Tag: Tron Lightcycle Power Run

TRON Attraction Update: Walt Disney World Railroad & Tomorrowland Speedway Operations to be Affected

Last summer at the D23 Expo Disney announced plans for a  TRON-style attraction that would be added to Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom and would open sometime in 2021.

The new attraction will be located in an entirely new area next to Space Mountain.

If you weren’t already excited about this new attraction, Disney has updated us with some related adjustments to two nearby attractions,meaning construction is now getting serious.  According to Disney, both the Walt Disney World Railroad and The Tomorrowland Speedway operations will be interrupted during the construction of the new TRON coaster.

The Walt Disney World Railroad will temporarily take up residence at the Main Street Station starting sometime this December, pausing its grand-circle tours of Magic Kingdom. During this time, guests will be able to get an up-close look at the railroad and take advantage of one-of-a-kind photo opportunities.

The Tomorrowland Speedway will also close for a portion of 2019, as the track is adjusted for the new attraction.  The railroad will reopen in the summer of 2019.

The new Tron attraction which will debut in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary in 2021, is based on TRON Lightcycle Power Run that is located at Shanghai Disneyland.

The TRON Lightcycle Power Run debuted on Shanghai Disneyland’s opening day and quickly became the highest-rated attraction at the park.

I personally cannot wait for this attraction.  I was excited when the announcement was made at the D23 Expo and now that construction has moved along far enough for them to start moving or adjusting portions of the nearby existing attractions I’m getting even more excited.

If you were planning on being in Walt Disney World while the operations of the Speedway and the Walt Disney World Railroad will be affected please be aware of the adjusted operations.

 

Walt Disney World Files Permits for Tron Coaster

At the D23 Expo last July Disney announced that a new TRON roller coaster would be coming to the Magic Kingdom.  Many of us hoped that the attraction would be open for Magic Kingdom’s 50th Anniversary, with the recent filing of government paperwork we at least have somewhat of an idea when construction will likely begin.

Back in November Environmental Resource permits were filed with the South Florida Water Management District.  These permits gave an exact location for the TRON  Lightcycle Power Run, though we had a pretty good idea when the attraction was announced at D23 Expo.

The “Notices of Commencement Permits” don’t give a lot of details other than that we should see a groundbreaking soon and who will be managing the project.  The permits filed with Orange County indicate that Disney hired a local construction company, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company to oversee the construction project.

According to sources, we should see ground clearing and site preparation in the coming months before the rainy season begins.  Vertical construction is expected to begin before the end of the year.  When this happens it is expected that the Walt Disney World Railroad will go down for an unknown amount of time while the TRON ride building is extended over the railroad.

While it is thought that there will be a two-year build timeline, when we look at the construction of the TRON coaster at Shanghai it’s unclear how long construction will take for the project in Walt Disney World.  For Shanghai the groundbreaking took place in 2011, but construction didn’t really take off until late 2013 and didn’t open for testing and guests until 2016.

I was excited, as were others, when this attraction was announced at the D23 Expo.  I’ve even more excited now that we know that permits have been filed and that groundbreaking is imminent and construction should be following hopefully shortly after that.

How excited are you about the new TRON Lightcycle Power Run attraction?

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