Soarin 2.0

Crazy Harry

Crazy Harry

Active Member
Did Knee said:
Sorry if I'm contributing to thread drift, but I've long thought that Disney is missing out on the true potential of this ride system. I do enjoy the various scenes in the current version, but I have always felt that a continuous shot with no scene cuts throughout the ride would maximize the realism and feeling of it. I know...they couldn't show all of California that way, but the visceral effect of the ride itself could be much more intense if the whole ride were one long shot. And while we are "plussing" it, why use reality for filming at all? What kind of story or flight could we go on if the film were all or in part done in CGI? I hear Disney bought a film company a few years ago that specializes in CGI..... :drevil:
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I thought this also. I enjoy being immersed in a ride, and I don't get that feeling riding soarin'. If nothing else, can't they just have more creative transitions, like going through clouds, or go through a rock formation into another enviroment?:shrug:
 
Disneyfan1981

Disneyfan1981

Active Member
I was fortunate enough to be at DCA when Soarin' first opened up and definitely rode the attraction a couple of times that day despite the insane lines but since that visit whether we are in California or Florida we always seem to have no problem skipping it. It's a fantastic experience and great attraction but I never caught it as a must-do and especially with the wait times routinely hitting such high numbers it makes the decision that much easier. If they changed the screens to a different locale or even different side of California I would probably still ride it once and then pass it along.
 
Mansion Butler

Mansion Butler

Active Member
Did Knee said:
And while we are "plussing" it, why use reality for filming at all? What kind of story or flight could we go on if the film were all or in part done in CGI? I hear Disney bought a film company a few years ago that specializes in CGI..... :drevil:
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No CGI please!!! The uncanny valley has still not been crossed. Photorealism has not been met, and until that point, give me the real thing. CGI just doesn't cut it.
 
bgraham34

bgraham34

Well-Known Member
Wdwprince said:
My opinion is that entering at floor level had little to do with slow load times. Think of the amount of time you have to wait to board the attraction now. It consistently has the longest wait time in Epcot.

I think that the truth is that most Americans are not physically fit enough or driven enough to board any other way. They would complain and/or maybe avoid the attraction. My guess is that WDI knew that but of course couldn't say it.

As for the queue splitting off, Soarin at WDW has a queue that splits.
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I don't think it has anything to do with people not being fit. Have you noticed the walk you need to make to just get down to Soarin. So that has nothing to do with it. It was just quicker to have people load from the floors especially wheel chair accessibility wise.
 
Pete C

Pete C

Active Member
Vekoma and Disney have a long standing relationship, that much we all know. My guess is that WDI designed the basics of the ride (I remember seeing the erector set model that one of the Imagineers built), and partnered with Vekoma to work out the engineering and build it. The original opened in 2001. Let's see here...this shows up in 2011, exactly 10 years later. Perhaps a 10-year exclusivity deal was in place?
 
Pete C

Pete C

Active Member
Actually, I just looked closer at the ride system here. It is different. This is a knock-off in the worst way. This one boards at different levels like Back to the Future/Simpsons, but with the ride vehicles of Soarin.
 
T

T-1MILLION

New Member
bgraham34 said:
I don't think it has anything to do with people not being fit. Have you noticed the walk you need to make to just get down to Soarin. So that has nothing to do with it. It was just quicker to have people load from the floors especially wheel chair accessibility wise.
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Pretty much it. It is also a money saving investment. It has little to do with ease of flow.


Back to the Future and Simpsons' ride systems have done the same idea with different rooms and ramps to get to them. This actually makes the ride more immsersive in the sense that it is easier to forget there are other rows and cars all around you and allows for more intimate theming in the rooms you board in.
 
StageFrenzy

StageFrenzy

Well-Known Member
Mansion Butler said:
I'm guessing you are unaware of this ride?
images

That's Xpress of Walibi World in Holland. Originally called Superman: The Ride. It is pretty much the exact same ride as RnR, just without the nifty WDI theming and Aerosmith music. I think it opened a year later.

By the way, I've ridden Rockin' with the lights on and music off. Let me tell you, that's a pretty boring coaster without the dark and black light effects and awesome music.
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I was aware of Xpress (spend a lot of time on RCDB) i just thought it was funny they had two ride systems pictured that are similar to Disney attractions
 
StageFrenzy

StageFrenzy

Well-Known Member
Pete C said:
Actually, I just looked closer at the ride system here. It is different. This is a knock-off in the worst way. This one boards at different levels like Back to the Future/Simpsons, but with the ride vehicles of Soarin.
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What if they were able to give each vehicle its own viewing space, i.e. a view without feet. I don't think boarding the vehicles on different levels are necessarily bad, i always thought the way back to the future and Simpsons boarded was fine.
 
ABigBrassBand

ABigBrassBand

Well-Known Member
What this ride really needs is a purpose and tie in to the Land pavilion, because frankly it seems like it fits in a lot better at DCA (at least the queue is better there!)
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
StageFrenzy said:
I was aware of Xpress (spend a lot of time on RCDB) i just thought it was funny they had two ride systems pictured that are similar to Disney attractions
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Express is not so much similar, as much it is the same. Rock 'n Rollercoaster (both), Gadget's Go Coaster, and The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm (modified mirror) are all coasters that were pre-designed by Vekoma and can, and have been, sold to other companies. Even going back to 1955, Disney has consulted and worked with other amusement ride companies. Even the Matterhorn was developed in conjunction with Arrow Development, which is why that company went on to sell steel roller coasters to other parks. Some systems are developed in-house at WED/Walt Disney Imagineering, but not all of them. No point in reinventing the wheel if another company has experience doing exactly what Disney wants done. What Disney does is have Walt Disney Imagineering come in and put on custom bodies and often times custom ride control software (in the case of California Screamin' the customization was so significant that Intamin has since disowned the coaster and no longer considers it one of theirs).
 
Pete C

Pete C

Active Member
0ogabooha said:
What this ride really needs is a purpose and tie in to the Land pavilion, because frankly it seems like it fits in a lot better at DCA (at least the queue is better there!)
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Soarin is a video that shows how beautiful 'the land' is...how does it not fit?
 
Mansion Butler

Mansion Butler

Active Member
Pete C said:
Soarin is a video that shows how beautiful 'the land' is...how does it not fit?
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Because the only part of the land it shows is California, and then it finishes in Disneyland. And, I mean, giant iron bridges and deluxe golf resorts and military instruments and busy highways weaving through skyscrapers are not exactly the "beauty of the land."

It's not a horrible fit, just not an ideal fit. It's also a fit that could be improved.
 
ob1thx1138

ob1thx1138

Member
Rob562 said:
They get around the patent issue by making a change to the design. WDI designed the Soarin' ride system to load at floor-level. They did this to eliminate the need for stairs and ramps to load at multiple levels.

Vekoma just took the step backwards, and made a ride system that loads on multiple levels and then just pushes the ride vehicles straight outward toward the screen. (You can see the multiple levels in the upper-right photo on the linked page)

There are quite a few ride systems out there that Disney pioneered and then other companies copied but changed just enough to avoid patent-infringement issues.

-Rob
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This ride system has one major advantage to the Disney version. If one of the units breaks down on this system then they only lose one row of seating capacity. If one of the systems at Disney breaks down they lose 3 rows.
 
EvanAnderson

EvanAnderson

Active Member
StageFrenzy said:
I was aware of Xpress (spend a lot of time on RCDB) i just thought it was funny they had two ride systems pictured that are similar to Disney attractions
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It's the exact same ride system. Xpress at Walibi World is RnRC, but painted red and blue and outside. It's the exact same track layout, same trains (WDI created the limos, but the base of them are the standard Vekoma trains), same computer system, same everything. Disney just bought the standard vekoma model, put it indoors, themed it, and added audio. That's all.

From WDWMagic, here are the test trains.
http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions/Rock-n-Roller-Coaster-Starring-Aerosmith/Gallery/07May1999-Rock-n-Roller-Coaster-interior-and-test-trains.htm
 

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