Soarin’ over the Great Wall

[twitch]

Does anyone know the location of the portion of the Great Wall of China that is featured in Soarin’?

 

[HydroGuy]

I have been fortunate to have visited, and walked on, the Great Wall twice. Once in Badaling. And once in Simatai. Badaling is more commercialized.

I have wondered the same thing as you question here. I will state my conclusion first, which is that after 30 minutes of research I could not find out.

Here are some links for clues: https://d23.com/3-disney-easter-eggs-in-soarin-around-the-world/. Not sure if you have to be a D23 member to read this (I am, so I could read it), but here is a tidbit:

Visitors to the China pavilion at Epcot might feel a bit of déjà vu, though, because for the new Soarin’ attraction, Imagineers decided to shoot at the same location that was originally used for the 1982 Wonders of China Circle-Vision 360 film.

So I spent time searching for "Wonders of China" and Disney and was still not successful in finding a location for GWOC.

This Epcot film ended in 2003 apparently, and my first visit to WDW was not until 2006. So I have only seen the updated version there. Probably 3-4 times. I enjoy that film more than the ones in France and Canada pavilion.

I watched the 27 seconds of GWOC in Soarin on Youtube just now and I could not tell if it was Badaling or Simatai or other. It looked like Simatai to me but it cuts off right before I could see a landmark I was looking for that would confirm it for me.

Maybe some other Google sleuth who has more skills than I have can find the answer. I would like to know. Since the Soarin version shows a number of tourists, I would guess it is a tourist area. This link shows the top 10 nearest to Beijing. My guess it is one of these - https://www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/section/

 

[HydroGuy]

Let me add another tidbit to educate the larger world of Disney fans and maybe inspire you to travel...

Until Soarin' (Over the World) I had never heard of Iguazú Falls. It is on the border between Brazil and Argentina. This is the waterfall scene where the helicopter flies over the falls and then dives down. Iguazú has 275 waterfalls but the most famous is the one in Soarin' known as "Devil's Throat". Iguazú Falls is a National Park for both Brazil and Argentina and the border between the two countries is the Iguazú River. So as Soarin' flies you over the waterfalls, on the left is Argentina and on the right is Brazil (the helicopter is flying roughly north in Soarin'). That scene at Devil's Throat splits the countries.

The summer before last one of my sons was doing an internship in Brazil and invited me to come to Brazil to do some touring which included a visit to Iguazú Falls. I guess the bottom line is that Disney's Soarin' Over the World got me interested in the real place. Below is a photo of me and my son at Devil's Throat from the Argentina side (and the sun in our eyes LOL!). The helicopter in Soarin' would have been flying toward us from behind and then down behind us here when it dove.

I would have to say that Iguazú Falls is one of the most awesome and beautiful things I have ever seen. The river is literally just shy of one mile wide when it hits the falls. Devils' Throat is a small part of the main first drop. As far as comparisons to other waterfalls around the world, Iguazú Falls' claim to fame is that it is the largest in the world in terms of total water volume.

 

[Robinjay]

What a great thread! I am a history nerd (and teacher) and I searched too and could not find or figure out which part of the wall was shown either! One of my many Disney treasures is my Soarin hoodie that lists all the locations you visit!

Thanks for the great info on the falls too! Never been but maybe someday.... I need to get to China first though!

 

[HydroGuy]

What a great thread! I am a history nerd (and teacher) and I searched too and could not find or figure out which part of the wall was shown either! One of my many Disney treasures is my Soarin hoodie that lists all the locations you visit!

Thanks for the great info on the falls too! Never been but maybe someday.... I need to get to China first though!

I wanted to post another photo earlier, and resisted, but I gave up and will post one more. This is 9 years ago with then DS13 (now DS22 and taller than I am LOL - the Iguazú photo was an older son - who did not reach my height). This was at Simatai in November - not very green at that time of year. Also explains the warm clothing!

 

[Robinjay]

Thanks for the follow up picture. I was looking into China, and the ABD trip, but it is quite pricey and the single upcharge puts it way over the top. I want to add both Disney parks in (who wouldn’t) on top of the fantastic sites of China.

What great international travel experiences you have had (on top of all of your Disney trips)!

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for the follow up picture. I was looking into China, and the ABD trip, but it is quite pricey and the single upcharge puts it way over the top. I want to add both Disney parks in (who wouldn’t) on top of the fantastic sites of China.

What great international travel experiences you have had (on top of all of your Disney trips)!

The best was a couple safari's in South Africa. And I have lots of photos LOL!

And personally I would never use ABD on international travel. To Disneyfied from what I have seen. I want Disney inside parks, not in the real world LOL. I like to get up close to the local people and events whenever I can. But some folks choose it because they trust the Disney brand and the family emphasis, and I get that. Just not for me.

 

[IdahoDisneyFan]

I was fortunate enough to visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall in 2001. That's a definite possibility as well. I suspect it's not Badaling in the video simply because Badaling is the most crowded section of the wall and therefore less appealing for filming. The hotel we stayed out in Beijing suggested we pay a little extra for a private driver to the wall, rather than a bus. We were thankful we did as he took us to Mutianyu, which was less crowded. There were very few people on the wall the day we were there. Apparently Mutianyu is also the section that Clinton visited during his presidency, and also Michelle Obama and her daughters later on. Mutianyu is apparently the longest remaining section of the wall as well, so that's another point in its favor as far as filming it from above. Pure speculation on my part, as I only visited once and can't really tell from the video.