One of the staple attractions at Disney theme parks over the years has been travelogues with a twist. In the early years, Disney wowed fans with Circarama and then CircleVision 360 movies. Films such as A Tour of the West, America the Beautiful, and American Journeys took fans on immersive tours of iconic landmarks from around the country.
In 2001, Disney introduced the flying theater to theme park fans with Soarin' Over California. That film focused on The Walt Disney Company's home state, before its successor Soarin' Around the World debuted in 2016. That film now plays at Disney theme parks in California, Orlando, Shanghai, and Tokyo. This summer, Disney will bring Soarin' back to the company's roots in American travelogues with a new film to celebrate America's Semiquincentennial. (That's the fancy word for 250th birthday. You also could use "quarter millennial," if you would like.)
Soarin' Across America will debut in May at Walt Disney World' EPCOT and in July in Disneyland's Disney California Adventure. The film will include aerial views of notable American landmarks, filmed by Disney in anticipation of the nation's milestone birthday this year.
"Our goal was to offer guests a sampling of the diversity of America’s beauty and urban wonders with the hope it would paint an emotional portrait for the nation’s Semiquincentennial celebration," Walt Disney Imagineering Portfolio Executive Creative Director and Chief Storytelling Executive Tom Fitzgerald said.
Bernice Howes, Executive Creative Media Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, explained what Imagineers were looking for in the new film: "Contrasting shots of different American locales — scenic wonders, amazing cities, and the beauty of the coasts. The use of the physical landscape of the United States as a unifying element," she said. "Then, using continuous camera movement to smoothly transition between these scenes, linking them together to show the geographical ‘whole’ of the nation, from natural locations to large cities to national monuments that represent America the beautiful."
The show will run in the U.S. Soarin' locations for a limited time, with an end date to be announced.
Disney will kick off its Semiquincentennial celebration with an entry in this week's Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. Mickey Mouse will lead more than 50 U.S. military veteran who now work as Disney cast members, along with their families. Disney also is making a $2.5 million donation to Blue Star Families to mark the occasion.
"The Walt Disney Company is proud to participate in the 2026 Tournament of Roses Parade as part of our ‘Disney Celebrates America’ initiative honoring our nation’s 250th anniversary," Disney CEO Bob Iger saod. "Both Disney and the Tournament of Roses Parade have long celebrated the spirit of America and the people who make it extraordinary — including our service members, veterans, and their families. By featuring our own veteran cast members, we’re excited to kick off the year at this iconic event and share the Disney magic that connects generations."
You can find discounts on multi-day Disneyland theme park tickets at our partner's Disneyland Resort tickets page.
For assistance in planning a Disney vacation in Orlando or California, please contact our travel agent for a free, no-obligation vacation quote.
You must be registered and logged in to submit a comment.
I'm moderately interested in this, but feel this is something Disney should have done a long time ago. Frankly, the Soarin' attractions should be treated similar to Star Tours (and MFSR) with variable scenes/movies that provide a unique experience every time (and to a lesser extent ToT with its variable drop sequences). For me, it's a no brainer that Disney should have been showing different scenes on Soarin' for over a decade now. The fact that it took 15 years before they created Soarin' Around the World is an insult to genius of their motion theater.