The newest addition to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is almost here. Tron: Lightcycle Run has been running in previews ahead of its grand opening in a couple of weeks. When that happens guests from anywhere will be able to enter The Grid, but a few special guests got an early peek at the attraction last night when stars from the original Tron film, Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan, reunited at Disney World for a special event.
Walt Disney World is hosting its #AllTheDisneyThrills media event right now, CinemaBlend’s own resident Tron nerd Mike Reyes is in attendance. But the guests of honor for any fan of Tron had to be Bruce Boxleitner who played Alan Bradley/Tron, and Cindy Morgan, who played Dr. Lora Baines/Yori. With Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, they made up the main trio of heroes in the original film. While the whole trio wasn’t there, the two that were clearly happy to see each other.
It’s really cool to see the stars of Tron on hand to see Lightcycle Run. While the original Tron wasn’t a massive financial success, its groundbreaking use of computer effects made it an incredibly unique film that made it a cult classic. Eventually the popularity of Tron did spawn a sequel, Tron: Legacy, and now pre-production is moving forward on a third Tron movie.
But attractions at a theme park like Magic Kingdom show that Tron has reached an even more important milestone of popularity. A movie can be made, and if it’s ultimately not successful, the studio can simply move on and largely forget about it. We've certainly seen Disney bury movies before. But spending millions on a major E-ticket attraction like Lightcycle Run, which is going to exist for decades, shows that Disney has faith in Tron as a brand to not only bring in guests now but continue to do so for a long time to come.
I’ve spoken to a lot of people who have created characters in films or on TV and they have often told me that seeing their characters come to life in a more tangible way as part of a theme park attraction is simply different than seeing them on screen. From the physical structure to the dozens of Disney World Cast Members dressed in their Tron uniforms, simply seeing all this has to be incredible for Morgan and Boxlietner. Even Mickey and Minnie went full Tron last night.
Due to the pandemic delays and simply the massive scope of the attraction. Fans have been waiting a long time for this one. Having ridden Tron: Lightcycle Run, our Mr. Reyes has some thoughts that will likely get everybody pumped for the ride’s grand opening on April 4.
