DonaldDoleWhip
Well-Known Member
There's a good chance I'll head to DCA sometime this year to experience the new Soarin'...but I don't love what I see. The transitions seem to be hit-or-miss (they're a miss for me - almost like the golf ball moment on replay), and something about the music strikes me as really off.
The original orchestration and sequencing had a narrative, with softer, tranquil moments (Redwood Creek, Monterey, Malibu) leading to larger crescendos (Tahoe, Yosemite, San Diego, LA, etc) and ultimately a clear finale. With the update, most of the music sounds like a riff on one key part of the theme, over and over and over...and then we're at the finale! Each included location is supposed to be spectacular in its own right, but instead, there's no build to me. No payoff, no moment that really stands out (except perhaps the Great Wall of China).
That's another thing - I miss the diversity of the original film. That might sound odd, seeing as the original was confined to California...but it truly made the most of the Golden State - deserts, snowy mountains, ocean, highs and lows. A lot of these places, in comparison, feel less interesting to fly over. The Eiffel Tower scene is...fine, for instance, but seeing more of Paris (with the city streets and Tower twinkling) would've been more memorable. A lot of these places are so iconic but end up feeling 'flat' due to the cinematography and score.
As someone who was only excited about the Soarin' update, I can only hope it's more spectacular in person.
The original orchestration and sequencing had a narrative, with softer, tranquil moments (Redwood Creek, Monterey, Malibu) leading to larger crescendos (Tahoe, Yosemite, San Diego, LA, etc) and ultimately a clear finale. With the update, most of the music sounds like a riff on one key part of the theme, over and over and over...and then we're at the finale! Each included location is supposed to be spectacular in its own right, but instead, there's no build to me. No payoff, no moment that really stands out (except perhaps the Great Wall of China).
That's another thing - I miss the diversity of the original film. That might sound odd, seeing as the original was confined to California...but it truly made the most of the Golden State - deserts, snowy mountains, ocean, highs and lows. A lot of these places, in comparison, feel less interesting to fly over. The Eiffel Tower scene is...fine, for instance, but seeing more of Paris (with the city streets and Tower twinkling) would've been more memorable. A lot of these places are so iconic but end up feeling 'flat' due to the cinematography and score.
As someone who was only excited about the Soarin' update, I can only hope it's more spectacular in person.
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