The Road to Tron
I was convinced that I’d missed something at opening, so I headed straight towards the castle, hoping to maybe see some sort of ceremony or something.
Of course, there was nothing, only the annoying remnants from the official opening ceremony blocking the castle (this was a point of contention for the next couple of days).
I was feeling a little lost at that stage, as I had really been expecting the first hour or so to be taken up by ceremony and wading my way through the crowds. On the plus side, crowds were not an issue at all. Mickey Avenue was super short, and once it opened up onto the Gardens of Imagination area in front of the castle, the crowds dispersed very quickly, and the walkways became practically clear! I went back to my plan (which I had written down on a piece of scrap paper in my handbag in case of such feelings of lost-ness). Second on my list after experiencing any opening ceremonies was shopping. I decided that wasn’t going to be the best use of my time, and skipped to the next thing – getting a FP for Tron.
I walked through the Gardens of Imagination on the way through, past Dumbo and the Mickey meet and greet. At this stage, I decided not to waste time taking photos, and to focus on staying ahead of the crowds. Gardens of Imagination was underwhelming. The majority of the land was just pathways in front of the castle, broken up by simple garden beds and little ponds. This proved wonderful for Ignite the Dream, absorbing a lot of guests, while providing a lot of ‘front row’ viewing opportunities up against a fence. I’d hardly call it a ‘land’ though.
Moving on to Tomorrowland, there was a small queue forming at the entrance to Tomorrowland, at the iconic sign with the Tron dome in the background. Next to the walkway was a huge open area of completely inaccessible garden. For now, it’s lovely and really enhances the spacious feel of the park, but I have to wonder if they are going to make a more productive use of that space. I was pleasantly surprised at the wide, spacious paths around the park, and the vast amounts of open space.
My first impression of Tomorrowland was good, if a little sterile. It’s clear that the whole land has been built around the Tron attraction, which is probably why they decided to stick with the modern futuristic theme instead of going with a Jules Verne style, which some people thought may have been more appropriate in a city like Shanghai which is already very modern and futuristic. The area was made more tactile with the Tron vehicles (it’s clear why they decided to make part of the ride outdoors), jetpack ride, fountains, stage area, and also the varied levels across the whole land. I also loved that you could see the castle from the Tron 'bridge'. I really liked the juxtapositioning of the castle against all the different lands!
I decided to make my way across the raised walkway to the Tron entrance, thinking that I might be early enough to get a decent standby wait time. I was right! Only a 30 minute wait, and it didn’t even seem that long, probably closer to 20 minutes. As I was entering the queue, I was told that I must put my small handbag into a locker. This was probably one of the few downfalls of this ride, but given the nature of the ride vehicles, would have been fairly unavoidable.
The lockers were a bit chaotic at that stage, but there were plenty of CMs around helping. There was an English option on the screen, but it didn’t seem to always work. It was fairly straightforward anyway and I think it would have been easy enough to work out even without the English. The lockers were large enough to fit a backpack. I was allowed to keep my camera with me (I was pretty keen to photograph the queue and loading area!).
Back to the line!
There was a small portion of the line ‘outside’ under the dome. I did notice that pretty much all queue areas in the park were somehow covered most of the way, even in keeping with their theme. There were also fans keeping the line cool. This section of the line probably took me 10 minutes to get through, and I just happened to bump into the boys from Texas (who I’d met in the holding pen) while I was waiting!
The interior part of the queue was amazingly well done, with all the Tron theming, and even an awesome surprise element! It was a rather long queue, and now and then we had to wait for an automatic door to open to get through to the next area. This was a great way of keeping the crowds evenly dispersed, and ensured that we were held in the surprise area long enough to see the surprise!
The loading area was accessed via a long ramp leading to a platform in the middle of two loading bays, kind of like a train station! The great theming was continued in this area, and between the theming, video and ride vehicles being loaded, there was plenty to keep us occupied for the last 5-10 minutes of our wait.
The ride vehicles are definitely unique! I was expecting them to be something like the motorbikes at Dreamworld, or jetskis at Seaworld (apologies to my non-Australian readers!). They were really nothing like it! I liked that there was a little bridge across the track between light cycles so that you didn’t have to clamber over if you were on the far side (which I was every single time I rode lol!). Once you were at your light cycle you sat astride and put your legs in what I can only describe as leg braces. To lock yourself in, you pulled in the handlebars which lowered the back brace and raised the leg braces to put you in the riding position. There was a tiny compartment to put things between the handlebars, which possibly would have just fit my tiny handbag in it. There was plenty of room for my camera, although I did see another girl having trouble fitting her hat (baseball cap style) in there.
It was comfortable enough, except I got a bit of a stiff neck from keeping my head up to look at everything. Also, on the last day of my trip my lower back was getting quite sore from all the standing around on hard surfaces, and the final stop was quite jarring. Other than that, no problems! For those who are wondering how I got on with a skirt, I didn't have any problems as I always wear bike shorts underneath at theme parks. Without bike shorts, I would have been a bit more careful, but I don't think it would have been a real problem. I have seen photos of regular sitting style cars though (at the back of the carriage) for those who are unable/unwilling to go into the ride position. I was lucky enough to get the front row on my first ride!
I don’t think it will give too much away if I say that the launch is right at the beginning, and launches you out into the exterior of the dome. Most of the ride is inside, and is much like Space Mountain, but with a lot more twists and turns and ups and downs. There are also lots of lighting and projection effects inside the dome, with one particular effect that was really cool! Overall I thought it was a great, fun ride, even for someone who hasn't seen Tron and knows nothing about it. I'm sure there were some details that were lost on me, but the theme generally made sense and was easy to follow.
The rather long exit is not particularly well themed, but then the ride is over by then so it doesn’t matter too much. Along the way there was a CM stationed giving out certificates to everyone for being ‘the first rider’. Based on how many of these I got for a variety of rides, I’m guessing they were given to the first 1000 people or so. The exit came out at the gift shop of course, with plenty of unique Tron themed merchandise. The best one was the Mickey riding a remote controlled light cycle. Unfortunately that was out of my measly small souvenirs budget. Another cool option was a little light cycle (like a matchbox car kind of size) that came in pieces that you could put together yourself. Other than that, there was the usual array of t-shirts, stationery items, plush toys (all in Tron outfits) and ornaments.
I walked through the shop and came out back at the lockers, grabbed my gear (which was nice and easy to figure out), and was ready to enjoy the rest of Tomorrowland.
