Soarin' is the collective term for a series of flying simulator rides at the Disney Theme Parks. It is considered to be the first suspended flying theater attraction.
The original version of the ride debuted in 2001 as an opening day attraction for Disney’s California Adventure under the title of Soarin' Over California, and featured numerous sights of California, fitting with the park's initial Californian theming. Notably, it was one of the few aspects of DCA that was universally praised during the park’s early years.
The ride was then brought over to EPCOT as just Soarin' in 2005 at The Land pavilion, replacing Food Rocks, and initially keeping the same ride film as the California version.
When the ride opened with Shanghai Disneyland in June 2016 as Soaring Over the Horizon, it came with a new ride film that now traveled across six different continents. Two months later, this new ride film was brought over to both American versions, with the rides both being retitled Soarin' Around the World. The ride would then open at Tokyo DisneySea in 2019 as Soaring: Fantastic Flight. The original Soarin' Over California ride film does make temporary returns to DCA for limited engagements since 2019, during the spring Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival (based on the similarly named Epcot International Food & Wine Festival at its sister park). The original film also returned to Epcot from September 22, 2023, to February 27, 2024, as part of Disney's 100th anniversary celebrations.
Each ride features different aesthetics in their queues and presentations, but each ride has the same movie save for the ending scenes.
In 2026 there will be a new "Soarin' Across America"👁 Image
version in the US parks for the US 250th anniversary.
The original ride video can be found here👁 Image
and the California edition of Around The World can be found here👁 Image
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Soarin' to Troper, we are ready for take off!
- Arc Welding: Camelia Falco's appearance in the queue for Tokyo's Fantastic Flight variant ties the attraction into the broader Society of Explorers and Adventurers mythos at the Disney parks. Falco's name is directly associated with other S.E.A. members via a collection of commemorative oars at Disneyland Park's Tropical Hideaway restaurant, and artwork on the walls of Fantastic Flight depicts a young Lord Henry Mystic attending her induction into the Society. Falco is depicted as the first female member of the Society, joining in 1851.
- Clock Punk: The gliders in Soaring: Fantastic Flight located in Tokyo feature this aesthetic.
- Cultural Translation: Each version of the ride features the same movie but different themes. The original Californian version was made to celebrate the state's aviation history and took place in an airfield. Florida's copy has more of an airport theme with the idea that the rider is taking a leisure flight to California.
- Expansion Pack: In EPCOT, due to high demand, a third theater was added to the attraction.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The golf ball which flies over guests’ heads in the “Over California” iteration of the attraction is embossed with a hidden Mickey. It can be a bit tricky to spot this one however, as the ball isn’t on screen for long.
- Idiosyncratic Wipes: In Around the World version, the transitions between locations use fades and Match Cuts to transition from location to location.
- I'm Okay!: In “Over California” one of the skiers in the mountain-top sequence goes flying off the side of a rock and wipes out. He can faintly be heard calling out this trope by name from off screen.
- Magical Native American: The host of the Shanghai version of the ride is an Incan-Chinese woman.
- "No Talking or Phones" Warning: Patrick Warburton plays a flight attendant in the American versions of the ride and gives out the safety instructions before boarding.
- Recycled Trailer Music — or rather, recycled queue music: The ride's queuing area features a loop over an hour long (because the line can easily get that long on busy days) that's entirely made of tracks lifted from various movie scores👁 Image
, most of them non-Disney. - Regional Bonus:
- Each ride except for the Shanghai version ends with a scene taking place in the park the ride is located in.note Or adjacent park, in the case of California, where the final scene takes place in Disneyland Park rather than DCA.
- In Tokyo, the penultimate scene is a shot of Tokyo Tower rather than the Eiffel Tower in other locations.
- Inverted in the Shanghai version, the scene featuring the Great Wall of China was removed.
- Scenery Porn: The Ride! Guests are treated to beautiful fly-over shots of various landmarks both natural and manmade.
- The World Is Just Awesome: All versions showcase the beauty and wonder involved with the locations presented in each version of the attraction.
- World Tour: The Soarin' Around the World version, which has riders travel to such places as Antarctica, Sydney, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and Monument Valley in the USA.
- You Must Be This Tall to Ride: While the ride has a normal ride restriction, there is a secondary one (measured on the backs of the seats themselves) that requires shorter guests to put the belt through a loop on the seat for extra safety.