Soarin'

Soarin
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Disney California Adventure
Name	Soarin' over California
Area	Grizzly Peak Airfield
Coordinates
Status	Closed
Opening date	February 8, 2001
Closing date	January 4, 2016
Replaced by	Soarin' Around the World
Epcot
Name	Soarin
Area	Future World (The Land pavilion)
Coordinates
Status	Closed
Opening date	May 5, 2005
Closing date	January 4, 2016
Replaced	Kitchen Kabaret (1982-1994) Food Rocks (1994-2004)
Replaced by	Soarin' Around the World
Shanghai Disneyland Park
Name	Soaring Over the Horizon
Area	Adventure Isle
Status	Under construction
Opening date	June 16, 2016
General statistics
Attraction type	IMAX-type hang glider
Manufacturer	Dynamic Structures
Designer	Walt Disney Imagineering
Music	Jerry Goldsmith
Height	80 ft (24 m)
Vehicles	6 in two theaters
Riders per vehicle	Alpha 27, Bravo 33, Charlie 27
Participants per group	87 per theater
Duration	4:51
Height restriction	40 in (102 cm)
Host	Patrick Warburton
Film speed	48 frames per second
Fastpass available
FastPass+ available
Single rider line available at Disney's California Adventure
Must transfer from wheelchair
Closed captioning available

Soarin' is a simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney World's Epcot park, with a third version planned to open in Shanghai Disneyland in 2016. The ride employs a mechanical lift system, a film presentation on a large concave projection screen, and at certain points artificial scents to simulate flight via a hang glider ride over several California locations.

The original Soarin' over California was an opening day attraction at Disney California Adventure on February 8, 2001. In addition to the main ride and film presentation, the attraction features a pre-show tribute to the history of California's aviation industry. Soarin' over California has consistently been a popular attraction at the park despite its low attendance during its early years, and the ride was duplicated at Epcot under the name Soarin' in 2005. A new version of the ride, titled Soaring over the Horizon, is planned to debut with the Shanghai Disneyland park in Shanghai, China on June 16, 2016, and a new ride film titled Soarin' Over the Horizon is planned to replace the current film in both US versions of the ride.

Description

The original ride film for Soarin' over California and Soarin', which lasts about four minutes and 51 seconds, takes guests on a simulated hang glider tour of California. The locations visited are: Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Redwood Creek in Humboldt County, Napa Valley, Monterey, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park (including Yosemite Falls and Half Dome), the PGA West Palmer Course in La Quinta (credited in the queue video presentation as Palm Springs), Camarillo, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego, Malibu, Los Angeles, and Disneyland itself during the Christmas season. The last few scenes transition from daytime to dusk and then to night, culminating in Disneyland's Holiday fireworks surrounding the riders in the nighttime sky. In addition to the state's various landscapes, the ride also highlights its diverse recreation, including snow skiing, river rafting, kayaking, golf, horseback riding, hot air ballooning, surfing and of course, hang gliding. The USAF Thunderbirds and aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, are also featured. An original score by film composer Jerry Goldsmith accompanies the imagery, and appropriate scents (citrus, pine, sagebrush, ocean mist) fill the air as the ride vehicles themselves move gently to simulate the sensations of flight..

Ride design

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Three rows of seating for the ride

Soarin' Over California was first conceptualized in 1996 as "Ultra Flight," a name which can still be seen on the tower consoles of the California Adventure attraction. It was to feature an OMNIMAX screen with an inverted track allowing guests to fly over California's landmarks. The attraction would have three load levels and the system would operate on a horizontal cable, much like a dry cleaner's rack. This plan was abandoned, however, when it was determined that the construction and labor costs for that design would be prohibitive. It seemed that Soarin' wouldn't become a reality until engineer Mark Sumner developed a different idea for the ride vehicles, using an Erector Set and string to create a working model. This design would allow Disney to efficiently load guests on one level instead of three, thus cutting construction and labor costs greatly.

Each ride vehicle consists of three rows of seats under a wing-like canopy, and has a capacity of 87 guests at a time. After guests have been safely restrained in the vehicle using standard lap belts, the canopy descends slightly and a cantilever system lifts the chairs forward and into the air with the guests' feet dangling freely. The vehicle is lifted forward so that guests look into a large, concave movie screen onto which aerial views of California are projected. The scenes were shot with an IMAX HD frame rate - 48 frames per second, twice the conventional output for regular films. Since the vehicle is moved forward toward the center of the dome, guests can only see the images projected on the screen and experience the sensation of flight. The ride structure contains about one million pounds (454,000 kg) of steel, and 37 tons (33.5 metric tonnes) are lifted during each ride cycle.

To enhance the illusion of flight, subtle vertical movements of the seats are synchronized to the film. Sensations of horizontal motion are created using a combination of vertical carriage movement and turning the image on the screen. In addition, scents complementing the various scenes are injected into the air streams blowing on riders. These scents include lemon blossoms in the Camarillo lemon grove scene, the aroma of evergreens in the mountain scenes, and a sea breeze scent in the Monterey and Malibu scenes.

Versions

Soarin' Over California

File:Soarin' Over California.JPG

Soarin' Over California exterior as it appeared from 2001-2014 at Disney California Adventure.

File:Soarin Over California Updated Entrance - July 17th 2015.JPG

Soarin' Over California exterior after reopening in May 2015 at Disney California Adventure. Photo from July 17th, 2015.

Soarin' Over California is located in the Grizzly Peak Airfield section of Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort. It is one of the most popular attractions in the resort and usually has wait times ranging from 30 to 150 minutes. However, the attraction is tied into the park's FASTPASS system, allowing guests the option of bypassing a long wait.

While waiting in line, guests pass the Wings of Fame, an homage to significant aircraft in the history of aviation in California. Some of these include the P-51 Mustang, SR-71 Blackbird, and the Bell X-1. There is also a section dedicated to individuals such as John J. Montgomery, Amelia Earhart, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, Jack Northrop, the Wright brothers, Howard Hughes, Jacqueline Cochran, Kelly Johnson, and Chuck Yeager.

Before entering the theater area, guests are placed in one of three preshow areas, called "Alpha Gate", "Bravo Gate", or "Charlie Gate," (named for the first three letters of the NATO phonetic alphabet). Just before boarding, guests watch a pre-boarding video hosted by their chief flight attendant, Patrick, portrayed by actor Patrick Warburton wearing the uniform of a first officer.

In early 2015 the attraction closed for refurbishment. It reopened May 15, 2015 with updates to its screen and projection system. The attraction now features the IMAX Laser 4K projection system. In addition to the projection system changes, several exterior changes occurred, including a replacement of the mock-up RS-25 rocket engine with a fire lookout tower.

Soarin'

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Queue decor inside Epcot's Soarin'

Soarin' officially opened inside "The Land" pavilion at Epcot in Walt Disney World on May 5, 2005. Its cast members wear costumes that resemble flight attendant costumes, whereas the Disney California Adventure Park version uses airfield crew costumes. The idea is that guests are taking flights to California, rather than already being there. This is further reinforced in the theming that you are loaded into "gates" and with airport-themed spiels which reference "Flight 5505", which is a homage to the opening day of the attraction.

The Epcot standby queue originally featured pictures of natural wonders from around the world, not just California. There is very little reference to the fact that the ride only features California. The queue currently utilizes a new infrared technology that allows guests to participate in interactive games. In 2009, this interactive game technology appeared in the Magic Kingdom as part of a seven-month overhaul of Space Mountain.

The attraction flew its final flight over California on January 3, 2016 and closed for refurbishment on January 4, 2016, slated to reopen in Summer 2016 with a third theater to coincide with the release of the new Soarin' around the World ride film.

Soaring over the Horizon

An updated version of the Soarin' attraction was announced for the "Adventure Isle" section of Shanghai Disneyland, which is expected to open in 2016. This version of the attraction will feature scenes of Shanghai and the Great Wall of China, as well as landmarks from each continent.

Soarin’ Around the World

On August 15, 2015 at the D23 Expo, it was announced that the Soarin' and Soarin' over California rides at Epcot and Disney California Adventure will debut a new ride film titled Soarin' Around the World. The new ride film, which is based on the Soarin over the Horizon film being created for Shanghai Disneyland, will feature scenes including the Great Wall of China, Monument Valley in Colorado, and the plains of Africa. The updated attractions are planned to open in the Spring of 2016 in Disney's California Adventure and the Summer of 2016 at Epcot.

Soundtrack

The Soarin' and Soarin' over California versions of the ride use the same orchestral score by composer Jerry Goldsmith, who is said to have come down from his first ride in tears. In addition to finding the ride visually beautiful and magical, he said that his father was a pilot who loved all things Californian. "I'd do anything to be part of this project," Goldsmith said. "I'd even score the film for free." The soundtrack he wrote plays throughout the entire attraction, starting with a crescendo in the low strings while the screen is still dark. Numerous variations of a serene theme for horn and strings can be heard, as well as several statements of a fanfare that accompanies the film's grandest vistas. The entire ride score can be found on recent Walt Disney World official albums, and the exit music is also played as part of a loop in the Disneyland Resort Esplanade and Epcot's entrance plaza.

Inspirational music from a variety of films, many of them war- or flight-themed, is played in the queue hallways in both versions. Some film scores featured include Patton, MacArthur, Air Force One, The Blue Max, Explorers, (all by Jerry Goldsmith), The American President (by Marc Shaiman), DragonHeart, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (both by Randy Edelman), The Last Starfighter (by Craig Safan), Apollo 13 and The Rocketeer (both by James Horner), Always (by John Williams) and the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (by Michael Kamen). The Air Force Song and "Jupiter" from Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets are also included, based on their use in The Right Stuff. In the California Adventure version of the attraction, the "History of Aviation in California" hallway of the queue uses the scores to many different films.

See also

• List of Disney California Adventure Park attractions
• List of Epcot attractions

References

• - Mechanism to lift riders into dome and simulate flight.
• - System to project into dome while maintaining illusion of being at the same point of view as the camera.

External links

• Disneyland Resort
• Walt Disney World Resort - Soarin'
• Soarin' at IMDb