressed by the new TRON ride was Tron himself, actor Bruce Boxleitner, who played both Alan Bradley and the title character in both TRON and the 2010 sequel, TRON: Legacy. Shortly after going on Lightcycle/Run for the first time, Boxleitner told Fandom, “I’ve never moved that fast in my life. I’m 72 years old, and I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ As I was walking up to it, it felt like I was on a film set… When it took off, it was a blur.”
He added, with a laugh, “I’m not a big roller coaster guy but I had to do this. It was a matter of honor. I’m the original Tron! It was thrilling in every sense of that word. Scary. Fun. All of those things. It just blew me away. And you know, when you’re watching it go by, it looks a tad slower. When you’re on that thing, boom, it’s like being shot out of a cannon.”
THE PRESENTATION
The one frequent complaint I had heard about TRON Lightcycle / Run before my visit was that many felt the ride was over too quickly. And indeed, now that I’ve been on it, I would agree with that. It is definitely on the shorter side for a coaster-based attraction of this sort and it’s hard to not wish it lasted longer. There’s a great sequence near the end where screens are used to visualize the lightcycles of an opposing team racing alongside you and I would have loved to have gotten a bit more of that, along with some other elements.
However, I ultimately thought the entire experience was terrific and well worth guests time for a couple of reasons. First is that while the ride is a short one, it’s certainly exciting and thrilling, complete with its initial launch – which takes you outdoors for a brief portion – and then as you hurtle back inside and through various gates needed to complete and finish the race. The ride vehicle and how you sit on it like it’s an actual bike really add to the feeling that you are very much racing forward.
But the other reason Lightcycle / Run is successful is the entire way it’s presented and specifically the attraction building and the crucial role it serves in transporting you into the world of TRON. TRON is notable for its very striking and iconic aesthetics, both from the original film and the expanded and updated version presented in TRON: Legacy.
The entire show building for Lightcycle / Run factors in those visuals, with the conceit being, as Miller explained, that you’re able to go into the Grid itself thanks to TRON: Legacy’s Sam Flynn. Said Miller, of the attraction’s storyline, “This takes place after TRON: Legacy. So this is a gateway into the Grid, the second one that Sam has created.” The first gateway? The earlier version of the TRON attraction, named TRON Lightcycle Power Run, which opened in 2016 at Shanghai Disneyland.
There is a fantastic moment in the queue where you are “digitized” and transported to the Grid, done via a wonderful reveal of what is ahead of you and just how large the interior of the building is – and how effective the lighting and large scale design (and the great music from TRON: Legacy) is at making you feel like you’re in TRON. It’s a moment that brought forth audible gasps from guests during my times going through the queue.
Miller is himself a lifelong TRON mega-fan and has introduced the films to his children, which made it particularly fun for him to bring his family to the attraction. “That moment when you first get digitized and transported to the grid, that reveal… It is such a thrill. I will never forget their faces. They were screaming with excitement.”
Lisberger said, with a chuckle, that TRON Lightcycle / Run is “More thrilling than I ever imagined it would be. But I have to say, being an old man, it’s too intense for me. But I survived it.” But he also noted, admiringly, “It’s a beautiful ride… And I like the fact that when one walks in, one feels really small. You know, when you go on the internet, you’re really small. It’s a huge creation of mankind, the digital domain and the internet. And the ride captures that; the strength and the power and the beauty of that creation. It’s all there in that ride.”
TRON Lightcycle / Run is the first significant addition to Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom in quite awhile and also dramatically changes the visual landscape of the area, with TRON now sitting right by Space Mountain as two dramatic and distinctive structures. Said Lauren Niederhiser (Senior Project Controls Estimator), “Very specifically, the architecture of the [TRON Lightcycle / Run] canopy and the architecture of Space Mountain melded so well together it really added to the skyline of tomorrow. We’re really proud of that juxtaposition and how it all came together.”
Miller also appreciated how the two show buildings tell a story about the evolution of theme park attractions, noting, “It’s amazing to see the technology and how much it has evolved from the Space Mountain days when they were using this computer controlled track and it was the first of its kind. It was really the next phase of Walt Disney World [after it opened], which was Tomorrowland adding Space Mountain and the PeopleMover and Carousel of Progress and all these other attractions… they really built that out. Now to have it advanced even so much more here is great.”
In fact, the Walt Disney World Railroad train, which circles the entire park, also runs right through where the two large Tomorrowland attractions sit and Miller added, “I love the juxtaposition between not only TRON Lightcycle / Run and Space Mountain but then the steam train that goes right by. It’s just a nice mixing of technology. All different, unique thrills and all different, unique ways to look at Walt Disney World.”
One other important note about the visuals of TRON Lightcycle / Run: If you can go on it at night, I would say that is preferable. It’s a fun ride anytime of day and the interior of the queue (which has no windows, naturally) looks awesome regardless, but the outside canopy looks so much more impressive at night all lit up. In addition, the early portion of the ride where you travel outside feels more intense at night with the lighting adding to the ambiance, including the way the canopy actually changes colors as you pass through it. Obviously, it can be a whole other hurdle to make your schedule fit (or even to guarantee you can get on) at night, but if you can do it, it does enhance the experience.
TRON’S (ACTUAL) LEGACY
TRON has continued to gain fans through the decades, something Boxleitner thinks has to do with how forward thinking it was. “It’s a world we’re actually living. Look at the rise of the video game, and how lifelike they are now. Look at how fast that technology has come about since Pac-Man and Donkey Kong and things like that. We had those arcade machines. I always say that Hollywood, when [TRON] came out, didn’t quite know where to put it. But those kids pumping quarters into arcade machines got it and they got it immediately. Well, now they’ve all grown up,” as he noted that he realized the filmmakers behind TRON: Legacy, including director Joseph Kosinski, had almost all grown up loving the original.
He described TRON as “sort of a little Alice in Wonderland story of somebody thrust into another world, but it predicted what we’re living now and the age of information and the [evolution of the] computer itself.” He nodded to my iPhone, adding, “What you’re recording me on! And we didn’t have those things.”
TRON: Legacy Co-Producer Justin Springer – who has continued to help oversee the franchise in other projects since – agreed, noting, “Steven [Lisberger] was thinking so far ahead in 1982 that people are just starting to understand it now. And so it keeps it relevant. And then I also just think it’s such a unique aesthetic. It’s not like anything else, no matter what superhero movies come out or other sci fi franchises hit the movie theaters or find their way into the parks, TRON does still feel as distinct from those things. And so it’s it’s very adoptable, identifiable style that I think kind of pops into people’s imaginations.”
THE FUTURE
Lightcycle / Run is not the only new addition to TRON about to debut, as April also sees the release of the new video game TRON: Identity from developer Mike Bithell, who had his own deep admiration for the series. Said Bithell, of working in the TRON universe, “You can close your eyes, you can imagine what TRON looks like. You would often think that those are the easiest worlds to translate. But what happens when you’re looking at something like that is you realize the immense craft that went into that. It’s actually kind of easier to build new stuff in a world that’s less well designed. This is such an immaculately designed world, but Legacy specifically is a visual kind of starting point for this [game]. You chip away at it, and you realize, oh, there are layers of clever on every frame.”
As beloved as TRON is, there are always going to be people who have yet to see the films, particularly kids. Walt Disney Games’ Heidi Vargas, who is part of the TRON: Identity team, remarked, “TRON: Legacy was my first introduction to the brand and the film franchise, and it made me want to explore everything else that was out there. And hopefully, folks will come to the parks and ride the ride and want to find something else and new and exciting to explore on their own. Having the game available next month, it’s just so exciting that everything’s sort of working out. We’re providing someone who maybe is brand new to the franchise something that they can explore and really delve into.”
Of course the question then becomes (or remains, to be fair)… what about a new TRON movie? There has been talk of a third TRON ever since Legacy opened but recently, there were reports that the project – referred to as TRON: Ares and with Jared Leto attached to star last we heard – could potentially finally go into production relatively soon.
When I asked Springer about these reports, he smiled and replied, “It’s closer than it has been, but that’s kind of always the case. But we’re working on it. I’ve wanted to make another TRON movie for a long time and now does feel like the time. It does feel like there’s more in the zeitgeist around some of these ideas that TRON explores, so it’d be a great time to be able to do one. I feel like there’s a lot of stories and themes that could allow us to kind of comment on what’s going on.”
However, Springer cautioned, “There’s a lot of stuff that has to come together. And we’re also trying to put all the pieces together and make that possible. When we made TRON: Legacy, we had to find a reason for it to need to exist beyond what Steven had already done. And I think with any other film that we make, we’re all trying to pass that test ourselves with it. Why does this have a reason for being now? Why do we need to go back to this world? That’s why it’s taken a while. We’ve been trying to answer that question. We want to make sure we have something that satisfies ourselves.”
Lisberger, who was a producer on TRON: Legacy, said they also had to keep in mind other films and series influenced by TRON and not wanting to repeat elements of those, remarking, “You know, the TRON story has actually become kind of a genre over the years. Our new invention has now caught up with us and how are we going to deal with that? And so it raises the bar even higher to be relevant. But there are aspects of TRON I think that are unique to TRON that enable us to explore storylines in a way that other films can’t.”
TRON Lightcycle / Run is currently operating in a limited soft opening capacity at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom through April 2 and officially opens on April 4.
