In case you didn’t know, Nine Inch Nails is currently soundtracking the Tron Lightcycle Run coaster at Walt Disney World, and that is wild when you think about combining the power of Disney with the legendary industrial metal act. There is, of course, synergy, as the music comes from the NIN score for the upcoming Tron: Ares.
Seasonal and promotional ride overlays are now ways to draw in more people to revisit beloved attractions at Disney’s parks or give passholders a reason to come back over and over. Over time some have had more longevity than others, as the most popular overlay continues to be Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday, which has Jack Skellington and friends take over the West Coast haunt with his spooky Christmas shenanigans. Meanwhile, the haunted version of Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy seems to have exorcised its spirit—it just might have been a tad too scary, while Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain stays beating out the rest.
Here is a compilation of some of the most out-there and unique Disney experiences overlays, along with their current statuses at the parks.
Tron Lightcycle Run (NIN Tron: Ares Collaboration)
io9 recently got to experience the Tron: Ares overlay at the Magic Kingdom’s Tron Lightcycle Run coaster (Walt Disney World admission and Lightning Lane were provided), which for the first time features the actual score from the new movie. When we covered the opening of the ride back in 2023, Disney creatives revealed that the on-ride music was a new arrangement based on Daft Punk’s score for Tron: Legacy made specifically for the purposes of the attraction. You can, however, still hear the iconic Daft Punk tracks featured throughout the coaster’s queue and exit areas. Inside the ride itself, the usual Tron blue hue is swapped for Ares‘ crimson aesthetic as part of a new narrative of the ride, as we’re tasked with seemingly working with a program-gone-rogue before deleting it to preserve the grid (perhaps giving us a hint at what Ares will be about).
With the release of Tron: Ares, the coaster transforms into Nine Inch Nails: The Ride in the best way, with their signature industrial instrumentals, which fit perfectly in the world of the Grid gone rogue. It really works as a tonal opposite companion to the Team Blue track that usually plays. If the ride were ever built elsewhere, it would be such a cool dual coaster utilizing both instrumentations. At night the Ares theming looks incredible, to boot.
Haunted Mansion (Haunted Mansion Holiday)
The Haunted Mansion Holiday is what happens when The Nightmare Before Christmas’s popularity gets out of hand (thanks, Hot Topic). Don’t get me wrong, we love the film and Jack Skellington’s frightful festive branding, but we believe it takes over the Haunted Mansion too early. The Christmas-themed overlay goes up in September for Halloweentime at the Disneyland resort, even though the Haunted Mansion is the perfect ride for Halloween. Its ghosts and scares make more sense to continue until the end of October! But I guess those of us in the camp that thinks this incredible overlay of holiday cheer should start in November are in the minority, because the queue for it is always over an hour or even longer during its fall and winter run.
Space Mountain (Rockin’ Space Mountain, Ghost Galaxy, Hyperspace Mountain)
Space Mountain at Disneyland (sorry, Magic Kingdom, and your sad Christmas music overlay) is hands down the champ of seasonal theming. What began with Rockin’ Space Mountain when the coaster got a Red Hot Chili Peppers soundtrack has only glowed up from there. For a while, it was the home of a space specter that might have been too scary during Halloweentime’s Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy. I can attest from my personal experience that I am still haunted by the memory of the thrilling, creepy music and jump-scare projections of being chased through dead space by a very angry fiery ghost with hollowed eyes. It hasn’t held up residence in the coaster since 2018, though it has gone over to Hong Kong Disney’s Space Mountain variant.
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