News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

[larryz]

EDIT: So basically they wanted TRON cloned and didn't care how they went about doing it. And then they wanted a coaster in Epcot and so on and so forth. Shame they're so focused on the coaster aspect.

Don't get me wrong -- I love coasters.

But WDW is not Cedar Point is not Magic Mountain.


More dark rides, please -- cutting-edge, innovative, immersive dark rides, not just phoned-in screen-savers like Ariel's Reader's Digest story.

I think "blurring of theme" and "anything goes" are the catch phrases of today.

You forgot "Golden Parachute," "Executive Bonus," and "Return on Investment."

 

[Kman101]

Don't get me wrong -- I love coasters.

But WDW is not Cedar Point is not Magic Mountain.


More dark rides, please -- cutting-edge, innovative, immersive dark rides, not just phoned-in screen-savers like Ariel's Reader's Digest story.

Bingo!

Even Universal fans are complaining (one of my friends and his buddy went to the parks a few weeks ago and all they did was complain that they're tired of screens; before the Uni defenders come to the rescue, I know they have plans to correct this. Said plans aren't here yet so it doesn't matter what's coming). At least there's trust in them to deliver a really cool coaster experience. With TRON, we know what to expect (not begrudging it but it's basic) and with Guardians it's sad the queue and preshows could end up more impressive. But we still don't know the full scope of the coaster portion but I feel it's going to be a let down. I wish I could have complete faith.

Mermaid is such a disappointment to me. We need more omnimovers though! Fantasyland really needs a few more solid d-tickets. Not to mention Peter Pan remains forever stuck in the 70s. Small World only gets a line when the park is busy. It's sad.

Executives need to take note: this is what happens when you let things stagnate for 20 years. Stop it! Now they likely have way more than they want to address but they sort of have to address things at this point. Imagine 10-15 years from now and we're still riding a sad Peter Pan? Just depressing.

 

[Movielover]

I, for one, would love an attraction featuring a Jeff Bridges AA figure. "The Carousel of Karma, featuring The Dude." The gimmick is that the theater doesn't move.

People say they want a Mickey through the ages ride, I just want a Jeff Bridge's ride. Give me a GMR with nothing but Jeff Bridge's AA's representing each of his movies. The ride would be slow paced and every guest would receive 1 free White Russian drink and be serenated by the sweet heavenly sound of John Goodman. This would culminate in a big musical finale where all the Jeff AA's would sing a rousing rendition of "The Man In Me" by Bob Dylan...

Good lord I've thought about this way to much!

 

[rle4lunch]

There is 0% wrong with adding good themed inside/outside coasters to all 4 parks. The coaster hate is pretty unfounded. The biggest trending problem I see with the latter WDW attractions (all iterations, not just coasters) is ride time.

7DMT is pretty to look at and fun, but too short. Tron, from what I hear, is great, but too short. FoP is great, but too short. RnRc is fun/cool (although cheap as all get out with the cardboard cutouts and florescent paint) but too short. Kali Rapids is a great boat ride, but is completely ruined by the ridiculous short ride length.

I don't see this trend changing anytime soon. Story development is so rushed on the rides built the last 15-20 years that full immersion is nearly impossible.

 

[trainplane3]

The problem I have though is just because it's a movie park, you can't really just shove everything in there. But when the theme is so loose I guess I can't fault them. Their problem was wanting an "easy clone" and then realizing Tomorrowland was really the only place for it. Shame. I don't begrudge it there but the money should have gone elsewhere right now. It'd fit the best in Future World. I said that from the start. If they wanted a coaster in Epcot SO bad. It would have been much more fitting.

I still like my 5 minute brainstorm on sticking Tron into WoL.
- Paint the dome silver, add some blue LED "lines" that follow the pattern of the triangles on the roof, make them pulse and glow softly with a nice area loop. Inside can be games and other Tron things.
- Demo the CC show building, build a new giant building out back that can fit the Tron coaster (or a modified version of it)
- Have said Tron coaster launch into the WoL dome though a opening cut in the back, giving the same effect it has with the "amoeba" covering. Then have the coaster enter back into its show building.
- Stick some kind of multi-level omnimover shooter over in the BW building by merging the bays all together (somehow).
- Darken the lighting inside the WoL dome, give it a blue-ish glow (or red at certain times).
- Stick End of Line club restaurant/bar over in the old eatery area.
- Sirens, Programs, and others can roam around in the A/C'd (a plus for characters not being in the sun) building, adding to the atmosphere.
- Congrats, you just made Tron land fit in a corner of the park. Bonus: it has more to do then TSL.

 

[Kman101]

I still like my 5 minute brainstorm on sticking Tron into WoL.
- Paint the dome silver, add some blue LED "lines" that follow the pattern of the triangles on the roof, make them pulse and glow softly with a nice area loop. Inside can be games and other Tron things.
- Demo the CC show building, build a new giant building out back that can fit the Tron coaster (or a modified version of it)
- Have said Tron coaster launch into the WoL dome though a opening cut in the back, giving the same effect it has with the "amoeba" covering. Then have the coaster enter back into its show building.
- Stick some kind of multi-level omnimover shooter over in the BW building by merging the bays all together (somehow).
- Darken the lighting inside the WoL dome, give it a blue-ish glow (or red at certain times).
- Stick End of Line club restaurant/bar over in the old eatery area.
- Sirens, Programs, and others can roam around in the A/C'd building, adding to the atmosphere.
- Congrats, you just made Tron land fit in a corner of the park. Bonus: it has more to do then TSL.

But that requires time, investment and money!

I love it, by the way. I'd take it.

I don't really hate TSL either, but it's not a land we should have been getting in 2018. This is what they should have done in 2007/2008 when they opened Mania (and while the details in the land are cute, it's a bit better than I expected, they really could have made it even more impressive, but when people are quick to defend it when I'm not even really picking on it says a lot about who they're going after). Frankly Mania should just have been kept to Paradise Pier and Toyville Park. It doesn't work for me in TSL and never did in DHS. It was a lazy clone. I know everyone seems to love it but it's honestly lazy (I think people don't seem to understand you can still like something but also be critical and want it to have been better; doesn't mean what's there is trash). I'd take dirty, dated Buzz anyday, personally.

 

[Movielover]

There is 0% wrong with adding good themed inside/outside coasters to all 4 parks. The coaster hate is pretty unfounded. The biggest trending problem I see with the latter WDW attractions (all iterations, not just coasters) is ride time.

7DMT is pretty to look at and fun, but too short. Tron, from what I hear, is great, but too short. FoP is great, but too short. RnRc is fun/cool (although cheap as all get out with the cardboard cutouts and florescent paint) but too short. Kali Rapids is a great boat ride, but is completely ruined by the ridiculous short ride length.

I don't see this trend changing anytime soon. Story development is so rushed on the rides built the last 15-20 years that full immersion is nearly impossible.

The ride time of the launched coasters is actually pretty good when compared to most of the industry equivalents. RnRc actually has a pretty decent ride time when compared to other launched coasters, especially since it does not stop during it's run. Compare that with the Revenge of the Mummy's which pause for multiple show scenes that RnRc does not have. Also lets not fail to mention the ride time of Incredicoaster (I hate that name...) which also pauses to include a slow lift segment. In comparison to other similar rides like the Flight of Fear clones in cedar fair and Six Flags parks which are all shorter in ride time than Disney's launched coaster (this also has to do with track length as well).

I agree though about 7DMT but I sorta give it a pass since it had to be shoehorned into that space last minute (although the leaked early layout designs seemed much longer.

Can't really comment on the length of FoP since I have yet to experience it (I need a vacation!)

100% agree on Kali!

Hopefully the Star Wars rides will reverse that trend of story development. I thought Universal had done well with the Harry Potter rides and Kong but man did they drop the ball with Fast and Furious...

 

[rle4lunch]

The ride time of the launched coasters is actually pretty good when compared to most of the industry equivalents. RnRc actually has a pretty decent ride time when compared to other launched coasters, especially since it does not stop during it's run. Compare that with the Revenge of the Mummy's which pause for multiple show scenes that RnRc does not have. Also lets not fail to mention the ride time of Incredicoaster (I hate that name...) which also pauses to include a slow lift segment. In comparison to other similar rides like the Flight of Fear clones in cedar fair and Six Flags parks which are all shorter in ride time than Disney's launched coaster (this also has to do with track length as well).

I agree though about 7DMT but I sorta give it a pass since it had to be shoehorned into that space last minute (although the leaked early layout designs seemed much longer.

Can't really comment on the length of FoP since I have yet to experience it (I need a vacation!)

100% agree on Kali!

Hopefully the Star Wars rides will reverse that trend of story development. I thought Universal had done well with the Harry Potter rides and Kong but man did they drop the ball with Fast and Furious...

Kong is good in ride length but overall I really didn't like it. Too much SKREENZ. lol. Beautiful queue though, ha...

 

[Kman101]

The ride time of the launched coasters is actually pretty good when compared to most of the industry equivalents. RnRc actually has a pretty decent ride time when compared to other launched coasters, especially since it does not stop during it's run. Compare that with the Revenge of the Mummy's which pause for multiple show scenes that RnRc does not have. Also lets not fail to mention the ride time of Incredicoaster (I hate that name...) which also pauses to include a slow lift segment. In comparison to other similar rides like the Flight of Fear clones in cedar fair and Six Flags parks which are all shorter in ride time than Disney's launched coaster (this also has to do with track length as well).

I agree though about 7DMT but I sorta give it a pass since it had to be shoehorned into that space last minute (although the leaked early layout designs seemed much longer.

Can't really comment on the length of FoP since I have yet to experience it (I need a vacation!)

100% agree on Kali!

Hopefully the Star Wars rides will reverse that trend of story development. I thought Universal had done well with the Harry Potter rides and Kong but man did they drop the ball with Fast and Furious...

I can't really give 7DMT a pass because it needed another show section. It's like the ride is just getting started when it ends. The end shouldn't be the witch at the door with an apple. That should propel you into the forest where the hag tries to drop a boulder on you as you race around to the finish and your happy ending. It wasn't hard.

But what's there "is fine" and I enjoy the coaster for what it is. I don't sit depressed on it and think how much better it could be. But I wish it were. I think we're too afraid to call them out for still being lazy even when they're spending the money.

How long TRON is doesn't bother me. It's a coaster. I don't need a five minute attraction. It's a quick thrill. I just think some use the length as a means to knock it because they don't like the ride is coming. Of course I wish it were a bit "more" in some regard but it's a caoster. The length isn't really a problem for me. It's a bike coaster through the grid. It's not going to be anything other than that.

 

[Kman101]

Kong is good in ride length but overall I really didn't like it. Too much SKREENZ. lol. Beautiful queue though, ha...

Kong is fun with the right crowd. People freaking out. It seems people actually enjoy it. But some of the screens use is poor. I think it gets unfairly knocked because of the screen fatigue and that it could have been more than screens (which it should have been). The AA's fantastic, the queue is great, the idea was solid but it's really just a better done F&F. We didn't need both (even in separate parks).

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Kong is good in ride length but overall I really didn't like it. Too much SKREENZ. lol. Beautiful queue though, ha...

Well, like most recent Uni rides, if your ride stops completely in front of a giant TV a couple times per ride, of course it going to have a longer ride time.

I don't mind screens (though Uni definitely overuses), but my problem is just stopping in front of screens to extend the ride time. Especially in Kong and F&F where you don't even have any simulator style motion while stopped until the 360 rooms. Just sitting there.

Personally, and i realize opinions differ, but I'd much rather more preshows that are just screens or simple scenes if it meant the ride itself didn't stop and lose momentum. Even if that meant the ride was shorter.

 

[rle4lunch]

Well, like most recent Uni rides, if your ride stops completely in front of a giant TV a couple times per ride, of course it going to have a longer ride time.

I don't mind screens (though Uni definitely overuses), but my problem is just stopping in front of screens to extend the ride time. Especially in Kong and F&F where you don't even have any simulator style motion while stopped until the 360 rooms. Just sitting there.

Personally, and i realize opinions differ, but I'd much rather more preshows that are just screens or simple scenes if it meant the ride itself didn't stop and lose momentum. Even if that meant the ride was shorter.

We didn't want to ride F&F. I think it's a stupid franchise anyway, so we didn't feel the need to check out more paul walker and vin diesel et al.

Kong's (and most of the uni screen rides) overuse of the water spitting in the face thing... is.. well.. not cute. imo.

 

[Kman101]

Well, like most recent Uni rides, if your ride stops completely in front of a giant TV a couple times per ride, of course it going to have a longer ride time.

I don't mind screens (though Uni definitely overuses), but my problem is just stopping in front of screens to extend the ride time. Especially in Kong and F&F where you don't even have any simulator style motion while stopped until the 360 rooms. Just sitting there.

Personally, and i realize opinions differ, but I'd much rather more preshows that are just screens or simple scenes if it meant the ride itself didn't stop and lose momentum. Even if that meant the ride was shorter.

I recall the vehicle in Kong having motion in several sequences. But isn't F&F just watching a screen but in a vehicle? I apologize but I haven't rushed to ride it yet My friends REALLY griped hard about F&F (they said the queue was the best part, which is another thing I've heard; disappointing for fans of the franchise).

I get the point and that's what one of my friends complained about. None of us mind screens when used properly. I'm with you in that I (and clearly others not even on the boards) want to actually go somewhere ... that's my friends, and his other friends, biggest complaint with Universal. I could see the screen fatigue all over their faces this last time. And I had it too. And I would hear it in line. "We have to use glasses AGAIN?" ....

 

[Kman101]

IF Tron had to go in TL, it could have and should have been an unique attraction not ANOTHER indoor coaster directly adjacent to.... an indoor coaster. @marni1971 is dead right on this one.

The Guardians coaster should be an Energy focused attraction at the very least. No need for Guardians IP at all here, but wth, it'll sell merchandise right?

Yeah I'm excited for fresh experiences coming to WDW, but I wish these new attractions and improvements would add to the parks, not replace existing attractions. And I can't help but think with Tron coming to TL, SM's days are numbered even more-so now.. Now management will have to make the case of putting $$$ into maintaining it (which they've been doing the minimum already the last decade or so) while there's a big shiny new one next door, vs letting it go for a few more years then leveling it. I hope this isn't going to be the case.

They'll just overlay SM. I doubt they get rid of it altogether. But it's clear they can't keep putting off the inevitable gut and re-do as much as they'd like to.

It's my fear too with TRON coming in. I think they can easily co-exist but I don't know they share my opinion. Most on here don't.

TRON though, is at this point, an expansion, at the very least.

Mickey and Guardians should NOT have been replacements. I slightly get it with Mickey. But like Test Track and Soarin, Guardians should not be using pavilion space as a queue and pre-show. Have it be an extension.

We could be surprised by the coaster. But at the end of the day that's all it is. And that's fine (I get their desire for a coaster even if I don't care for one in Epcot, I'm sure they've had complaints about not having one). I agree I don't like how they went about it.

Why not put WALL-E into Energy's building with an LPS dark ride? Guardians even could have worked as a dark ride. But, nope. "QUICK THRILL"

Remind you of the days of Soarin', The Seas with Nemo and Test Track all over again, doesn't it?

We get investment but there's always some price to pay. I think some are hesitant to be critical because they're finally spending money but it doesn't mean we have to like what they're spending it on. LOL.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

I recall the vehicle in Kong having motion in several sequences. But isn't F&F just watching a screen but in a vehicle? I apologize but I haven't rushed to ride it yet My friends REALLY griped hard about F&F (they said the queue was the best part, which is another thing I've heard; disappointing for fans of the franchise).

I get the point and that's what one of my friends complained about. None of us mind screens when used properly. I'm with you in that I (and clearly others not even on the boards) want to actually go somewhere ... that's my friends, and his other friends, biggest complaint with Universal. I could see the screen fatigue all over their faces this last time. And I had it too. And I would hear it in line. "We have to use glasses AGAIN?" ....

Kong has no motion during the screens until you get to the 360 section. Same as F&F. They are exactly the same ride just Kong does it better.

Big differences are that Kong has two separate screen scenes that are stationary before the 360 section. F&F has only one longer one, but it includes a practical effect or two with it. Plus, Kong has the animatronic at the end and a more interesting queue.

 

[Kman101]

Kong has no motion during the screens until you get to the 360 section. Same as F&F. They are exactly the same ride just Kong does it better.

Big differences are that Kong has two separate screen scenes that are stationary before the 360 section. F&F has only one longer one, but it includes a practical effect or two with it. Plus, Kong has the animatronic at the end and a more interesting queue.

Kong has motion in the bug sequence and the fight sequence. I don't know the particulars of how it's laid out so I guess it's just one section that moves the vehicle? I thought it moved more, I agree they make a better use of it from what it sounds like, I liked Kong but it definitely has it's flaws, and they could have really gone all out on that one. Good to know they're exactly the same, like I figured. Seems not necessary. I also feel like they were a couple years too late on the F&F franchise. But it's still popular even if I don't get it, lol. They really didn't need Fallon or F&F (I'd begrudge the use of F&F less if they made a worthy attraction). Not sure what they were thinking.

 

[marni1971]

Kong is good in ride length but overall I really didn't like it. Too much SKREENZ. lol. Beautiful queue though, ha...

Kong was enjoyable. Maybe I went in with low expectations that were surpassed.

But Fast n Furious... surely what it should be is in the name? Slot racer? EMV? Augmented reality LPS? Multi direction coaster?

But....Bus?

 

[rle4lunch]

Kong was enjoyable. Maybe I went in with low expectations that were surpassed.

But Fast n Furious... surely what it should be is in the name? Slot racer? EMV? Augmented reality LPS? Multi direction coaster?

But....Bus?

The problem Kong is that all the scenes are so fuzzy. It's rough to look at.

 

[trainplane3]

Kong was enjoyable. Maybe I went in with low expectations that were surpassed.

But Fast n Furious... surely what it should be is in the name? Slot racer? EMV? Augmented reality LPS? Multi direction coaster?

But....Bus?

At least real bus racing is exciting...

 

[Kman101]

Kong was enjoyable. Maybe I went in with low expectations that were surpassed.

But Fast n Furious... surely what it should be is in the name? Slot racer? EMV? Augmented reality LPS? Multi direction coaster?

But....Bus?

Yep. F&F makes no sense as it is. Lazy. It didn't have to be. F&F fans have to feel let down by this. I'm not one but it seems like a waste.

I like Kong too. Sure it has some flaws but it's pretty enjoyable, especially with the right crowd.