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 Review of Soarin @ EPCOT
1 Rating Posted by: Swimace on 1/4/2006 3:19:00 PM
This ride was very impressive. I wasnt exactly sure how the ride was supposed to simulate gliding on such an epic proportion, so I was blown away. When entering the land pavillion, the Soarin entrance is located at the lower level. The entrance is themed as an airport terminal, and I think its very affective since the entrance is located in an indoor pavillion. The line was abstract, but very well done. It captured a great atmosphere and had giant pictures of different biomes on the wall in the main room where most of the line takes place. Trivia questions and cool facts relating to each specific biome flash across a high definition screen, which provides good entertainment and education while waiting in line. Once you reach the end of the line, you are placed on a number that corresponds to where you will sit on the ride. You get a pre-flight breifing and then you are taken into a huge room with three rows of gliders. Teh seats are very comfortable, and once everybody is strapped in the room turns completely dark and you feel yourself being raised off of the ground. Clouds appear on the screen, and the suddenly part displaying the Golden Gate Bridge and San Fransisco. When the clouds part the rush I felt was amazing. It was like I was suddenly hundreds of feet above San Fransisco, and I clutched on to my seat for dear life (Im afraid of heights). After the initial shock went away, the rest of the ride was incredible relaxing, I dont see why Disney puts it in the Thrill ride category, because aside from the openning I felt very relaxed and comfortable throughout the ride. The gliding sensation was extremely gentle and calming, and the scents gave a great atmosphere to the areas you would fly over. The ride ends by landing in Disneyland, which is stupid because the ride is from California Adventure (just advertising for Disneys 50th I suppose "Now arriving straight from Disneyland- Soarin!". A mild thrill is added to the end when the fireworks ignite with you still in the air, but it still wasnt frightening, more of just a pleasant surprise. One downpoint of the ride was how slowly it seemed to load, the line in the main terminal moved at a crawling pace, if it was even moving at all. The line was pretty long, but it was worth the experience. I think this ride is great for EPCOT because it ties in nicely with The Land Pavillion and its a ride that anyone can ride, from the most hardcore thrill seaker to a family with kids.
 

Review Comments

Scott on 1/4/2006 5:16:05 PM said:
Good review. Soarin at DCA also had the flyover of disneyland. It wasnt a 50th add campaign, the ride has always been like that. In fact, nothing on the whole ride changed. The footage was the exact same, you always land in disneyland It doesnt matter if its at dca or epcot. It was like that the first year it opened at DCA, and it will always be like that.
Swimace on 1/4/2006 7:54:40 PM said:
Ok, I knew that the whole thing was the same, except I didnt know whether or not they altered the ending to match the campaign. The 50th ad campaign for WDW is brigning Disney attractions from around the world to Orlando- Cindarellabration from Tokyo, Lights, Motors, Action from Disneyland Paris and Soarin from California, so I just figured they ended it that way to match the huge campaign that is literally all over the parks and resorts at WDW
mrceagle on 1/9/2006 2:27:02 AM said:
I think the trhill ride thing is to make you feel batter aobut waiting 60 minutes for it. I do with they woudl have taken the time to film a new video. maybe this will be one of teh additions to the park in the near future.
Swimace on 1/9/2006 7:21:01 AM said:
I doubt theyd change it, but it would be cool for the ride to fly over the WDW resort at the end. Like you enter the scene at MGM and then fly over Animal Kingdom followed by MK. From MK you race the monorail to EPCOT where you land.
mrceagle on 1/9/2006 9:29:52 AM said:
Basicly yes! The fact its the exact same video just yo me makes the atttraction sound cheep. I understand the ride mechanism isnt but the reused video just dosnt belong in WDW. This site for a long time Speculated what park and in Epcots chance World Pavilion would get the ride. I dont think any one emagined they would put in n the land pavilion.
Swimace on 1/9/2006 3:01:03 PM said:
I think it fits in really well in the Land Pavillion. The way they redesigned the Land Pavillion makes it look really nice and streamlined. Plus, the film is really breath-taking, even though its the same one from California. Using the same film plays to Disneys advantage in two ways. One, it fits their 100th anniversary campaign with bringing attractions from parks around the world. Second, not only is it very marketable, but its cheaper to not have to make a new film. Believe it or not Disney spenta LONG time making the original film, since much of the shooting was done on preserves where helicopters arent allowed. They had to take a lot of time getting the permits and approval to shoot each scene.
vbarbieri on 1/9/2006 3:49:19 PM said:
Swim, that is an awesome review of the attraction. If I may ask what was it about the ride that caused the one point deduction.
Swimace on 1/9/2006 10:25:49 PM said:
There wasnt really one particular thing that caused the point deduction, more of a few smaller things. For one, the ride was loading really slowly when I went, causing 120+ minute lines due to the fact that its brand new and a huge hit. Another thing is that Disney made the mistake of promising this as a thrill ride, and it doesnt give a good delivery in terms of thrills. I think it could have made a some more dramatic swooping movements at a couple of points. I also think the ending was kind of weak, although the surprise firework made up for that. Again, these were negative points, but they werent a big enough deal to cause more than one point deduction, so I sort of just lumped them together into one point.
vbarbieri on 1/9/2006 11:56:53 PM said:
Got it. We did a fastpass and nearly walked on. Agree cool ride but no real thrills other than the feeling that your feet were about to hit the water in the one sequence.
mrceagle on 1/10/2006 2:29:33 AM said:
I get your point of view and I undestand that they must have spent allot of effert geting the video made. but with DCA doing porly Its not a good idea to take one of its major atractions and instal it into another disney park. Using hte same video is cheaper but they have jsut maid an already starving park worth less.
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