Attraction Type: Hang-gliding simulator.
Location: In the sub-land Condor Flats, just to the north of Grizzly Peak.
General Description: Hang-glide high over the Golden State as you travel over some of California’s most well-known landmarks.
Will’s Review: Soarin’ Over California was an opening day attraction at DCA and one of the park’s few well-received attractions. Like no other attraction in California Adventure, it competes for popularity alongside Disneyland’s Space Mountain and Indiana Jones Adventure. The ride is hosted in the Grizzly Peak sub-land of Condor Flats, a strip of land just south of Grizzly Peak themed to a 1950’s-era California airfield in the high desert. Entering the massive air hanger housing this attraction, guests first encounter Wings of the World, a walk-through exhibit dedicated to famous contributors to California’s aviation history. After this, guests are shuffled to one of two hanger wings and lined up at either Alpha Gate, Bravo Gate, or Charlie Gate.
Entering the massive show room brings you face-to-face with the three-story, one-million pound steel attraction vehicle that seats three rows of guests under a large canopy wing (this wing is lowered at the beginning of the ride). After the doors are closed, cool wind blows in your face in the dark as your carriage is lifted up and into an over-sized Omnimax screen on which images of flying high over California are projected. Utilizing various scents, vertical movement, and projected images that consume your entire field of vision, the sense of hang-gliding over the most famous California landmarks is accompanied by an epic soundtrack. During the nearly five-minute journey, you will fly over The Golden Gate Bridge, Lake Tahoe, Palm Springs, the California desert, Pebble Beach, and Malibu. The ride climaxes with a dramatic nighttime flight between the massive steel and glass towers of downtown Los Angeles before flying over a nighttime Disneyland Park at Christmas time, coming face-to-face with the park’s world-famous fireworks.
The only non-convincing aspect of this attraction is the very sudden and slightly jarring changes of scenery; no transition is made between each scene. One second you are in Malibu, and the next second the frame directly cuts to the desert. This is easily forgivable, as the overall experience of the attraction makes this one defect unmemorable for the most part. On a note of trivia, this was only one of three attractions at park opening (the other two being Grizzly River Run and California Screamin’) that received overall positive reviews – the rest of the park was put down by many critics, resulting in the current $1 billion renovation that will be complete by 2012. While also one of the few completely original creations for this theme park (most other attractions were inexpensive clones from Disney World, or off-the-shelf, minimally-themed attractions), this was the only DCA attraction that was replicated on the east coast due to it’s massive popularity.
Touring Tips: This is an attraction that most guests wish to visit at least twice. If your trip only affords you one day at California Adventure, go this route: Venture to the ride immediately upon park opening, obtain a Fastpass, and then go to Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to ride. After riding, return to Soarin’ and stand in the regular lines, without using your Fastpass. After getting off, go back on the ride at your appointed Fastpass time.
Warning: While generally smooth, this attraction (due mostly to the artificial sensation of hang-gliding) has been known to aggravate some guests’ heart conditions. Expectant mothers are urged not to ride.
Family Info: This ride is great fun for the whole family; small children may be slightly frightened by the effect of flight, but the actual movement of the attraction’s carriage is extremely minimal. Everyone from small children to young adults to seniors come away with favorable impressions of this attraction. Please note that guests must be 40” or taller to ride.
Variations: This attraction is replicated at Epcot, under the name Soarin’.
Soarin’ Over California - Grizzly River Run - Redwood Creek Challenge Trail - Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar - Mission Tortilla Factory - Bakery Tour
