News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

JoeCamel

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
solidyne said:
I respect these opinions, but I am curious about one thing. In what year did you first approach MK via monorail? And how old were you?

I ask only because folks like me have the double whammy: a memory of the view in the 1970s compounded (clouded?) by the nostalgia for childhood. We simply cannot abide this gross juxtaposition, but perhaps for others with different memories it is perfectly fine.

I'm genuinely curious. I happen to find this construction deeply offensive. (Admittedly hyperbolic, but basically true.)
Click to expand...
OK, I will bite, 1971 in my twenties but I get your point. Still space is a Big A** building just a more pleasing shape than tron to me.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Is the entire outside portion of the coaster under the canopy?

I don't think Disney should ever have unthemed coaster track out in the open. Even if it's entirely underneath the canopy, there will be places you can see the track, but that's better than nothing. It's an issue with SDD, although that is somewhat mitigated because it's at least nominally themed to look like something a kid built in their backyard to fit in with the rest of TSL. I don't think that aesthetic really works and it's one of the reasons TSL is a huge failure in my eyes, but at least there was some sort of attempt.
 
SplashJacket

SplashJacket

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
Is the entire outside portion of the coaster under the canopy?

I don't think Disney should ever have unthemed coaster track out in the open. Even if it's entirely underneath the canopy, there will be places you can see the track, but that's better than nothing. It's an issue with SDD, although that is somewhat mitigated because it's at least nominally themed to look like something a kid built in their backyard to fit in with the rest of TSL. I don't think that aesthetic really works and it's one of the reasons TSL is a huge failure in my eyes, but at least there was some sort of attempt.
Click to expand...

It is completely under the canopy. The track supports are visible outside but I do not think it detracts from the ride in the slightest. If the ride was not elevated off the ground it would detract from the glowing vehicles.

Tron, while not a perfect ride, I do not believe this is one of its issues. In this case, I definitely think it is excused.
 
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
SplashZander said:
It is completely under the canopy. The track supports are visible outside but I do not think it detracts from the ride in the slightest. If the ride was not elevated off the ground it would detract from the glowing vehicles.

Tron, while not a perfect ride, I do not believe this is one of its issues. In this case, I definitely think it is excused.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean it detracts from the ride experience -- I meant it detracts from the experience for non-riders just walking around the park. It shouldn't be a big issue for Tron because it's located back in a corner and you likely won't be able to see any of it unless you're near it in Tomorrowland, but the fact that you don't have rides going by overhead all around you (and constantly in your sight lines) is one of the best things about Disney compared to almost every other theme park.
 
SplashJacket

SplashJacket

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
I didn't mean it detracts from the ride experience -- I meant it detracts from the experience for non-riders just walking around the park. It shouldn't be a big issue for Tron because it's located back in a corner and you likely won't be able to see any of it unless you're near it in Tomorrowland, but the fact that you don't have rides going by overhead all around you (and constantly in your sight lines) is one of the best things about Disney compared to almost every other theme park.
Click to expand...

I meant the ride as a whole, not just the actual experience of riding it. I could spend an hour just chilling under the Tron canopy watching the vehicles go by. The track supports themselves don't feel like normal track supports. They blend nicely with the canopy and overall artistic scheme of the ride.

Here's a video and a couple of photos I took back in 2018 on an iPhone 6. Tron is far from a perfect ride, but the portion under the canopy is the best part of the actual ride, and I would say the best interaction between a ride and a land that I can currently think of. Tron is absolutely gorgeous. The show building behind it, which is hidden at a good enough level in Shanghai, on the other hand, is far from gorgeous. The primary issue I have with it being located in MK is its show building is far from hidden to an acceptable standard because its barely hidden at all.

The track supports are not a negative in my book. I'm very interested to hear what you would have preferred alternatively.

I just wish Chapek could somehow lock Tomorrowland in an eternal nighttime, then Tron would be the sexy beast it deserves to be throughout the entire day instead of a small sliver.


IMG_0289.JPG

IMG_0290.JPG
 
Last edited:
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
SplashZander said:
I meant the ride as a whole, not just the actual experience of riding it. I could spend an hour just chilling under the Tron canopy watching the vehicles go by. The track supports themselves don't feel like normal track supports. They blend nicely with the canopy and overall artistic scheme of the ride.

Here's a video and a couple of photos I took back in 2018 on an iPhone 6. Tron is far from a perfect ride, but the portion under the canopy is the best part of the actual ride, and I would say the best interaction between a ride and a land that I can currently think of. Tron is absolutely gorgeous. The show building behind it, which is hidden at a good enough level in Shanghai, on the other hand, is far from gorgeous. The primary issue I have with it being located in MK is its show building is far from hidden to an acceptable standard because its barely hidden at all.

The track supports are not a negative in my book. I'm very interested to hear what you would have preferred alternatively.
Click to expand...

I'm not opposed to Tron being the way it is, although I do think there's a significant difference between Tron in Shanghai (where it was designed to go) and Tron just picked up and dropped into Orlando's Tomorrowland. They didn't even attempt to tweak it so that it better fits its surroundings. I also think, as you mentioned, there's probably going to be a big difference between seeing it in the daytime and seeing it at night.

I'm mostly just afraid that current management will see Tron and SDD (which is worse than Tron about this, but as I said above, that's really an issue with TSL as a whole) as successes and be fine with the idea of just dropping in a big outdoor coaster wherever. Every previous coaster at WDW was either fully enclosed or themed elaborately as a whole.
 
A Noble Fish

A Noble Fish

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
I'm not opposed to Tron being the way it is, although I do think there's a significant difference between Tron in Shanghai (where it was designed to go) and Tron just picked up and dropped into Orlando's Tomorrowland. They didn't even attempt to tweak it so that it better fits its surroundings. I also think, as you mentioned, there's probably going to be a big difference between seeing it in the daytime and seeing it at night.

I'm mostly just afraid that current management will see Tron and SDD (which is worse than Tron about this, but as I said above, that's really an issue with TSL as a whole) as successes and be fine with the idea of just dropping in a big outdoor coaster wherever. Every previous coaster at WDW was either fully enclosed or themed elaborately as a whole.
Click to expand...
You know I was concerned with both TRON and Slinky for that reason. There had never been a major coaster not fully themed at Disney parks.

Yet, after seeing TRON in the day and at night (and riding it over multiple days), it actually is a perfect use for it. It feels sleek and almost sexy. The canopy sells it (and is the focus), but it wouldn't even look bad without it. As you said, the larger issue will definitely be land placement since at Shanghai the entire land curves and the sightline uses the canopy almost like Cars Land uses the rockwork in Radiator Springs Racers. It will still look terrific and be a welcome addition, but unless the Speedway is slighted for a new area in the future, it won't reach its full potential. Which is silly since it costs so much.

I was even more concerned with Slinky, but I think Toy Story Land's issues pertain more to a lack of shops/indoor meet and greets and shade. Slinky was convincingly thought out to look like a playset, and it is very convincing day and night; though the ride experience itself even more so than TRON improves at night. It fits in the same way the tinker toys fit the land and oddly felt natural when I walked around, and it really adds needed kinetic energy that Star Wars Land lacks. Now if Disney was to put a coaster like that in Star Wars Land it would be an atrocity, but it fits so perfectly in TSL the way it's executed. I really love Toy Story Land's theming and concept, but it's the lack of substance that's the bigger issue IMO.

Hagrid's was actually a great use of a bare-bones coaster track too. TRON nails it with the canopy, and Slinky makes a convincing case for its use, but even Hagrid's looks aesthetically appealing if less thematically consistent. I think with a high enough budget, there is room for these types of coasters, but it is a slippery slope, and not many themes can and even less should use it. Though I wouldn't sound alarms just yet.
 
Last edited:
UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Walrus Slayer said:
I was even more concerned with Slinky, but I think Toy Story Land's issues pertain more to a lack of shops/indoor meet and greets and shade. Slinky was convincingly thought out to look like a playset, and it is very convincing day and night; though the ride experience itself even more so than TRON improves at night. It fits in the same way the tinker toys fit the land and oddly felt natural when I walked around, and it really adds needed kinetic energy that Star Wars Land lacks. Now if Disney was to put a coaster like that in Star Wars Land it would be an atrocity, but it fits so perfectly in TSL the way it's executed. I really love Toy Story Land's theming and concept, but it's the lack of substance that's the biggest issue IMO.
Click to expand...

I think SDD is much worse, but I do agree that it fits the theming of TSL as a child's playset. I just dislike the TSL theming and concept in general (and it also has a serious lack of substance).
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom