Nearly 5 years ago, Disney announced that it was bringing a new roller coaster to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. That roller coaster would be TRON Lightcycle/Run, which was going to be a replica of the one that was in place at the Shanghai Disneyland Resort. The roller coaster was to be built in Tomorrowland and would be built near another popular roller coaster, Space Mountain. The plan was to have the new TRON coaster built in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary — which kicked off in October 2021.
Unfortunately, as most Disney fans know, all of those initial plans were forced to be changed. The Walt Disney World Railroad closed in 2019 as TRON’s construction expanded, and things were going along as planned. Then COVID hit. Everything was forced to shut down and construction came to a total stop. It was able to pick up after about 6 months, but it seems as though the pause was enough to make everything a complete mess.
As Disney’s 50th Anniversary date quickly approached, Disney removed all mention of a potential opening date for TRON Lightcycle/Run. The 50th kickoff came and went, and still nothing. Now we are in 2022 and still none the wiser when it comes to the attraction’s opening date. Construction has been moving along at Magic Kingdom Park, but it’s mostly on the outside, so it’s been nearly impossible to tell how things are coming along on the inside.
However, that is now changing in a big way! Just a couple of days ago, Guests riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover were treated to a sight never before seen. A test run of TRON! One Guest had their camera out and managed to catch a video of the magical moment.
You can watch the video — which was shared by Attractions Magazine — below.
As you can see, there is still a lot of work being done on the Disney Park ride’s canopy, but the track looks like it may be complete. The cars are joined together and are seen gliding along the track.
At this time, we still do not have a timeline for the opening of TRON Lightcycle/Run. But it is a giant step forward that the ride track seems to be complete. While it is unlikely that the theme park ride will be open and operational for peak summer crowds, it may not be completely crazy to think that it might be able to open in time for the 2022 holiday season.
