Disneyland is bringing back Soarin' Over California

I wish they would bring back Soarin' Over California permanently. It's simply better than Soarin' Around the World. Yes, the scene transitions are a bit jarring - but not as annoying as the over-done CGI in the new version. Perhaps they could offer both versions, one in each theater.

Gotta hand it to the Mouse. Give 'em what they want and move them out of Disneyland and over to DCA.
I'm looking forward to seeing the original film again, but mostly because I love that score.

If they have two theatres - it would be fantastic if they offered two journeys.

I may stand corrected - but do both videos have the same exact movements, etc?

OMG, I love the original so much! When I saw the new one, I will give them credit where its due, but I immediately longed for Soarin' Over California.

I definitely would like to see them permanently install the original in one of the theatres. It'd give people reason to get in line twice, similar to any number of attractions from Mission Space to Star Tours to the upcoming Hagrid ride at UOR.

Who said adding new attractions was the only way to provide new experiences?

Hard to understand why this isnt permanent now that Soarin over the world is in most of the other Disney Resorts.

Andrew, even if they don't have the same movements, it's clear that a switch over from one film to another is relatively easy, and Disney should consider having both films if they want to spread out the Star Wars crowds that are coming in.

That is a brilliant idea about having both films play one per theatre. You "add" an extra attraction and people are happy for the nostalgia.

Over at Universal I envisioned this as well with Back to the Future and the Simpsons. Both rides I enjoy tremendously so it would be cool if one dome played a ride and the other the second ride. Anyway that isn't happening at Universal but perhaps Disney can pull it off at DCA.

I like the idea of having one film in each theater, but I'd be interested in hearing from some operations experts on the site of how much of a headache that would be for Disney to implement.

One option could be for people to split and go right or left once you get to the end of that first hallway inside the show building. However, if a lot more people want one over the other, then they'd probably need to have two separate queues and separate FastPass distribution. There isn't a LOT of space to add additional outdoor queue space in the area, so maybe that's a reason this hasn't been done? I'm sure if they get positive feedback for the return of the California version, decision-makers will have a conversation.

Ryan - It would be nearly impossible. You'd need to more or less open up two completely different queues and distinguish between the two shows with FastPass as well.
The casual guest might be OK with waiting in a single line to then be assigned one show or the other based on luck, but how many "casual" Disneyland fans do you know? LOL.
One option could be to show BOTH version back to back, but that would obviously cut ridership in essentially half - again, not a good option.
If I had my druthers, I'd like the original version to be shown at DCA full time. The park themed around the Golden State has less and less to do with California with each and every renovation. I agree the park is getting better each time new things are added, but unless they officially change the name from "California Adventure" I think an opportunity add more content that supports the purpose of the park, the better.

I would think that to really enhance the ride experience, each Park location should have a unique show; California in DCA, an American east coast experience at EPCOT, a China film for Shanghai, and something themed to Japan and/or DisneySeas.
I loved the Circle-vision Theater and I remember the Wonders of China film which was running at the beginning of the day or the end of the day - it got changed around a couple of times - along with the USA film.
If they could do that quality film in the early years of Disneyland, then they should be able to do some every unique versions for each park. I know that would encourage me to go on the attraction at different parks, since it would not be the same old - same old.

Glad to hear this. I was never much of a fan of California... Not bad, just not great But I really dislike the new version it is a little too clean... The fact that the original is a little jerky at the ones makes you believe it is aerial footage, where the new one feels too polished, too implausible and too unlikely. It doesn't celebrate an ecosystem is the same way.

Seeing an area of such visual contrast that is all contained in one area versus contrasts from all over the world? I mean oooh a desert and then a rain forest from different continents is (to me) less inspiring than the he same images from a small geographic area

Glad to hear this. I was never much of a fan of California... Not bad, just not great But I really dislike the new version it is a little too clean... The fact that the original is a little jerky at the ones makes you believe it is aerial footage, where the new one feels too polished, too implausible and too unlikely. It doesn't celebrate an ecosystem is the same way.

Seeing an area of such visual contrast that is all contained in one area versus contrasts from all over the world? I mean oooh a desert and then a rain forest from different continents is (to me) less inspiring than the he same images from a small geographic area

I'm kind of meh towards Soarin' Around the World, so welcome the temporary switch to the old movie - I would hope that it's being projected through the new digital systems to eliminate the dust, fibers, and scratches on the old film-based system. I also agree that this should be the standard film for the DCA version of the attraction, with an occasional switch to the newer version as opposed to the other way around. I'm a bit bummed that we'll just miss this throwback when we visit later in the summer - maybe the popularity will force Disney to extend this old version's run.

It would be cool if it was permanently one movie in the morning / early afternoon and then the other late afternoon / evening