News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

[Bairstow]

I don't think TRON will, or is meant to compete with a proper high-thrill coaster like Hulk, Mako, or even the Aerosmith ride. It's going to be very slow by coaster standards, more on the level of Space Mountain or Big Thunder.

 

[rle4lunch]

It doesn't have to compete. But it does have to stay cutting edge. If it wanted to compete, it would be simple enough to carve out a fifth gate and order the biggest, fastest, scariest rides from Intamin, B&M, Arrow, Vekoma, etc and just open a thrill park. It would probably cost them less to put in 4 or 5 off the shelf rides than they are spending on Guardians and Ratattouille. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about staying cutting edge on the immersive rides, while keeping it moving forward enough that my 13 year old doesn't roll her eyes when we say "Hey, we are going to Disney".

Even RnRRC (which is an off the shelf with different theming) is pretty tame as far as launch coasters go.. look to Kingda Ka or even StormRunner.. it's a kiddy coaster in comparison. But it added a much needed thrill component (along with ToT) to the parks.

They have to appeal to entire families. Not just the 5 year olds and nostalgic 60 year olds. And a lot of people don't really want to sit through a 40 minute, grainy screen lecture that oil is bad, mmmmkay?

When they built DHS, "studio" parks were all the rage. Now? Not so much. So that is evolving. The same is happening across all the properties. They have to keep it fresh enough to keep people coming back. Their bread and butter is not the once in a lifetime visitor. It's the people who have 10+ visits in, and keep coming, who are willing to pony up for DVC and need a reason to keep coming back to the parks.

Don't get me wrong. I love WDW. But after our last visit, the mutual agreement was "I don't care if we hit the lottery, there's zero point to coming back until at least the two lands at DHS are open. We've seen/done everything else enough times that we can recite it.".

I'm the guy they are appealing to with this sort of stuff.

Agreed. The magic was gone for us in December on our last visit. The best part of our vacation was staying at the GF. There's only so much nostalgia you can live off of before you need something new for a reason to plop down 3K.

 

[Maeryk]

I don't think TRON will, or is meant to compete with a proper high-thrill coaster like Hulk, Mako, or even the Aerosmith ride. It's going to be very slow by coaster standards, more on the level of Space Mountain or Big Thunder.

If it's the same as the one in Shanghai.. it hits 60 mph.. same as RnRRC. Does not invert, but has overbanks.

 

[Bairstow]

If it's the same as the one in Shanghai.. it hits 60 mph.. same as RnRRC. Does not invert, but has overbanks.

Huh. It looks a lot slower in the videos.

 

[peter11435]

That philosophy changed in Pandora, and it seems to be a permanent change.

I'm not really sure how you can say it's a permanent change based on one attraction.

 

[21stamps]

I don't think TRON will, or is meant to compete with a proper high-thrill coaster like Hulk, Mako, or even the Aerosmith ride. It's going to be very slow by coaster standards, more on the level of Space Mountain or Big Thunder.

Agree.

It doesn't have to compete. But it does have to stay cutting edge. If it wanted to compete, it would be simple enough to carve out a fifth gate and order the biggest, fastest, scariest rides from Intamin, B&M, Arrow, Vekoma, etc and just open a thrill park. It would probably cost them less to put in 4 or 5 off the shelf rides than they are spending on Guardians and Ratattouille. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about staying cutting edge on the immersive rides, while keeping it moving forward enough that my 13 year old doesn't roll her eyes when we say "Hey, we are going to Disney".

Even RnRRC (which is an off the shelf with different theming) is pretty tame as far as launch coasters go.. look to Kingda Ka or even StormRunner.. it's a kiddy coaster in comparison. But it added a much needed thrill component (along with ToT) to the parks.

They have to appeal to entire families. Not just the 5 year olds and nostalgic 60 year olds. And a lot of people don't really want to sit through a 40 minute, grainy screen lecture that oil is bad, mmmmkay?

When they built DHS, "studio" parks were all the rage. Now? Not so much. So that is evolving. The same is happening across all the properties. They have to keep it fresh enough to keep people coming back. Their bread and butter is not the once in a lifetime visitor. It's the people who have 10+ visits in, and keep coming, who are willing to pony up for DVC and need a reason to keep coming back to the parks.

Don't get me wrong. I love WDW. But after our last visit, the mutual agreement was "I don't care if we hit the lottery, there's zero point to coming back until at least the two lands at DHS are open. We've seen/done everything else enough times that we can recite it.".

I'm the guy they are appealing to with this sort of stuff.

Yes, that's why I wrote the comment before that one as well.. but what he said about Disney is also true, they will always be the park who strives to accommodate more people than the rest.
They aren't going to enter in a competition with coaster parks. It's one of my pet peeves when I see people compare Uni and Disney.. they are so different.. and I suspect they always will be.


DHS is our second favorite park, even now.. actually now more than ever., the rides are fun, but mild thrills. That's what Tron looks like to me- fun, but not over the top thrilling.. a happy median, which is what Disney excels at.

I don't think we'll ever see real thrill rides at WDW.

 

[The_Jobu]

My thoughts on this (that no one cares about)

The good:
It's an addition without subtraction!!!
I do love the Tron franchise
It kinda works in Tomorrow land, maybe, a bit

The bad:
It is still just a clone
Inventing a new concept would have been ideal

OK carry on

 

[Maeryk]

My thoughts on this (that no one cares about)

The good:
It's an addition without subtraction!!!
I do love the Tron franchise
It kinda works in Tomorrow land, maybe, a bit

The bad:
It is still just a clone
Inventing a new concept would have been ideal

OK carry on

Most of Disneys coasters are clones. The bike coaster is an off the shelf vekoma. It wasn't invented for Disney.

The GotG ride may be a standout in that regard. It's a completely new ride system.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Most of Disneys coasters are clones. The bike coaster is an off the shelf vekoma. It wasn't invented for Disney.

The GotG ride may be a standout in that regard. It's a completely new ride system.

He means it's a copy of the same ride at Shanghai Disneyland.

And was GotG a new ride system? I thought it was supposed to be a coaster of some kind. I haven't kept up on the info for the ride to know.

 

[Maeryk]

He means it's a copy of the same ride at Shanghai Disneyland.

And was GotG a new ride system? I thought it was supposed to be a coaster of some kind. I haven't kept up on the info for the ride to know.

All of the scuttlebutt seems to indicate Vekoma is in the testing process on a completely new "flying" style coaster, which has an industry first load/unload system. If you can conceptualize a vehicle where you "sit" facing down under a track, then imagine the track rolling 90 degrees, while the vehicle itself rotates 90 so your feet are towards the floor, that's the gist. You sit down with your back against what will be the "roof" of the vehicle, and it moves you forward (sitting sideways) and then rotates your head to the direction of travel while the track rolls to face the ground for the ride.

 

[21stamps]

All of the scuttlebutt seems to indicate Vekoma is in the testing process on a completely new "flying" style coaster, which has an industry first load/unload system. If you can conceptualize a vehicle where you "sit" facing down under a track, then imagine the track rolling 90 degrees, while the vehicle itself rotates 90 so your feet are towards the floor, that's the gist. You sit down with your back against what will be the "roof" of the vehicle, and it moves you forward (sitting sideways) and then rotates your head to the direction of travel while the track rolls to face the ground for the ride.

That sounds just like a few existing coasters.

Is something like this being proposed for WDW?

ETA- I can't imagine that Disney would do something such as that, Vekoma has plenty of less thrilling, less restrictive, and family style coasters in their portfolio.

 

[Maeryk]

That sounds just like a few existing coasters.

Is something like this being proposed for WDW?

ETA- I can't imagine that Disney would do something such as that, Vekoma has plenty of less thrilling, less restrictive, and family style coasters in their portfolio.

Yes. It's the GOTG ride. At least, that's what all the industry boards seem to think.

And it's different from the existing coasters in that they sit you on either side of the track (like X, for example) and then rotate you around. That's not what this is. This is more like your back strapped to a board so your back is parallel to the track, and underneath it. The major change is the load/unload.

(It was originally a B&M patent that they never used, far as I can tell, and Vekoma acquired it)

 

[21stamps]

Yes. It's the GOTG ride. At least, that's what all the industry boards seem to think.

And it's different from the existing coasters in that they sit you on either side of the track (like X, for example) and then rotate you around. That's not what this is. This is more like your back strapped to a board so your back is parallel to the track, and underneath it. The major change is the load/unload.

(It was originally a B&M patent that they never used, far as I can tell, and Vekoma acquired it)

Still sounds like this-

I'm going to head to the GotG thread.. I seriously never pictured Disney doing anything close.. interesting.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Still sounds like this-
View attachment 215992

I'm going to head to the GotG thread.. I seriously never pictured Disney doing anything close.. interesting.

Those rides are TERRIBLE. Dizzying in all the wrong ways.

 

[21stamps]

Those rides are TERRIBLE. Dizzying in all the wrong ways.

I love them, but they have restrictions.. ones that don't mesh with Disney.. and then there's the whole- where the heck would they put it?!
Way too big to be indoors, and I can't imagine a backdrop of steel coaster tracks.

 

[crxbrett]

I was hoping Disney would eventually do that type of coaster in one of their parks! If this is true, that is pretty awesome to hear! Although I don't like it being in Epcot. Would fit in more at the Studios.

 

[Maeryk]

I love them, but they have restrictions.. ones that don't mesh with Disney.. and then there's the whole- where the heck would they put it?!
Way too big to be indoors, and I can't imagine a backdrop of steel coaster tracks.

Indoors. It doesn't need to be nearly as big as the one pictured.. just like BTMRR isn't nearly as big as some other coasters. Where other parks see "we don't want the ride to slow down" disney sees an opportunity for theming and vignettes.. while it chugs up the next lift or is scooted forward by bump wheels.

Look at the picture you show above.. now imagine instead of hinging down to load/unload, as those do, the cars simply rotate 90 clockwise, so you just step off and walk towards the gate.. no needs to shuffle past a car that has dropped down ahead of you.

Currently you board flying Vekomas above the track, sit, and the seat reclines. You board flying B&Ms below the track, you sit and the seat folds up. This would have the track effectively behind you when you sit. The seats, instead of folding up or down, are mounted to a pivot between seat 2 and 3, which allows them to rotate like a pinwheel, so your head can be aimed forward while the track rolls "down" (or up, whatever).

 

[Kman101]

I'm not really sure how you can say it's a permanent change based on one attraction.

I guess since there's nothing to complain about with TRON they have to find something.

I get it sucks not being able to fit onto something. But it's one or soon to be two attractions that have a specific design. Doesn't TRON have different seating in the back of the train of bikes? Couldn't that be accommodating to some?

 

[21stamps]

Indoors. It doesn't need to be nearly as big as the one pictured.. just like BTMRR isn't nearly as big as some other coasters. Where other parks see "we don't want the ride to slow down" disney sees an opportunity for theming and vignettes.. while it chugs up the next lift or is scooted forward by bump wheels.

Look at the picture you show above.. now imagine instead of hinging down to load/unload, as those do, the cars simply rotate 90 clockwise, so you just step off and walk towards the gate.. no needs to shuffle past a car that has dropped down ahead of you.

Currently you board flying Vekomas above the track, sit, and the seat reclines. You board flying B&Ms below the track, you sit and the seat folds up. This would have the track effectively behind you when you sit. The seats, instead of folding up or down, are mounted to a pivot between seat 2 and 3, which allows them to rotate like a pinwheel, so your head can be aimed forward while the track rolls "down" (or up, whatever).

I went to the GotG thread because I didn't want to veer this one too off topic. But, that's still sounds a little unbelievable to me. If you scale that down to an indoor one it changes the entire ride.. it's not as easy to do with that type.
You need a big hill before the switch..plus capacity would be horrible. I don't see it happening, but it's an interesting rumor.

 

[Bairstow]

All of the scuttlebutt seems to indicate Vekoma is in the testing process on a completely new "flying" style coaster, which has an industry first load/unload system. If you can conceptualize a vehicle where you "sit" facing down under a track, then imagine the track rolling 90 degrees, while the vehicle itself rotates 90 so your feet are towards the floor, that's the gist. You sit down with your back against what will be the "roof" of the vehicle, and it moves you forward (sitting sideways) and then rotates your head to the direction of travel while the track rolls to face the ground for the ride.

That's just the old Vekoma "Flying Dutchman" configuration, isn't it?