Soaring Soft opening likely for June 5-11 trip?

[Stickman]

Just as the title says, any info is greatly appreciated. Advice on how to tell if there is a soft while we are there? My DW is going nuts this is her favorite ride in all of WDW..

 

[mpoppins217]

Someone can correct me if I'm mistaken but my understanding from this site and several others is that Shanghai has paid big bucks to be the first to debut and so no US park will be doing any sort of opening soft or otherwise before they open.

 

[Pluto89]

Yes Shanghai does have exclusivity rights until June 16th then in the 17th the new film will premiere in the states, but I'm hoping for a soft reopen of the old film before then! Not holding my breath but could happen since the old film is still running at DLR

 

[bethymouse]

Shanghai sucks! Sorry... I had to say it! We also were hoping for a soft opening ( June 2-8). We will be avoiding EPCOT sadly. We love Test Track and Soarin, plus it would be nice for a "soft" opening of Frozen Ever After!

 

[RonAnnArbor]

They won't be doing a soft opening with the old film. The entire ride has to be reprogrammed to fit the new film. Either it will open in soft opening with the new film, or it will not open until the 17th. I am betting the latter, because they don't need a soft opening.

 

[lazyboy97o]

They won't be doing a soft opening with the old film. The entire ride has to be reprogrammed to fit the new film.

The control systems are digital and could easily be switched. This is how programming was able to take place in California over night.

 

[Pluto89]

The control systems are digital and could easily be switched. This is how programming was able to take place in California over night.

So does this mean the OG film is still possible at EPCOT?

 

[lazyboy97o]

So does this mean the OG film is still possible at EPCOT?

I am only speaking in terms of what is technologically possible. It is not predictive of operational decisions.

 

[danyoung56]

They are running both films in California. Well, not actually running both of them. But the theater is open 4 days a week running the old show, and then they're working on the programming for the new show the other 3 days. So I'm not thinking that it's that big of a deal to actually be able to run both shows. I even saw a speculation that Disney is considering, if the new show isn't a huge hit, running the old show in one theater and the new one in the other.

 

[donsullivan]

As I recall, part of the upgrade was also to replace the projectors with a digital projection system instead of the film based system originally installed. I can't imaging them spending the money to digitize the old film for just a few weeks of performances vs just waiting until the 17th when they can relaunch with the new film and the new capacity with the 3rd theater.

 

[lazyboy97o]

As I recall, part of the upgrade was also to replace the projectors with a digital projection system instead of the film based system originally installed. I can't imaging them spending the money to digitize the old film for just a few weeks of performances vs just waiting until the 17th when they can relaunch with the new film and the new capacity with the 3rd theater.

Soarin' Over California has been presented in digital for several months now at Disney's California Adventure. The work has been done and the money spent.

 

[Bacon]

 

[Rickster7]

No way to tell if there will be a soft opening while there unless you stand there and watch. Very doubtful like people have said.