Every Location in the NEW Soarin’ Across America and Why Disney Chose Them

In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, Disney gave Soarin’ a special patriotic overlay!

Soarin’ Across America takes the ride’s traditional ride system – – previously used to soar above California and some of the world’s wonders – – and uses it to take guests on a tour of some of America’s best-known and historically important natural and manmade sights.

So, how did Disney choose which American landmarks to feature in this limited-time take on Soarin’? Imagineering Executive Creative Director Tom Fitzgerald told The Orange County Register that Imagineering wanted to “go from sea to shining sea” and “cover the breadth” of the United States.

When choosing their locations, Imagineering strove to strike a geographical balance with areas including the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, West, and Pacific Ocean represented. In addition, they strove to include varied color pallets, ranging from “ocean blues, forest greens, and orange canyons.”

On the same token, the locations had to be recognizable because of the attraction’s runtime. Fitzgerald continued, “It has to be fast, iIf you don’t know where you are, then we’ve lost you.”

The locations they eventually settled on are as follows:

• The Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where NASA has launched since the 1960s.
• The iconic Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline.
• The Portland Head Light lighthouse in Portland, Maine.
• Washington D.C. landmarks of the capital region, including the United States Capitol Building, the National Mall, and the Washington Monument
• The Louisiana bayou.
• The Branson Scenic Railway is a 100+ year old rail location in Missouri’s  Ozark Mountains.
• The Mount Rushmore carvings in South Dakota.
• The Buffalo drive in South Dakota’s Custer State Park.
• The Grand Canyon in Arizona.
• Denali National Park and its peak in Alaska.
• The iconic Diamond Head volcanic cone in Hawaii.
• Some of Los Angeles’s most famous icons, including the Griffith Park Observatory, the Hollywood Sign, and an overview of the LA Skyline.
• Depending on the coast a rider is on, the ride ends with a patriotic fireworks display at Walt Disney World’s Epcot or Disneyland in California.

The visuals unfold from east to west and from morning to night to give riders the feeling of traveling on a cross-country journey (with the exception of returning east to EPCOT in the Walt Disney World version). In addition, there are some transition scenes which Fitzgerald described as “non-specific regions that could represent the diversity of the country.” He explained, “We don’t necessarily want you to know for those shots exactly where it is. We want you to feel it could be many places, so that more people see their home or their place.”

Soarin’ Across America is currently operating at EPCOT in all its patriotic glory and is set to open at Disneyland on July 2nd. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Disney’s latest offerings.

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Have you ridden Soarin’ Across America yet? Let us know in the comments below.