WDW TRON Lightcycles Power Run Construction Site Close Shots

We will end the week-end with some fantastic close shots of the TRON Lightcycles construction site shot today at WDW Magic Kingdom where the coaster tracks are added at light speed!

Pictures: copyright Disney and more

Shanghaî Disneyland Announces "TRON Realm", Interactive Experience Opening September 20 at SDL Tomorrowland

Shanghaî Disney Resort unveiled today a new experience at Shanghai Disneyland called TRON Realm that features concept vehicles, simulators and future transportations.

The TRON Realm, Chevrolet Digital Challenge will officially open to visitors on September 20 beside the popular TRON Lightcycle Power Run at the Tomorrowland themed land. Below, official press release:

Shanghai Disney Resort and SAIC-General Motors Unveil TRON Realm, Chevrolet Digital Challenge Exciting New Experience to Open on September 20

Shanghai Disney Resort and its alliance participant SAIC- General Motors today unveiled an exciting new experience for park guests called TRON Realm, Chevrolet Digital Challenge. A new addition to Shanghai Disneyland, TRON Realm showcases three state-of-the-art concept vehicles, innovative simulators, and advanced vehicle design technology, immersing guests in an imaginative and innovative world full of technologically advanced marvels.




Located in Tomorrowland, – a place of limitless possibilities that celebrates the hope, optimism, and potential of the future – TRON Realm, Chevrolet Digital Challenge joins the TRON presence already at Shanghai Disney Resort. The experience is easily accessible from TRON Plaza outside the immensely popular TRON Lightcycle Power Run, which made its global debut at the grand opening of the resort and is exclusively sponsored by Chevrolet. The new and exciting TRON Realm allows guests to imagine, create, and drive virtual vehicles through the incredible world of TRON, fulfilling Tomorrowland’s bright promise of the future, and making it attractive for guests seeking new worlds of adventure.

Drawing inspiration from the digital world of TRON, the interior of TRON Realm features sleek, contrasting surfaces, glowing glass rails, and blue digital lighting, inviting guests to explore three exciting interactive zones – Imagine, Create and Drive. These zones each have exciting interactives that allow the guest to be immersed in the future of transportation and highlights Chevrolet vehicle technology that is integral to the TRON Realm experience. In the Imagine zone, guests can virtually suit up in a specially designed Light Suit, driving in the world of TRON. The signature design experience, Advanced Vehicle Design, in the Create zone allows guests to create next generation vehicles. In the Drive zone, guests can drive a Light Runner from the seat of a Chevrolet-inspired Driving Pod through the compelling digital world of TRON.

TRON Realm, Chevrolet Digital Challenge also presents three cutting-edge concept vehicles: Qing Yi, Ling Si, and Guang Suo. Qing Yi, the centerpiece of the TRON Realm, is a “Light Runner”-type Chevrolet vehicle with outstanding driving dynamics and technology. Ling Si features exceptional electrification, connectivity, and represents a new class of TRON urban mobility. Guang Suo is another hyper-fast vehicle boasting an innovative sound-energy propulsion system.

Disney and Chevrolet have a long history of collaboration around the globe. At their core, Disney and Chevrolet are entities of optimism, believing that with a little ingenuity, anything is possible.

TRON Realm will officially open on September 20, and joins the other world-class attractions and entertainment at Shanghai Disneyland that help create unforgettable memories for guests of all ages. 

Don't miss also if you've not watched it yet the D&M video below showing SDL Tomorrowland at night!

Pictures: copyright Disney

Are Guardians of Galaxy, TRON and Ratatouille Rides Coming to Epcot?

Is the future of Epcot looking bright again? The new Frozen ride is extremely successful and the new Soaring movie is another brilliant addition but according to several sources Disney may has big plans for Epcot and P_Radden posted on WDWmagic this summary of things to come, indicating what is already greenlit or not:

- Universe of Energy is getting a GotG ( guardians of Galaxy ) overhaul, green lit.
- Wonders of Life might get a GotG phase 2, not yet green lit.
- Communicore (outside of mouse gear and starbucks, possibly club cool) will be updated/overhauled, green lit.
- Mission Space will get a refurb/update, green lit.
- There are plans for Imagination, but not green lit yet.
- The Land and Seas pavilions as well as Test Track and Space Ship Earth will remain as is.

Now, according to a short article of WDWNT an "Epcot riddled by IPs may be on the way". More specifically a TRON attraction similar to the one at Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland and a Ratatouille ride like the one at DLP Walt Disney Studios for, of course, the France area at Epcot World Showcase. 

It would make perfectly sense to have a TRON ride at Epcot Future World and it's may be even the ride that the park is waiting for to have its attendance rising spectacularly at last, though the new Frozen ride should help for that, too.

Same for the Ratatouille ride which would fit perfectly in the France area, but there is a bit more to say about this one. Although WDI Imagineers can do a "copy and paste" of the TRON ride which seems perfect as it is - though if they can make the ride a bit longer no one would blame them - some changes would be needed on the Ratatouille one to make it even more enjoyable. When the ride opened at DLP WDS everyone was under the charm of the stunning Parisian theming - indoor or outdoor - and so far guests like very much the ride, but ...all this and the huge amount of money spent on this mini-land didn't had the expected result in financial terms or even in attendance that the WDC was hoping for. 

What went wrong? The WDC generally always blame France and European economy for the poor financial results of the resort and they're not totally wrong, to be fair. But for Ratatouille it's a bit different. Re-creating a Paris area when you have the real one at 40 minutes from the park is not as exotic for the guests as another environment. It's fun, but it don't transport you in another world like Frontierland or Adventureland can do, for instance. At Epcot it's different because Parisian architecture is so far from Florida. And that won't have to build it as "France" is already built at World Showcase. Basically they need only a backstage show building to install the ride which will save a lot of money. Now, about the ride itself. First time i did it i liked it of course because the Imagineers work and theming is wonderful. But did i wanted to ride it again and again when i've exit? May be not, and that's indicates there was some thrills missing in it. I understand that the goal was to create a family ride which would fit for every age, and specially young children, but i think there is still some margin of improvements to make it more memorable while not too hard to ride for children. Some details can be also fixed easily. For instance the fact that you can see during the ride the bottom of the screens destroy a bit the feeling of immersion. Hiding the bottom of these screens shouldn't be the most difficult thing to do. 

I've even more concerns about the Universe of Galaxy overlay with a Guardians of Galaxy theme and the UOE pavilion could close as soon as Fall 2016. Though i'm happy to hear that WDW DHS Tower of Terror will be preserved i'm not really happy of this GoG version in UOE. I don't see them keeping the Dinosaurs scenes with a GoG storyline so i guess we can say bye-bye to them, which is a big mistake as kids love Dinos as everyone should know. After World of Motion and the beloved Horizons ride it will be one more original Epcot ride which will disappear. If they really don't want to pay for a new show building why don't they use the one of Wonders of Life which is closed since years, and just a few yards from the Universe of Energy pavilion? And by the way, if they really want to make Universe of Energy a more exciting ride while keeping the Dinos i've got a great Dinos ride concept waiting for them HERE which would fit perfectly. 

Of course, what they want to do is to use IPs in the hope it will attract guests to the park, but GoG is not Frozen and i'm not sure the IP attraction effect will last as long as they hope. As for a TRON ride which indeed could find its place better at Future World it's a different problem as this time the cost could be higher, except if they decide to get rid of the beautiful - but probably expensive to build - TRON canopy that exist at Shanghaî Disneyland. 

So far, all of these are rumors and of course must be considered like this until official announcements.

Pictures: copyright Disney

Meet WDI Imagineer Scott Drake, Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland Show Designer

Scott Drake, is executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering and he moved with his family to Shanghai three years ago to oversee the construction of Tomorrowland, as Scott is the show producer / designer of the land that he built with his team of Imagineers.
 
Fortune Magazine just posted a great article about Scott with exclusive behind the scenes pictures and interesting infos like: the track for the TRON Tomorrowland ride is 966 meters long, and the cable and wiring required to run it could circle Shanghai 37 times. “We got to do this Tomorrowland in a new way,” Drake says, “with cutting-edge tools and technologies that didn’t exist when Walt built the original.”

I suggest that you jump to the Fortune article HERE and you can have a look at some of the great pics below coming from it, you'll even see Bob Iger riding with Scott Drake the TRON Lightcycles Power Run coaster for the first time, and Bob loved it!









On this last picture below, Scott Drake is in the Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue ride with his two daughters.



Pictures : copyright Disney

Shanghaî Disneyland Tomorrowland Imagineers Reveal More Details About the Land

Imagineers Mellissa Berry, Scot Drake with others WDI Imagineers have designed the new Tomorrowland for Shanghai Disneyland, and in an interview to Shanghaî Daily they talk about their vision of the future for this new Tomorrowland: 

“We didn’t want to refer to any existing architecture as we worked to create a whole new tomorrow world,” Berry, executive producer at Walt Disney Imagineering Shanghai, told Shanghai Daily.

A former TV and film producer, Berry, former TV and film producer, has been working on Shanghai Disneyland project for over five years. She and Scot Drake, executive creative director of the new Tomorrowland, have worked with a group of Imagineers from all over the world to brainstorm the concepts of a future world and turn them into physical structures.

It is a Disney tradition to set up a centerpiece themed land to showcase Walt Disney’s great vision for a big and beautiful tomorrow.  The Walt Disney Imagineering Shanghai team aims for the Shanghai iteration to offer a new vision into the future. To achieve their “tomorrow” goals, Berry and Drake set off in 2009 with other Disney Imagineers to scour cities around the world looking for inspiration.

They went to the Eden Project in England where plants are collected from around world. They visited the famous gardens in neighboring Suzhou and experienced the West Lake show in Hangzhou. They also attended World Expo in Shanghai several times in 2010. “When we first set foot in Shanghai, we were amazed to find the city itself has been a world of the future,” Drake said. They invited scientists and environmentalists to become involved in their brainstorming to ensure the best thinking and designs were considered.

Berry and Drake also visited Yuyuan Garden, studying the architectural philosophy behind Chinese landscape design. “We analyzed the multi-level buildings, how the pathways unfolded, the moon gates and the shade areas in this historic city garden,” Berry said. “While there would be no direct reference, we wanted to interpret this ancient design philosophy in a modern way.”

A feature of Shanghai’s Tomorrowland will be the world’s first Tron Lightcycle Power Run, a roller-coaster-style attraction that involves patrons boarding two-wheeled lightcycles on a high-speed, indoor-outdoor track.

Visitors can also join the new target-shooting adventure called Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, break the bonds of gravity on Jet Packs, and celebrate the entire Star Wars saga. The Stargazer Grill restaurant will offer spectacular views of Shanghai Disney Resort as well as the stage below.

An architectural highlight of the complex, the Lightcycle track is covered by a massive, undulating canopy. The entire covert is edged with a dramatic, blue-green ribbon that changes color as it rolls across, “like the tail of a dragon,” said Berry.

“Guests waiting to board will have fun imagining a future world as they listen to the evocative soundtrack and watch the Lightcycle trains twist and turn all around them, all under a color-shifting canopy,” she said.

To create the canopy that Berry said “embodies harmony with nature” and will be like landing lightly on the earth, the team used many cutting-edge design tools."

There is more to read in the full Shanghaî Daily article so jump HERE.

ALL About Shanghaî DIsneyland TRON Lightcycles Power Run Coaster Ride

It's an understatement to say that Shanghaî DIsneyland TRON Lightcycles Power Run ride is highly awaited and we'll have a closer look at it today. So far the video and pictures released this week have shown how will look what WDI Imagineers call the "Tron Cover", the translucent canopy over the outdoor part of the TRON coaster track. But what will happen in the big "box" of the show building was still a mystery. No more wait, dear D&M readers as thanks to this article you'll see almost all of what SDL guests who will embark on the TRON ride will see, and i have all pictures for you! No need to say that there WILL be spoilers below, so if you don't want to know anything it's time to jump to the next D&M article.
If you're looking - or did not read yet - my full report about Shanghaî Disneyland announcement last Wednesday with park artwork and attraction details, you'll find it HERE. Don't miss it, it's D&M longest article ever!

If you're still there, there we go and let's start by the official description of TRON Lightcycle Power Run? As usual, click on each pic to see them in bigger size:

With the world premiere of TRON Lightcycle Power Run, the future world comes to Tomorrowland, through the inspiring story of the Disney film TRON: Legacy.  Riding atop individual, two-wheeled Lightcycles, guests will be launched across a canopied section of track – the Upload Conduit – before diving high-speed into a mysterious game world of lights, projection and sound effects. Guests waiting to board will have fun imagining the future world as they listen to the evocative soundtrack and watch the Lightcycle trains twist and turn all around them, all under a color-shifting canopy. Even at a distance, guests will marvel at the massive, undulating canopy. Covered in a translucent material, it reveals the pulsing glow of Lightcycle trains as they zip through the attraction.  The entire canopy is edged in a dramatic, blue-green ribbon that changes color as it rolls across, over and around the Tron Plaza, like the tail of a dragon..

Above: three views of TRON Lightcycles Power Run canopy.

So… after going through TRON Lightcycles Power Run main entrance - and probably have wait a long time to arrive to this point…

…you will arrive at the boarding room. Actually, the queue will move first above the boarding room itself, and you'll be able to see the others guests boarding the lightcycles trains just below you. 

A view inside the boarding room, going down to embark on the trains.

All-right, it's boarding time for you, so all aboard!

By the way, let's have a closer look at how will look the "Lightcycles". WDI did a real good job to have them looking as close as possible as in the movie and guests will sit on the lightcycles in almost the same position than TRON heroes did in the movie. Thanks to a mechanism a part in the back will come on your back to hold you and make sure you won't fall during the ride.  

Apparently the storyline include two teams, and one of them is the "orange" one. At first sight this doesn't mean that TRON Lightcycles Power Run is a dueling coaster. My guess is that either the two teams are here essentially for the storyline, meaning that your team - the "blue" one - is "real" and the other - the "orange" one - is not… or that one train will be a "blue" team and the next one an "orange" team. But in both cases the two teams will be part of the ride storyline as we will see later.

Soon the train will be launched thanks to the now well known catapult system.

And after entering a specially lighted TRON tunnel…

…your train will move outside on the outdoor track under the translucent canopy.

And then will come the long awaited moment as your train will enter the show building itself, this big box that SDL guests will see behind and on the right of the TRON canopy. Below, a new rendering showing a scene inside the show building. 

Thanks to an amazing "fluorescent" TRON lighting you'll be immersed at "high-speed into a mysterious game world of lights, projection and sound effects."

It's not perfectly clear if each lightcycles will be equipped with a screen but apparently there should be one somewhere showing the race between the two lightcycles teams.

The "race" will continue…

…until one lightcycle of the yellow team - yes, apparently there is also a "yellow" team - the ones you can see on the top and bottom right of the picture below…

…will lose control…

…and crash and explode just before your train go through another TRON "gate"! 

No need to say that no real lightcycle will crash so it seem that we have here a projection effect that should be impressive if it's perfectly done.

The train will then enter another long tunnel leading to the ride ending.

If SDL Imagineers succeed to build the ride as it looks here on this WDI CGI movie we should have a memorable ride and, as there won't be any upside down loop during the ride, the coaster should be comfortable... if the riders position on the lightcycle is. 

That said, on a storyline point of view, there is still one thing that i find a bit hard to swallow and it's the fact that we embark in a boarding room all looking like being part of TRON and then we move out, seeing the "real" world, before entering again in the world of TRON. I'm curious to see how they will justify this and even if it should not be a too big problem at night, it will be different during daylight…

Anyway, all the above screen captures are coming from a new video released by Shanghaî Disneyland and as i'm sure you're dying to see all these scenes in movement, it's more than time time you have a look at the video below!





Picture and video: copyright Disney