Soarin' Around the World

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What It Is
Flight-simulator ride
Our Rating

Current Wait Time
Standby	Find Out
Lightning Lane	Gone

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Appeal By Age
Based our reader surveys. See our Ratings and Research page for details.
Preschool
Grade School
Teens
Young Adults
Over 30
Seniors

Touring Info
Loading speed	Moderate
Wait per 100 people ahead	3.0 minutes
Assumes	3 concourses operating
When to go First 30 minutes the park is open.

General Info
Location	World Nature
Opening Date	May 5, 2005
Duration	8 minutes
Scope and Scale	Super Headliner
Closures / Refurbishments

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Description And Comments

Soarin’ Around the World is a thrill ride for all ages, as exhilarating as a hawk on the wing and as mellow as swinging in a hammock. If you’ve ever experienced flying dreams, you’ll have a sense of how Soarin’ feels.

Once you enter the main theater, you’re secured in a seat not unlike those on inverted roller coasters. Then the rows of seats swing into position, making you feel as if the floor has dropped away, and you’re suspended with your legs dangling. Thus hung out to dry, you embark on a simulated hang-glider tour, with IMAX-quality images projected all around you and with the flight simulator moving in sync with the movie. The images are well chosen and drop-dead beautiful. Special effects include wind, sound, and even smell. The ride itself is thrilling but perfectly smooth.

The film glides around the globe, from the Matterhorn and an Arctic glacier to the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall. The visuals are stunningly sharp thanks to laser IMAX projectors, and computer-animated animals create clever transitions. However, the film’s display of vertical landmarks appears comically distorted from seats on the left or right side of the screen. To avoid this, once you’re directed to one of the three concourses, politely request to wait an extra cycle for seats in row B1 for an ideal view.

Soarin’ is a must for guests of any age who meet the height requirement—and yes, we’ve interviewed seniors who absolutely love it. A Lewiston, Maine, dad gives it a hearty thumbs-up:

Soarin’ is amazing! Even if the “trip around the world” doesn’t make a lot of sense, it’s still stunning.

If heights make you nervous, you may have reservations, as did this North Carolina mom:

Soarin’ was VERY cool, but also on the scary side for people who are afraid of heights or who don’t like that unsteady feeling. While we were “soaring” up, I was fine, but when we were going down, I had to keep telling myself, “This is only an illusion. I cannot fall out. This is only an illusion. . . . ”

Touring Tips

This attraction offers Lightning Lane via Genie+.
Open for Early Theme Park Entry.
Open for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.

Soarin’ Around the World, Test Track, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind take some crowd pressure off all four corners of the park. Keep in mind, however, that Test Track and Guardians serve up a little too much thrill for some guests. Soarin’, conversely, is an almost-perfect ride for any age. See it before noon or between 4 p.m. and park closing.