Disney Guests Damage TRON – And It’s Embarrassing

Is Disney quality slacking?

TRON Lightcycle / Run is Walt Disney World’s newest attraction, a roller coaster with a unique vehicle design that has Magic Kingdom guests race through the “Grid” in a futuristic setting.

With Universal set to open its new Epic Universe theme park soon, however, Disney has some competition, and it’s not looking great when Disney’s newest ride is already showing severe wear and tear problems.

TRON Lightcycle / Run Construction Woes

It had already felt like a rollercoaster following the new theme park attraction’s construction. It’s crazy to think about, but construction on this new Magic Kingdom theme park ride started five years ago.

To put that into perspective – since TRON began construction at Walt Disney World, we’ve seen Bob Chapek take over from Bob Iger as Disney CEO, a new president, a pandemic, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind…and the list goes on.

But what’s even wilder to think about is that TRON Lightcycle / Run took longer to build than the Disney Park itself! Yep, you read that correctly. TRON took five years to build, but it only took around 18 months to build the entire Magic Kingdom.

Related: ‘TRON’ Roller Coaster Allegedly Solidifies Stance Against “Certain Body Shapes”

Is Disney Quality Decreasing?

The Magic Kingdom attraction only opened to guests in April 2023. After such a long construction period and only a recent launch date, it is baffling that the attraction is already showing such great wear and tear.

As seen below, on entering the main ride building in Tomorrowland, the wall decor on either side of the hallway is beginning to peel away.

The corridor is decked out with a futuristic TRON theming, complete with glowing blue lights and black coverings, but the black part of that design is starting to come off the wall.

With the corridor being the first time a guest enters the main attraction building, it does not set a great tone for the rest of the attraction experience.

And it certainly doesn’t meet the standard of Disney quality we’re used to.

X user, (formerly Twitter) @DaveKoenig also shared a photo of the decor in the ride’s line already “peeling” and fixed by Cast Members with tape:

Tron Lightcycle Run’s queue is already peeling and being repaired with duct tape. The Magic Kingdom attraction has been open about four months.

Tron Lightcycle Run’s queue is already peeling and being repaired with duct tape. The Magic Kingdom attraction has been open about four months. pic.twitter.com/2DxEVXvOwc

— David Koenig (@davekoenig) August 19, 2023

This peeling appears to be an issue caused by Disney guests’ poor behavior, however, the quality of the TRON show building and Disney’s ability to fix the issue seem to be questionable. Typically, we’re used to Disney Parks being vigilant with ride fixes and upkeep – to keep the Disney magic alive.

Related: Honest Review: TRON: Lightcycle/Run

What About TRON’s Safety Restraints

The TRON coaster made its first appearance at Shanghai Disneyland back in June 2016, when its innovative engineering was met with positive reviews. The steel motorbike roller coaster is based on the TRON movie franchise and features a semi-enclosed track where Guests ride through ‘the Grid” on a light cycle.

The Walt Disney World version of the same ride was announced at D23 in July 2017, in which Disney Imagineers revealed that TRON would open in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom next to Space Mountain.

Since it opened this year, the ride has been operating a virtual queue, with guests having to wake early to secure a boarding group. Unfortunately, many guests who did attain a virtual queue spot found that the high-speed “bikes” on this ride don’t allow for larger Magic Kingdom visitors to experience the ride.

Thankfully, we haven’t seen much wear and tear on the bike ride vehicles so far, but a Cast Member duct tape fix on the walls does not seem like the best solution for Disney quality.