News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

[lentesta]

Donno about that. You've got sites out there making tens of thousands of dollars on this stuff.

It is truly astounding. One day I'm going to talk about the economics of this.

 

[lentesta]

Okay, I did a blog post yesterday around when I thought TRON might open. It could be entirely wrong, and I know other smart people here have heard different, earlier dates.

One thing I didn't write about was the additional revenue Disney will get from ILL sales of TRON. So here's a ballpark estimate of that (which, again, can be wrong).

 

[IMDREW]

From tonight:View attachment 663332
View attachment 663333
Note the train launching.View attachment 663334

Still would have rather had this in Epcot over Guardians. It would look really cool next to disco ball SSE, complement Future Worlds exponential architecture and a computer/gaming pavilion would work really well. That canopy is a work of art imo.

 

[wdwmagic]

That canopy is a work of art imo.

It is, but then it all seems to fall apart when it looks like an organic flowing shape bolted onto the front of a straight-edge highly visible box.

 

[wdwmagic]

Okay, I did a blog post yesterday around when I thought TRON might open. It could be entirely wrong, and I know other smart people here have heard different, earlier dates.

One thing I didn't write about was the additional revenue Disney will get from ILL sales of TRON. So here's a ballpark estimate of that (which, again, can be wrong).


View attachment 663390

Thanks for this Len, interesting numbers.

 

[IMDREW]

It is, but then it all seems to fall apart when it looks like an organic flowing shape bolted onto the front of a straight-edge highly visible box.

Sadly, yes.

 

[ppete1975]

All of this talk makes me think ill be able to ride the train in april!

 

[ToTBellHop]

All of this talk makes me think ill be able to ride the train in april!

It would take a Cat5 hurricane to prevent that.

 

[ppete1975]

It would take a Cat5 hurricane to prevent that.

or speed of disney slows down even more

 

[HauntedPirate]

Okay, I did a blog post yesterday around when I thought TRON might open. It could be entirely wrong, and I know other smart people here have heard different, earlier dates.

One thing I didn't write about was the additional revenue Disney will get from ILL sales of TRON. So here's a ballpark estimate of that (which, again, can be wrong).


View attachment 663390

Nice! I'm glad someone put this down on... err... electronic paper?

I ran a similar scenario when someone suggested Disney should build more rides and use ILL to get their money back "quickly". GotG was used as the example - it would only take something like 8 years to make back its costs if they sold 90% of estimated ride capacity every day, 12 hours per day, 365 days a year, at $15/rider with zero downtime. If using ILL to "get their money back" was the actual goal of ILL and not as just another revenue stream.

 

[dreday3]

Okay, I did a blog post yesterday around when I thought TRON might open. It could be entirely wrong, and I know other smart people here have heard different, earlier dates.

One thing I didn't write about was the additional revenue Disney will get from ILL sales of TRON. So here's a ballpark estimate of that (which, again, can be wrong).


View attachment 663390

I read your blog and your thoughts on when Tron will open don't please me unless it means by my arrival date of 4/18.

 

[Gran Fiesta]

It would take a Cat5 hurricane to prevent that.

Have you heard if the train will open before Tron or they will open at the same time?

 

[lentesta]

I read your blog and your thoughts on when Tron will open don't please me unless it means by my arrival date of 4/18.

I think you'll be fine. Don't stress over that.

 

[lentesta]

Have you heard if the train will open before Tron or they will open at the same time?

I haven't heard. But guest walkways have to be done first, and that includes the area around the railroad. So I'd expect the railroad back first.

 

[Rich Brownn]

To me, what makes Disney special is that the parks themselves traditionally weren't the only area considered to be on stage. The resorts and (non-bus) transportation felt like they were part of the whole experience. While I agree that the parks probably have bigger issues, I think letting TRON, Cosmic Rewind, and Ratatouille go unaddressed sets a precedent that is both dangerous and unworthy of the premium pricetag associated with the experience.


Literally anything that is not simply a warehouse. On the cheaper end, they could round the corners and subtly pattern it like the grid, or cover it in large-scale dimensional hexagonal tiles that echo the LED arrays under the canopy. On the extremely expensive end, they could build a scaled-down futuristic city skyline that complements the lines of Space Mountain and provides interesting vistas from the train and PeopleMover. Or they could do anything in between, as long as it feels intentional. The problem is that it is obviously unthemed, not that it is simple or generically futuristic.

At Disneyland, the Pirates building and Haunted Mansion building have always been visible from the monorail, as were several other support structures, and this was when Walt was alive, so obviously that wasn't a concern for Walt as long as it was hidden on stage.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Have you heard if the train will open before Tron or they will open at the same time?

The only reason to delay the WDWRR would be if marketing wants both on the same date. There’s no operational or safety-related reason for delay. Recent activities on the rails suggest the WDWRR will return rather soon. By Halloween, I’d guess.

 

[ToTBellHop]

At Disneyland, the Pirates building and Haunted Mansion building have always been visible from the monorail, as were several other support structures, and this was when Walt was alive, so obviously that wasn't a concern for Walt as long as it was hidden on stage.

I would argue the parks peaked after Walt died, anyway. WDW was incredible in the early ‘90s.

 

[lazyboy97o]

At Disneyland, the Pirates building and Haunted Mansion building have always been visible from the monorail, as were several other support structures, and this was when Walt was alive, so obviously that wasn't a concern for Walt as long as it was hidden on stage.

“Blessing of size”

 

[Incomudro]

I actually wrote a really long post a day ago in this thread explaining how the Fantasyland show buildings are part of their rides' design conceit. But even still, Disney went to the trouble of obscuring the large, uninteresting walls those buildings sometimes created because they knew the area would be improved by it.

As I've said about 6,000 times, and as others have echoed, the TRON showbuilding should either be themed OR hidden. If the people on Disney's payroll truly can't come up with any way to justify the Big-Box-Store show building that fits within the theme of the ride, then they should either hide it from guest's view, design a different ride that doesn't require a big, "unthemeable" box, or consider other employment. This isn't an impossible assignment. And for a $300+ Million Dollar ride it shouldn't even be a challenging one.

There are so many potential options here to keep a building like this from towering over the Magic Kingdom, and they chose none of them.

It is hidden.
You only see a sliver of it.
And if themed, themed as what?
There's nothing to theme it as.
Maybe put a big DELL logo on it.

 

[gorillaball]

Seems like we are due for an opening date prediction/poll in this thread aren't we?