jaletu2000 said:
Can you tell us something about what the ride was like? I mean, does it go high and you feel like you could fall out? OR do you have a safe comfortable feeling? Any thoughts?
Okay, I will gladly tell you about the ride, but I want to warn those who do not want to hear about the ride and want to be surprised to skip this post.
The "hang-gliders" that you load into are large, some sit 10+ across. Each person has their own seat. The young kids have a loop that their seat belt goes through so they are also secure. This ride is for any age. You first enter the pre-ride area and are placed in row 1, 2 or 3. Row 1 will load first, then row 2 and then row 3. There's a place under your seat to place your packages. When you sit, you use a seat belt. They will ask you to pull on the yellow strap. That strap is attached to your seat belt and when you pull on it, you know that your seat belt is securely in the buckle. There are THREE sets of THREE rows of seats so LOTS of people ride this ride all at the same time. Once everyone is seated and secure, the ride begins by the first row rising up, followed by the second row and the third....sorta like a slow, easy ferris wheel as you are brought up to your viewing level. Your feet do dangle. If you are in the center section, you will see a hang glider on your left and right. At that point you begin seeing clouds and begin your journey. You feel the slight motion of flying, but no falling...it's very enjoyable. Your glider slightly tilts up and back at different times to help you feel increased altitude or decreased altitude as you fly. My friend who rode with me and was not sure if she could ride because she gets dizzy easily. She loved it and said that whenever she worried at all about being dizzy, she just looked at the person sitting next to her and reminded herself that we were just sitting there. The second time she rode, she was hooked and wanted to ride it over and over again. When you ride in the first row, you are on top...the second row is in the middle (you can see the feet of the first row above you), and the third row is on the bottom. We never got the chance to ride in the third row, but hope to. It would be the closest to the bottom of the screen...giving you the effect of splashing in the water as you go across the waves. I found myself lifting my feet a few times (I'm tall), but there never a time when you are doing anything but basically sitting in a chair. One of the CM's we talked to has an 83 year old grandmother and she was coming to the AP preview and was going to ride it. He was excited because this was the first ride that he has worked on that she could ride. I never felt like I was going to fall out. I made sure my seat belt was secure and there are side rails you can hold onto should you want to, but they are not needed at all. I do not like roller coasters, so I assure you that you don't get a roller coaster stomach with this one. They also use scents to simulate the locations, such as pine scent during the scenes with pine trees and orange scent when you go over the orange trees. I could tell more, but I think that's enough to assure you about the gentleness of the ride.
Just got back from a week at WDW and got to preview Soaring!!
Oh WE LOVE SOARING over CALIFORNIA at California Adventure at 
