What happens now if TRON Lightcycle Run is down?

It can be incredibly frustrating when TRON isn’t running. To be prepared in case this happens to you, check out all of the options here.

TRON Lightcycle Run

Lean forward into the ultimate race of survival! Leave the real world behind and join Team Blue in a quest across the Grid—the dark, computerized world with no horizons from TRON. Here, there’s no limit to the excitement.

Climb aboard your very own Lightcycle and take off on a high-speed adventure, racing against the Grid’s most menacing Programs. Surge past your fierce opponents as you attempt to pass through 8 Energy Gates and secure your team’s victory—so you can survive to race another day.

TRON Lightcycle Run officially opened at Disney’s Magic Kingdom on April 4, 2023. Take a look HERE at everything you need to know about TRON.

Ways To Ride

A virtual queue will be utilized with TRON Lightcycle / Run. Guests will need to use the My Disney Experience app to reserve a space for the attraction. A standby queue will not be available. Each Guest can enter the virtual queue no more than once per day during regular park hours.

Boarding groups for a virtual queue are limited, subject to availability, and are not guaranteed. Not all boarding groups may be called to return, based on availability of the experience.

Boarding groups for a virtual queue are limited, subject to availability, and are not guaranteed.

In addition to the virtual queue, Individual Lightning Lane Selections are available for TRON. This is an a la carte purchase you can make by itself or with Genie+. If you are staying onsite, you can book this at 7:00 am on the day you wish to ride. 

But what happens if it’s your time to ride and TRON isn’t running? This happened to me (Susan) twice this past weekend!

Virtual Queue Options

If you’ve secured a boarding group, your options depend on several factors. First, if you’ve already scanned to ride and it goes down when you’re in line, TRON Cast Members will give you a recovery pass. This allows you to return that day and enter the Lightning Lane entrance.

However, if your boarding group hasn’t been called and TRON goes down, expect it to take quite a bit longer. Depending on your boarding group number and the length of TRON downtime, you may or may not get to ride that day. Disney states that boarding groups are not guaranteed.

Individual Lightning Lane Options

Because I (Susan) hadn’t ridden TRON before, I purchased an Individual Lightning Lane. My return time was 9:00-10:00pm. This would allow me to watch the fireworks, then ride TRON. Or so I thought…

After making my way through the fireworks crowds, I stopped to watch the TRON cars go by. However, after 5 minutes of waiting, I realized something was wrong. TRON was down!!

Magic Kingdom stayed open until 11:00pm that evening and Cast Members offered guests a refund or gave the option to wait it out. While guests could go and do other things at Magic Kingdom while they waited, I chose to wait at TRON.

At 10:45pm, I gave up. There was an extremely long line for TRON cast members, so I opted for guest relations inside City Hall. There were about 15 people ahead of me here, but the line moved pretty quickly.

When I reached the counter, I was given two options. First, I could get a refund. Second, I could secure another ILL for another day. I opted to do that since we were coming back in a few days.

Third Time Around

On the morning we went to Magic Kingdom next, I purchased another Individual Lightning Lane for 9:00am. (My first ILL was for 9:00-11:00am). No way was I waiting again! We rope dropped TRON and were 5 people back in the Lightning Lane queue, and we were so excited to ride! Right at 9:00am, the overhead lights came on (never a good sign).

Then, a few minutes later, TRON Cast Members told guests that TRON was down, but we were welcome to wait. However, that didn’t pan out! Shortly after the first announcement, TRON Cast Members instructed all guests to leave and get a recovery pass.

We were leaving at noon that day so I was unsure if we would get to ride it or not. A few minutes after 11:00am, TRON began running again and we booked it over there!

After experiencing two different TRON downtimes, we were able to ride it the third try!

Not only did we ride TRON, but we experienced it twice in a row! Since we had an unusual situation of having two Individual Lightning Lane passes, we got right back in the ILL line! While it was nerve wracking wondering if we would get to ride, it was worth it!

Have you experienced an attraction going down during or before your ride? If so, what happened? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below and share this post with a friend.