News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

[James Alucobond]

The lighting etc. is still going to have a problem -- one that underlines how poorly this was placed. It's really only going to be visible from a handful of places. You won't even be able to see it from half of Tomorrowland.

I have to imagine they intend to resolve this whenever they finally get around to modifying the Speedway. The queue facade needlessly blocks some of the potential best views.

 

[UNCgolf]

I have to imagine they intend to resolve this whenever they finally get around to modifying the Speedway. The queue facade needlessly blocks some of the potential best views.

Even with the facade, I think the Speedway (and the path around it) is probably the best spot for views. There are things in the way basically everywhere else unless you're right in front of the building.

 

[Sorcerer Mickey]

But I was informed that the idea that Disney would ever touch a ride as "iconic" as Space Mountain was absolutely absurd...

It's certainly possible that WDW's SM gets a similar makeover to bring it into line with the neighboring Tron. The problem with that, of course, is that SM and Tron are already very, very similar rides, and making them MORE similar solves nothing. I think this is instead a worrying acknowledgement that Disney considers SM and Tron interchangeable, which bodes ill for SM after Tron opens. In any case, its proof that the one element of SM folks were sure could was untouchable, the exterior structure, is very touchable indeed. I think WDW's reluctance to build much of anything is SM's best chance now.

As for the look of the ride, Tokyo DL is obviously the most consistently excellent park in the Disney chain and possibly in the world, but I'm not wild about this new look. It seems likely to become outdated just as quickly as any other contemporary vision of the future - and that second node sort of strikes me as a pimple on SM's shoulder. I've always thought the best way to go with Tomorrowland was to fully commit to a retro look, either WDW's Buck Rogers-esque aesthetic or Paris' Jules Verne-y take.

The fans say Tommorowland is severely outdated, but then they can't touch a classic like Space Mountain. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

[UNCgolf]

The fans say Tommorowland is severely outdated, but then they can't touch a classic like Space Mountain. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I don't see the issue. Space Mountain is not Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland itself can be outdated and need changes without meaning every single thing in it needs to change.

 

[fgmnt]

The fans say Tommorowland is severely outdated, but then they can't touch a classic like Space Mountain. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Management has not committed sufficient investment into any redesign of the land since the first major attempt at a redesign; i think the reticence to any redesigns at this point is well founded.

 

[Bocabear]

The last real redo of the land had lots of eye candy and a couple new attractions...a coherent theme... or close to it. All in all it was not bad, but as things broke and were never replaced or updated, the area became stale... The attractions that supported the thematics of the area were shuttered, and then it just made no sense... The purple wall and silver rocks refresh was ridiculously too little and just not well done. There is no reason the Walt Disney company's money-making flagship park should not always be perfect, current , and jaw droppingly creative... seriously. The company built their reputation for excellence doing what they don't seem to be able to do now at all...sad

 

[ToTBellHop]

It’s been 4 years of construction and I can guarantee we are past the halfway point.

 

[James Alucobond]

The fans say Tommorowland is severely outdated, but then they can't touch a classic like Space Mountain. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I mean, why would you spend money redoing a perfectly lovely facade when you have two unthemed show buildings blighting your parks? Just use the money and material to make those not look like garbage instead.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Some pictures from the PeopleMover today.

 

[sedati]

The lighting etc. is still going to have a problem -- one that underlines how poorly this was placed. It's really only going to be visible from a handful of places. You won't even be able to see it from half of Tomorrowland.

Same is true for Space Mountain- an incredibly poorly positioned icon.

 

[UNCgolf]

Same is true for Space Mountain- an incredibly poorly positioned icon.

That's arguably true, but Space Mountain also doesn't have a bunch of lighting effects etc. intended to attract attention and I don't believe it was ever intended to be Tomorrowland's centerpiece.

TRON, on the other hand, was designed as the focal centerpiece in Shanghai, which is why cloning it and then just sticking it in a corner feels like such a bizarre decision.

 

[sedati]

That's arguably true, but Space Mountain also doesn't have a bunch of lighting effects etc. intended to attract attention and I don't believe it was ever intended to be Tomorrowland's centerpiece.

TRON, on the other hand, was designed as the focal centerpiece in Shanghai, which is why cloning it and then just sticking it in a corner feels like such a bizarre decision.

Tokyo's is positioned as I would have expected Florida's. But they decided instead to hide it around the bend... behind the People Mover... the Skyway... and its own entrance structure:

 

[UNCgolf]

Tokyo's is positioned as I would have expected Florida's. But they decided instead to hide it around the bend... behind the People Mover... the Skyway... and its own entrance structure:
View attachment 636352

Isn't that likely because Space Mountain was added to the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland several years after opening but Tokyo was able to incorporate it as part of the land's original design?

That's true of TRON as well, of course, but I wish they'd redesigned the canopy/facade to make more sense in its new location. But I suppose that would have defeated the purpose of cloning it.

 

[sedati]

Isn't that likely because Space Mountain was added to the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland several years after opening but Tokyo was able to incorporate it as part of the land's original design?

That's true of TRON as well, of course, but I wish they'd redesigned the canopy/facade to make more sense in its new location. But I suppose that would have defeated the purpose of cloning it.

They had dreamed it, but I guess they really couldn't do it:

Stills taken from Martin's amazing tribute:

 

[Casper Gutman]

I always love the Disney defense tactic of responding to criticism of contemporary Disney decision making by contending that WDW has always been badly designed and full of stupid decisions. REAL Disney fans know the parks always stunk.

 

[networkpro]

The designs are just decision points in time. Since they mostly share a common water power distribution infrastructure your options are more limited.

 

[sedati]

I always love the Disney defense tactic of responding to criticism of contemporary Disney decision making by contending that WDW has always been badly designed and full of stupid decisions. REAL Disney fans know the parks always stunk.

It’s more a realization that practically always played a part. That Blue Sky ideas on paper never translate to the real world. The parks didn’t stink then just as every generation has fond memories of their era even if the olds tried to tell them of the ruin and disarray.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It’s more a realization that practically always played a part. That Blue Sky ideas on paper never translate to the real world. The parks didn’t stink then just as every generation has fond memories of their era even if the olds tried to tell them of the ruin and disarray.

This is nonsense. In the early 90s you didn't have a huge contingent of fans lamenting how much better the resort was in the mid-70s. And of course practicality always played a part in park design, but we have never seen anything as lazy and absurd as the placement of Tron, a ride whose one worthwhile feature, a dramatic canopy that only impresses from a limited number of directions because it barely obscures the unadorned warehouse actually housing the ride, is completely neutralized because guests are forced to approach from an odd, sideways angle and the preferable frontal views are completely blocked by a huge, massively outdated Autopia ride.

 

[Goofy213]

Could the placement of Tron lead to the eventual removal of the Speedway?

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Could the placement of Tron lead to the eventual removal of the Speedway?

I was in WDW during the D23 in 2017 when they announced TRON coming, and the cast members in Merchant of Venus told me that the Speedway was going to close. That ended up not happening, but I definitely think it could still happen.