Yes the laminate play surface is glued to the MDF.
I've never replaced the Cyclone II play surface, but I bet once you take off the 1x1 boards, which are probably screwed, stapled and glued down...then the hard part is dealing with the play surface which is probably caulked/glued to the bottom of the MDF table. You might be able to put the table on it's side and then have someone heat the top of the table surface and then gently push the table surface away from the table...there will probably need to be another person on the other side of the table to "catch" the table surface should it come loose...more than likely though you'll get "chipping" of the laminate in the corners of the play surface though...and if the laminate is already coming up, then I'm sure it will crack/chip there...not trying to talk you out of this "fun" project, just wanted you to be aware of what you were up against.
Let us know what you decided and how the project comes out, so that others may learn from your experience.