“The Grid” awaits you. Not inside your PC, but in Orlando. The new TRON Lightcycle/Run at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom officially powers up this week.
The futuristic thrill ride is based on the groundbreaking 1982 Tron film and its sequel, 2010’s Tron Legacy, recreating the famous lightcycle race sequences, where guests — or “Users,” as they’re known in Tron-speak — strap into their own lightcycle and propel forward on the fastest indoor/outdoor coaster at any Disney theme park.
One of the first to experience the ride? Bruce Boxleitner, who played the title character in the movies.
“We got a little teary-eyed,” Boxleitner tells ABC Audio, adding the attraction represents a homecoming for the beloved franchise. “I’m standing there with Steven Lisberger, the creator of Tron who directed the first movie. I said, ‘Forty-three years, Steven, and they finally, they recognize the amazing thing about this creation.'”
TRON Lightcycle/Run boasts a track stretching more than 3,000 feet and is the largest expansion of the Magic Kingdom in over 10 years. In true Disney fashion, it offers up an immersive experience on all sensory levels.
“I’ve flown in an F-16, I’ve flown in a P-51 Mustang, but I’ve never flown like that connected to the ground,” Boxleitner says.
For fans, the ride offers a look into a past that Boxleitner felt was far, far ahead of its own design. “In 1982 when it came out, I don’t think Hollywood really knew what to do about it,” he says. “But I’m telling you, those kids pumping quarters into those arcade machines got it immediately. Tron keeps plugging along, because I actually think it’s the science fiction we are living.”
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