Disney Parkgoers Have Hilarious Takes On Soarin' Across America Coming To Epcot, And Home Depot And The Olive Garden Were Invoked

Soarin' Around the World
(Image credit: Walt Disney World)

A popular attraction at Disney World and Disneyland is being overhauled and, while usually such a thing would have at least a segment of theme park social media irate, this change has everybody laughing. Soarin' Around the World will become Soarin' Across America next year for the nation’s 250th birthday. Ahead of that, the Internet has already figured out what to do with the ride. And, believe it or not, Home Depot and Olive Garden came up.

Earlier this week, Disney Experiences announced plans for the new version of Soarin’. The attraction uses a large projection screen and a flight motion simulator to give guests the impression of flying over major landmarks. Patrick Warburton appears in the attraction pre-show as the Chief Flight Attendant, a role that was nearly given to John Travolta.

The ride is perhaps best known for the current version of the ride, Soarin’ Around the World, until recently, including an Eiffel Tower that was bent by the curved nature of the large screen. One Disney fan on Twitter joked that the same thing could happen with one of America’s tallest landmarks.

To be fair, there is close to a zero percent chance that the Statue of Liberty won’t be part of Soarin’ Across America. Also, Walt Disney Imagineering will need to be sure to film the New York-based monument in such a way as to prevent this exact same issue from happening because it absolutely will if they get too close.

This does lead to an honest question, which is what locations, other than the Statue of Liberty, will be included in Soarin’ Across America? I would guess we’ll see the Grand Canyon, perhaps the St. Louis Arch, the Empire State Building and maybe the Golden Gate Bridge, though that was already part of the original Soarin’ Over California. The post, however, contains a different list, which is perhaps more American.

My favorite joke on the topic, however, is the resurgence of an old social media post that received new life following the Soarin' Across America announcement. This one took an old Home Depot commercial and turned it into a Soarin’ experience, because honestly, what’s more American than big box home improvement stores?

Of course, there are lots of other places that Soarin’ Across America could go. Maybe it could start at one end of the nation, like the beach at Santa Cruz, California. Or even better, the beach at Santa Carla, California, the fictional city where The Lost Boys takes place. They could even just repurpose the existing footage.

We can expect that seeing America’s massive freeway system, perhaps in New York or L.A., will also be part of any video presentation celebrating what it means to be America. Of course, if it’s going to show the real America, it will also need to include something else, road construction.

Soarin’ Across America is set to debut at Epcot and Disney California Adventure sometime next summer, likely on or before the Fourth of July.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.

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