In this post we give an overview of Soarin’ Around The World, a screen / thrill ride at Disney’s EPCOT theme park in Walt Disney World. We cover the basics of the ride, how to ride it, and our thoughts on the experience before closing with an FAQ. Read on to learn more!
Related Posts
This post is a quick guide to Soarin’, but we have related content that dives deeper into topics. Our Epcot Lightning Lane Strategy Guide covers Lightning Lane strategy in depth. The Epcot Rides and Entertainment Guide gives brief introductions to all the park’s offerings. For putting together your day at the park, we have a One Day Plan for Epcot.
And if you want to dive into more about the other rides at Epcot, we have guides to each:
Soarin’ Basics
Soarin’ is a screen-based thrill ride at Disney’s EPCOT in Walt Disney World. Soarin’:
offers rider switch
is a Tier 1 ride on Lightning Lane Multi Pass
does not have a single rider line
is about 3.5 minutes long
Guests with a fear of heights may not want to ride.
If you’re visiting Epcot with small children, you’ll need to use rider switch to ride. Non-riders may want to enjoy Living With The Land in the same building, but several other nearby rides also don’t have height requirements. The Seas pavilion also has an aquarium.
Where is Soarin’ in Epcot?
Soarin’ is located in the World Nature land, in The Land pavilion at EPCOT in Disney World.
Entering the park from the main entrance, World Nature is to the right. There are three pavilions on that side, the center one is The Land. Entering The Land, you’ll need to go down the stairs / escalators (or take an elevator) to the lower level, where you’ll find entrances for Soarin’ and Living With The Land.
How to ride Soarin’
For this section we’re going to talk about all the Epcot Tier 2 rides (plus Soarin’) together, but unlike in my posts for the Tier 2 rides I’m going to start with some key things to know about Soarin’.
Soarin’ is a tier 1 ride on Lightning Lane Multi Pass, but it’s much less popular than Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Test Track. You’ll usually be able to find good same-day availability for it if you have Multi Pass.
Without (or with, I guess) Multi Pass, Soarin’ is the ride to keep your eye on as you work your way through your morning. It’s going to be the last of the “popular” rides to see its wait time jump. If you can nab a short wait on it, you’ll probably still have a few short waits for Tier 2 rides by the time you get off. If you can’t get there in time for a short wait, you’ll probably want to take care of any nearby short waits first.
While it won’t have waits as short as the Tier 2 rides, its location and only-moderate popularity mean that many of the same principles that apply to those rides apply to Soarin’, too. With that said, here’s more general thoughts about most of the rides in this part of the park. The next few paragraphs are going to be similar in the posts for the Tier 2 rides, too.
General Notes About Epcot’s Tier 2 Rides (And Soarin’)
The tier 2 rides at Epcot are:
Journey into Imagination with Figment
Living with the Land
Mission: SPACE
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Spaceship Earth
Turtle Talk with Crush (show, not ride)
Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival (show, not ride)
When it comes to tier 2 Lightning Lanes—plus Soarin’, usually—at Epcot, there’s not much way to go wrong. We typically recommend Spaceship Earth and Mission: SPACE as your advance bookings, but the overall ride strategy will depend more on (1) what times you’re able to luck into when booking subsequent rides and (2) how low you want to keep your step count.
The Tier 2 rides are all in the front portion of the park. It’s a long 17-minute walk from Spaceship Earth (at the front of the park) to The American Adventure pavilion (in the middle of the World Showcase). Because the World Showcase is itself a loop, it really won’t make sense to be going back and forth between rides and the World Showcase. If you’re near one of these rides and the wait is 20 minutes or less, probably just ride it.
If you have Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you should be able to time a lot of these to ride in quick succession. You might wind up with a Lightning Lane for Living With the Land that’s 30 minutes away, but that just gives you time for a 20-minute wait for Journey Into Imagination, for example.
“I’m Flying, Walt!”
The Soarin’ queue is largely uninteresting and is highlighted by the ability to play a trivia game on your phone while you wait.
At the loading area, you’ll watch a pre show starring Patrick Warburton, who you may know from Seinfeld, The Emperor’s New Groove, and even another Disney queue (but I’ll let you find that bit of trivia for yourself).
The ride itself is a giant screen ride simulating a hang gliding flight through 13 scenes around the world, from Europe to Africa to the South Pacific. You’ll be buckled in, and the ride basically has three elevated rows of guests spanning the width of the screen. You can view a video of the ride here.
The ride has its flaws—it uses a lot of CGI and your seat can make a difference. If you aren’t in the top row, you’ll have feet dangling above you. If you’re too far to the side, the images get distorted. Does this ruin the experience? No. But anyone who’s seen the wildly curved Eiffel Tower remembers it for life. (Update: RIP curvy tower.)
Even though the technology is relatively old at this point, and the video could use a makeover, it’s still a must-do at the park. Most every time I ride, there are guests in awe of the experience.
Soarin’ FAQ
What are the scenes in Soarin’ Around The World?
The scenes are: Matterhorn; Isfjord, Greenland; Sydney Harbour; Neuschwanstein Castle; Kilimanjaro National Park; The Great Wall of China; The Great Pyramids; Taj Mahal; Monument Valley, Arizona, United States; Lau Islands, Fiji; Iguazu Falls in Brazil and Argentina; Eiffel Tower; and Epcot.
Is Soarin’ Around the World scary?
Soarin’ isn’t particularly scary, but the ride does try to add some excitement to the “flying” simulation. I would advise guests with a fear of heights against riding.
Is Soarin’ the Same at Disney California Adventure?
The Soarin’ ride at Disney California Adventure is mostly the same, but with two caveats. First, the end scene takes place at Disneyland instead of Epcot. Second, at Disney California Adventure, Disney sometimes brings back the older “Soarin’ Over California” verison of the ride, which consists entirely of scenes in California.
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