I've noticed that too in recent years. Epcot's version of Soarin' is 7 years old and looks bad, and DCA's is 11 years old and looks great. I learned the reason why at DCA recently, and it was confirmed by some reputable sources here who are more familiar with the WDW version. It all has to do with the facilities built, and the upkeep given to them.
At DCA's version of Soarin' they have two separate "Clean Rooms" where the projectors are housed near the top of the domes. The Clean Rooms are double-sealed rooms with special HEPA filtration vents and a HVAC system that creates a higher pressure inside the room than found outside the second door, so it's very hard to allow dirt and dust into the projection rooms to begin with. It's the same sort of technology used in high-tech operating rooms and laboratories, and it was custom built for the Soarin' theaters.
I learned this while waiting in Standby from a very personable supervisor at Soarin' named David who is quite proud of the attraction. In addition, he told me that the CM in the theater checks the film on each trip and if any blemishes show up that may have been brought in on the film print itself, they call the "Facilities" team who has a workshop in the DCA building and staffs a projector tech at all times. With one phone call the projector technician can enter the specific Clean Room and spraydust the film print after the ride ends and before the next show begins. David said you can get a speck or dust bunny on the DCA film sometimes, but it's something that is usually noted and fixed within a viewing or two.
The Epcot version of Soarin' has two theaters, but they didn't include the expensive Clean Room technology and instead just use average projector rooms like you'd find at a movie theater. Also, there's a difference in the maintenance schedule between the two parks. The Soarin' film prints at DCA are replaced after 6,000 viewings, but the Epcot prints are replaced after 12,000 viewings. This can affect the color and image quality by the time it gets towards the 8,000th viewing, so roughly a third of the Epcot viewings are presenting a less than stellar image, in addition to any dirt or specks that may float around.
David the Soarin' supervisor has been to the WDW version and received a backstage tour, and there is quite a difference in their operations. The result is a duller film image and lots of dust bunnies at the Epcot version. But it seems like a fix may be possible by incorporating DCA's Clean Room technology and a different maintenance mindset for the attraction if and when the film gets replaced.
I never did understand why you were flying over California in a Florida theme park to begin with. :lol:
It's such an amazing concept.
