Problems with Soaring over the world??

[disneysteve]

The Taj Mahal section is particularly bad imo. Obviously CGI. Doesn't look remotely real. I've read that it had to be CGI because permission would not be granted by the Indian government. If true, why include it at all? Aren't there literally thousands of other natural or man made locales that could have been used?

Exactly. Why make it animated? I’d rather see amazing views of real places even if they aren’t as famous as the Taj Mahal.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Wait - the scenes in this are ANIMATED, and not even REAL????!!!! Seriously??!!!!!

Sorry to ask, and be so totally aghast, but I've not been yet, and I'll admit - have only 1/2 paid attention to comments on this in the past.

 

[rteetz]

Wait - the scenes in this are ANIMATED, and not even REAL????!!!! Seriously??!!!!!

Sorry to ask, and be so totally aghast, but I've not been yet, and I'll admit - have only 1/2 paid attention to comments on this in the past.

Most of the scenes are yes. Some like Epcot are actually filmed.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

I only have a vague memory of the original Soarin', but remember it being much more impressive. I rode Soarin' 2x on my last trip. The first ride had a great view from the middle and the distortion was not noticeable and I was still really impressed by it. On my second ride, I did not get good seats and it looks like the Eiffel Tower is about to collapse on you because the distortion is so awful. I think the distortion makes the ride really unenjoyable.

I think the OP is trying to be generous to the imagineers and retain a positive outlook on the ride, which is fine. I agree that some of the problems with the distortion probably couldn't be helped, but like many others have said, they could have selected other scenes/monuments that wouldn't have looked as bizarre with the bending. Additionally, the CGI was pretty good for CGI, but cannot beat the real footage that used to be used. Soarin' is worth it in the middle seats, but not on the sides, and that is really not something guests have any control over, unfortunately.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Most of the scenes are yes. Some like Epcot are actually filmed.

Okay - that's just totally pathetic. Even if it didn't look distorted. Sorry, just inexcusable. #baddecisionmaking

 

[KellyHonos]

I'm a die-hard soaring fan because I think it's a ride anyone and everyone can enjoy. I never have to worry about if someone will be scared or if someone won't like it, because it's universally entertaining and accommodating. I will say that the last time I rode Soaring over California was in 2013, so 5 years ago. I can't recall exactly how it was, but I remember really enjoying it, since the California scenery is what made me fall in love with the attraction originally. With that being said, my sister and I rode Soarin over the world in 2016, and we had an absolute blast. Funny that people are sharing that the images they are seeing are skewed slightly depending where they sit. I remember being bummed out by our seat assignment slightly but then once the ride began i totally forgot about my disappointment. I didn't notice any distortion, but then again I may have been so happy to just be there and be on the ride that my excitement over the ride hindered my memory of the images. But, I can believe that the images are skewed. Just because I didn't witness or remember that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Maybe OP is just defending the imagineers cause he/she knows that if they had the power or technology to not make the image distorted that they'd do so. At the same time, if you've never experienced the ride first hand, it's a little bit on the arrogant side to call people "ignorant" for having an opinion on something. I'm definitely not here to attack anyone over it, I'm just sharing my interpretation of the posts....all in all, I think we have a right to be irritated when attractions, shows and the overall experience of the parks is less than satisfactory. When you're paying $100+ to get into a park, you definitely do expect to see the best, cleanest, technologically advanced attractions, no doubt. I'm not sure how they could make the California scenes work so well but not for soarin around the world. Overall, I still love this ride and will continue to ride. I will definitely keep my eyes open for the skewing and distortion when I ride it this summer, if we happen to snag a crappy seat.

 

[Ben E N]

Okay - that's just totally pathetic. Even if it didn't look distorted. Sorry, just inexcusable. #baddecisionmaking

Yep. I absolutely loved Soarin' and miss it a bunch. I have no desire to ride Soarin' over the World again. It was a worse decision than replacing Alien Encounter with Stitch.

 

[rteetz]

Okay - that's just totally pathetic. Even if it didn't look distorted. Sorry, just inexcusable. #baddecisionmaking

I think some of the areas are inaccessible to film and they wanted the world aspect to be well known places.

 

[KingLlama]

Yep. I absolutely loved Soarin' and miss it a bunch. I have no desire to ride Soarin' over the World again. It was a worse decision than replacing Alien Encounter with Stitch.

Whoa whoa whoa....hold up.

The only worse decision than Stitch's Great Escape was that little stuffed jerk Duffy.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I think some of the areas are inaccessible to film and they wanted the world aspect to be well known places.

I get what you're saying @rteetz . But - I also think, and agree with everyone that's saying there are enough amazing, spectacular, REAL places they could have used instead! And - even IF there are not enough "widely known ones" (which I think there just might be, but let's just say "no" for the sake of the conversation) - then expose folks to some awesome, gorgeous, NEW places!!

 

[rteetz]

I get what you're saying @rteetz . But - I also think, and agree with everyone that's saying there are enough amazing, spectacular, REAL places they could have used instead! And - even IF there are not enough "widely known ones" (which I think there just might be, but let's just say "no" for the sake of the conversation) - then expose folks to some awesome, gorgeous, NEW places!!

Personally while the old version didn't have the distortion I prefer Soarin' around the world for Epcot. Why fly around CA while in Florida and in Epcot? It just didn't make a lot of sense for me.

 

[GreatLakes]

Personally while the old version didn't have the distortion I prefer Soarin' around the world for Epcot. Why fly around CA while in Florida and in Epcot? It just didn't make a lot of sense for me.

I would prefer a global version that didn't include all the CGI myself. I think they concentrated on too many man-made wonders and not enough natural wonders. We are in The Land pavilion after all, celebrate The Land.

 

[Louie7080]

For me, it isn't worth the wait if you have to see it on the sides. I am one of those people that will wait an extra cycle to sit in the middle but I have seen it a few times now and will only go on it if I have a fastpass. I don't mind the CGI and transitions. I agree with others that they could have chosen scenes better to reduce the impact of the distortion on tall slender focal points. Hoping that they bring back the Calfornia version - I only got to see that one once and remembered loving it.

 

[DisneyKingpin]

Wow! You guys ought to all be Imagineers. Sounds like you know exactly what to do.

 

[Ben E N]

Wow! You guys ought to all be Imagineers. Sounds like you know exactly what to do.

Haha. I could just imagine the meeting.
"Hey, here's an idea. Why not go back to what people enjoyed experiencing?"
"No. Not complicated enough."

 

[KingLlama]

There's nothing wrong with the Soarin' update.

Sincerely,
New Coke

 

[tori.bh3]

Different perspective: My first time on the new Soarin', I didn't know this would be an issue and sat in A, very near the doors. The ride made me INCREDIBLY motion sick. All other times, I've sat in B where the images are all fine, and I didn't experience any motion sickness. It gets down to more than a "bad experience in for my money" thing for me. It became a ride that had never made me sick before making me miserable because I sat in the wrong seat.

I haven't been on Flight of Passage yet, but I have been hearing issues on that too. Anyone know?

 

[richmo]

I still enjoy Soarin' and try to go at least once every trip. Did I like the original better? Definitely. Frustrations in reverse order:
- CGI taking away from the reality. Its fine to use it some and they did on the original also (think the hidden Mickey on the golf ball, for example). But the original had more of a "real feel" to it, whether it was or wasn't. Once you hit the polar bears/whale/glacier calving all in the same scene, you just know its doctored and it doesn't change
- Distortion. Seems like the filming could have been done a little differently; maybe keeping the focus more in the middle of the screen than towards the top might have helped.
- Transitions: To me this is the worst of all. Its fine to have a couple transitions between scenes, but having them forced in almost every transition gets to be a bit much.

What I would love to see might or might not be possible: Have an experience more like Star Tours...different, random movies. Whether it would be possible to program the "erector set" movements for different films I don't know (or maybe do the reverse, program the ride movement, then make the films based on that)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Different perspective: My first time on the new Soarin', I didn't know this would be an issue and sat in A, very near the doors. The ride made me INCREDIBLY motion sick. All other times, I've sat in B where the images are all fine, and I didn't experience any motion sickness. It gets down to more than a "bad experience in for my money" thing for me. It became a ride that had never made me sick before making me miserable because I sat in the wrong seat.

I haven't been on Flight of Passage yet, but I have been hearing issues on that too. Anyone know?

FoP is a motion simulator but it is perfectly synced so overall I think less motion sickness than others. Definitely not as bad as Star Tours so if you can do that you’ll be able to do FoP

 

[acpalmer]

FoP is a motion simulator but it is perfectly synced so overall I think less motion sickness than others. Definitely not as bad as Star Tours so if you can do that you’ll be able to do FoP

I would disagree with this--I don't think you can make that kind of blanket statement. I have never felt even the slightest ill on Star Tours or any of the other motion simulators, but Flight of Passage was awful when in one of the seats towards the sides. I was done for the day. The first time I rode FOP I was in the center and while I didn't feel great afterwards, I was fine after a few minutes. Everyone is affected different by motion sickness, so it's really hard for someone else to gauge for you.