News Tron coaster coming to the Magic Kingdom

[peter11435]

After Splash Mountain opened in 1992, WDW went through a long glut of very little but C and D tickets. A glut that didn't end until this chart starts 24 YEARS later.

And that glut was at all 4 parks. For 20 years, VERY LITTLE was built at WDW.

That’s still demonstrably false. We can always argue that there could have or should have been more. But ignoring all that was is ridiculous.

Between 1992 and 2016

Tower of Terror
Alien Encounter
Rock’n Roller Coaster
Fantasmic
Light Motors Action
Mission Space
Test Track
Soarin
Toy Story Mania
The entirety of Animal Kingdom
Kali River Rapids
Expedition Everest
Primeval Whirl
The entirety of Blizzard Beach
Seven dwarfs Mine Train
The Little Mermaid

Not to mention many many smaller additions and entertainment offerings. I’m also sure I’ve missed some things.

 

[ohioguy]

After Splash Mountain opened in 1992, WDW went through a long glut of very little but C and D tickets. A glut that didn't end until this chart starts 24 YEARS later.

And that glut was at all 4 parks. For 20 years, VERY LITTLE was built at WDW.

New Fantasyland... Animal Kingdom... resorts galore. I beg to differ.

 

[ohioguy]

Not only is it not an issue, we should have domestically at least what's available overseas.
Clones in the US don't bother me one bit either.
The whole point of WDW was to bring to the east coast what was on the west coast.

I've always thought WDW as the flagship; it should include the best of the best of all the other parks

 

[larryz]

 

[MisterPenguin]

A lot of the comparison of the parks is often bases on ride v. ride count.

But WDW is more resort-y because three of their parks are (or, should be...) more than just their ride count. DAK has a zoo. EPCOT has a World's Fair. And DHS is supposed to have a backstage studio tour vibe, which is supposed to have been replaced with a live entertainment vibe, which it has failed to deliver fully on.

For those who just focus on "rides," then EU is a way for Uni to catch up. But for those who go to the zoo, the shows, the attractions, the nighttime spectacular, then Uni has *a lot* of catching up to do.

Oh, back on topic: TRON is a late 50th Anniversary gift in the wrong park, mostly because the other three parks still need more rides; precisely because there are folk who are all about the quantity of rides.

 

[Incomudro]

I've always thought WDW as the flagship; it should include the best of the best of all the other parks

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Casper Gutman]

A lot of the comparison of the parks is often bases on ride v. ride count.

But WDW is more resort-y because three of their parks are (or, should be...) more than just their ride count. DAK has a zoo. EPCOT has a World's Fair. And DHS is supposed to have a backstage studio tour vibe, which is supposed to have been replaced with a live entertainment vibe, which it has failed to deliver fully on.

For those who just focus on "rides," then EU is a way for Uni to catch up. But for those who go to the zoo, the shows, the attractions, the nighttime spectacular, then Uni has *a lot* of catching up to do.

Oh, back on topic: TRON is a late 50th Anniversary gift in the wrong park, mostly because the other three parks still need more rides; precisely because there are folk who are all about the quantity of rides.

This argument simply highlights the degree to which at least two of Disney’s four parks are massive failures on there own terms. EPCOT abandoned the world’s fair conceit decades ago and has failed to even attempt to replace it with a new identity. At the moment, it is a prime example of a group of often lackluster rides with no organizing principle. As you say yourself, if MGMs focus is meant to be live entertainment, it’s an equally glaring failure, trotting out little but stale content that often dates to before the Berlin Wall fell.

AK remains WDWs best park, but the degree to which it succeeds as a zoo is very debatable. The parks development since opening has increasingly marginalized the live animals, and many city zoos across the country offer an equal or, very frequently, superior range of animals and animal-related experiences.

One of Universals biggest drawbacks is the similarity of all its parks, each a variation on “ride the movies,” each full of (highly detailed) lands that could be plunked in another Universal park with equal logic. But that’s how Universal has been designed following the abandonment of the initial “working studio” conceit, and it succeeds on those more modest terms. Disney’s parks SHOULD be far more differentiated, but since the turn of the century they are not. They are merely a collection of rides placed with even less thought to organizing principles then can be found at Uni. Uni doesn’t have to catch up to Disney, because Disney has reduced its ambitions to those of Universal, and fails on those terms while Uni succeeds.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I've always thought WDW as the flagship; it should include the best of the best of all the other parks

WDW really isn’t the flagship. It’s the largest. That’s all. It’s the big box store of Disney resorts. Tokyo is the masterpiece, California the most historically meaningful and the most personal, Paris the most fully realized castle park.

There was a moment, in the 80s and early 90s, when WDW was the flagship, but that moment is a distant memory. Now all WDW has is the “blessing of size” and little else, and the term “blessing” is very debateable.

 

[Incomudro]

WDW really isn’t the flagship. It’s the largest. That’s all. It’s the big box store of Disney resorts. Tokyo is the masterpiece, California the most historically meaningful and the most personal, Paris the most fully realized castle park.

There was a moment, in the 80s and early 90s, when WDW was the flagship, but that moment is a distant memory. Now all WDW has is the “blessing of size” and little else, and the term “blessing” is very debateable.

WDW should be the flagship.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

WDW is definitely the flagship vacation destination. Magic Kingdom is the flagship park and exceeds the 2nd place park by nearly double (10 million) the number of visitors. That is actually remarkable considering how much the US population is dwarfed by China's population.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

AK remains WDWs best park, but the degree to which it succeeds as a zoo is very debatable. The parks development since opening has increasingly marginalized the live animals, and many city zoos across the country offer an equal or, very frequently, superior range of animals and animal-related experiences.

This is why AK is my least favorite WDW park. If I want to view or learn about animals, there are other options.

The existing ride line up is limited and fairly weak with things like Dinosaur and Kali River Rapids not living up to their potential. The shows are increasingly becoming as stale as the ones at DHS, and don't warrant so many repeat viewings IMO.

Table service dining is limited. Night time entertainment is back to non-existent. I'm still salty about Beastly Kingdom.

You get the picture.

I wish Discovery Island was still around. I'd prefer to go there on an MK afternoon when the park gets hot and crowded.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Tron will be a huge hit Regardless how long It took to build or that it's a copy, the vast majority of people going to the parks will love it.

I think that bothers some people on here lol

I think you’re grossly underestimating the number of people that will not be pleased they either waited for hours or paid a ton of extra money for a la carte “lightning lane” for a ride that’s around a minute long. The best part of the ride is over in the first 15 seconds. The launch and the canopy. Especially at night…. That I’ll admit. If you blink, the rest of it is over.

The fact they didn’t fix the ride length and did a straight copy here is laughable. Almost as laughable as how long it took to build and how they positioned it.

It’s bright and shiny and new (to most)…. But everything else about it shows just how much they care, IMO.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Has anybody figured out which rides have a shorter ride cycle time than tron? I bet it’s not many. And certainly no E’s.

The carousel is probably longer. Winnie the Pooh? Maybe?

 

[wdisney9000]

I hope they do that with Flight of Passage. Just have it out of service for five months and then, when it's back up, I'll be so excited!! Thanks, Disney!!!

You could even start a new timeline thread in a vain effort to feel important!

Next you can plead to the moderators to thumbtack it in hopes that somebody... anybody, will view you as a source of information for Disney.

 

[J4546]

yeah its a short ride time but its a launch coaster.....most launch coasters have about a 1 minute ride time. Even Velosicoaster is like 1:15 seconds and that has 2 launches. I cant wait for this to open so I can have a chance to experience it

 

[marni1971]

yeah its a short ride time but its a launch coaster.....most launch coasters have about a 1 minute ride time. Even Velosicoaster is like 1:15 seconds and that has 2 launches. I cant wait for this to open so I can have a chance to experience it

Hagrids is launched. And is over 2 minutes from first launch to final brakes.

 

[J4546]

Hagrids is launched. And is over 2 minutes from first launch to final brakes.

hagrids has like 7 launches.....and stops, drops, backwards stuff.....not really comparable imo. But I guess I should have said single launch coaster. Its also a great ride imo, my fave harry potter related ride at the Universal parks but it also sucks that they had to get rid of a great dueling coaster and the best part of lost continent land to build it.

 

[marni1971]

hagrids has like 7 launches.....

Goes to show what you can with a launched coaster and budget less than this one. Not to mention it was a pleasure to stand in just one available line that kept shuffling.

Cheetah Hunt is 90 seconds with 2 launches.

also sucks that they had to get rid of a great dueling coaster

Dragons was structurally dying. It had to go.

 

[doctornick]

I think you’re grossly underestimating the number of people that will not be pleased they either waited for hours or paid a ton of extra money for a la carte “lightning lane” for a ride that’s around a minute long. The best part of the ride is over in the first 15 seconds. The launch and the canopy. Especially at night…. That I’ll admit. If you blink, the rest of it is over.

The fact they didn’t fix the ride length and did a straight copy here is laughable. Almost as laughable as how long it took to build and how they positioned it.

It’s bright and shiny and new (to most)…. But everything else about it shows just how much they care, IMO.

It has roughy the same ride time as RNR and I haven’t really seen many complaints about that ride being too short or underwhelming. In fact, I’d argue that Tron is a more interesting ride in terms of “show”. RNR does have the inversion for those who care while Tron has the more unique sitting position.

Personally I don’t think the ride length is the issue per se, but they should have added a second track of a different color (yellow?) and had them “race” a la Matterhorn. Increase capacity that make it a more fun ride, plus more consistent with the idea of the light cycles from the movie anyway.

 

[Ayla]

This is why AK is my least favorite WDW park. If I want to view or learn about animals, there are other options.

The existing ride line up is limited and fairly weak with things like Dinosaur and Kali River Rapids not living up to their potential. The shows are increasingly becoming as stale as the ones at DHS, and don't warrant so many repeat viewings IMO.

Table service dining is limited. Night time entertainment is back to non-existent. I'm still salty about Beastly Kingdom.

You get the picture.

I wish Discovery Island was still around. I'd prefer to go there on an MK afternoon when the park gets hot and crowded.

AK is the best at taking you out of the real world and making you feel like you're somewhere else, I think.