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Walt Disney World Parks -
Epcot
- SOARIN' -
IS IT MY EYES OR IS IT THE SCREEN?
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Soarin' has been one of
our favorite rides at Disney, but unfortunately there's a problem with
the film or projector (we're not sure which), and it's getting worse.
We've noticed that over the last year or more there's been a lot dirt or
damage on the screen. For us this negatively impacts the illusion
that we're really flying.
When we saw the
beginnings of this quite a while ago, we asked cast members about it.
Each time they said that it would be taken care of. Instead it's gotten
much, much worse. In addition to the smudges and gook on the screen,
lately we've noticed on several visits that the film is soft focused.
The images are just not as crisp as they were.
Here's what we've
discovered that may minimize the impact for you. Our experience is
that the screen problem seems to be much worse on the left side. We
prefer to ride in the center or right side of the theater. This enables
us to focus on cleaner sections of the images. Also, we've found that if
we ride on the far left or far right, the focus is worse. We
prefer not to sit in the seats that are all the way over to the
sides.
We have heard that the
cast members actually clean the lenses early in the day, and that the
dirt builds as the day goes on. We couldn't confirm this, but we've
visited at various times of the day and the same issue has been visible.
We really hope that Disney will maintain
this ride better, but until they do, we suggest that our readers stay in
the center or right, without being on the ends. Ask a cast member to
help you with this when you're being placed in your riding position in
the queue. If
they tell you they can't do it, you may wish to ask to wait for the next
ride so you can ride in a better position.
The film image is a huge part of making
this ride seem realistic, and that's the thrill! When everything
is working right, this ride really makes us feel like we're flying. When
it's not, we find that it's not worth the wait.
Enjoy!
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