Soarin' Over the World: My Review...One World: Unacceptable

[Goofyernmost]

Classy attack the messenger when you don't like the message,

Photography is my hobby and it has been since 5'th grade, Engineering is what I do for a living and I do it at the architecture level so I'm required to understand multiple disciplines might also explain why I have to spend 4 figures on reference books every year too not to mention about the same amount on licensure and certification fees and memberships in professional organizations.

And gee those people paying me might also explain why I was able to buy lots and lots of DVC points and USED to visit Disney multiple times per year, It also explains why I'm so intolerant of Disney's constant screwups because you are not ALLOWED to be wrong in engineering at the professional level.

Yea, but you are in a theme park. You do your job and let them do theirs. There is no law saying that everything must be done to your standards that I know of. Besides design and engineering are two different things. Design will be what is sent to the engineers for them to figure out how to build it to the specifications of the design and maintain structural integrity. Not content. I suppose that this is where imagineers come in but, I think it is asking a lot for people to be creative and need to be completely specific all at the same time. Sometimes it would seem that those two do not easily come together.

 

[JenniferS]

The distortion has always been there. It was just less noticeable on the previous version. For me it's a nonissue because I don't think anything can be done about it.

I saw the new version for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The distortion is bad. So bad, that we watched it nine more times.

Seriously though, in ten ride-throughs we pretty much saw it from every angle. Some are worse than others; none detracted from the experience.

There was distortion in the original version too (still my favourite), but you were probably too distracted by the various flecks and specks and dust smudges to notice.

 

[JenniferS]

Dead center, and as high as you can get.

No different than before, really.

 

[Gabe1]

Edit: Meant to say "Around" the World, but can't edit.

I just got back from a wonderful 8 day trip at WDW and had a wonderful time. We were excited to ride Soarin' Around the World as we are not used to seeing new attractions because of the frequency of our trips to the World.

I could sit here and comment on the good things, what they got right: A beautiful score, retaining of Patrick as the chief flight attendant, gorgeous images from all over the world, great audio, and even a cleaned up image. But I can't.

I can't get over something I'm know has been discussed here extensively:

The image issues. The Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal are distorted and appear crooked. Not just slightly either....It's as if they are bent dramatically. It ruins the ride and is unacceptable. I was sitting on the right side, top row. It looks absolutely awful. In my estimation, the ride should be taken down and not re-opened until it's fixed. In fact, it should have never been opened like that in the first place.

I read a little about it, but I am absolutely stunned it's this bad and was pushed out in spite of being so blatantly obvious. HOW could they think this is "fine" or acceptable???

Sidenote: The CGI "Shtick" is absolutely ridiculous too and should have never made it through. I could forgive all of that if the images were representative of their actual appearance.

Absolutely devastated and disappointed Disney allowed this to happen. Shame on them and a real blow to what could have been a wonderful update to a favorite.

Iger's leadership has been absolutely devastating to WDW in particular and I am genuinely afraid of what we'll see when the "good enough" box is checked for our remaining projects in process (Avatar, Star Wars, Pixar, and whatever at EPCOT).

It was some consolation to see the images look fine when viewing from the center.

Sorry.

I rode Soarin so many times, no wait in early September, at times a FP wasn't necessary, so we rode just cause we could when we entered the park. Being there for a long stretch we by 'good fortune' being placed front row, center. I just loved the new show. I wasn't grasping the negativity. I liked the preshow, it outlined all the places you'd visit so those who didn't have a firm grasp of landmarks around the world were clued in nicely without it being a spoiler. I WAS proud of Disney for an upgrade that was worthy of the launch of the original.

All that until our 2nd to last ride. Row 2 and off to the side. Oh my goodness. Stone cold sober and you'd think I had been drinking. We got off and all of us were like what the h*** was that? Walking the ramp out we were actually in awe and not in a good way.

We actually rode her one more time during the mega rain storm of the cast preview of F&W. Assigned to row 3 we asked to be set aside to ride row one and a very nice CM put us immediately in the next cage front and center, row one. He got it and was so accomodating. So out of the half dozen or so times we rode her new version we only were disappointed once and I guess I am sorta appreciative that it happened 'cause I thought the likes of you guys were all nutso.

 

[Gabe1]

And for the benefit of the now millions of people that have no idea who Ed Sullivan was... Google is your friend!

Touché

And appreciate the clue. Wiki is my friend. Funny what a decade or so of life does to grasping the editorial comments. As I looked at Wiki Ed Sullivan ended his apparent success when the Grand Opening of the Magic Kingdom Launched. Likely I wasn't old enough to stay up and watch his epic sucessful show or Dad had the TV tuned to football or hockey as he was that type of guy.\
\

The close up shot of the Eiffel Tower was an oops, I would have told them to redo that sequence with a much wider shot.

Yes.

We all have different tollerance levels. The one time I saw this after the many times seeing it as it had intended to be shot I was disappointed. I was happy to have seen the film both ways so I could understand and see the differeances. I now understand the mixed reactions to the new film.

 

[DisneyGal1221]

In response to the person saying you cannot see the distortion with the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower on the West Coast, I disagree. I was at Disneyland last week and the distortion was extremely pronounced when you are sitting anywhere other than the center. I went in with zero preconceived ideas as I had tried to not see any previews/spoilers and have not been to Disney World since the change. I was thoroughly enjoying the new video, while thinking it looked more "fake" than the previous version. That is not exactly a bad thing, just not likely that all they display will be happening at one time in any environment. I noticed the Taj Mahal was bent, but it wasn't that distracting. The Eiffel Tower made people laugh. It is extremely bent if you are to the extreme left or right. I agree with those who say they should have just left the shot out or done a shot from a further distance rather than allowing that distortion. It certainly was distracting and is my lasting memory from the ride.

 

[marni1971]

To redress the balance, we were back doored into the ride and onto row B1 this week (thanks T). Distortion was minimal to negligible.

The difference in seat position is astonishing and more pronounced than the original version.

 

[UncleFastpass]

I also found the CGI distracting,Disney Nature films have such amazing footage of animals that has set the bar high. I know that it would be virtually impossible to get some of those shots but I would prefer real as to "exciting" shots.And I agree with many who have said that if the shots weren't too tight on the buildings it would make a difference in distortion.

 

[Chef Mickey]

While I'm not going to join the Iger bandwagon (it seems he is blamed for everything from this to bad maid service), I will say that when I first saw it over Labor Day weekend, I did have a "meh" reaction.

While the score borrowed from the original Goldsmith version, it wasn't as, well, soarin'. The original theme felt grander. The CGI was distracting and the bent Eiffel Tower was just weird. Smells were nice but I miss the oranges.

I don't knock the effort to film scenes from around the world as well as put in digital projections. But the final execution definitely could have been better.

Ultimately, Iger is responsible for everything. I get that he can't fix everything himself, but as CEO, he should be concerned with everything down to maid service. I can guarantee you if maid service is consistently bad enough, he will engage the appropriate people to get it rectified. A CEO, doesn't "do" any work, but they are responsible for putting the appropriate teams together to drive shareholder value. If there is consistenly a problem, it's his fault at the end of the day.

And for big things like the failure to expand WDW, the "meh" new attractions that don't hold a candle to previously built attractions under different CEOs, and the overall lack of meaningful updates/maintenance at WDW, he is definitely responsible. It was essentially his strategy to make WDW a cash cow that mortgaged its future for gains today.

His biggest project was an analytics and behavior tracking tool that Disneyland had no interest in adopting because they'd rather spend billions on their parks. I give him credit for getting Marvel and Star Wars done, but he's been awful for WDW. He can totally redeem himself with Star Wars, Avatar, and Toy Story lands, but jury is out and New Fantasyland is an indicator he'll come up short.

 

[zengoth]

Stuck on the end of the bottom row and the distortion was enough to ruin the experience, unfortunately. Cgi doesn't bother me because you can only use the "cloud" transition so many times. Sadly, my audience did not applaud.

 

[Polydweller]

Saw it this week and have to agree, on the sides distortion is horrible. The original on the side had nowhere near that. Basically it ruined the film.

But the worst part wasn't that or the CGI, it was the lack of story. The original had a story, touring California and its highlights. But this one was just here's a scene, ok you've had 10 seconds of that so here's another. Nothing awe inspiring, nothing spectacularly filmed, and a bland music score. It was just poor film making, felt almost amateurish .

What happened to great film making like the France film. Yes its aging but you can still see the craftsmanship and the skill needed to make the film. None of that craftsmenship showed up in new Soarn and frankly it is now a missable attraction.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Saw it this week and have to agree, on the sides distortion is horrible. The original on the side had nowhere near that. Basically it ruined the film.

But the worst part wasn't that or the CGI, it was the lack of story. The original had a story, touring California and its highlights. But this one was just here's a scene, ok you've had 10 seconds of that so here's another. Nothing awe inspiring, nothing spectacularly filmed, and a bland music score. It was just poor film making, felt almost amateurish .

What happened to great film making like the France film. Yes its aging but you can still see the craftsmanship and the skill needed to make the film. None of that craftsmenship showed up in new Soarn and frankly it is now a missable attraction.

Story? Is that what I was seeing in the first film. I ask because as far as I was concerned what I was seeing was just here's a scene, ok you've had 10 seconds of that so here's another with no effort to transition at all. Just a you were there now through the magic of editing you're now someplace else. All in what you see within yourself. The old one had all kinds of distortion but the scenes were less specific therefore less noticeable but they were there. The films general purpose was the idea of flying over and around those places, the places are just props.

If there is a way to fix that then Disney should be working on fixing it. If not, and I'm not sure if they aren't capable who is, then perhaps there are certain laws of physical observation that cannot be filmed out. I'll take a distorted Eiffel Tower if it means I get to experience the rest of it. I have seen the actual Tower up close and it doesn't bother me to see it slightly distorted, why does it bother you?

 

[daisyduckie]

Is there a law somewhere that you have to love every ride and ride every ride???? If it isn't for you, move on. Who comes unglued because they don't like the curve of a screen and has such a fit??????

It is a ride with a giant screen. If it isn't realistic enough for you, ride something else. I didn't like the fact that my rear got wet on Frozen. Maybe I should demand the ride, no the whole park be shut down until they can guarantee me it won't happen again!!

 

[StarshipDisney]

We rode the new SOARIN for the first time on 11 September. No complaints here. We loved it.

 

[unkadug]

Is there a law somewhere that you have to love every ride and ride every ride???? If it isn't for you, move on. Who comes unglued because they don't like the curve of a screen and has such a fit??????

It is a ride with a giant screen. If it isn't realistic enough for you, ride something else. I didn't like the fact that my rear got wet on Frozen. Maybe I should demand the ride, no the whole park be shut down until they can guarantee me it won't happen again!!

Other people have been grateful for the fact that their rears are washed for them at no extra charge will viewing Frozenstrom....get with the program Daisy

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I thought it was better than the original, as did others I spoke with after riding. However, having sat in both the far end of the seats and in the middle I will always request centre seat on future rides due to the distortion.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The original had a story, touring California and its highlights. But this one was just here's a scene, ok you've had 10 seconds of that so here's another.

The new "story" is the same as the original, only now it's no just California. Both are travalogues that don't really have a concrete plot, in much the same tradition as older Circle-Vision movies like Magic Carpet 'Round the World (which this ride might be described as a "soft remake" of).

 

[danyoung56]

Many saying... "they should fix it, after all they are leaders in the film industry", yet, no one has said how that kind of thing is fixed. I don't think it is wonderful to have the distortion there, but I also don't know what can be done about it other then to just not have the Eiffel Tower or the Taj in the film at all.

Bingo. The problem has nothing to do with photographic technique, and there is no processing that they could do to fix this. The distortion is cause by a big 'ol curved screen, and no electronic fix-it exists to minimize this effect. As Marni said, the only fix is to either shoot the tall towers from a distance or take them completely out. There is no electronics or processing that can fix this distortion.

Think about the original Soarin'. There were almost no straight lines in it, no towers, no peaks. It was all wide, sweeping vistas, and as such the curved screen did little to hurt it. Their choices for their new shots were poorly considered.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Bingo. The problem has nothing to do with photographic technique, and there is no processing that they could do to fix this. The distortion is cause by a big 'ol curved screen, and no electronic fix-it exists to minimize this effect. As Marni said, the only fix is to either shoot the tall towers from a distance or take them completely out. There is no electronics or processing that can fix this distortion.

Think about the original Soarin'. There were almost no straight lines in it, no towers, no peaks. It was all wide, sweeping vistas, and as such the curved screen did little to hurt it. Their choices for their new shots were poorly considered.

But that's what people like me are saying. You have to be mindful of what you're shooting, otherwise, what are you doing as the number 1 MEDIA company?

I don't think any reasonable people are saying they need to fix the footage they have and "make" it look good. The SOURCE material is the issue and it's a gigantic oversight/fail for them to have not considered how poor those "tall" images like the Eiffel Tower would appear on a curved screen. They need to be re-shot and edited back into the movie...at least that's what I mean by fixing it.

It's unacceptable for it to be that obvious and poorly executed, particularly when the structure is SO well known. It's one thing for a random mountain range to look a little distorted, but the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower? Give me a break....very poor excuse for a poor delivery. Pick different shots, change your shoot angle (you can't tell me this was optimal) or if it's impossible, leave it out and reshoot it.

It's just not up to Disney standards, period.

 

[Goofyernmost]

But that's what people like me are saying. You have to be mindful of what you're shooting, otherwise, what are you doing as the number 1 MEDIA company?

I don't think any reasonable people are saying they need to fix the footage they have and "make" it look good. The SOURCE material is the issue and it's a gigantic oversight/fail for them to have not considered how poor those "tall" images like the Eiffel Tower would appear on a curved screen. They need to be re-shot and edited back into the movie...at least that's what I mean by fixing it.

It's unacceptable for it to be that obvious and poorly executed, particularly when the structure is SO well known. It's one thing for a random mountain range to look a little distorted, but the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower? Give me a break....very poor excuse for a poor delivery. Pick different shots, change your shoot angle (you can't tell me this was optimal) or if it's impossible, leave it out and reshoot it.

It's just not up to Disney standards, period.

The entire problem is because of the structures being so well know. If there was a distorted image when flying over a mountain, who would know. Something like a man made structure will be one. It just seems like there is way to much concern over a couple of things that at best are only seconds of the entire show. And it is not even that they did something wrong. It is our own flawed system of vision that cannot adjust to curved views. It's actually our optic nerves causing the problem and I'd be willing to bet that everyone sees it a little differently.