Walt Disney World has refreshed and fixed scenes in Soarin’ Around the World with new finale footage reflecting the reimagined EPCOT and fixing distortion in another scene. This post offers details about the changes along with our commentary.
Let’s start at the end, with a new finale to one of EPCOT’s most popular attractions. Soarin’ Around the World now culminates in a flyover of World Celebration, complete with working in-ground lighting, replacing the former Future World finale that has been obsolete since late 2019.
The new grand finale gives guests a sweeping aerial view of the front of EPCOT, beginning with the outer ring of the monorail loop, and heading back towards the front of the park. The flyover passes CommuniCore Hall, World Celebration Gardens, Moana’s Journey of Water, Spaceship Earth with the Beacons of Magic, and fireworks overhead shooting off from the parking lot.
In addition to the finale, the infamous leaning Eiffel Tower is now a bit less bent. While distortion abounds in Soarin’ Around the World because of the decision to feature so much architecture and swooping scenes that get up close to landmarks, the Eiffel Tower was a punchline among fans. Guests who sat on the sides of the theater previously saw a ‘hooking’ tower.
This has been fixed, or rather, minimized, thanks to new footage of the Eiffel Tower that never brings guests quite as close to the Parisian landmark. It’s still likely that there’s distortion from off angles, but it shouldn’t be nearly as noticeable as before. The tradeoff is that the Eiffel Tower remains more in the distance, so the flyover is less intimate. To each their own, but it’s a compromise I’ll happily take. This looked embarrassingly bad from anywhere but dead center before.
At least, I assume it’s a compromise I’ll take based on the videos all over social media. We’ve yet to see the Soarin’ updates in person, but if those are representative of the in-person experience, it looks like Imagineering has incrementally improved the attraction.
Our Commentary
I have to admit that I’m surprised and impressed by these updates. Around this time last year when Soarin’ Over California returned for a limited engagement, there was speculation that Soarin’ Around the World wouldn’t return until a new finale had been filmed.
Frankly, I laughed. We didn’t even cover it here because I dismissed the possibility of Soarin’ updates out of hand as wishful thinking by fans. If someone would’ve tried to bet me on the film getting a new finale within the next year, they could’ve made themselves a lot of money! (Well, save for the fact that I don’t gamble. Minor detail.)
That was my reaction because we’ve been around the block with this kind of update—or lack thereof—before, and they generally just do not happen. Once the original budget is spent, it’s exceedingly difficult for Imagineering to get funding for little plussings. These are things that should happen in the interest of show quality and the guest experience, but usually don’t because they don’t meaningfully move the needle on any measurable metrics.
Soarin’ is a good example of this. The original was cloned from DCA and Walt Disney World didn’t even bother to spend the money to film a new finale. The argument could be made that it was Soarin’ Over California, so a different ending wouldn’t have made sense. (Similar story with the cloning of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, right down to the French.)
The difference here is that Walt Disney World purposefully dropped ‘Over California’ from the name. I’m guessing the vast majority of guests never realized it was all locations in the Golden State, as most of the locales were fairly nondescript. It just felt like a wide variety of United States environments—and nowhere has the range of California.
Then there’s Soarin’ Around the World. For those who are unfamiliar with the background on this attraction, it was created for the opening of Shanghai Disneyland, where it’s a tentpole attraction. I’m reasonably confident that the second incarnation of the attraction wouldn’t exist in the U.S. parks but for Shanghai Disneyland footing the bill.
Personally, what I’d really like to see is an entirely new film. Now that Soarin(g) has made its way to Tokyo Disney Resort, my suspicion is that it’s only a matter of time before OLC foots the bill for another new version. Of course, it could remain exclusive to Tokyo DisneySea for ~5 years, but that’s still probably the only way Walt Disney World gets a new Soarin’ film within the next decade. Understandably so, as EPCOT has bigger fish to fry.
Although I don’t dislike Soarin’ Around the World as much as some of its detractors, the CGI, cheesy animals, and distortion has worn on me over time. Even though it’s not even a decade old, I think Soarin’ Around the World has aged worse than the much older, but also more natural Soarin’ Over California. The latter benefits from its footage being real, whereas the extensive CGI of the new version has dated itself much sooner.
There’s a lot of CGI in Soarin’ Around the World, and it mostly isn’t too distracting. Unfortunately, there are also several places where it or the distortion is a problem. Save for one glaring exception that I doubt was even filmed on location at all, this isn’t entire scenes. It is due to the addition of little details to the scene, such as people, boats, balloons, or–mostly–animals. The CGI animals don’t necessarily look fake. They don’t have that early 2000s Scorpion King kinda cheesiness, but you do get the feeling that someone at WDI learned CGI and got a little carried away.
Distortion is also a problem in several scenes aside from the now-fixed Eiffel Tower segment. There’s a reason distortion isn’t as pronounced in the original Soarin–because instead of architecture and linear elements, the attraction primarily features geography that can mask distortion better. It also tended to keep the framing wider to avoid curvature issues with off-center seats.
Ultimately, I’m pleased to see Imagineering get the chance to fix and update Soarin’ Around the World. I’m also somewhat surprised Walt Disney World even gave them the opportunity. This really doesn’t strike me as the kind of thing that normally happens at the Florida parks, so kudos where it’s due–this is precisely the type of plussing that should be occurring on a regular basis. Even if I’d far prefer this version of Soarin’ to be replaced, I’m happy to see steps in the right direction.
Beyond an all-new film, I wouldn’t mind seeing Soarin’ Over California return to EPCOT again. The attraction itself is largely unchanged and still looks modern. The film was updated to a digital projection shortly before being retired, and it still looks crisp and clean. The scents, including a new one, are as delightful as ever. The original Soarin’ is one film that stands the test of time, just like Impressions de France, which is still shown in EPCOT over 40 years later.
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Your Thoughts
Are you excited for these new scenes in Soarin’ Around the World at EPCOT? Pleased to see Imagineering have the chance to enhance existing attractions? Would you prefer to see Soarin’ Over California or Soarin’ Around the World…or both? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
