Disney Announces Big Tomorrowland Changes

Walt Disney World just announced that it’s changing a ride, and it’s one nobody saw coming. In a shocking move, Disney will modernize one of the attractions Walt Disney built. That’s not the only update coming soon, and both will happen at Tomorrowland. Let’s quickly discuss the highlights of day one of Destination D23 2025. 

Tron Gets an Overlay 

When Disney announced its 2020s revision of Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland, Tron mattered the most. Park officials planned the entire redesign around a new skyline headlined by TRON Lightcycle / Run. 

The exterior of TRON’s ride building features a waved canopy capable of displaying a vast array of colors. At the start, Disney emphasized the colors intrinsic to Tron, primarily blue but with some white, yellow, orange, and red. Those are also the team colors for the racers on the TRON roller coaster.

Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog

Disney expected the stark visuals from the Tron film franchise to translate perfectly as the new centerpiece at Tomorrowland. While critics lament the length of the TRON attraction, everyone agrees that it’s stylistic and breathtakingly beautiful. 

Watching the TRON canopy is one of the joys of riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover at night. Similarly, you can see the new skyline from inside and outside the park. The presence of TRON has fundamentally changed this section of Magic Kingdom.

What Disney never mentioned was that the canopy could do tricks. Sure, many of us expected it since digital lighting technology has advanced so rapidly. Disney hasn’t done anything different in the nearly two-and-a-half years that TRON has been open, though. 

During Destination D23 2025, park officials finally admitted the truth. TRON can change colors, and it’ll do so sooner than expected. As part of a tie-in with the impending release of Tron: Ares, an October 2025 release, TRON will add an overlay.

Specifically, the attraction will switch from its distinctive blue hue to a red one befitting the imagery from Tron: Ares. The poster and images from the film display plenty of red highlights, including a red Lightcycle. For a limited time, the ride building will match the film’s stylistic red.

That’s not even the best part, at least for fans of 1990s grunge rock. Since Nine Inch Nails is creating the soundtrack to Tron: Ares, Disney will use their music in the TRON line queue! Here’s As Alive As You Need to Be, the first song released from the soundtrack:

That’s the classic Nine Inch Nails sound modernized a bit to match Tron’s aesthetics. You can hear this music and see the red version of the Tron building starting on September 15th. Disney hasn’t indicated how long it’ll last, but I presume the answer depends largely on how well Tron: Ares does at the box office. So, enjoy it while you can!

Walt Disney Is Coming to Walt Disney World 

Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog

The bigger Tomorrowland news involves the most historically significant attraction here. Walt Disney himself had a hand in creating Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, a ride designed exclusively for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. This show disguised as a ride earned global acclaim, so much so that the company quickly transported it to Disneyland Park.

Then, in 1975, Disney moved the ride across the country to Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, where it has remained to this day. Many believe – and I’m one of them – that Disney would never change this ride significantly as a sign of deference to Walt Disney’s legacy. Well, we’re all wrong. Way wrong.

In a legitimately shocking turn of events, Disney has announced that sweeping changes are coming to Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. Most importantly, the ride will add a Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic (AA). 

Presumably, we’re discussing the same thing recently introduced at Disneyland, the robot from Walt Disney – A Magical Life. Disney must have created multiple Walt Disney AAs, and Magic Kingdom is getting one, too. This won’t be the same show as A Magical Life, though.

Apparently, Imagineers will start the Carousel of Progress show with a Walt Disney scene. Then, I presume the family from the story will appear. I’m basing my statement on this video:

Also, here’s the applicable quote from the Disney Parks Blog:

Before you follow an American family (and Rover!) over four generations of progress as technology transforms their lives and paves the way for once-unimaginable innovations, you’ll be able to catch a brand-new introductory scene and hear from the legendary man who never stood in the way of progress — Walt Disney. 

There are still plenty of additional details to be revealed, including what John, Sarah, and the rest of the family are up to. Disney Imagineers love this attraction and the heart of it will stay the same…

In case you haven’t ridden Carousel of Progress in a while – and I realize that’s probably a lot of you – here’s the start of the ride:

I’m guessing Disney will replace the audio narration at the start with an actual scene starring Walt Disney. By adopting that approach, Disney could give Carousel of Progress a much-needed hook while maintaining the attraction’s first three scenes just as they’d been in 1964. 

We have no timeline regarding when the Carousel of Progress changes will occur. So, stay tuned for additional information, as Disney was cagey about specifics.

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