TRON Lightcycle / Run is the newest coaster coming to Disney World. It’ll open in Magic Kingdom on April 4th, 2023, in the Tomorrowland section of the park. Many Disney fans can’t wait to enter the grid and board the lightcycles on the high-speed attraction, but some people are concerned about the unique ride vehicles on this new coaster.

Cast Member previews began a few weeks ago, and almost immediately, people began reporting difficulty getting onto the ride vehicles and even being turned away from the standard lightcycles when they couldn’t fit. So what’s really going on with this unusual coaster, and will YOU be able to ride it when it opens? We’ve got the answers.

First, here’s some general information about TRON Lightcycle / Run, just in case you aren’t quite up to speed on the attraction’s background and status.

General Information about TRON Lightcycle / Run

The ride, based on the TRON films, will be very similar to its counterpart in Shanghai Disneyland. In Magic Kingdom, the story of the attraction picks up after the TRON: Legacy film. (Friendly Reminder: Subscribers can currently stream TRON and TRON: Legacy on Disney+. And a NEW movie, Tron: Ares, is in the works.)

Sam Flynn, the main character in TRON: Legacy, has been opening up new gateways into the digital realm all over the world. The first, as mentioned above, was at Shanghai Disneyland (where the original TRON Lightcycle Power Run attraction is located). Now, Sam is opening a SECOND portal to the digital world in Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom. (You’ll find it right next to Space Mountain and behind Tomorrowland Speedway.)

Disney shares that this attraction will allow riders to “experience the energy, lights, and excitement of TRON’s high-tech universe” in this “thrilling race through the digital frontier.”

Get ready to board a train of two-wheeled Lightcycles and “launch into the Grid for a race through a dark, computerized world” reaching speeds up to 59 miles per hour! (To give you an idea of the speed, although this is faster than Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, it doesn’t quite out-speed Test Track’s 65-mile-per-hour limit.)

Lighting will play a huge role, as the indoor roller coaster will feature shifting light panels, so the ride experience will change from day to night depending on the light. Disney’s announcement read, “As you swoop and swerve your way around the course, your goal is to be the first to race through eight Energy Gates and secure your victory. Will your team have what it takes?”

Virtual Queue

Disney World will use a virtual queue/boarding pass system for the opening on TRON Lightcycle / Run. This means that a traditional standby line will NOT be offered in its opening months. Disney has frequently utilized this boarding method for new attractions. For example, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT currently uses a virtual queue.

Full details for how this virtual queue will work and what times throughout the day boarding passes will become available have not yet been announced, but for other virtual queues we’ve seen in Disney World, guests have had two daily opportunities to secure a boarding group — at 7AM and 1PM.

We’ve also seen a third virtual queue opportunity for guests with Extended Evening Hours access, but we’ll find out at a later date if TRON Lightcycle / Run will qualify for this exclusive opportunity. Guests will need to download the free My Disney Experience app in order to try for a spot in the virtual queue. 

Note that it is FREE to join the virtual queue, but you’ll want to be quick in doing so. Virtual queue spots tend to fill up VERY quickly for the most popular rides in Disney World — we’re talking within a minute (or less) of the queue opening. If you’re not ready to hit the button to join the queue right when it opens, you’ll likely miss out on your chance to ride the coaster for free.

Click HERE to learn how to enter a Virtual Queue in Disney World!

Lightning Lane (Pay-Per-Ride)

TRON Lightcycle / Run will also be offered as an Individual Lightning Lane selection (available through Disney Genie) in addition to the virtual queue. Individual Lightning Lane is a pay-per-ride service for in-demand attractions that allows guests to skip the line on popular attractions for an upcharge.

Individual Lightning Lane attractions are NOT included with Disney Genie+ (the paid way to skip the lines at select Disney World attractions), and you also do not have to purchase Genie+ in order to purchase Individual Lightning Lanes.

Click HERE to learn how to book an Individual Lightning Lane Selection through Disney Genie!

The virtual queue and Individual Lightning Lane will be the ONLY ways to ride TRON Lightcycle / Run when it opens in Magic Kingdom. There will NOT be a standby line offered, at least at first.

Previews

For now, we can confirm that Disney has announced that there will be previews of TRON Lightcycle / Run for the following groups: Cast Members, Disney World Annual Passholders, D23 Members (for an extra cost), and Disney Vacation Club members.

Cast Member previews for TRON Lightcycle / Run are currently taking place between February 6th and March 3rd.

Disney World Annual Passholders should be on the lookout for an email to be sent to them on February 16th with details about how to make their TRON preview registrations. Registrations for the Annual Passholder previews will OPEN on February 16th. Disney has noted that Annual Passholders will be able to “register yourself and up to 5 other Annual Passholders from your Family & Friends list within your My Disney Experience account who have opted to share “All My Plans” with you (subject to availability).”

Disney has also announced details (including dates and prices) for the D23 Member previews: you can find that information here. Preview dates and registration information have not yet been revealed for Disney Vacation Club members.

Now that you know all about TRON Lightcycle / Run, let’s get into the PROBLEMS you may encounter with this coaster.

Unique Ride Vehicles Could Be Restrictive

The ride vehicles from TRON Lightcycle / Run are unlike any you’ve ever seen in Disney World. They’re lightcycles, which are built like racing motorcycles. The vehicle trains have two lightcycles in each row, with several rows making up the train.

You might compare this ride with Avatar: Flight of Passage, which also utilizes a bike-style ride vehicle. However, when we rode the coaster we noticed that the bikes on TRON felt very different from the Flight of Passage bikes.

On Flight of Passage, you’re basically sitting straight up, but on TRON, you’re laying forward almost flat against the lightcycle. Unless you’re more accustomed to racing motorcycles than riding a normal pushbike, the TRON vehicle will feel less natural.

In addition to the difference of position, you’re actually being thrust forward at high speeds on TRON, whereas you don’t actually move quickly on Flight of Passage. That made the position feel even more uncomfortable, even though the ride is actually pretty short (it lasts a little longer than a minute — about the same as Rock ‘n Roller Coaster).

The problem that some riders have reported is that the TRON bikes don’t allow for all body shapes to board and ride. We found that the most restrictive part of the bike is the small metal bars that extend over your calves to hold your legs in place. The bars don’t allow for much space, so if you have fairly large calves, those bars may not lock in place and you might not be able to ride on the lightcycle.

Here’s a closer look at the leg restraints on TRON: Lightcycle / Run. pic.twitter.com/F2h7sD2ivc

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 11, 2023

Aside from the leg restraints, the rest of the bike seemed to be fine for most body shapes. There is a restraint that comes up against your back, but it’s much more accommodating than those little bars over your calves. (The back restraint just comes up to rest against your back, whereas the position of the bars over your calves is not adjustable, at least as far as we’ve seen.)

 

Pull down mechanics for TRON seating: You pull on the handlebars to lock the back in place (at least for testers). Once we’re on the actual ride, we will update you on how tight they actually get! pic.twitter.com/v5VqwX6ODr

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 11, 2023

We noticed when we rode that those little bars were generally the problem when people were turned away from the lightcycles. Body shape above the waist did not seem to be an issue.

 

What Happens If You Can’t Fit or Board

If you’re unable to board the lightcycles, it’s likely you’ll still be able to ride TRON Lightcycle / Run. There are adaptive seating cars on some trains, which offer seating for those guests who do not fit on the lightcycles or have a disability that prevents them from comfortably riding on the motorcycle-style seats.

These cars are similar to the ride vehicles on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Expedition Everest. They’re benches with a safety bar that comes down over your lap. Guests can sit down on the bench, pull down the lap bar, and ride the coaster behind the train of lightcycles.

If you are unable to board a lightcycle or simply would rather use the adaptive seating, you can ask to go in one of these cars. Just speak to a Cast Member when you get to the boarding area, and you’ll be directed to a different line for the adaptive seating.

This is what the accessible seating vehicle looks like on TRON 🎢 pic.twitter.com/QQQjis6irq

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 11, 2023

There aren’t adaptive seating cars on all of the trains, so it’s possible that the wait for these cars will be longer than the wait for the lightcycles. You may not be able to ride on the same train as the rest of your group because of this issue.

 

Test Vehicles

If you want to find out whether you can board a lightcycle or not before you get to the actual boarding, you can try out the test vehicles that are located outside the ride’s queue. You’ll find them off to the left, before you enter the queue.

You can board a lightcycle and pull down on the handles to engage the leg and back restraints, which will give you a good idea of how the actual lightcycle ride vehicles feel. If that test vehicle feels fine, you should be good to ride the lightcycles in the attraction.

However, note that the test vehicle restraints do NOT lock into place the way they do on the actual ride vehicles, so it’s possible that, even if the test vehicle feels fine, the actual ride vehicle will not.

Other Problems With the Ride Vehicles

Aside from the restraints and comfort of the ride vehicles, there are a couple of other problems you might run into that you should be aware of.

Boarding

The boarding process is tricky, even if you have no problem being on the lightcycle. If you would have trouble getting onto a low motorcycle, you’ll likely have trouble with the TRON bikes (so the ride could cause problems for anyone with mobility problems).

Safety information for getting into the ride vehicle for TRON: Lightcycle / Run 🏍️ pic.twitter.com/zjD7f6JsHB

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 11, 2023

We found that stepping onto the bike is not easy. You have to swing your leg over the bike and position yourself to lay flat over the bike.

 

The boarding process feels very fast, as the ride is fairly short (just over a minute in total) so Cast Members are trying to get guests onto the lightcycles as quickly as possible.

Storage

In addition, there isn’t much storage available on the lightcycles. There’s only a small compartment that can store items like phones, glasses, and wallets, but anything larger than that must be stored in lockers, which are provided about midway through the attraction’s queue.

If you choose not to put your phone in the lockers at TRON, you can put it in the small items compartment on the ride vehicle. Just don’t forget it when the ride is over! pic.twitter.com/Ccf8q8w969

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 11, 2023

Disney shared a video showcasing the complimentary lockers that will be available for guests to store their belongings before getting on the ride, and you can check out our full guide for using the lockers as well.

 

CLICK HERE for a FULL Guide to Using TRON Lightcycle / Run Lockers in Disney World

We’ll continue to watch for more news about Disney’s newest roller coaster, so stay tuned to DFB for all the latest updates.

Click here to learn more about TRON Lightcycle / Run.

Are you planning to ride TRON Lightcycle / Run when it opens in Disney World? Let us know in the comments.