Someone recently asked me if I had gone on Soarin' Over California on our most recent trip to Disneyland. Eh...no.... It was closed four of the five days we were there over occupational health and safety issues. Now once upon a time a Soarin' closure, especially an unexpected one, would have met with a reaction somewhere between sadness and fury. But this time being shut out of Soarin' just caused me to move on. There was no crying, no whining, no fist shaking.....just move on to the next ride.
You see over the years, the must-do Soarin' Over California attraction in DCA has grown a bit stale. I wouldn't say it's boring, just the sense of "been there, done that" a few too many times. The excitement just isn't there as it once was. Kind of a shame really because the technology behind the ride is really amazing and the understated but dramatic queue line with a great music score may be my favorite line to stand in.
With Soarin' - it's all about the movie and there is only so many times you can see the same movie before it gets old, even if you are flying through it. You here it all the time on Disney forums and message boards that the film needs to be updated. Been hearing that for years. Well now the time has finally come, especially considering the huge improvement that was made to Star Tours and the ability to take you to multiple destinations on the ride.
Yes, the film shown in Soarin' should now be able to made digitally on computers without having the expense of sending a film crew all over the world to shoot it. The film could then be easily adapted with more computer work to the movements of the erctor set seating arrangement that sends you into the air. And multiple films could be made and adapted to the same seat movements giving the illusion of several ride experiences when there is really one with multiple destinations projected in front of you.
The complacency that has set in with Soarin' Over California is quite fixable but I suppose as long as there is a demand to get on the ride by park guests, the budget money needed to get the attraction back to its original greatness can be used on other projects. Hopefully changes for the attraction come sooner rather than later. It is far too great of a ride attraction to allow it fall by the wayside with other park and ride updates that are seemingly always taking place.
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