There’s just so many cool things about this ride that it would be hard to pick just one thing. I think for me the coolest aspect is the thought that this ride started as an erector set. Having been inspired as a kid to build my own Disney rides out of my various toys, the thought that a grown man with an engineering degree could not only dig up his erector set to play out an idea for a new ride, but that he could then build the actual ride mechanism from that toy is kind of cool. And vindication for all the times that I was “playing” and I said that it was research.
So the basic premise of the ride is that you’re boarding a giant hang glider for a trip over the state of California. You are brought into a giant warehouse like room, put into giant bench like seats, and then raised from the floor into the sky. Really, it’s hard not to imagine the giant hand pushing down the erector lever here… Anyway, once you’re off the ground, a giant IMAX sized screen in front of you comes to life and wind machines and speakers and mists and smells activate to make you think that you are in fact flying over the fields, mountains, orchards, oceans, trees, and lakes of California. You even soar over Disneyland. It’s actually quite cool.
There is a direct version of this ride in EPCOT in The Land pavilion. Rumors still persist that the film at EPCOT will be changed to something closer to Soarin’ over the World. But I’m inclined to believe that as long as the ride remains popular in EPCOT, there won’t be any incentive to create a new expensive film.
Here… read up on some other links…
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Laughing Place
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SURPRISE!
This is another must see. The trick is to get on the top tier for the greatest illusion of flying - the feet of the people in the hang glider above you distract only slightly from the effect if you're in one of the two lower tiers. To get in the top tier, you want to be lined up against the wall in the final part of the pre-show. You can ask for this, but I'm never willing to wait, so I depend on the luck of the draw - and get it some of the time!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that part about the erector set. Very cool.
Yeah, the Imagineer was at home thinking about the ride when he suddenly had an idea for how it might work. But it was Saturday and he couldn't wait until Monday for work, so he dug out his old erector set and built a working model. He took it to work on Monday and everyone agreed that it was a perfect design and totally simple. I believe the actual model was shown at the One Man's Dream exhibit at Disney Hollywood Studios.
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