Epcot without Soarin...will anyone bother

[mdoc]

Soarin' is without a doubt my favorite ride at Epcot, and I would definitely miss it. However, for many of the years I've gone to WDW, Soarin' didn't exist. I always go to the parks at rope drop, and the absence of Soarin' might get me to sleep in, use my FPs for other attractions and spend more time in the World Showcase. If I'm not trying to ride Soarin' twice, I don't need to be there first thing. I enjoy Spaceship Earth, and Ellen's Energy Adventure is a wonderful air conditioned napping opportunity, but I can take or leave Test Track, Mission Space and Figment. We usually don't have time for The Living Seas, so I'd probably spend more time there. Fortunately, though, we were just at WDW and Soarin' will be reopened by the time we go again.

 

[momamy]

the line was always so long even with fast passes! I adore epcot! so much to do there!

 

[UKDisneyJoe]

I have been to WDW 2 times and have to say have never been on soarin. Always far too busy and prefer to have my FP on test track. Im the same as others and the pull for me with Epcot is the World Showcase. Could miss the fron completley and wouldnt be overly bothered.

 

[eeyoreland]

We would normally RD Epcot, hit Soarin or TT, and have a FP for the other. If lines were short we'd ride either one again without a FP. We always loved to do both multiple times. For our upcoming trip, I finally made the decision that we would not RD Epcot, but instead RD another park and do a FP for TT later in the day. I also have FP for Spaceship Earth and Figment, but I don't know that I'll use both of them. Might just use the FP for TT and then head to Disney Springs. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we'd only do TT once this trip. We are staying at Beach Club so if for some reason waits for TT very late in the day aren't too bad, then we might walk over and do it.

 

[Minnesota!]

I go to Epcot for the atmosphere and the various beers. I absolutely love Spaceship Earth and LWTL... Soarin was a decent ride, but definitely not the draw. As long as I can still find somewhere to sit with my beer and people watch - Epcot will remain my favorite park!

 

[smjj]

Soarin is one of our favorite and with Fastpass we rarely have more than a 15 minute wait. I am anxious to see the new show they plan. Has anyone heard anything about it? All I have heard is it is the entire world, not just California...smjj

 

[HopperFan]

Soarin is one of our favorite and with Fastpass we rarely have more than a 15 minute wait. I am anxious to see the new show they plan. Has anyone heard anything about it? All I have heard is it is the entire world, not just California...smjj

From Disney Parks "Go behind the scenes of the making of the new Soarin' Over the Horizon, coming to Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disney California Adventure Park at the Disneyland Resort."

 

[GillianP1301]

We like Soarin' and will miss it if it's still down during our next trip in Aug, but it certainly wouldn't keep me from going to EP and I can't imagine it would have that much of an impact overall on attendance. What I am expecting is longer than usual waits at the other FW attractions since there will be a large number of people displaced form what would've been a long Soarin' line. Now, factor in the Frozen attraction and suddenly those displaced people will have another long line to stand in, so it may end up being a wash for all the other attractions when Soarin is down, but Frozen is open.

 

[amylevan]

Last week, wait times continued to be down at EP.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2016/01/21/disney-world-crowd-calendar-report-january-10-to-16-2016/ - and I quote, "Epcot’s wait times appear to be lower than usual despite the closure of Soarin’, its main headliner. A significant closure can affect a park in one of two ways – the reduced capacity increases waits at the other attractions or the closure dissuades guests from heading to the park and wait times decrease. So far, the wait times we have seen suggest the latter is more likely."

So, despite everyone on here saying they will still visit EP as planned, that does not seem to be what is actually happening. Or perhaps people are just bypassing FW and heading straight to WS?

 

[gorkt]

Soarin is cool, but overhyped really. I think I actually like Test Track and even Mission Space Orange a little better. I think it's popular because it is accessible to everyone,from junior to Gramma. My favorite part of EPCOT is World Showcase anyway so missing Soarin would not make me stay away from EPCOT.

 

[smjj]

I understand this redo also includes at least two additional screens and the photos I have seen they are being built between Imagination and The Land. Has anyone seen a stat indicating these additional screen will reduce waits time and if so by how much? I am sure this was a study that Disney has done, they usually do not miss stuff like this...smjj

 

[HopperFan]

I understand this redo also includes at least two additional screens and the photos I have seen they are being built between Imagination and The Land. Has anyone seen a stat indicating these additional screen will reduce waits time and if so by how much? I am sure this was a study that Disney has done, they usually do not miss stuff like this...smjj

No, one additional screen so 87 more seats. The two old screens are getting replaced as is their projection equipment.

Queue lines are being completely rebuilt as new theater supposed to have its own line. Theaters will be just SB or just FP.

 

[Yahweh]

What will Epcot will be like before 11 am? Other than test track is there anything ride that requires one to be in Epcot before 11am to avoid long lines. I don't imagine World Showcase will be any slower. I also wonder if Sunshine Seasons will be much quieter during this time. I always make at least two visits to the Land each trip apart from Soar'in. Seasons and Living with the Land are still enough for me to make that trek as I really love both the ride and the restaurant.

 

[DoingDisney]

You will have a ton of people HERE, say, yea absolutely I will go to EPCOT without Soarin'. Of Course a lot of the Die Hard Disney fans are still going to go. That being said, I bet a lot of the non-disney die hards wont. Its one less attraction, one less thing to do. I imagine if people are deciding how to split up their vacation, for people who aren't die hard fans, one less ride means something to them. That being said, I don't think the impact will be as big as we might expect, the same people also don't know the difference between Soarin and Figment ... so there is that too

 

[kbelle8995]

Plus at least Epcot is still holding Food and Wine as Well as Flower and Garden. These two festivals make visiting Epcot worth it.

The park that is off my list is Hollywood Studios. The two things I loved to see was Star Wars Weekends and Osborn lights. Now those are gone I can't think of a good reason to go over there.

 

[chelynnah]

Oops wrong thread

 

[OKW Lover]

No, one additional screen so 87 more seats. The two old screens are getting replaced as is their projection equipment.

Queue lines are being completely rebuilt as new theater supposed to have its own line. Theaters will be just SB or just FP.

Correct, a 50% increase in ride capacity. If all else were equal (which it is not) that would reduce the wait times. Of course the countervailing factor is that this will be a new film which will attract more people.

The Queue lines are being rebuilt. The Imagineers worked very hard to make the walking to each of the three concourses the same. The only line section that is exclusive to the new screen is from the split point onward. Its not a completely separate line.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

We've had to skip Soarin' every time we've been to EPCOT because of motion illness issues in travel party. (Which is unfortunate because I'd like to try it at least once.)

That being said, yep, we'll still "bother". There are a few things we love to do in Future World, but World Showcase is the true attraction there for us.

You've GOTTA Try it. It's my favorite.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

Plenty of guests don't even know that Soarin' is closed. When I work at Epcot, I try and make a point of mentioning it to folks when they buy tickets. It deters virtually no one from buying a ticket for the park, in my experience.

 

[Praying Colonel]

DW and I just spent the day before our cruise in EP last week. In spite of the cold temps*, we had a great time. We got there around 12:30, didn't leave until closing and still didn't have time to do a lot of the things we would've liked to have done. So while I'm sorry Soarin was closed, we still found plenty to do (and drink ).




*--It was 65 during the day, in the upper 40s at night and it felt cold! I'm sitting here looking out my window at a winter storm laying down several inches of snow, so it seems weird to talk about 60 degree temps being cold, but dang if Orlando isn't the coldest 60-degree place I've visited.