Guest Left Wide-Eyed at Horrendously Dirty Encounter on Disney's Newest Attraction

It’s a great ride, but this filthy already?

Disney World’s four theme parks are some of the most visited entertainment destinations in the world; in fact, Magic Kingdom Park — which opened 52 years ago in 1971 — is the most visited theme park on the planet.

Disney’s charm, a charm that has traversed a century and is rightly being marked company-wide with Disney’s 100 Years of Wonder celebrations, keeps fans coming back for more and more each year.

The company has been on a heavy course correction since the return of former Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger in November 2022, a course correction that would see the CEO axe 7,000 jobs and curate the Disney+ streaming service in an effort to save $5 billion for the House of Mouse.

While attendance dropped at Walt Disney World Resort this past quarter, Disney Parks’ revenue increased 13% to $8.3 billion thanks to significant international results at locations like Disneyland Paris, Shanghai Disney Resort, and Tokyo Disney Resort.

Many Disney fans have bemoaned the Floridian theme park giant ever since it reopened post-pandemic closures. With a rebooted “FastPass” system — Disney Genie+ — that charges guests to utilize the newly-named Lightning Lane, as well as the introduction of park pass reservations and park hopping, Disney World drew criticism for its increasing difficulty to afford and navigate.

As for the park pass reservation system, from January 9, 2024, certain ticket types, such as date-based one and multi-day tickets and vacation package dated tickets, will not need a theme park reservation. Tickets like Annual Passes and sports and convention tickets will still need a park reservation for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The freedom of abolishing the park pass reservation system for most guests will likely do a lot for morale, considering one pain point for many was the 2 p.m. park hopping rule. Of course, Disney being Disney, there are still other hard-ticketed events to contend with that will mean certain times at certain parks will be unavailable. For example, currently taking place at Magic Kingdom is the annual Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, which happens on select nights throughout August, September, and October, with the last event on November 1, 2023.

There is then the element of Disney’s virtual queues. First introduced for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, virtual queues allow guests to wait for a ride without being in line. Currently, at Walt Disney World Resort, two attractions offer a virtual queue — Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT and TRON Lightcycle / Run at Magic Kingdom.

Related: Disney in Trouble as CEO Bob Iger Rehires Former Chief Execs

Guests must join the queue at 7 a.m. and/or 1 p.m., and with the latter, they must be inside the park, which, due to the 2 p.m. park hopper rule, restricts to those with just a reservation for either EPCOT or Magic Kingdom. The virtual queue also opens at 6 p.m. if there is an event on, such as the aforementioned Halloween Party or for Extended Evening Hours for Deluxe Resort guests.

Both still offer the Individual Lightning Lane alongside the virtual queue, meaning guests can purchase entry to the Disney theme park ride without having to join a boarding group at either 7 a.m. or 1 p.m.

TRON at Disney World

TRON Lightcycle / Run is Disney’s newest e-ticket attraction and a replica of Shanghai Disneyland’s TRON Lightcycle Power Run. Located in Tomorrowland near the classic Space Mountain ride, TRON invites guests to mount a lightcycle ride vehicle through The Grid in a race to the finish line. Being Disney’s most recent high-profile addition, opening in just April this year, you would expect the attraction to be in near-perfect condition. Well, it almost is.

On this writer’s most recent visit to Disney World, it could be seen that the large perspex-type wall structure in the queue line was completely covered in greasy smears. Of course, this is somewhat expected with how much foot traffic passes through that line, but it does make one wonder if Disney should’ve opted for another material in this section.

Both times I rode TRON (and on different days, at different times of the day, too), I encountered this section covered with sticky substances and thick smears, and it really took the shine and wonder away from the interior, thanks to the lightning that made the mess really stand out. It’s akin to the famous “hunny” wall in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in Fantasyland.

Related: Appropriate For Disney? Fans Debate Dirty, Adult Item Worn By Guest

TRON Lightcycle / Run’s 2023 opening came six years after it was initially announced at D23 Expo 2017, and while nothing majorly concrete was announced at last year’s D23 Expo, this year’s Destination D23 in Orlando, Florida, revealed a plethora of updates heading to the Resort.

From a World of Motion/Test Track redo to characters from Zootopia (2016) replacing It’s Tough to be a Bug at the Tree of Life Theater to the idea of the Encanto and Indiana Jones franchises replacing DinoLand, U.S.A. at Animal Kingdom, Destination D23 brought tons of news to the fans of Disney Parks.

Have you noticed this disappointing part of TRON at Disney World? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!