"It's Ok Looking." Fans React to Disney's Newest Version of Soarin'

EPCOT may be the only park that isn’t under a lot of construction, although the park did have a massive transformation a few years ago. However, that’s not to say that things in EPCOT aren’t changing.

In fact, an iconic EPCOT ride is changing. Soarin’ Around the World is set to become Soarin’ Across America, and we recently had a chance to ride it early during Cast Member previews. Now, we’re sharing our honest opinions of the new version of the ride, as well as what others are saying about it.

Soarin’ Across America is focused on visiting iconic locations and landscapes in the U.S., including the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, New York City, the New England coastline, and more.

We were impressed with the opening of the ride, which we thought was “surprising and breathtaking.” However, we found the rest of the ride to be a little understated compared to Soarin’ Around The World and Soarin’ Over California. We also felt like the ride didn’t move as much as with other versions of the ride, which is a little disappointing. This ride is a lot less dramatic.

We had also hoped for more scents because we only noticed three: grass in the prairie scene, the swamp in Louisiana, and a floral scent in Hawaii. We didn’t even see any hidden Mickeys either!

We posted a video of our ride on social media, and it seems our readers also have some opinions about the ride. John compared it to Soarin’ Over California, which is a favorite among Disney fans. “It’s ok looking,” he wrote. “Without actually riding it, it’s nicer than around the world but not as nice as over California. The scenes used in that are phenomenal.”

Tony said something similar: “Rode it today… not impressed. The opening scene was great but the rest was okay at best.”

Stephanie basically agreed and wrote: “I feel like they just flew over the scenes and not INTO the scenes like in Soaring Over CA. Can’t wait to see it. Soaring Over CA will always have my heart….it always made me feel like I was on vacation.”

Meanwhile, Debi asked, “Does anyone else think it looks a bit boring?”

Margaret pointed out something technical: “The transition between each of the scenes are a bit rough around the edge.”

Jeanna was impressed by the ride, though: “Did our Cast Preview yesterday!!!! As a local here in Central Florida, I was in tears at the first scene, and of course the final scene! No spoilers, although I will say we thought each ‘scene’ lasted a few seconds longer, and the show overall felt shorter than either the world or California versions. This last point is probably simply our perception that we did not want it to end!”

We also saw a lot of comments about things that they felt were left out that should have made the film, such as the St. Louis Arch, Hoover Dam, The Great Lakes, and Chicago.

However, some fans called it “amazing” and couldn’t wait to ride it for themselves, so we’ll have to see if opinions change over time. Soarin’ Across America officially opens on May 26th in Disney World and on June 1st in Disney California Adventure in Disneyland.

In the meantime, we’ll keep covering all the changes happening in Disney World, so check back with AllEars again soon for more.