"Whose Idea Was This?" Disney Fans Have THOUGHTS About EPCOT's New Soarin' Across America

Soarin’ Across America is the new overlay for the popular Soarin’ attraction in both Disney World and Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort, and while it doesn’t open in DCA until July 2nd, it’ll officially open to the public in Disney World’s EPCOT on May 26th.

Soarin’ Across America

However, Cast Member previews are currently ongoing, and Disney World Annual Passholders will be able to ride early on May 19th and 20th, so we’ve fortunately already gotten the chance to ride. We’ve got some thoughts of our own, but after sharing our ride through on social media as well, it seems that a lot of Disney fans ALSO have some serious thoughts about this new version of the ride. You’ve been warned now — there are spoilers ahead!

In our experience, we noticed that the transitions for this version of the ride aren’t as drastic, which translates to us feeling like the ride vehicle doesn’t move as much. There are still dips and dives, for sure, but they do feel less frequent and tamer than previous versions.

Soarin’ Across America

We also enjoyed the scents on the ride, but there were only three of them, which is fewer than what you normally smell on other versions of this ride. We noticed a grass scent in the prairie scene, a strong swamp/water smell in Louisiana, and some tropical flowers (potentially hibiscus) in Hawaii.

You can smell grass here!

However, our team was also in agreement with each other that this version, while special in its own way (especially starting off with that rocket launch), doesn’t rank higher than Soarin’ Around the World or Soarin’ Over California. Soarin’ Over California still remains the favorite of a lot of the members of our team, and when we took to social media, it seems A LOT of Disney fans are also in agreement.

Soarin’ Over California

Instagram user @at_home_engineering commented, “looks like California will continue to be the purest, most carefully crafted version” on our Instagram post, and others were quick to agree. When another user, @braddocdecaires, commented, “Soarin’ Across Americ-AI,” commenting on how the graphics and video look overall, Instagram user @ashlyn_fike was quick to reply in agreement, stating, “right? why can’t they make it like soaring over California?? It looks so much better.” User @itskozzboi also pointed something interesting out, saying, “The Pandora ride has better graphics and that place doesn’t even exist 😭 why couldn’t they have just taken a helicopter to these places.”

Mount Rushmore in Soarin’ Across America

Other Disney fans commented on their dislike of the transitions and how they’re not as smooth as previous versions. Instagram user @megs.hairtheory commented on our post, “The fact that the transitions aren’t smooth/cool like in the original makes me mad.” Other Disney fans have also agreed with this sentiment, and we can totally see why. The transitions are what often blow people away about Soarin’, so the change is decently drastic.

The Soarin’ Challenge

However, we’ve also seen Disney fans very excited to ride this new version, with users like @disneygaga saying, “Can’t wait to see it IRL!!” and @happy.heather.johnson commenting, “I love it and can’t wait to see it.” The takeaway from it? A lot of people, our team included, seem to prefer other versions of the ride, but we appreciate that it’s here now, and we encourage you to experience it while you can, since it won’t be around forever!

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How do you feel about this new version of the ride? Tell us in the comments!