The Tron franchise has been back in the news recently as it appears that rumors of its demise might be greatly exaggerated. It now appears that the revitalization of the brand may result in new theme park attractions as well. The Tron Lightcycle Power Run is a roller coaster that is already up and running in Disneyland's newest resort in Shanghai, China, however, now it appears that plans may be in motion to bring the ride to both Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California.
There have been plans to revamp Disney World's Tomorrowland area prior to the park's 50th Anniversary in 2021. One of the ideas that has been thrown around has been bringing the Tron Lightcycle Power Run coaster over from the far east and putting it in Florida. However, things are always cheaper if you buy them in bulk, and it now appears that there is some interest in bringing the same ride over to Disneyland as well. WDW News Today reports that both parks have sent design team members to Shanghai and preliminary budgets have been drawn up for both parks. Neither of these are looking to be short-term plans, as both parks are currently involved in major construction for Star Wars Land, but at some point, Tomorrowland is going to be renovated in both parks, and planning for these things starts early.
The report points out that part of the reason that both parks are looking to incorporate Tron may be because the film division of Disney may be looking to bring it back at some point as well. In recent months we've heard that both a sequel to Tron: Legacy and a complete reboot, which could star Jared Leto, are both ideas that appear to be very much alive. Clearly, anything on the film side would be a minimum of a couple years away, probably more, but depending on how long it takes the period between a new movie's release and the rides' opening might not be long at all.
Even if Disney decides to go the reboot route rather than a sequel, they could still install The Lightcycle Power Run. Even though the existing ride in Shanghai is themed after Tron: Legacy, changing the skin to reflect a new aesthetic would not difficult at all, Disney Parks do that with existing rides on a regular basis to theme them for holidays or special limited time events. We're going to assume that a rebooted Tron will still have lightcycles of some sort.
There's a possibility, however, that the plan for Disneyland is not actually going to be for a Tron ride, however. Some are apparently of the opinion that the ride could be repurposed entirely for a Captain America themed coaster that will be part of the rumored Marvel Land that is expected to be begun at Disney's California Adventure in a few years. On the upside, the Marvel land is expected to happen before Disneyland sees a Tomorrowland redesign, which would put the ride closer to existing, meaning we all could ride it sooner.
