Walt Disney World fuels the need for speed with the brand new TRON Lightcycle / Run - Scotland on Sunday Travel

Ride the TRON Lightcycle / Run at Magic Kingdom in Florida.

The TRON Lightcycle / Run at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Pic: PA Photo/Disney.

Exhilaration and terror pump through my veins, as I slingshot from a trepidatious standstill to almost 60mph in less than five seconds, into the elegantly curved wave of a 105-feet high canopy pulsing with the same retina-searing electric blue light as my illuminated tyre rims and chassis.

A giddy exhalation of Oh. My. God. is lost to the internal roar of rushing blood and slipstreaming air, as Walt Disney World tilts 45 degrees off its axis and my speeding train of 14 riders arcs over upturned heads of awestruck onlookers queueing excitedly for the resort’s high-octane newest attraction: TRON Lightcycle / Run.

Originally announced in July 2017, the sister roller-coaster to TRON Lightcycle Power Run at Shanghai Disneyland is the largest expansion of Magic Kingdom for more than a decade. An eye-catching 10-acre attraction, it propels riders along more than 3,000 feet of track into the digitised world of TRON and the 2010 sequel TRON: Legacy, to an insistent electronic soundtrack composed by Daft Punk collaborator Joseph Trapanese.

Demonstrating the riding position of TRON Lightcycle / Run at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Pic: PA Photo/Damon Smith.

A 48-inch (four foot) height ride requirement is strictly enforced, and belongings must be placed in lockers and a small compartment between the Lightcycle’s roughly textured metal handlebars.

Mounting a Lightcycle in the Sync Chamber loading station requires impromptu mental and physical gymnastics. Knees and shins rest parallel to the ground inside moulded leg guards, then handlebars slide smoothly towards you to engage a backplate, loosely holding the rider in an aerodynamic crouched position.

Simultaneously, bar restraints press against calves, allowing free movement of everything above the waist. Two test vehicles, strategically positioned at the queue entrance, provide an opportunity to test out the boarding technique.

The sit-down ride mechanism is reminiscent of Avatar Flight Of Passage, but less forgiving on taller riders. Signage in TRON Plaza warns, ‘The seating and restraints on this attraction may prohibit guests of certain body shapes or sizes from riding’. A six-feet-five-inches tall member of our thrill-seeking group found his Lightcycle an uncomfortably tight fit, and was glad the ride time from departure to the final Energy Gate clocked in at under two minutes, less than half the time of Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. I’m hungry for more.

Slinky Dog Dash in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, one of the other roller coaster rides at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Pic: PA Photo/Disney.

A sleek pre-show uploads visitors (known as ‘Users’) into the Grid, a sprawling digital frontier created by Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) in the 1982 film. Human interlopers are recruited to race against a menacing group of Programs christened Team Orange. The first train to slalom at dizzying speed through eight Energy Gates is declared the winner.

Users with mobility issues, knee injuries or arthritis can choose a traditional upright seating position in an accessible two-person chariot with pulldown lap bar, located at the rear of some Lightcycle trains. Availability of these Light Runner vehicles is limited, though.

TRON Lightcycle / Run opens officially to the public on April 4, but a soft opening began on March 20. To manage crowd flow, there is no standby queue. Instead, admission to the Grid requires the purchase of a pay-per-ride Lightning Lane on the day, through the My Disney Experience app (dynamic pricing up to £20 per person) or an allocated boarding group in the free daily virtual queue. Guests with a valid theme park reservation for Magic Kingdom Park have two opportunities to join the queue at 7am and 1pm via the app, and on certain nights with extended theme park hours, guests staying at select hotels can bid to join an additional virtual queue at 6pm. Demand is fierce, so expect available slots to be filled in less than a minute. Thankfully, Walt Disney World’s four theme parks are brimming with alternative thrills to keep you busy while you get ready to queue again for the again. It’s worth the wait.

How to plan your trip

The Happily Ever After night-time show at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Pic: PA Photo/Disney.

Walt Disney Travel Company International (0800 169 0737) offers seven nights in Orlando from £5,228 for two adults and two children (aged 3-9) sharing a standard room at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, including Virgin Atlantic economy flights from London Heathrow direct to Tampa International and park tickets. Price based on June 15, 2023 departure.