Soarin' Around the World vs Test Track

[Heppenheimer]

Soarin' Over the World contains fly-overs of two of my favorite places on Earth (the Bavarian and Swiss Alps), so I would be inclined to like the latter version better... but last year at Disneyland, I was reminded once again why the original is so special. My wife had not previously seen the original before, and she instantly liked California better. There's just something about that scene that starts with the cowboys and ends with the jet test-flights. Reminds me of the Chuck Yeager scenes from "The Right Stuff".

 

[ShoalFox]

I've never really understood the hype for Soarin, even before the change to Around the World. I enjoy the experience, but it's just not all that fun to me, especially the new version. I can't remember where I read this, but I once saw a take that went along the lines of "Soarin over California was about the journey while around the world is about the destination." I completely agree and feel that Soarin ATW is worse off for it, along with the (in my opinion) inferior musical score.

So yes, I pick Test Track as the better attraction even though like many I miss and prefer the original 1999 version.

 

[piccolopat]

I think the idea of SoTW was great but poorly executed. Since the technology results in very strange bending of tall structures, they could have chosen other scenes. I would have preferred only seeing scenes of countries not represented already in Epcot and a bit less CGI. There are so many wonderful things to see in this world that there is a great opportunity for Disney to do a third Soarin' film and really wow the audience.

 

[tagoofy]

Better ride?

Frankly, I'm shocked that some many people like the new Soar'n. I liked the old Soar'n, but think they completely ruined it with the new one. For me, it is not about being nostalgic for the old story line, it is the almost complete reliance on CGI which is quite obvious to me and ruins the experience compared to the old. Now if they were to take the same scenes and shoot them with real camera at the real location and refrain from adding a bunch of cgi overlays, that would be a huge improvement. It is about the expereince of feeling like you are actually there, which is ruined when the shot is completely cgi, and certainly tainted when the shot has cgi overlays.

I'm not a fan of the test track mods, but no where as experience destroying as the Soar'n changes, IMO.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Soarin' is for people out in the mid country who have never seen an IMAX movie before.

 

[JusticeDisney]

Soarin' is for people out in the mid country who have never seen an IMAX movie before.

Uhhhhhh, right.

 

[Disney4family]

I also prefer both originals, but the one thing that bothers me the most about TT 2.0 is that you can't design your own car. In the beginning, everyone who rode was able to design their own car - at least every time we went. Then - to push people through, they changed the markers on the floor to have 2 or 3 people work on one car. The board that shows the winner of each section is set up for 6 cars. Now you're lucky if you get 2 or 3 per car on it, well...if the tech is working.
Not many people know you can go to the gift shop and design a car without a time limit.

 

[Kobe!!]

Epcot opens at 11 this weekend or have they been opening earlier?

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

Soarin' is for people out in the mid country who have never seen an IMAX movie before.

Ummm, I'm technically in "mid country" and we have probably 2 dozen IMAX theaters around town. Not sure where this idea came from.

For me SoC was an incredible experience. I'd get chills riding on it. Now, granted I visited WDW approximately every 2 to 3 years, but the scenes, the sound effects, the music selected for each scene, and the scents all worked together perfectly to transport you to each of the locations depicted. I will never understand, in any industry, why "fix" something that ain't broke. You'll only make it worse.

 

[aliceismad]

Original Soarin > Original TT > New Soarin > New TT

 

[Little Green Men]

New Test Track> Original Soarin'> New Soarin'> Original Test Track

 

[graphite1326]

If it were Soarin' Over California vs TT 1.0 then TT would win.

However now I much prefer Soarin' Around the World and when TT 2.0 is down or I don't have a FP and the SB is longer than 45mins I can easily skip it.

I am with you.