Finally riding the Tron Lightcycle Power Run - 2023/03/23

Who wants to ride the new Tron Lightcycle Power Run? We do! We've been waiting for this for a really long time!

All the way back in 2018, during our visit to Shanghai Disneyland, these kids wanted to ride it. 

The closest they got were the Lightcycles in the front of the ride. 

Not quite up to the 122 centimeters required to ride it. Jacob and I had a lot of fun riding it, but the kids could only dream of the day when they'd be tall enough. 

But they did like checking out all the fun toys in the giftshop. 

Or hopping in this Tron concept car, presented by Chevrolet.

We've been following the construction of Tron at the Magic Kingdom ever since. And when we left California and moved to Florida, we got to see how quickly everything was progressing (not very). 

Finally in early 2023 (5 years after being teased by it in Shanghai), the opening dates were finally announced!

Annual Passholders had the opportunity to register for an early preview, but us and many others had difficulties getting in. Wait time is more than an hour, but they expect all slots to be gone in 15 minutes. Yeah, we didn't get in. The kids were a little bummed. Our APs are blocked out in April for Spring Break, and we'll be leaving Florida to travel for the summer soon. It doesn't look like we'll get to ride it until we're back in the Fall. 

But then... a soft opening was announced! You have to be registered to visit the Magic Kingdom, but every morning at 7am, you can attempt to get a spot in the Virtual Queue. I didn't tell the kids about it, but every morning I set an alarm to attempt it. 

The first morning, I was too slow. Like by 4 seconds. At 7:00:00am I clicked on the link, at 7:00:04am when everything went through, I was too late. All spots were gone. Sheesh!

The next morning I was determined to be even quicker. I set up a screen record just to show how fast everything goes. 

Breaking down the video, I clicked it 0.11 seconds before 7am. I fastclicked the bottom of the screen and at 7:00:01:25 it gave the option to join the Virtual Queue. At 7:00:02:10 everything was confirmed. Everything happened in barely over 2 seconds. 

We're in! Our estimated wait time is 3 hours from now, 10:15 or so. The park opens at 9am today, so I'll get the kids up soon and we'll get moving. 

At 8:59am, the Disney app said it was already time to return! Oh my! 

Because we're still in the parking lot! 

By the time we got parked, got on a tram, got through security, and boarded a monorail to the main gate, our time was already expired! Only 2 minutes after 9:45am and we're already getting this screen. 

And the front entrance is a little crowded. 

Never-the-less, we continued on. 

Will our Virtual Queue reservations work? 

Yes! We're in! 

Anything bigger than a cell phone needs to be stored for the ride. There's free lockers to put your backpacks in. A glowing blue light shows which ones are empty. Scan your park ticket and it'll open for you. These lockers are double-sided. When the ride is over, we'll walk down the back hallway, scan our ticket and retrieve everything. 

Ready programs? 

Ready! Ian's been waiting a long time for this. He requested and received the front row! And look! We've even got Theresa! 

The launch at the beginning it the best! 

It shoots you up and out of the building. You soar above everyone below. 

We zipped around in the dark for what ended up being way too short of a ride, then pulled back in to the station. 

Whew! Look at that hair! 

The kids and I loved it. Theresa (who gets motion sick) said this was the first and last time she's doing it. Too much motion in the dark. Not for her. I'm still happy she tried it with us.

Getting a photo on the Tron Lightcycles, just like all those years ago in Shanghai China. 

Good job programs! 

We entered the Grid and won! 

This ride is more Theresa's speed. The People Mover! 

We even went through Space Mountain while all the lights were on! 

Because we're leaving soon, we're looking for things we haven't done. It was years ago when we did Storytime with Belle. The kids don't even remember it. They retell the story of Belle and the Beast falling in love. 

And they need volunteers to play the parts! My hand was up in the air for sure. 

Oh yes. That's a good looking suit of armor. 

And Ian was chosen to be a cheese souffle!

Smile! 

A dish doing a great job dancing around the library. 

Getting pictures with Belle afterwards. 

And Alli came up for photos too. 

Some video from it. 

It was a fun day at the park, but we were awake way too early! Since we got to ride Tron, and since it's a busy Spring Break day, there's no reason for us to hang around the park. Let's go home. 

Walking back to the car, seeing a sky writer. 

Kids - Taste... Jesu? 

Alli - I think it's a Korean thing. 

I think it's "Trust Jesus". But that's funny.