Soarin LIVE reports!

[mavslab]

We are heading to Epcot tomorrow and while I don't plan on riding Soarin I am worried about how busy the park will be. My DH is here on work and I have taken the boys to the other parks but our last day tomorrow is when the older two want to do Mission Space and Test Track.
Do you think Epcot will be a nightmare? We also have lunch reservations at Garden Grill...I will have to take pictures of the line just as a keepsake.

We went to Epcot Monday and yesterday (and this morning just for our Soarin fp before checkout) and the crowds seemed very low to me. I think today was all about the opening as the crowds were larger and all headed to Soarin. We fp'd TT and MS and then everything else was literally 15-20 minute wait both Monday & yesterday

 

[Jetku]

.....just to be clear, that's a seven, not a two...it's a 75 min wait currently, not 25 minutes but hey...still beats the 240 mins posted this morning when it opened!

It was 25 at the time, now 55

 

[WillAustin]

Do you think Epcot will be a nightmare? We also have lunch reservations at Garden Grill...I will have to take pictures of the line just as a keepsake.

By lunchtime today the lines were well inside the queue despite a posted 120 minutes. I wouldn't worry about the park in general either.

 

[jbish]

I figure there are three groups who decided to go to Soarin' today:

1) The "gotta be first" crowd, probably nearly all holders of Annual Passes.
2) Bloggers and similar assorted riff-raff.
3) People for whom this is the last day of a vacation, and who decided they couldn't wait until the next time at WDW.

I have to imagine there's also a significant group of people like me. Happen to be on vacation on this day. "In the know" because we are on the DIS and were able to secure a FP. I would categorize us as the "lucky" ones.

 

[jbish]

The Epcot crowd is very light today.

This is true. I found the crowds to be quite light considering its summer.

 

[kaymil]

What is the facination with David Putty as the narriator for the pre-show? Yea he is good but some of the comments make it seem like that is better than the entire ride.

I think its a joke.

I take it you have not seen The Emperor's New Groove, one of Disney's most under-appreciated films. Patrick at his best. Soarin' = Kronk to me, and that's the way I like it.

 

[joelkfla]

FP'ed at 4pm. The new film way exceeded my expectations. Disney hit a home run with this one. Music theme is the same, with different accents and instruments added for the countries. Same preshow. A cm told me the ending is tailored for each park. Like the new not-so-hidden Mickey at the end.

 

[Dr.Mickey]

I figure there are three groups who decided to go to Soarin' today:

1) The "gotta be first" crowd, probably nearly all holders of Annual Passes.
2) Bloggers and similar assorted riff-raff.
3) People for whom this is the last day of a vacation, and who decided they couldn't wait until the next time at WDW.

OP here again. We fit your number 3. Magical express picks us up at noon today. That's why never-rope-droppers like us got up with the sun yesterday. It was fun enough that we now want an early morning once per trip in the future.

 

[Slapshot1188]

Made it into the first showing today. We got to the gates at 7:45 today. Here was the entrance at maybe 8:15



Screen and technology was great. Felt like the scenes were a bit too rushed so they could squeeze a lot of countries in. Kind of prefer the original, but with the new screens. Would be great if they made that an option for one of the concourses.

 

[jennyl772003]

Oh boy.. I'm going to have to really disagree with the positive reviews of this ride. We thought it was terrible.

The pros: we rode fast pass and the queue seemed more appealing. We rode concourse c which I assume is the new one.. It was fine. Exact same pre show video. Scents were grass,, ocean and flowers. The video is clear. Similar score.

The cons: everything else. The video is terrible. The screen is curved, but the video is not formatted with that it mind, so everything is curved and leaning. Very badly. It's CGI.. Noticably. The animals and people are bad. I would hazard a guess that the entire thing is CGI. The transitions are things being thrown at you. My husband said there was wind when this happened, but that is the only response of the ride. Did not feel nearly as swoopy as the original. My husband thinks upper management should be upset at this ride.. I agree.. I'll be switching my other soarin fastpass. I don't need to ride that again.

 

[KateP85]

As a local you have that luxury. If someone is never going to come back, or at least not for years and years and years, waiting for something you really want to do is your only choice so you do it.

I understand where you're coming from, but I'm just not a big fan of lines and I honestly wouldn't wait that long even if it were my only chance to ride ever. It's just a ride. I get that other people feel differently, I just think they're crazy!

 

[Slapshot1188]

I agree kind of regarding the contoured screen. At times it hurt... Like the bent in 45 degree angle Eiffel Tower

 

[jennyl772003]

Exactly. And so much of the video is a crooked focal point. Distorted taj mahal, bent over Eiffel tower, crooked great wall...

I agree kind of regarding the contoured screen. At times it hurt... Like the bent in 45 degree angle Eiffel Tower

 

[fbarker]

And behind us at 8:46
View attachment 175959

I dont see many smiles!!!!!

 

[smallworldnh]

I take it you have not seen The Emperor's New Groove, one of Disney's most under-appreciated films. Patrick at his best. Soarin' = Kronk to me, and that's the way I like it.

My absolute favorite Disney movie!! I love Kuzco and Kronk!!

 

[sndral]

...I am hoping this all calms down before our trip lol...otherwise hubby will be getting a snack and missing out on Garden Grill so he can wait in the Soarin line for my son, lol...I can't do Soarin bc I get vertigo so I was planning to do Living w/ The Land with my toddler and my hubby and older son get ride Soarin. Heres to hoping things calm down a bit, lol

Fortunately it sounds like things are slowing down so your divide and conquer strategy may not be required. I'm a bit confused and probably misread the post - you weren't planning on having your hubby stand in line and 'saving a place' for your son while said son ate breakfast w/ you and the toddler and then sending the son down the line to cut in front of all those children/adults who waited in the line. I've read posts of people who block line cutters and thus wouldn't send a child down solo trying to do so especially past people who've waited a long time in said line and feel strongly 'vested' in their line position

Soarin is the only ride I would wait an hour for. Guess I am insane

I've been to DL & WDW enough that sadly I confess I've probably waited an hour in most popular ride lines.
I've waited an hour in the old Soarin que, I like the ride and don't feel crowded in the line (unlike some of those narrow winding jam packed lines.) I won't wait that long for TSM anymore, for example, I like the ride - but those switch back lines make the wait seem so much longer than Soarin where you get to wave your arms around and interact w/ the wall during the wait.

While I appreciate the fact that someone thought it would be cool to post video from the new ride, there is no way in heeeeeellllllllllllll I'm looking at it with 4 days left before we go on it!
Talk about the ultimate spoiler...sheesh ;-)

I'm ambivalent about watching as we won't be back until late next year, maybe I'll plan a quick couple of days down to DL this fall just to check it out (DL is on 'my' coast.)
I really liked the orange smell, so I'll miss that.

 

[yulilin3]

Had a fp got 3:10, standby line was 30 minutes, today.
I agree that the cgi is bad, it looks really fake. If there wasn't reports of people actually seeing the helicopters flying around the globe getting the footage I would've thought it was all cgi.
I think that Over California has an edge on Around the World

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Fortunately it sounds like things are slowing down so your divide and conquer strategy may not be required. I'm a bit confused and probably misread the post - you weren't planning on having your hubby stand in line and 'saving a place' for your son while said son ate breakfast w/ you and the toddler and then sending the son down the line to cut in front of all those children/adults who waited in the line. I've read posts of people who block line cutters and thus wouldn't send a child down solo trying to do so especially past people who've waited a long time in said line and feel strongly 'vested' in their line position

I thought this would be a good idea bc we would more than likely be done eating by 8:30-8:45 so before the park opens so I didn't think it would be a problem, but then I remembered how long the hallway is to get to the ride so I rethought that decision...My son is on the spectrum so I really don't trust him to walk down that long hallway by himself. Worse case scenario if we get done eating at Garden Grill and there is a wait already we will more than likely have a DAS so we will just get a return time for Soarin since we don't usually need the DAS for any other ride in Epcot so we could tie it up for a while if need be. I always try to plan stuff without having to use the DAS but if need be we will. I have very meticulous planning skills, lol...I usually try to think about all the different angles and how to do something with either plan A, B, or C and then go from there, lol...it usually takes me 9 months - a year to plan trips to Disney...I am just obsessive, but I want to make sure I think of everything so nothing is a surprise for my son

 

[Planogirl]

Oh boy.. I'm going to have to really disagree with the positive reviews of this ride. We thought it was terrible.

The pros: we rode fast pass and the queue seemed more appealing. We rode concourse c which I assume is the new one.. It was fine. Exact same pre show video. Scents were grass,, ocean and flowers. The video is clear. Similar score.

The cons: everything else. The video is terrible. The screen is curved, but the video is not formatted with that it mind, so everything is curved and leaning. Very badly. It's CGI.. Noticably. The animals and people are bad. I would hazard a guess that the entire thing is CGI. The transitions are things being thrown at you. My husband said there was wind when this happened, but that is the only response of the ride. Did not feel nearly as swoopy as the original. My husband thinks upper management should be upset at this ride.. I agree.. I'll be switching my other soarin fastpass. I don't need to ride that again.

You think that it's all CGI? Wow.

 

[jimim]

I take it you have not seen The Emperor's New Groove, one of Disney's most under-appreciated films. Patrick at his best. Soarin' = Kronk to me, and that's the way I like it.

Best movie Disney ever made!