New Film for Soarin' and Potential 3rd Theater

[mm121]

I'll expand this by saying that the only way this makes sense AT ALL is just swapping out the film, as the cost for creating the new film is spread across multiple parks. That's just the film, the ride programming, maybe the projection equiptment.
Spending money to add a 3rd theater here while the rest of Future World flat out crumbles into nothing is a crime. I don't care if people spend 90 minutes to wait here and adding a 3rd theater might cut that wait down. They are standing there because there is literally NOTHING else to do at Epcot (aside from drink). Update one of the other terrible attractions, draw guests over and away from Soarin' by giving them something else to do. That'll cut down the line as well.

Definitely agree with this.. a third theatre kind of feels like the easy way out in terms of adding capacity. yes its a big capital expenditure, but its technology they already have designed and a ride thats already built vs creating new things from scratch like is happening for Pandora.

It would be nice if more of the countries got attractions, or more countries were added somehow, but the problem with is in the past Disney wanted the countries themselves to pay for some of the cost of constructing their own attractions. Not sure this is still current policy or not but if it is it could explain the lack of construction in the world showcase.

I know theres a few expansion pads around the lagoon that have never been used, though if they really wanted to go world crazy and add a ton of countries, they could possibly build a waterway between norway and mexico and then relocate some of the backstage buildings. that would be awesome!!

World showcase needs AUSTRALIA!!

 

[Mouse_Trap]

I can never get my head around why Soarin' is so popular, I can't think of it as anything above an enjoyable yet mediocre attraction.

Basically its just a sit down version of the 360 Cinema's typically found in small local theme parks in the 80's. My local park even used almost identical footage as Soarin' - just 20 years earlier.

That said, it will be good to see the attraction enhanced and extra capacity added. It certainly needs it.

 

[danlb_2000]

Definitely agree with this.. a third theatre kind of feels like the easy way out in terms of adding capacity. yes its a big capital expenditure, but its technology they already have designed and a ride thats already built vs creating new things from scratch like is happening for Pandora.

It would be nice if more of the countries got attractions, or more countries were added somehow, but the problem with is in the past Disney wanted the countries themselves to pay for some of the cost of constructing their own attractions. Not sure this is still current policy or not but if it is it could explain the lack of construction in the world showcase.

I know theres a few expansion pads around the lagoon that have never been used, though if they really wanted to go world crazy and add a ton of countries, they could possibly build a waterway between norway and mexico and then relocate some of the backstage buildings. that would be awesome!!

World showcase needs AUSTRALIA!!

I would agree with your assessment of why management would be interested in the third theater. It's low risk since they already know people like it, it relatively low cost since the development work has already been done and it's a ride with very little theming, it wouldn't require a significant increase in staff to run it and it adds capacity.

 

[ChrisM]

I can never get my head around why Soarin' is so popular, I can't think of it as anything above an enjoyable yet mediocre attraction.

Basically its just a sit down version of the 360 Cinema's typically found in small local theme parks in the 80's. My local park even used almost identical footage as Soarin' - just 20 years earlier.

That said, it will be good to see the attraction enhanced and extra capacity added. It certainly needs it.

I'm a pretty jaded ride enthusiast and I still get jazzed over Soarin'. That moment when you swoop down over the ocean? My brain tells my feet to expect they will be getting wet. Every time.

It's a very effective attraction.

 

[ToTBellHop]

There's a version in DCA, that's what they filmed the finale for on 3/12. The expectation is that each film around the world will have a finale of the location of the park.

Except for WDW. Which will use DL's finale. Because TDO thinks WDW guests are gerbils. I would argue that's only true of 90% of WDW guests.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I'm a pretty jaded ride enthusiast and I still get jazzed over Soarin'. That moment when you swoop down over the ocean? My brain tells my feet to expect they will be getting wet. Every time.

It's a very effective attraction.

Agreed. The visuals are somewhat nonsensical in Florida, and the move to digital will be much-appreciated, but it would be hard to argue that it's not an impressive ride system. Especially for 2001.

 

[cspencer96]

Agreed. The visuals are somewhat nonsensical in Florida, and the move to digital will be much-appreciated, but it would be hard to argue that it's not an impressive ride system. Especially for 2001.

I had someone argue with me about just that (prior to riding). They claimed that simply being lifted up to a screen was stupid and not convincing. They rode, and they apologized. Granted, this was when the film quality was near pristine, but the ride system by itself is incredible. Soarin' changes people, people!

 

[TP2000]

Did the flyover also include Disneyland proper? I really can't imagine they'd show a video of DCA in EPCOT as most guests won't have any idea what that is. (By comparison a flyover of Disneyland works because most probably just assume it's the Magic Kingdom.)

The flight plan of last Wednesday's Disneyland/DCA flyover is shown below by the blue line, starting at DCA over Cars Land and banking northeast to buzz past Grizzly Peak, Carthay Circle Theater and over Buena Vista Street before heading north over the Esplanade between both parks. From there the flight path was nearly identical to the original flight path that filmed Disneyland for Soarin' Over California back in December, 1999.

This flyover was first mentioned a year ago by Al Lutz on a Miceage update, and Miceage had been updating the Soarin' HD news regularly over the past few months. But nothing has leaked out about a WDW flyover for Soarin' yet.

I imagine if TDO really wanted to cheap out they could edit out the new DCA flyover footage and just splice in the new Disneyland footage from the Esplanade north to the Castle, edit out the Matterhorn and Space Mountain in the wrong spot and Small World's giant façade at the back of the shot, and hope most folks thought it was Magic Kingdom Park instead. But I'm sure even TDO isn't that cheap and that a WDW flyover will be scheduled soon and get leaked out onto the Internetz.

 

[kap91]

Something no one has discussed (unless I somehow overlooked it in one of the other um-teen threads we've had on the "NEW Soarin' movie"), is that we know a new movie will likely come out at the same time the projection system goes digital. While the asset of the projector is expensive, the film maintenance costs drop radically with a HUGE added bonus. What's the bonus? Well, think Tower of Terror & Star Tours. If the movie is digital and the ride controls already are, then Soarin' 2015 (or whatever it is) can be Soarin' 2.0 from a technical sense and randomize the play sequence. Not a big deal for Imagineering and costs are next to nothing for software changes like that. Heck, they already know how to do it, so technically the "profile randomization" concept is a clone that I doubt any of us would complain about. ....Oh wait, I forgot where I was posting for a minute.

The tech that would allow multiple randomized destinations a la star tours is substantially different than the tech that just plays back the same video over and over. One is more like a sophisticated DVD player and the other bears more in common with a video game. Granted since the tech has already been developed for Star Tours it shouldn't be terribly difficult to port it over to Soarin' but it wouldn't be trivial either.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

@TP2000 , I was most impressed with how low they (reportedly) flew the camera. Its gonna feel like you can reach out and touch the Carthay. Just reading the in-depth description on the thread in the DL section got my heart all aflutter!

 

[Kuzcotopia]

I can never get my head around why Soarin' is so popular, I can't think of it as anything above an enjoyable yet mediocre attraction.

Basically its just a sit down version of the 360 Cinema's typically found in small local theme parks in the 80's. My local park even used almost identical footage as Soarin' - just 20 years earlier.

That said, it will be good to see the attraction enhanced and extra capacity added. It certainly needs it.

My DW doesn't even want to ride it next time we're there. The waits are silly for what the ride offers, and we'd prefer to FP+ TT instead (thanks tiers). Besides, the last time we used Legacy Fastpass, I'm pretty sure we still had a half an hour in the que.

They have to find some way to drop those wait times. A third (or fourth) theater is desperately needed.

 

[Unplugged]

The tech that would allow multiple randomized destinations a la star tours is substantially different than the tech that just plays back the same video over and over. One is more like a sophisticated DVD player and the other bears more in common with a video game. Granted since the tech has already been developed for Star Tours it shouldn't be terribly difficult to port it over to Soarin' but it wouldn't be trivial either.

You're right, certainly. My point was simply that it's not digital now, so when it goes digital, there is the acquisition of the project which functions the same either way, and a video playback system which is simply a choice to be made during the purchase. Do they buy that straight play back solution, or deploy the system that requires the more advanced software to randomize. My additional reference was that the ride system is already a controlled/automated system, so integrating that to the randomized playback solution would not be a feat of engineering, but adapting IO and some software.

Obviously you get it. I was just expressing a thought & clarifying for those that may not. THX!

 

[stalkingmickey]

I rode Soarin in DL and then rode it at DW. I was not happy when I rode at DW and the film was all about the west coast! I am of the opinion that the DW ride should be about the east coast. I was so not happy that I did not ride Soarin for many many years. I broke down this last january and got Soarin FP. OMG the movie quality was horrible. The rips in the screen really take away from the effects. I will not be riding again in Sept. If they ever update it with either a world movie or at least east coast then I will check it out. I also hate.the new TT que for FP holders it is a joke so wont b riding this either...SSE MS and the countries are my Epcot experiences for the day...

 

[msteel]

I rode Soarin in DL and then rode it at DW. I was not happy when I rode at DW and the film was all about the west coast! I am of the opinion that the DW ride should be about the east coast. I was so not happy that I did not ride Soarin for many many years. I broke down this last january and got Soarin FP. OMG the movie quality was horrible. The rips in the screen really take away from the effects. I will not be riding again in Sept. If they ever update it with either a world movie or at least east coast then I will check it out. I also hate.the new TT que for FP holders it is a joke so wont b riding this either...SSE MS and the countries are my Epcot experiences for the day...

Rips in the screen?

I was there in January and rode it 5-7 times the two days we were at Epcot (thank you, rope drop, legacy FastPass and Rider Swap). I did notice that one of the theaters consistently had dust bunnies making blurry spots on the screen, while the other theater seemed to be mostly or completely clear of them. I noticed some lines in the screen which I believe were related to the structural supports for the screen, but they only seemed visible during the very bright places in the film like clouds. But I never noticed rips in the screen.

Of course, just because I didn't see them or notice them doesn't mean that they weren't there the time you rode.

 

[kap91]

Rips in the screen?

I was there in January and rode it 5-7 times the two days we were at Epcot (thank you, rope drop, legacy FastPass and Rider Swap). I did notice that one of the theaters consistently had dust bunnies making blurry spots on the screen, while the other theater seemed to be mostly or completely clear of them. I noticed some lines in the screen which I belie were related to the structural supports for the screen, but they only seemed visible during the very bright places in the film like clouds. But I never noticed rips in the screen.

Of course, just because I didn't see them or notice them doesn't mean that they weren't there the time you rode.

Unless the rips are really recent I have no idea what this person saw. Furthermore the screen isn't made out of fabric.

The dust on the lens is annoying but symptomatic of all super large format projectors. I'm sure there's some way to engineer it away with IBM style clean rooms, but Back to the future, Disneyland's Soarin, even IMAX and cinedome experiences all suffer. The room is kept clean as can be and there is a fan (oversimplication)mounted above to blow dust off but when you're dealing with a screen that big and lens that small any speck becomes visible.

 

[stalkingmickey]

Ok maybe not a cut but how about a slice in the screen. I saw it the entire time I rode and made a point to look at the screen when movie went off. It was not dust I am aware of what this looks like saw plenty of it through out the movie also.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

That moment when you swoop down over the ocean? My brain tells my feet to expect they will be getting wet. Every time.

It's a very effective attraction.

Everytime we fly over the people in canoes I subconciously point my feet down because I think about dipping my toes in that water.

 

[ford91exploder]

Unless the rips are really recent I have no idea what this person saw. Furthermore the screen isn't made out of fabric.

The dust on the lens is annoying but symptomatic of all super large format projectors. I'm sure there's some way to engineer it away with IBM style clean rooms, but Back to the future, Disneyland's Soarin, even IMAX and cinedome experiences all suffer. The room is kept clean as can be and there is a fan (oversimplication)mounted above to blow dust off but when you're dealing with a screen that big and lens that small any speck becomes visible.

Not if a technician periodically cleans the film gate and cleans the lenses a couple of times per week and treats system with anti-static solution and the anti-static system is working. Odd how Cinemagic and other IMAX theaters don't have constant dust problems.

This is simply LACK OF MAINTENANCE.

 

[kap91]

Not if a technician periodically cleans the film gate and cleans the lenses a couple of times per week and treats system with anti-static solution and the anti-static system is working. Odd how Cinemagic and other IMAX theaters don't have constant dust problems.

This is simply LACK OF MAINTENANCE.

Maybe its just rotten luck but every IMAX-type theater or theme park attraction based on IMAX I've been to has had this problem on every visit. And I've seen my fair share of them.

 

[ford91exploder]

Maybe its just rotten luck but every IMAX-type theater or theme park attraction based on IMAX I've been to has had this problem on every visit. And I've seen my fair share of them.

Come to New England - we know how to keep them clean!