huskies90
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2004
- Messages
- 2,466
I'll thrown in my $0.02 here.
The old version of Soarin’ was my favorite attraction at Disney. I rode it 50+ times and loved it every time. When I heard about the update, my feeling was: with all the attractions needing work, updates or replacements all over the resort, why the heck would they change one of the most popular attractions that pretty much everyone loved as is?
I am one of the frequent Disney visitors that likes changes and updates to attractions rather than keeping the nostalgia of the “way it was”. I thought (and still think) the new Test Track is an improvement over the old version. So, I went into the new ride with an open mind. I rode Soarin’ 4 times on our trip over 4th of July - twice without fastpasses so, first off, the new theater is a great addition. The crispness and cleanliness of the picture and sound was also great.
But unfortunately, each time I rode Soarin’ around the world, I liked it less and less. There are several reasons why:
1) I could not get passed how computer generated everything was. I couldn’t stop myself from pointing out what was real and what was fake. Clearly all the animals, people and effects were fake but I felt a lot of the scenery was too – The Taj Mahal obviously was completely CGI. And the bending was awful. We sat in row 1 middle twice and on the sides twice and the Eiffel Tower bending is ridiculous and very noticeable even in the middle.
2) I am not sure why, but I did not get the sense of flying on this version. I felt a lot more like I was watching scenes in an iMax movie from a seat in a theater and the fact that it is mostly CGI, not even a good iMax movie.
3) I did not like the transitions between scenes. It just didn't flow from scene to scene like the old one did. Again it seemed like it was just watching scenes from a movie. The startling gimmicks got old quick.
4) I could not relate to most of the scenes. I have been to many of the places in California and could almost picture myself flying over some of them on a hang glider. I did not get that feeling going over most of the world scenes.
5) The music was always one of my favorite parts of the old show. While they incorporated the old music nicely, it did not have the same crescendo effect the old ride had.
6) After years and years of seeing the old Soarin’ many times, there was always applause as the ride ended and you backed up to your launch spot. Not one of the 4 rides I was on last week received the thunderous applause from the audience at the end. That tells you something.
The new Soarin’ is still a great ride. I like the world concept and some of the effects are neat/cute. I am sure I will ride it again and again but to me, this update was a downgrade. My hope is they clean up the old film and bring it back on occasion or dedicate one of the theaters to California – like a second destination in a airport.
The old version of Soarin’ was my favorite attraction at Disney. I rode it 50+ times and loved it every time. When I heard about the update, my feeling was: with all the attractions needing work, updates or replacements all over the resort, why the heck would they change one of the most popular attractions that pretty much everyone loved as is?
I am one of the frequent Disney visitors that likes changes and updates to attractions rather than keeping the nostalgia of the “way it was”. I thought (and still think) the new Test Track is an improvement over the old version. So, I went into the new ride with an open mind. I rode Soarin’ 4 times on our trip over 4th of July - twice without fastpasses so, first off, the new theater is a great addition. The crispness and cleanliness of the picture and sound was also great.
But unfortunately, each time I rode Soarin’ around the world, I liked it less and less. There are several reasons why:
1) I could not get passed how computer generated everything was. I couldn’t stop myself from pointing out what was real and what was fake. Clearly all the animals, people and effects were fake but I felt a lot of the scenery was too – The Taj Mahal obviously was completely CGI. And the bending was awful. We sat in row 1 middle twice and on the sides twice and the Eiffel Tower bending is ridiculous and very noticeable even in the middle.
2) I am not sure why, but I did not get the sense of flying on this version. I felt a lot more like I was watching scenes in an iMax movie from a seat in a theater and the fact that it is mostly CGI, not even a good iMax movie.
3) I did not like the transitions between scenes. It just didn't flow from scene to scene like the old one did. Again it seemed like it was just watching scenes from a movie. The startling gimmicks got old quick.
4) I could not relate to most of the scenes. I have been to many of the places in California and could almost picture myself flying over some of them on a hang glider. I did not get that feeling going over most of the world scenes.
5) The music was always one of my favorite parts of the old show. While they incorporated the old music nicely, it did not have the same crescendo effect the old ride had.
6) After years and years of seeing the old Soarin’ many times, there was always applause as the ride ended and you backed up to your launch spot. Not one of the 4 rides I was on last week received the thunderous applause from the audience at the end. That tells you something.
The new Soarin’ is still a great ride. I like the world concept and some of the effects are neat/cute. I am sure I will ride it again and again but to me, this update was a downgrade. My hope is they clean up the old film and bring it back on occasion or dedicate one of the theaters to California – like a second destination in a airport.
