I tried to get D23 TRON Lightcycle / Run preview event tickets and failed. I tried to get a slot for the annual passholder preview and failed. Thankfully, a friend who is a Cast Member invited me along to her preview. We went in the evening on February 20, 2023. It was a good time because we got to see it while it was light out, then in the dark.

When we arrived there was a Photopass photographer at the TRON sign. We waited a little bit to have our photos taken to commemorate and remember the experience.

Part of the area is still not available for use. You can see walkways and benches down below. There seemed to be a lot of benches around, but I’m not sure if there will be enough once there are a lot of people around. I feel that there will be a lot of guests who will be waiting on family and friends to ride if they don’t want to. That’s when you really notice there aren’t enough places to sit. Once everything is open you’ll be able to take a walkway to Storybook Circus again. That will be fantastic. The store is still looking like it needs a lot of work before the attraction opens on April 4, 2023.

Off to the right is the wait time sign, which is not in use yet. When you get close to the entrance, you will find a test vehicle. When you get on it’s a little awkward the first time. Your knees and shins rest on padded plates that move. You’ll lean forward and then pull the handle bars towards yourself. This will lock into place when you’re on the actual ride. I’m a tall-ish person with long legs. I also have a terrible back and double knee replacements that are in daily pain. I was worried about the vehicle being terribly uncomfortable or not accommodating me. I rode twice, so the second time around I was able to figure out a more comfortable fit. The first time I noticed that it was a little sore on my ribs. My knees were pretty much okay, but my shins felt it. The most uncomfortable bit is being down and lifting your head and neck up while you’re riding.

An observation we made when we actually rode: People with short shorts or flowy shorts were showing off probably a little more than intended. Know this, when you ride the lightcycle, your bum is pretty well out there and you may want to think about what you’re wearing before you head out to Magic Kingdom. Unless of course you’re an exhibitionist and you’re all too pleased to share your booty.

Before we tried the test seats, there was a gentleman ahead of us. He had larger calves and wasn’t able to close it properly. I should have taken more test seat photos, but there is a bar that comes into the back of your legs. When you pull the handlebars, the bar moves forward and the plate over your back comes down into place. Julius, pictured below, has a big belly and didn’t have trouble fitting. We saw many other larger guests who didn’t have trouble either.

There are seats at the back of at least one of the trains that you can sit down on a chair-type seat instead of a lightcycle. These will accommodate guests who can’t fit on, or will have trouble with, the lightcycle in general.

We were using a DAS pass, so we did not experience the full queue. I will have to give it a try when I can later on. For the parts we did experience, I felt like it would have been rather boring if not for the darkness and blue lights. There is a long hallway with double-sided lockers. So you’ll put your loose articles in on that hallway, then pick them up on the other side in a different hallway. Try to remember your number because there are hundreds and hundreds of lockers. If you only have something small like a cell phone, wallet, or sunglasses, there is a spot on front of the lightcycle to pop them into. The glass wall screen in the last photo is in a small room just before you get to the loading platform. It’s the last photo in the below collage. At the end of the brief presentation, it goes to clear glass and you can see the loading platform and trains. It’s pretty cool the first time you experience it.

This is the loading platform. It has two ramps down to loading areas on the left and right. A bonus for someone like me is that there are no stairs involved anywhere in the queue, loading, or unloading areas.

The launch into the canopy is the best part of the ride. You’re only under the canopy for a short bit, then you are inside a building. There are TRON graphics all around you, but I found them difficult to see and pay attention to. They seemed so close and the position you’re riding in isn’t exactly great for looking around. I feel like this is where being in the accommodation seat would be a massive advantage. When you’re in the building, you won’t be going at full speed the entire time. They slow you down a few times, I suppose to try to tell the story with the graphics on screen. While I enjoyed the ride, especially the launch and ride under the canopy, I didn’t feel like I was in the grid or part of a story.

My friend Josh from Adventure Awakens rode it before I did and he has a Go Pro. His video below has a POV from the back row.

I took some video on the walk in, parts of the queue, the loading platform, and from back outside where you will see the lightcycle trains go by and the canopy changing color.

These are some photos I took on my way out. You can see Space Mountain, Astro Orbiter, the People Mover, and Cinderella’s castle from up on the walkways. It’s fun to stand up there and watch the trains go by while the canopy changes color. It can get kind of loud with the riders screaming, but it’s enjoyable.

It has taken Disney over 5 years to get TRON Lightcycle / Run built. Land clearing began in February 2018, y’all. And don’t forget I already mentioned that the store isn’t complete and parts of the area still aren’t available. That’s a bunch of years for one ride. But I’m glad I finally got to experience it. It was a lot of fun and I am excited to ride it again someday.

I’m hoping that when the store opens it will have an arcade in it again like it used to. But themed to Flynn’s Arcade. Because if it doesn’t, that will be a sad missed opportunity.

If you want to gear up before you ride, there are some pretty cool things on Amazon.

You can check out what Disney wants you to know before attempting to ride TRON Lightcycle / Run. They tell you everything from joining the virtual queue to photopass.

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