To celebrate the nation’s semi-quincentennial celebration (250th birthday), Walt Disney World and Disneyland are updating the Soarin’ attraction from Soarin’ Around the World to Soarin’ Across America. The new video for Soarin’ will arrive sometime next Summer, and Disney has offered a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the Across America version of the ride.
Behind-the-Scenes Look at Soarin’ Across America
“When production wrapped almost a decade ago on Soarin’ Around the World, we started thinking about where we might go next with the format,” Tom Fitzgerald, Portfolio Executive Creative Director and Chief Storytelling Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering, said. “A trip across the United States felt like a natural next flight for Soarin’ to take, and the 250th anniversary of our nation provided the perfect opportunity to ‘book the flight.’”
“As always with Soarin’ films, the biggest challenge is choosing where to go, and what locations would work best in this unique film format,” Fitzgerald said. “Now with the 250th celebration, we’ll immerse our guests in a celebratory flight that spans from sea to shining sea!”
New Locales, New Technology
The popular attraction format raises guests high into the air in front of an immersive, 80-foot projection dome for a virtual tour of spectacular aerial footage that simulates the graceful motion of flight.
Bernice Howes, Executive Creative Media Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, stepped in to oversee how the new sights and scenes would be captured for Soarin’ Across America.
Before hunkering down with advanced camera and aerial technology to capture new stunning scenes of America, Howes and team mapped out which locations to capture and tested equipment.
“We sought out satellite maps to display a realistic visual of the locations,” Howes said, “and set up aerial paths in order to understand our filming location needs and how one location transitions into the next to tell the story.”
From there, Howes and Scott Sohan, Principal Visual Effects Designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, and team set out on a series of camera, lens, helicopter, and heavy-lift drone equipment tests to figure out the exact specifications needed to use a unified set-up for filming all the new scenes.
“We then gathered all the needed equipment to go on location — 33 cases in total! — to ensure we had everything we needed while we are out in the middle of nowhere, including spares on all the equipment,” Howes said.
A Tribute to America
“Our goal was to offer guests a sampling of the diversity of America’s beauty and urban wonders with the hope it would paint an emotional portrait for the nation’s Semi-quincentennial celebration,” Fitzgerald said.
For Howes, there was a specific roadmap of how to construct the new film for the attraction to deliver on that creative vision.
“Contrasting shots of different American locales — scenic wonders, amazing cities, and the beauty of the coasts. The use of the physical landscape of the United States as a unifying element,” she explained. “Then, using continuous camera movement to smoothly transition between these scenes, linking them together to show the geographical ‘whole’ of the nation, from natural locations to large cities to national monuments that represent America the beautiful.”
Howes concluded, “The film’s creation is designed to embody America’s spirit for today’s guests and future generations.”
Soarin’ Across America is a tribute to the country’s past, present, and future. As Disney continues to innovate and celebrate milestones, Soarin’ Across America stands as a testament to the company’s commitment to storytelling, technological excellence, and honoring the spirit of the United States.
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