Soarin' In a New Direction

In previous Fantasyland Boardroom briefings we've proposed adding new lands and upgrading attractions that are in desperate need of attention.  Today, however, we're taking on an attraction that is currently one of the most popular in all of Walt Disney World....Soarin...*audible gasp*.  That's right...an attraction that still registers some of the longest wait times on property.  It's a bold move, I know....but it is one I feel pretty passionate about.

It's not that I don't think Soarin' isn't a great attraction as it is.  I just feel it was a bit lazy to take a California Adventure attraction and jam it into The Land at Epcot.  It makes sense in California Adventure.  It will take some serious convincing for you to get me to buy into the fact it belongs in The Land.  Now, I love the technology and concept of the attraction.  But I think that same concept could have been executed in a way that better supported the current theme of The Land...and Epcot in general.

So here's the pitch.  A new "movie" for Soarin'.  But instead of being all about the beauty and recreation of California, it is all about the natural bounty of the United States of America as a whole.  We will be taken on a nationwide tour of the hotbeds of American agriculture.

We'd begin our flight in upper regions of the United States...in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska.  Below us we'd see fishing vessels battle the violent seas while its crew hauled in the latest catch.  Think of it as Disney World's version of Deadliest Catch.

Next we'd soar over the vast apple orchards of beautiful central Washington (the state...not the District of Columbia).  We would get a glimpse of the picking crews hard at work.  From there we would head south to the vineyards of California, allowing us to maintain the Napa Valley scene from the current version of the ride....which would both pay homage to the original and be consistent with our theme.

Our journey would gradually take us east.  A fly over of Texas would allow us a view of the Lone Star State's  cattle ranches.  Now...we don't need a documentary style, behind-the-scenes look a slaughter houses or anything.  More of a romanticised, City Slickers overhead shot of real life cowboys tending to their herds.

Our next couple destinations would be over the farming states of the Midwest.  For instance we'd float majestically overhead as the wheat fields of Kansas are being harvested.  We'd soar past the corn fields of Iowa.  We'd zoom by the dairy farms of Wisconsin.

The final leg of our adventure would highlight such contributors of agriculture as the cotton fields of Mississippi, Georgia's peaches, and the orange groves of Florida.  Taking a cue from the original Soarin' our flight would conclude at Walt Disney World....coasting into Epcot at night (perhaps appropriately during the Food and Wine Festival) while Illuminations lights up the sky.  We could even take it a step further and touch down in The Land pavilion...where you will disembark from your whirlwind trip through heart of American agriculture.

One more thing I would like is retain the original score in some capacity.  Whether it is keeping it entirely as is...or incorporating much of it into a new version that hints at some originality, yet is heavily inspired by its predecessor.  In some way, shape, or form, that music needs to be there.

So that's my pitch for a revamped Soarin'.  What's yours?  Would you leave it as is?  Do something different with it?  We'd love to hear your suggestions!!!