This was entirely unexpected, but Disney has announced that the original Soarin’ ride film (aka: Soarin’ Over California) will return to the Disney California Adventure park where it first launched for a limited time from June 1st through June 30th. You never know, if it proves more popular than the new Soarin’ Around The World ridefilm that replaced it, it could stay even longer.
Honestly, that would be fine with me… as I enjoyed something about the original Soarin’ attraction so much more than the Around The World version, which added in a few too many strange (and forced) GCI elements to the footage. And to be honest, I think the footage shot for the California version is of a superior quality, especially when compared to the strange screen/lens warpage that happens during the Eiffel Tower sequence in the World version.
So why bring back the original Soarin to DCA? The timing can’t be a coinsidnece, as this will run during the first month Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge operation at Disneyland across the promenade, giving guests who are unable to get into Galaxy’s Edge or those who have come out a reason to park-hop over to DCA and see something else special and help balance the crowd loads between the two parks. If this works, who knows… Disney might be inclined to break out some other DCA exclusives, like the Halloween event edition of Guardians of the Galaxy - “Monsters After Dark” which has proved to be another fun alternative version that could definitely lure guests to park-hop.