TRON Lightcycle Run is switching to standby, and the choice to affix a daily line can have enormous ramifications on park technique and itineraries for Magic Kingdom. This publish covers when to do & keep away from the curler coaster, with suggestions for Early Entry, rope drop, noon, ExEH, Finish of Line, and extra.
In case you missed it, Walt Disney World introduced that beginning September 9, 2024, a standby queue will probably be accessible at TRON Lightcycle Run. A digital queue will probably be in place for TRON Lightcycle Run from now by September 8, 2024.
That is the primary time since Remy’s Ratatouille Journey {that a} main new journey dropped its digital queue. Clearly, this implies main adjustments for methods to strategy TRON Lightcycle Run in addition to different headliners in Magic Kingdom. The aim of this publish is offering tentative technique, zig after they zag recommendation, and many others.
For starters, we need to warn you. TRON Lightcycle Run is dropping its digital queue within the coronary heart of Walt Disney World’s low season. Earlier this week, our newest wait occasions report coated the Lowest Crowd Stage Month & Week at Walt Disney World Since 2021! Though it ought to be evident from the title alone, the parks are actually gradual proper now.
That’s not going to alter by September 9. However on the similar time, there’s an ever-growing variety of locals who need to be the primary to expertise something, and that’ll embody TRON’s standby line, for no matter motive. In order that creates this bizarre dynamic the place reporting on this swap will largely occur through the low season, but additionally as high-knowledge locals rush to expertise it for the primary time.
What I’m saying is that day 1 of TRON Lightcycle Run’s standby line will probably be nothing like day 8, which will probably be nothing like week 8. Due to this, I’ve zero intentions of testing any technique or publishing area reviews for TRON Lightcycle Run’s standby line till the mud settles. The outcomes from September merely gained’t be dependable for the vacation season or 2025. As an alternative, I’ll be ready till mid-October and November, at which level I’d anticipate extra consultant outcomes.
The excellent news, I suppose, is that I spend means an excessive amount of time doing and excited about these things and have already got a reasonably good concept of how TRON Lightcycle Run’s standby line will play out. Right here’s a rundown…
Tiana’s Bayou Journey – The obvious and fast impression of TRON Lightcycle Run dropping its digital queue is that the already aggressive Tiana’s Bayou Journey VQ turns into much more difficult.
We extremely, extremely advocate being up at 7 am for the primary drop. Sure, there are occasions when the afternoon entry time is way simpler and stays open for minutes or hours. However there are additionally occasions when TBA doesn’t open in any respect for the day till afternoon, and like 17 individuals complete are capable of be part of the 1 pm VQ. Gamble on this at your personal threat.
Early Entry – Earlier than Magic Kingdom formally opens for the day, there’s Early Entry, which is gives 30-minute entry to friends staying in on-site motels at Walt Disney World. (See our Information to Early Entry at Walt Disney World for more information & technique.)
Magic Kingdom often opens at 9 am, which places Early Entry at 8:30 am. Magic Kingdom is the preferred park at Walt Disney World, and this 8:30 begin time doesn’t current a ‘barrier to entry’ for most individuals. This implies MK has the most important crowds for Early Entry, rendering the perk virtually ineffective for the preferred journey–up till now, Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice.
Compounding this downside is the truth that, throughout Early Entry at Magic Kingdom, solely Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are open, moderately than your complete park. This consolidates the (bigger) crowd to 2 lands of your complete park. It ought to go with out saying, however extra individuals and fewer rides is a recipe for bigger crowds and longer traces.
To that time, there are two “beginning factors” at Magic Kingdom the place crowds are held till Early Entry formally begins–the bridges to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Usually, there are exponentially extra friends ready on the Fantasyland Bridge–I’d say about 90% to 10% of your complete crowd (it’s actually that imbalanced). And roughly 90% of that 90% are planning on doing Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice.
For now, it seems that TRON Lightcycle Run is not going to be open for Early Entry regardless of being situated in Tomorrowland. My guess/hope/wishful considering is that it will change, and shortly. That Walt Disney World scrambled to make the digital queue change (steered by the lower than per week between announcement and implementation) attributable to visitor complaints about Tiana’s Bayou Journey and TRON Lightcycle Run each utilizing digital queues. That they merely don’t have the Forged Members scheduled to open TRON throughout Early Entry, however that can change.
No matter whether or not that’s true, TRON Lightcycle Run will completely change the dynamic throughout Early Entry. It will occur even when it’s not working! That’s as a result of TRON Lightcycle Run would be the #1 precedence for a lot of friends, and there’s the belief that half-hour isn’t sufficient time to do each Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice and be on the entrance of the pack for TRON. So proper off the bat, that 90% quantity is dropping to 75%, maybe much less.
The most important impression within the near-term is a barely bigger crowd for Area Mountain. On regular day, it’s attainable to be out and in of Area Mountain in below half-hour throughout Early Entry (our common is about quarter-hour–it takes a bit to stroll the queue), so we’d anticipate that to inch up with extra individuals heading this manner. However in all probability, loads of friends aren’t going to do something throughout Early Entry. Paradoxically, they’re going to race to Tomorrowland to do nothing however rope drop TRON. (“Hurry up and wait” as my military-man father likes to say.)
We all know this as a result of we’ve witnessed exactly this habits with Radiator Springs Racers in Vehicles Land at DCA throughout its Early Entry. Plenty of friends make no effort to do something–and even arrive at or earlier than the beginning of Early Entry. They merely stroll up round quarter-hour into the perk, head to Vehicles Land, and wait. It’d appear to be a waste, however it’s truthfully sound technique–and it’ll undoubtedly be replicated at TRON Lightcycle Run if the journey isn’t open for Early Entry in the long term.
If or when TRON Lightcycle Run does function throughout Early Entry, we’d anticipate nearer to a 50/50 combine. Regardless of TRON being the newer attraction, there’s a flooring below Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice by advantage of its extra family-friendly nature and the goal demographic of Magic Kingdom. Which means that many friends merely can’t or is not going to do TRON, in order that they’ll stick to SDMT. Nonetheless, everybody wins in such a situation. Spreading out the group ought to make the dreaded SDMT Shuffle rather less insufferable–guess I’ll need to provide you with a brand new “intelligent” title for it.
Rope Drop – In any other case often called official park opening time, when a rope is dropped permitting common friends to entry all of the lands of Magic Kingdom, rope drop (clearly) happens after Early Entry. Because of this on-site friends will already be in Tomorrowland, and nearer to TRON Lightcycle Run.
It doesn’t matter what the curler coaster’s eventual Early Entry standing, rope drop will probably be an objectively poor time for off-site friends to do TRON Lightcycle Run. The straightforward reality is that they’ll be behind resort friends by hook or by crook. Now we have numerous examples of how this works in apply, with wait occasions peaking for headliner points of interest throughout the first hour of the day–notably at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. (Slinky Canine Sprint is an imperfect, however nonetheless fairly good proxy for TRON Lightcycle Run.)
Take into account that there’s additionally the chance price of rope dropping TRON Lightcycle Run. Which is to say that even in case you can hit it at rope drop with a 90 minute posted wait time versus a 120 minute wait later within the day, you’re sacrificing Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Massive Thunder Railroad as walk-ons and can as a substitute be doing these later within the day when their posted wait occasions are a lot larger. Suffice to say, off-site friends ought to proceed concentrating on Adventureland and Frontierland moderately than being tempted by the siren’s music of TRON. It gained’t be price it.
Noon Magic – There will probably be a lull in some unspecified time in the future for TRON Lightcycle Run through the center of the day. There at all times is for these headliners. The “when” of that is really probably the most tough–really, unattainable–prediction to make of something on this listing. It varies for different prime tier points of interest, and we’d anticipate the identical right here.
For probably the most half, the lull happens someday between mid-morning and lunch. It happens as a little bit of an accordion impact, as individuals begin seeing the posted wait time imbalance and avoiding the attraction in query. After which all of a sudden, it drops dramatically. (For instance, Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice can have a 90 minute wait at 9:30 am whereas nearly each different attraction is at half-hour or much less. The logical visitor thus avoids SDMT and does one thing else. That occurs en masse, producing the aforementioned dynamic.)
My guess is that candy spot with TRON Lightcycle Run will happen between 10:30 am and 11 am most days. However that is only a guess, and I’m far much less assured on this than anything. One factor I’m sure about is that the daytime parade gained’t have a lot, if any, bearing on TRON Lightcycle Run wait occasions. Once more, the demographics are totally different.
All-Day Wait Instances at Different Rides – One of many nice underrated issues about digital queues ending is that wait occasions ought to lower throughout Magic Kingdom’s different points of interest. It’ll be very slight, however it would occur.
It’s because each digital queue system (or comparable–like FastPass/Lightning Lanes/DAS/and many others.) permits friends to be in two locations directly. With standby traces, if you’re in line, you might be at all times bodily standing in line–occupying just one spot within the park.
When friends use digital queues, they aren’t merely skipping the road. The extra correct clarification is {that a} “phantom model” of the visitor is ready in a digital line for his or her flip to journey. The true model of the visitor is doing one thing else. TRON dropping the VQ means these friends are now not ready nearly for it.
It in all probability gained’t appear to be wait occasions have decreased for different Magic Kingdom points of interest as soon as mid-October rolls round and fall break is in full swing. Simply understand that you aren’t experiencing the counterfactual, and that issues can at all times be worse. (In some methods, that’s been the mantra of Walt Disney World for the previous couple of years.)
Submit-Fireworks – The plaza round TRON Lightcycle Run is a enjoyable and immersive location for fireworks viewing. That is not so good as the center of Fantasyland, however it’s new and distinctive, with TRON’s lightcycles whizz by overhead and the dancing lights of the Add Conduit cover. Whereas we don’t advocate it in your first or solely viewing, it’s one among our favourite “secret” or “low-stress” areas for fireworks viewing in Magic Kingdom.
In the direction of the tip of the fireworks, we advocate shifting in direction of the close by TRON Lightcycle Run entrance. Disregard the posted wait time–it’s reactive and only a few persons are getting in line for the curler coaster through the fireworks. Once more, we all know this because of the precedent set by Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice. It’s usually the case there that the posted wait time will probably be 60+ minutes, and the precise wait round then will probably be 15-20 minutes–typically much less!
Finish of Line – Equally, there’s the tried and true strategy for any headliner attraction: 1 minute earlier than park closing. That is just like the reverse rope drop, or ‘rope rise’ possibility. (We like to think about it because the “buzzer beater” strategy.)
Walt Disney World doesn’t cease traces for points of interest till park closing, which suggests you possibly can queue up proper till the clock strikes midnight (or often in Magic Kingdom’s case, 10 pm or 11 pm). This successfully extends your day and is when the precise wait time is lowest for TRON Lightcycle Run.
Once more, it would be best to ignore the posted wait time. Not solely is it reactionary, but additionally as a result of Disney intentionally inflates wait occasions on the finish of the evening to discourage friends from getting in a single final journey. The extra individuals who bounce in line for the thrill beater strategy, the longer it takes to clear the park, which suggests extra $$$ for Disney in staffing.
Now we have executed the ‘buzzer-beater’ strategy to Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice dozens and dozens of occasions. Virtually each single evening we do Magic Kingdom, in reality. There have been a handful of occasions that we’ve waited 20 minutes or extra, however the overwhelming majority of the time, our precise wait time has been between 10 and quarter-hour. There have been occasions when it’s a walk-on!
DO NOT EXPECT THIS WITH TRON LIGHTCYCLE RUN. Sorry for screaming that, however we concern followers can have unrealistic expectations. The thrill beater strategy is an open secret amongst Walt Disney World diehards. It’s not some daring technique that solely readers of this weblog find out about.
The explanation it really works is essentially due to visitor demographics. As soon as once more, Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice is family-friendly, and skews a lot youthful than TRON Lightcycle Run. Youngsters are inclined to have earlier bedtimes, so even the very best laid plans for beating the buzzer on SDMT usually leads to failure.
That won’t be almost as true with TRON Lightcycle Run. It skews considerably older. Teenagers and different younger adults who skip Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice as a result of it’s “a child coaster” will completely be attempting to beat the buzzer on TRON Lightcycle Run. Once more, a greater comparability right here is Slinky Canine Sprint, however even that’s extremely imperfect as a result of crowds filter at DHS in the previous couple of hours of the evening. That doesn’t occur at Magic Kingdom.
There’s additionally the truth that TRON Lightcycle Run is well known as being higher at evening. Even the typical visitor is aware of this. The result’s {that a} good variety of individuals gained’t even try to journey TRON earlier within the day, and as a substitute will wait till night. And as soon as they see triple digit posted occasions at 7 pm, many will probably be incentivized to attend even longer, till after fireworks.
Accordingly, our expectation is that TRON Lightcycle Run will see 45+ minute precise wait occasions with the buzzer beater strategy on common days. It’ll be longer through the peak season, and will eclipse an hour. Walt Disney World actually gained’t need this, so anticipate to see a method of massively inflating the wait time and stacking the queue outdoors the attraction entrance as much more of a deterrent.
Despite the fact that it stays to be seen how the ‘Finish of Line’ technique will play out with TRON Lightcycle Run, we’re inclined to advocate queueing up ~quarter-hour earlier than park closing. The push on the final minute might make that the optimum strategy. (That is knowledgeable by a number of years in the past at Avatar Flight of Passage–lengthy earlier than the COVID closure.)
Prolonged Night Hours – There’s actually not a lot distinction with Prolonged Night Hours and common park closing. Primarily based on what we’ve seen elsewhere, my expectation is that it will have the same dynamic with actually lengthy traces on the very finish of Prolonged Night Hours. It is a perk for evening owls, and so they gained’t be discouraged by the later hour.
Nonetheless, you need to completely bounce into line for TRON Lightcycle Run on the very finish of Prolonged Night Hours. Even when the road is shorter earlier within the occasion (and it in all probability will probably be!), alternative price is as soon as once more the secret. Doing TRON within the first hour of ExEH will devour a ton of time–time that could possibly be spent strolling onto different points of interest. As an alternative, bounce in line on the bitter finish, successfully extending Prolonged Night Hours and pushing your wait–no matter that is perhaps–past the tip of the providing.
What Would Tom Do? – Glad you requested, means lots to me. As you may know, I’m an aggressive gambler in the case of park touring technique. So though I could not advocate this in our “official” itineraries, I’ll allow you to in on my supposed strategy with a regular “don’t do this at residence in Magic Kingdom with gradual or threat averse individuals” caveat.
Magic Kingdom is at the moment open till 10 pm on regular nights with Fortunately Ever After at 8:30 pm. Because of this, by 8:50 pm, you may be in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice. It’s greater than cheap to anticipate you may be executed with that by 9:15 pm. From there, you possibly have time for Peter Pan’s Flight, however even when not (in all probability not–it sees an enormous rush post-fireworks and also you’d be behind that crowd), there’s positively time for Area Mountain. After doing that, I assess the scenario, probably doing a lap or two on the TTA PeopleMover. Solely after that do I get in line for TRON Lightcycle Run, ideally with not more than 10 minutes left earlier than park closing.
I’m nearly optimistic this isn’t the optimum strategy for TRON Lightcycle Run. That getting in line instantly after the fireworks could be sooner. However I’m not viewing this in a vacuum–I’m optimizing for the park as a complete and the final ~2 hours of the night at Magic Kingdom are far and away probably the most useful of the day. If I spend most of that point in line for TRON, it’s a waste. So as a substitute, I push TRON till the Finish of Line, say “who cares concerning the wait time” because it’s primarily after park closing, and backfill all the things else I can match previous to then. I don’t care a few barely longer line if I’m in it after park closing, as that point is lower-value. I’d really feel in a different way if Magic Kingdom closed at 2 am, however I don’t need to go to mattress this early.
I then exit the attraction to an empty Tomorrowland, benefit from the colourful neon and brisk air earlier than heading onto Most important Avenue to see the nice and cozy glow of the popcorn lights and nostalgic music filling the air. I’m reminded of why I fell in love with Walt Disney World within the first place, and really feel that magic as soon as extra. Now that is how I do TRON Lightcycle Run, and whereas the specifics are nonetheless shaky, I’m 100% assured within the fundamental contours of that strategy.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your optimum strategy and time of day to journey TRON Lightcycle Run? What would you advocate to Walt Disney World first-timers? Will you follow standby at one of many ultimate occasions or purchase a Lightning Lane Single Move for TRON? Do you agree or disagree with any of our technique? Any questions we may help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!