Magic Kingdom attraction temporary closures coming as TRON coaster construction picks up

Walt Disney World is ramping up for its 50th Anniversary by adding a handful of new attractions. One of the most widely anticipated is the TRON style roller-coaster announced for Tomorrowland. Construction is under way outside the berm on an expansion pad located between Storybook Circus and Space Mountain. This is where the showbuilding will sit, but part of the ride will extend back over the railroad track into the park.

Construction is about to cross the berm, and that means a couple changes to park operations. First it will require closure of a section of the Walt Disney World Railroad. The Magic Kingdom is going to lift a successful idea from Disneyland and park one of its train engines in the Main Street Station where guests will be able to get an up-close look at the railroad and enjoy some unique photo opportunities. Expect the closure to come in December 2018.

In early 2019 Tomorrowland Speedway will close while the attractions track is adjusted. It looks like one of the wide sweeping turns near the future entrance to the TRON attraction will need to be shortened. Should add to the excitement level and only shorten the 3-minute ride by a few seconds.

A statement from Disney says the ride will reopen as the same attraction you know and love in Summer of 2019. There are rumors that Tomorrowland Speedway will soon get electric powered cars and its own TRON theming. We’ll see. We’ve heard similar rumors before out at Disneyland, and yet it never happens. It would be nice to ditch the ever-present exhaust smell in the area and electric cars that light up in TRON colors at night would be pretty cool.

The next time you’re in the park, keep an eye out for the new TRON themed billboard visible from the path between Storybook Circus and Tomorrowland. It looks like this:

One thing we don’t know is the name. The ride itself is a near direct recreation of Shanghai Disneyland’s popular TRON Lightcycle Power Run, but a recent announcement implies that the Magic Kingdom coaster will have a different name. What name would you give the new TRON Coaster?