Anyone ride the “new” old Soarin’ yet?

[disneyland_is_magic]

Seeing the CA version again after such a long time, there are a few things that make it so much better than World.

1. The CA visuals seem much wider. In CA, you're looking at a very wide view of landscapes. I think this is why any distortion is not as noticeable as it is on World, where you're often looking at a view that's not as wide - like a couple of animals, or one building.

2. In CA, the scenes are more dense with activity. There's more going on in the scenes and there's not necessarily one obvious focal point. In CA, you can look around the screen and see a bunch of different stuff. It's not focused on one thing in the middle. In World, it's often focused on only one thing right in the middle of the screen: look at this polar bear, look at this elephant, look at this Taj Mahal.

3. There are people in CA version. Seeing people and hearing chatter brings a real liveliness to CA that is missing from World (this might also contribute to the feeling that World has a more lifeless CGI feel). And the little details like the skier wiping out are great.

4. Along the lines of #2 above, there are a lot more "surprises" in CA that pull your attention. The hang glider and the jets both come into the scene later, for example, and shift your focus from the wide to the more specific (and to one side of the screen). There's nothing like that in World really, except the scene transitions where something sprays the screen - but again, that's something dead center of the screen so your focus never really leaves where you were looking anyway.

I'm a fan of CA over World, but was really interested to see if I actually felt that way after riding CA again, or if it was just nostalgia. Now, after riding CA again, it just seems like so much more thought was put into how the individual scenes were shot and composed to be lively and pull your attention around the screen. As opposed to World, where it definitely seems more static and focused just on one thing in the middle of the screen.

This is a really well thought out explanation. I can’t like this post enough. I agree with everything you’ve said.

 

[mamapenguin]

I like them both...

 

[DizMe]

I'm looking forward to riding it soon (hopefully this week). It will be nice to not have to cover my nose during the scenes with the elephants and the Taj Mahal.

I thought I was the only one! Why does anyone want to smell that, anyway?? It's like a combination of dirt and mold.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I thought I was the only one! Why does anyone want to smell that, anyway?? It's like a combination of dirt and mold.

Ha ha... I like it! Smells like grass, which I like.

I’m super excited to see the CA version (hopefully tomorrow). I saw it once way back when but it was so long ago I don’t remember the details, only that I loved it!

 

[paradesintherain]

I did like it, however I love the transitions in the World version more. The CA it just changes scenes.

That's funny! I was just noticing the transitions when I rode at Epcot and thinking how much I disliked them!

 

[skyblue17]

Ohhh, I hope it's still Soarin' Over California in July!

 

[RedHotMama]

Seeing the CA version again after such a long time, there are a few things that make it so much better than World.

1. The CA visuals seem much wider. In CA, you're looking at a very wide view of landscapes. I think this is why any distortion is not as noticeable as it is on World, where you're often looking at a view that's not as wide - like a couple of animals, or one building.

2. In CA, the scenes are more dense with activity. There's more going on in the scenes and there's not necessarily one obvious focal point. In CA, you can look around the screen and see a bunch of different stuff. It's not focused on one thing in the middle. In World, it's often focused on only one thing right in the middle of the screen: look at this polar bear, look at this elephant, look at this Taj Mahal.

3. There are people in CA version. Seeing people and hearing chatter brings a real liveliness to CA that is missing from World (this might also contribute to the feeling that World has a more lifeless CGI feel). And the little details like the skier wiping out are great.

4. Along the lines of #2 above, there are a lot more "surprises" in CA that pull your attention. The hang glider and the jets both come into the scene later, for example, and shift your focus from the wide to the more specific (and to one side of the screen). There's nothing like that in World really, except the scene transitions where something sprays the screen - but again, that's something dead center of the screen so your focus never really leaves where you were looking anyway.

I'm a fan of CA over World, but was really interested to see if I actually felt that way after riding CA again, or if it was just nostalgia. Now, after riding CA again, it just seems like so much more thought was put into how the individual scenes were shot and composed to be lively and pull your attention around the screen. As opposed to World, where it definitely seems more static and focused just on one thing in the middle of the screen.

Great observations! Please send this to Disney!

 

[tarheelalum]

Everyone who wants to see soaring over California stay please go on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and let Disney know about it.

 

[pharmama]

That's funny! I was just noticing the transitions when I rode at Epcot and thinking how much I disliked them!

DD14 hates the transitions where things fly at you and those are much more prevalent in World, I think, than California. I am beyond excited to ride CA again later this month and will have DD ride and see if she likes it better. She's ridden CA in the past but I don't know how well she remembers that one vs. World.

 

[Chickinvic]

They never should have replaced it with the current piece of crap (Soarin over the world). The distortion ruins the whole ride for me. I really miss the original version.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

We rode it a little while ago. I loved it! It really feels much more like you’re actually flying. I love that the Disneyland scene is holiday time and you can see IASW!

I might be in the minority but I still love the world version! I like both!

 

[njchris]

I'm looking forward to riding it soon (hopefully this week). It will be nice to not have to cover my nose during the scenes with the elephants and the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal has to be the most obvious of the CGI. It just looks ridiculous. Why couldn't they have made the world one without the bending? I don't remember the buildings or trees doing that in the CA version. Different lens/cgi lens?

 

[dina444444]

Road it 3 times Saturday. One thing I did notice is how old the film is since it has a “grainy” feel in comparison to the new film but I loved having the original back.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I can't wait to ride it tomorrow night. I'll never forget how shocked i was when I first saw the world from the end of the row on the side. I literally thought the tilted pictures of monument valley and the Eiffel tower were mistakes. I couldn't believe that it had gotten through all the testing and quality control like that--frankly, I still can't. Who sat in one of those seats and said this is okay? Crazy. I wait for middle seats now.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I wish I was going to be in Cali for this! World is OK, but it's not our "must do first ride" anymore at Epcot. I miss the oranges and pine.

 

[James33]

I saw it Cali last Sunday. There's definitely less distortion, but it's also more shaky. I'm also not crazy about the night time lapse scene because it makes me feel like I'm watching a video and breaks the magic. Wish they would digitally stabilize the video more and slow down the night scene.

There was a huge applause at the end, though usually I hear some people applaud for World every time I've been on it as well. I think I like both for different reasons. It would be great to have both.

 

[mfleeting]

We rode it and was happy because we never actually rode this version (we always skipped it not realizing how awesome it was until a few years ago). It definitely is better than the other version.

 

[tarheelalum]

The Taj Mahal has to be the most obvious of the CGI. It just looks ridiculous. Why couldn't they have made the world one without the bending? I don't remember the buildings or trees doing that in the CA version. Different lens/cgi lens?

I listened to a podcast recently with one of the guys who made Soaring of California and he said almost everything was shot with film flying in a helicopter because the CGI technology back then wouldn't have looked anywhere near real. But using film gives it the grainy look that some don't like and flying in a helicopter does give it some stabilization issues. But it really looks like you are flying because the camera really was.

 

[RedHotMama]

I don't mind the shakiness of California at all. I think it enhances the feeling of flying in a glider.

 

[njchris]

I don't mind the shakiness of California at all. I think it enhances the feeling of flying in a glider.

I'd much rather have some shakiness than so much CGI. I think some people think the elephant really threw the dirt up just as we went over it. And the Polar Bears really looked up just at the right second... etc..etc... I still ride it because I like the idea of it. But I have to try REALLY hard to let go of the fakeness of it.. but the Taj and bendy Eiffel Tower, I just can't.