I rode Soarin' today!

[marktips]

Due to a series or fortunate events, I got to ride Soarin' at Epcot today!!!

*bounces about happily*

I'll post more info in a little bit.

[marktips]

So here we go..

I posted early this morning that the Hong Kong Preview Center at Epcot would be opening - and so I was really excited about that.

After my only class of the day ended, I sat about trying to find a partner in crime. Finally, one presented herself and off to Epcot we go.

We entered the park right before 3pm, and we wandered over toward the Land to see the new Soarin' sign I had heard about - then I saw those cute bright blue and red Soarin costumes over by Imagination. They had set up an entire stantion queue - I joked with them "Is this the line for the bathroom?"

After less than 5 minute, my group was brought backstage, past the world's most disgusting smelling water filtration system (for the Land Boats fish tanks methinks) and into the door that used to be the starting point for the old Behind the Seeds tour.

Let me tell ya - Food Rocks and the old Green Thumb Emporium store have completely vanished. In their place is a stlyized "lobby."

In the center, a round reception desk with a Soarin' CM standing by. Everything was very sleek and modern, think kinda like the Contamporary. the base of the desk was wood, lightly red tinted, sorta like a lighter cherry, and then had, from what I recall, a metal surface. So, if you can picture that you get the general idea.

We started at the entrance to the line - where signs mark Standby, Fastpass, and Single Rider. Massive walls - not temporary looking - blocked off the Land itself. The wall wth a sign saying "The Land" this way has again the wood and then a wonderful green texture, again very modern but very earthy.

3 massive lines. The same wood hung from the ceiling in something that reminded me of an Ikea catalogue and the three lines worked their way uphill. Indoorsy light beige stucco with sliughtly darker accents made up the mid-height walls seperating the queues - and i think the walls themselves too.

Then we got to the "Biome Room." The standby, which we were in, is the farthest from the pictures which are on the right ride. Then Fast Pass and i think down in that same "tier" was singles. Like, Fast Pass and singles were really the same queue but with a simple divider between them, whereas standby had an entire tier to itself. I could be mistaken though. Anyways, as you notice my tier comments, standby was higher up, able to see the biomes and their questions above the heads of fastpasses and such.

The biomes are pretty - but static. The screens under them are nice though, and have various ways of conveying information. Either a fact is given, or a question appears with answers which slowly dissapear revealing the correct answers, or the question is a simple true/false. Each one is independant so entertains a different part of the queue.

Then its onto the "big blue" hallway. Neon arcs line the sides and its very pretty. If you hadn't noticed, the LINE IS LONG. We walked at a brisk pace in a group and it took several minutes to tranverse - no switchbacks, just a few turns here and there. We entered the "B" side to the right.

We went down another hallway. This time it was all done in metal - the walls made of the sheet metal that has tons of tiny holes in it, sorta like a screen. Made it around another corner, and we were walking down a long area past railings with openings leading to seperate bays.

Each bay has 3 rows, one for each "tier" of the glider. I ended up in "C" (far left) in the 2nd "row/tier" all the way in the end seat. C is the furthest bay away as you load, A being the closest. 1 is the top tier, 2 the second, and 3 the third. If you're at the front of any line in Bay C you'll be at the end of the row (the far left of the seating).

The bays themselves are interesting. Everyone lines up and watches the video introduction. There are seperated by chainlink fencing - which is sorta odd, but didnt really distract. Like, you're suddenly in a large dog kennel

The screen cycling the destinations with clouds was dull, but pre-show was short and cute. However, no reference to the biomes, so it felt a little detached from the queue. A basic reference in the pre-show to tie them together would remedy this problem.

When you enter the vehicles, there is an obvious railing and the blue-lighted screen - it ominously looms for those who are afraid of heights- its big and you call tell. The seats are "mesh" rather than solid, so very comfy. Think lkike an office chair made of mesh - springy and nice.

The ride itself: (highlight to read the "spoiler")

Spoiler:

It was fun. Right before "launch" the lights in the floor lightup and glow blue as the rest of the lights in the room dim and go out. The tops of the vehicles lower down into their "flight" position." You begin to glide over them and pick up speed so you get a neat sorta "flashing effect" as you pass them, then blackout, and you're up. It wasn't scary, it didn't like make my stomach shake or anything like that, but rather caught me off guard and took my breath away. I was like more "oh my god i'm doing this" than g-force pulling fear or anything. The scenes were a bit jumpy, but all good. The orange blossom smell was nice, but my friend noted the ocean later smelled the same - a minor glitch perhaps. The scenes with the aircraft carriers was totally not "biomes" but pretty. The movement was subtle, because of the mesh seats you could feel your body weight shift and roll, causing my afraid of heights self to hold on to the handhold rails - but i quickly relaxed. I even waved down to the operations console visible to my direct left. Wow, I was high. The Disneyland scene was great - the castle was decorated!!! The fireworks you fly into were awesome! You vehicle even shook as the bursts exploded, and then after tinkerbell and an awesome brust it blacks out. Then you're back on the ground and the lights come on - effortless and unnoticeable movement.

Once on the ground we collected our belongings and exitted to the left. Once my group was all out, we doubled back along entrance area via the exit corridor, which is the "third tier" in the queue so to speak. It follows the same exact path as the entrance but with walls seperating it from the other area - I think it might bypass the biome room, i'm not sure though. Anyways - it wasn't finished. There were little pieces of wood taped all along the bottom of it hiding what would be trim I assume.

Near the exit back into the Land itself, there is a larger open area where there sits a group of FastPass machines just before you exit back to the "Lobby" with the desk.

I just remembered what the desk is for - it has a sign saying "Next Behind the Seeds Tour at 10:00" so it apparently the check-in for that.

Oh! Music! The queue played nothing i recognized from the California playlist - but did have 1 song i recognized. It played "Awful Waste of Space" from the movie Contact (with Jodi Foster). It was fitting and pretty. I've always wanted that song in a theme park and apparently an imagineer out there agrees. Also, along the temporary outside queue area on the Land side of the walkways it was playing the same sorta music - so apparently the Land's ambiance has changed.

That's all i can recall!

[marktips]

Hehe - it's funny, i know the DLand board is more popular, but sometimes i wish there were folks wanting to chat and be excited about new rides here on the WDW side. Well, i guess that's not funny haha, but more funny weird. C'mon, i need folks to excitedly chat with

[Animalia]

I'm glad you had a good time. That queue sounds like it's a mile long. Much longer than the one in DCA unless you count the way DCA's switchbacks on the outside of the building before going into the main queue area. It sounds like they allowed for the more inclimate weather conditions of Florida by having it longer on the inside. The pre boarding area (with the chain link fence), pre show film with the clouds and city names, and the ride itself sound identical to the one here in California. The chain link fence fits the DCA version because it's themed to a desert Air Force base. It's interesting they would use the same look in the EPCOT version. One thing I'm not familiar with is the "biomes". The DCA version doesn't have those. Only photos of history making aircraft & aviators and various aircraft parts perched on shelves and hanging from the walls of the hanger-like queue area. What are biomes?

[sdfilmcritic]

I'm glad to hear about some Floridians having fun on the ride.

[SummerinFL]

Originally Posted by marktips

Hehe - it's funny, i know the DLand board is more popular, but sometimes i wish there were folks wanting to chat and be excited about new rides here on the WDW side. Well, i guess that's not funny haha, but more funny weird. C'mon, i need folks to excitedly chat with

OMG Marktips! You make me want to get in the car and run over today! Heck, if its just you and me getting excited over the rides then that's alright buddy!!:P

I'm sooooo psyched about going to this, I really hope we can get in when we go. ARG! I'm so jealous! LOL

[brazen wench]

Originally Posted by marktips

i wish there were folks wanting to chat and be excited about new rides here on the WDW side.

Well, I'm excited! Thanks for the great report! Can't wait to ride this in June!

[marktips]

More on the Biome room:

Essentially, to tie the attraction in the Land pavillion at Epcot (which it enters through rather than being a standalone) Soarin' needed some connection to the earth/ecology/horticulture/etc. that the Land is all about.

The biome room is a long corridor with a high ceiling that curves in one side, sorta like you're walking through a tall half-archway tunnel. On one side are large images of 4 biomes - rainforest, artic tundra, dedacious forest, and desert. These images are big - think like 4x6ft or so each. Each is like a plastic panel and then lit from behind so they appear to glow, making the colors very vibrant. Underneath each is a smaller television screen (plasma, hd, something with a nice crisp image!) that is cycling through trivia about the biome above it. The corridor is fairly long so each individual one entertains a different section of the queue.

[marktips]

Other things that were thought provoking:

The hanging wooden ceiling, and also the gaps in the queue walls, had what appeared to be "anti-static" brushes. You know, the ones they have one some rides that the vehicles go by and that reduce the static and such. Long black wirey thingy poking out from each side of either gap after a large section of ceiling wood or at the break in the queue wall. The ones in the queue walls made sense - keeping people in their queue, but in an emergency they could "squeeze through" and evac and such - but the purpose of the ceiling ones eludes me. Keep dusting from falling?

The exit to the Land sign seems to taken on the font of the Kodak "What if?" labs. Think sorta rounded and "bubble" letters than the older sharp edged but fat Land script we're used to. The choice of color was great and the texture was really nice. I want to say they took the "mosaic" look from the entrance and copied it indoors as well. For example, the background of the sign was roughly 3/4" to 1" wide verticle stripes - inside each stripe was a series of very thin parallel lines at a 45 degree angle, alternating colors of light white-green a nice pea-green, and then each stripe alternated angle direction with the last, resulting in a very modern texture- could be described as makng little evergreen trees out of the angles.

It seems like such a basic thing of no importance, but it really did seem to fit the Land itself well.

[Animalia]

Originally Posted by marktips

More on the Biome room:

The biome room is a long corridor with a high ceiling that curves in one side, sorta like you're walking through a tall half-archway tunnel. On one side are large images of 4 biomes - rainforest, artic tundra, dedacious forest, and desert. These images are big - think like 4x6ft or so each. Each is like a plastic panel and then lit from behind so they appear to glow, making the colors very vibrant. Underneath each is a smaller television screen (plasma, hd, something with a nice crisp image!) that is cycling through trivia about the biome above it. The corridor is fairly long so each individual one entertains a different section of the queue.

Aaahhhh. I see. Thanks marktips. I was imagining something like diaramas about the size of a store window that you looked at as you passed them in the line. Kind of like what Horizons had in its queue. Thanks for helping me see it better in my minds eye.

[SuefromRI]

Mark, thanks for the update on Soarin. We loved it at DCA and can't wait to see it at EPCOT. Don't know when that might be though as no trip planned at the moment, since we went twice last year unexpectedly in March and Nov. With my daughter now working a real job, and my son entering college in the fall lining up available dates is tough. Hoping to get a trip in next Jan for college break between Christmas and Martin Luther King holiday.
I really look forward to the change to a new movie rather than the CA one.

[vamassey]

I can't wait to try this but I'm still worried. Will I get motion sickness? What do you think Marktips?

[SCUBAbe]

the ocean smell in ours does not smell like oranges, but it doesn't smell like the ocean either....LOL..our oceans smell bad at times..

[marktips]

Originally Posted by vamassey

I can't wait to try this but I'm still worried. Will I get motion sickness? What do you think Marktips?

My "test team" was the perfect pairing - myself, terrified of heights and anything involving drops, anf my friend who gets motion sick on rides, including mission space for example.

Neither of us had any problems with the ride - except that nervousness before we went on.

[Marox3]

I'm sitting at our room at GCH and can't even get on Soarin'. The FP's are gone and the line looks ridiculous.

I hope Epcot will be a little easier for us in August. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[marktips]

If anything, the Epcot Soarin' queue is entirely indoors - unless during the first few weeks it spills outside the land pavillion, but that requires going up stairs and out the doors when it already has the single longest queue I've ever seen.

[LisaB]

Can you tell me how that long queue compares in length to SM? And is it flat or uphill like SM? I'm worried because it just be me and my son in a wheelchair - an I can barely push him up the queue in SM. I can't handle another ride like that!

Thanks,
LisaB

[marktips]

The slope is really gentle - if you can remember the Body Wars queue its similiar to that. It goes up gradually and then back down. Less slope than the Test Track queue. The hill into the Land itself is steeper.

Essentially you go up straight, then up, reach a landiong, pivot to a slight angle, enter the biome room which is flat, head downward slightly into the blue room and then down into the metal room and flat for the loading rooms, flat across the ride, gradual uphill as you exit, back to flat and out into the world

[Pirate Girl]

I'm heading down on Monday or Tuesday for the Cast preview. I can't wait. This is one of the things I really miss about California.

[Drince88]

Originally Posted by Pirate Girl CM

I'm heading down on Monday or Tuesday for the Cast preview. I can't wait. This is one of the things I really miss about California.

Looking forward to your review of it! Especially comparison between the two coasts.

[Pirate Girl]

Originally Posted by Drince88

Looking forward to your review of it! Especially comparison between the two coasts.

lol, my friends here don't really appreciate my comparison of the two coasts. Mostly because I'm DLR biast. But that's ok.

[sdfilmcritic]

Originally Posted by Pirate Girl CM

lol, my friends here don't really appreciate my comparison of the two coasts. Mostly because I'm DLR biast. But that's ok.

Californian at heart? It's good to see you posting Pirate after what seemed like a lengthy sabbatical.

[marktips]

Pirate Girl - I thought CM previews were (correction, I KNOW CM previews are..) April 8, 9, and 10, for Soarin'.

You sure you're not confusing the dates for Cindy or Lights Motors?

[Pirate Girl]

Well, I finally made it down to Epcot to test out Soarin'. It's identical to the one at DCA with a few slight preshow differences to maintain the name change "Soarin'". The queue is much better in California, the costumes are better in California, the show building is better in California. Overall, I was very pleased and kept jumping back in line. I got a little homesick the first time I rode it during the Disneyland sequence. It has now been almost 6 months since I've been to Disneyland and I'm having major withdrawls. (Withdrawls no one out here understands because: a... I work at the Magic Kingdom b... they have never been to Disneyland c...they think I am an overdramatic disney nut.)

[SummerinFL]

I don't think your an overdramatic Disney nut Pirate Girl.

It's everyone else *twitches* yeah...thats the ticket!!

ARRRRR!:P