Victor Kelly
Well-Known Member
Soarin.........over rated. Sorry but it reminds me of circle vision in many ways. Yes it has smells, and yes the screen is huge, yes it moves. But seriously, the lines are too long to watch a video.
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New Film for Soarin' and Potential 3rd Theater
- Thread starter RSoxNo1
- Start date
Its TDO, best we would get for 'green' version would be an ipod nano and you just listen to the Soarin soundtrack in a rocking chair. Thats REAL value engineering, folks!!!
cw1982
Well-Known Member
For an upcharge, you can even buy themed headphones and a seat cushion for during the show.
flynnibus
Premium Member
No it isn't.
Its one of the more consistent attractions in DCA. 20+mins or up to an hour on busy days.
Calling it "just a video" is bad form. Soarin is an experience, not just a ride. From the pre-flight video to the last boom of the fireworks, its just fun. The music, the movement, and the scenes all come together nicely (IMO). I remember my first time riding. I was blown away. Is the wait worth the experience? For a first time visitor, Id say yes. For someone who has been on it more than 3 times, no. Ive probly ridden over 50 times and I get excited every time I take my seat.
Soarin also has become "stale" to some people due to a lack of other experiences in EPCOT and its appeal has been lessened to a degree as a result of people wanting more experiences and perhaps they start to look at Soarin in a manor of "I dont want to ride it again"
GoofGoof
Premium Member
There is a lot more to do at DCA and there are also a lot less people there then at EPCOT on an average day. I think it works out to about 8K per day on average less people at DCA. During peak attendance times at DCA there is still a decent line at Soarin. During low attendance times the capacity probably comes close to or even exceeds demand so it's a short line or walk on. The only way to achieve that at EPCOT is to reduce attendance by a 2 or 3 million a year or increase capacity.
I think the capacity for Soarin is around 1,300 per hour so in a 12 hour day 15,600 riders. DCA is often open more than 12 hours so the capacity is slightly higher. DCA had attendance of 8.5M in 2013 or roughly 23,000 people per day. EPCOT had attendance of 11.2M or roughly 31,000 people per day. The other factor is the demographic of guests. A lot of WDW visitors are not local or frequent visitors so they tend to want to ride at least all of the headliners on their trip. DCA has a much more local, regular visitor focus who may not ride every ride each visit. Especially recently as Carsland opened. This increases demand at EPCOT as well.
I'm not sure that demand for Soarin would drop dramatically if they they added new rides or refurbed existing ones. Demand will also probably increase at both parks when the new film is added.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Agreed. Although I've never seen Soarin' a "walk-on" at DCA except at the very end of the night. It usually has a 20 to 30 minute wait consistently, in my experience.
As for Epcot... Oh, how it pains me to see my second-favorite Disney park suffer like this.
DCA has many more rides and attractions and major entertainment than Epcot does, and yet Epcot is expected to host several million more people per year than DCA. And so to help fix this ride capacity issue they are adding extra seats to Soarin'? This will be nice for Soarin', but it won't do a darn thing for adding new experiences to Epcot or freshening the painfully dated rides that are getting moldier and more irrelevant by the minute (lookin' at you Energy and Imagination, and Mission Space isn't aging well only a decade later IMO).
Epcot needs new rides and new pavilions and desperately needs makeovers at its opening-day pavilions. Adding extra seats to Soarin' will make some executives MyMagic+ capacity spreadsheet look better, but it won't solve the core issues of Epcot in the 2010's and beyond.
It's astonishing to me that no one with any power in TDO can see that and change course.
RunOrlando
Member
I'm hoping there's more than one film and they rotate them. Make it like Star Tours so I get a variety of different experiences.
RunOrlando
Member
Agreed. Although I've never seen Soarin' a "walk-on" at DCA except at the very end of the night. It usually has a 20 to 30 minute wait consistently, in my experience.
As for Epcot... Oh, how it pains me to see my second-favorite Disney park suffer like this.
DCA has many more rides and attractions and major entertainment than Epcot does, and yet Epcot is expected to host several million more people per year than DCA. And so to help fix this ride capacity issue they are adding extra theaters to Soarin'? This will be nice for Soarin', but it won't do a darn thing for adding new experiences to Epcot or freshening the painfully dated rides that are getting moldier by the minute (lookin' at you Energy and Imagination, and Mission Space isn't aging well only a decade later IMO).
Epcot needs new rides and new pavilions and desperately needs updates to opening-day pavilions like Energy and Imagination. Adding extra seats to Soarin' will make some executives MyMagic+ capacity spreadsheet look better, but it won't solve the core issues of Epcot in the 2010's and beyond. It's astonishing that no one with any power in TDO can see that and change course.
It will only change when people stop going.
It's astonishing to me that no one with any power in TDO can see that and change course.
Perhaps someone does and either can't or won't change course. Whether it's your example, or mine, both are extremely sad
GoofGoof
Premium Member
Agreed, EPCOT needs a bunch of work. Not Frozen Maelstrom, but real upgrades and/or additions. I'm not at all saying I would be happy with just an additional theater for Soarin and nothing else at EPCOT. I think this will help solve the capacity issues at Soarin and will also make FP+ reservations more readily available (maybe even day of visit) which is probably the real end game. Not sure what they can do with TT though.Agreed. Although I've never seen Soarin' a "walk-on" at DCA except at the very end of the night. It usually has a 20 to 30 minute wait consistently, in my experience.
As for Epcot... Oh, how it pains me to see my second-favorite Disney park suffer like this.
DCA has many more rides and attractions and major entertainment than Epcot does, and yet Epcot is expected to host several million more people per year than DCA. And so to help fix this ride capacity issue they are adding extra seats to Soarin'? This will be nice for Soarin', but it won't do a darn thing for adding new experiences to Epcot or freshening the painfully dated rides that are getting moldier by the minute (lookin' at you Energy and Imagination, and Mission Space isn't aging well only a decade later IMO).
Epcot needs new rides and new pavilions and desperately needs updates to opening-day pavilions like Energy and Imagination. Adding extra seats to Soarin' will make some executives MyMagic+ capacity spreadsheet look better, but it won't solve the core issues of Epcot in the 2010's and beyond. It's astonishing that no one with any power in TDO can see that and change course.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Sadly, you may be right. Epcot opened in 1982 as a showcase for American Free Enterprise, and one of the tenets of free enterprise is supply-and-demand. But Walt Disney and his team had always overlayed their adoration of American Free Enterprise with a unique and fabulous sense of showmanship, which wouldn't have let Epcot's feature attractions become as moldy as they are now.
As for what they do with the extra theaters... Last year a MiceAge Update mentioned the concept for the DCA facility of having both the updated California film and the new World film playing at the same time, with visitors allowed to choose which film to see. And/or the MiceAge crew has also reported that they may debut the updated digital California film first, then slot in the World film a year or two later after it debuts at Shanghai Disneyland. This plan would seem to be much easier at Epcot if they got an extra theater or two.
I rode Soarin' at DCA earlier this summer. It needs an update. The views of San Diego and LA have changed dramatically in the last 15 years since that film was shot, and while DCA does a better job of keeping the film clean and sharp, the use of film looks grainy and old-fashioned to our eyes in 2014 as we are now used to HD digital in our daily lives. And then you go to Best Buy and look at those giant 65 inch curved 4K TV sets they are selling now and Soarin' in 70mm film looks downright archaic!
RunOrlando
Member
I think part of the problem for EPCOT is that now technology moves too fast. How can Innoventions remain relevant if 5 months after an exhibit goes up it's out of date?
Thanks for posting this. It's certainly not a walk on in California, however wait times are definitely less. That's a function of less crowds, and more attractions to spread out those crowds. The attraction lineup in DCA is stronger than any Florida park except MK.No it isn't.
Its one of the more consistent attractions in DCA. 20+mins or up to an hour on busy days.
If it is two theaters being added, they could theoretically do this with no down time. Have both new theaters ready to go, close the existing two for upgrades and re-open with regular capacity. Then when the existing theaters are ready you've doubled capacity with no down time. Perhaps the only need for downtime would be continuing the queue/putting a hole in a wall.
bhg469
Well-Known Member
I would agree it's nicer than just a video but the clarity of the screen is what detracts me. I can't stand how blurry it is.
bhg469
Well-Known Member
You lease it out to a university that is doing real research.
misterID
Well-Known Member
I understand this opinion, I really do, I've heard it a lot, but that's really not the case (not about Innoventions, that place should have been replaced years ago) but EPCOT in general. HORIZONS (yeah, I'm going there) future living scenes still have not been reached. It's really staying on top of refurbs and keeping it fresh not turning classic immersive rides into GLORIFIED SPINNERS.
FutureWorld1982
Well-Known Member
Is Soarin' SERIOUSLY in 70mm? Real question, as that's the same as Captain EO!
Victor Kelly
Well-Known Member
Not a fan of the Universal parks either? Lots of rides featuring videos
No honestly I am not a big fan of Universal of late. Soarin seems a video, compared to Spiderman which is very immersive. Did not get on the HP ride when we were there in 2010 as the wait was 4 hours long. Simpsons ride was neat. Personally I am not a fan of video screens as the signature part of an attraction. I love the environments of POTC, WOM, Horizons, HM.......animatronic rides. Then there are the coasters, love them all. I can get video screens at home or at work.