Meanwhile, over in DCA, Soarin’ Over California was supposed to have been closed by now for a two month long refurbishment to transition to the new HD digital projection format to replace the original film projectors. Instead, the ride just finished a staggered refurbishment where each theater was closed for a week at a time for basic mechanical work on the flying carriages. The real Soarin’ project is purely a technical show upgrade, and it’s largely budgeted by the Shanghai Disneyland project and the twin-theater Soarin’ attraction being built in that park currently. But in January the long Soarin’ refurbishment at DCA was abruptly cancelled due to problems WDI has been having with the cutting-edge 4K HD projectors slated for this project in both Anaheim and Shanghai. It seems the new 4K projectors are just too cutting-edge for 2014, but could realistically arrive by 2015.
There is a very unfortunate tale behind the scenes here involving the company supplying the 4K projectors and miscommunication between WDI and the contractors. Tempers are flaring all over the place on this one. Because it’s so messy and lawyers on both sides are now involved, we won’t get into the details here. But just know that the project is still moving forward for both parks, although the timeline for Anaheim to get the HD upgrade now looks like it’s going to align with the installation of the projectors in the Shanghai facility in 2015. While the theater upgrades are delayed now, the flyover of the Anaheim parks next week is still on as helicopters are set to buzz both parks with HD cameras on March 12th. We’d told you of that March 12th date last year as WDI had to get permits and clearances settled far in advance, and the problems with the attraction projectors itself won’t slow that down. Don’t bother waving to the camera however, as Disneyland’s Security team is going to ensure that the late night flight path over the parks is clear of looky-loos.
