Maybe I was in the wrong seat.
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It’s virtually identical, or at least nothing noticeable to my eye.
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When we rode yesterday we got the middle seats of the middle section. So nice to have a straight Eiffel Tower!
I like them both but the California version is my favorite.
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That must be it. We waited on B1 each time we rode it.
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I must be the only one who prefers B2. I like being dead center, even if there are feet in view.
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Yes we were dead center B 1. Right now they are not allowing you to wait for the position you want. We lucked out.
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B2 is what we lucked into the one time we rode it, and I loved it (especially the polar bears and the elephants). The woman next to me said it was her favourite ride of the and she was excited we were riding it for the first time – it felt like we were all sharing the joy, her repeated experience and our new discovery.
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Made it to Knoxville.
To answer about Soarin’…the CGI is a major part of it, but there are multiple things.
First, the CGI looks so fake that it serves as a distraction. Plus even if it didn’t, it still distracts from what is supposed to be the theme of the ride. Which brings me to 2.
Second, it is part of The Land pavilion. The focus of the ride should be about the natural beauty of this world. Yet half of the focus of the ride are man made things like the Taj Mahal (not the real one though, a CGI one), the Great Wall (again, CGI), and Eiffel Tower (ahem…CGI), etc. Yet, there is so much natural beauty they could have focused on but didn’t. My favorite parts are the natural scenes, but then they ruin them with CGI added in unnecessarily.
Third, as I mentioned earlier, we are no longer just soaring over stuff, but INTO stuff unnaturally. Into the plane, into the Eiffel Tower, into the Fireworks.
It feels like the editors of this revamp had been given a new CGI toolbox and decided to throw everything into it rather than focus on really soaring over all the incredible beauty of this world.
So yeah. SOC was much better.
This isn’t to say it isn’t enjoyable…but I have to work really hard not to be angered by the poor choices and execution of SATW.
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Up early, so I will write up a summary of our impressions of handling of COVID…
I will say, I felt that both Universal and Disney are handling things very well. I never felt unsafe or at risk, really. That isn’t to say everything is perfect. In both parks, there are places crowds get a little thick, although those places are generally isolated and outside where risk really isn’t a problem. In the queues, a few places the distance markings were confusing, leaving people being too close at times. I never really saw anyone blatantly disregard any distancing, but it would happen from time to time accidentally.
Face mask adherence never seemed to be a problem. You would occasionally see someone pull masks down to reveal their nose, but CMs/TMs were quick to tell anyone doing so to pull up their masks. The only blatant violaters were adults. Kids seemed not to be bothered by masks at all, from what I could see. I even saw a little girl who might have been two wearing a mask as though it is entirely ordinary!
Hand sanitizer is everywhere, but this is where Universal did a slightly better job. The fact that they would literally squirt it into your hand before boarding was reassuring. Disney just had it available, but it was optional.
In fact, I felt that Universal, overall, was more diligent about measures. I saw them wiping handrails constantly, and they were running the A/C full blast in almost every line to keep the air circulating. The employees, to me, seemed like they were doing things because they actually care about preventing spread, whereas at Disney it felt like they were doing it more to make the guest feel safe. That is probably a little unfair, but the best way I can describe the difference.
Handing of social distancing on buses was handled well enough, but I actually preferred Universal here, again. They kept the bus A/C at full power (sometimes chilly!) which ensured air was “clean”. Disney struggled more with efficiently loading groups it seemed. But in either case, we felt safe enough to use the buses more than we originally planned.
I think the biggest negative was the handling of stores and shops. Not negative in terms of COVID itself, but just in terms of impact on feels for the trip. You could rarely just walk in anywhere. You were constantly being turned away at doors and had to wait in lines just to go into a gift shop. This is expected under the circumstances, but did take a bit of magic away.
In any case, I wouldn’t hesitate recommending people keep their trips to either park right now. The employees seemed legitimately thankful we were there, thanking us verbally often. It has been said before, but I felt that in both UOR and WDW, I was probably safer than just going to the local grocery store.
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Before heading down, we saw vloggers saying that it this is your first Disney trip, you may want to hold off.
Overall, I kind of agree. Not due to safety…but because something was just missing. A little of the Disney Magic was gone. We felt it.
It wasn’t the parades. Actually, I think Disney should replace the parades with cavalcades permanently, except for paid events. I actually think it worked better and was fun to come upon one as it was happening. No huge crowds to contend with or being blocked for an hour.
It wasn’t the characters. The characters were there… besides, we never cared about meet and greets really. Although, not seeing the interaction with Gaston was missed.
I think it is just the focus so much on social distancing made it hard to fully feel in the bubble. As such, we felt bad for our DS and DIL because we knew they were missing out on the whole feeling of Disney Magic.
It isn’t that it was gone entirely…but you kind of had to work for it. And first time guests such as our DIL doesn’t understand fully what we mean by Disney Magic.
As a returning guest, we still loved going. But we definitely could feel the hole.
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a little… a lot… a lot of ppl were missing it was GREAT! I hate WDW when it’s wall to wall ppl. I loved being able to see building details, see the sidewalk in front of you, not bump into anyone or have anyone cut you off, ppl trying to cheat and cut in line, bang their stroller into your ankles, or be run over by a jazzy being driven by a grandchild. It felt more like it did decades ago… except for the lines into shops which I just skipped cuz not waiting for that. Oh oh, I forgot, the hovering over a family eating, with your tray of food, to grab their table to be able to sit and eat your own lunch; bah!
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I can see this, and agree I love the calvacade idea. Or the other ones where characters just pop up. It what I remember as a kid, not waiting in line to meet someone. I think that is a positive change.
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Agree with that!
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Many people are saying this.
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I like a mix of both. It’s awesome to just bump into characters at DLR, but we still looked forward to the parades.
I would forever miss the night time shows. I don’t mind queuing early for good seats.
My family is all about parades, fireworks, and characters. The current model seems to be most rides. I don’t think we’d enjoy it as much right now. 
Especially on days like last weekend where you still had long waits.
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Oh, no. They DEFINITELY need to get the nighttime shows back. Those are the icing on the cake of a perfect day.
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I don’t like wall to wall crowds, but I do like higher crowd times because they bring in everything. We went spring break week in 2011 and while there was one afternoon of wall to wall crowds that were ridiculous but the rest of the time there was always something to entertain us wherever we were. I didn’t use TP. It was just there like magic.
I find our zoo has the same phenomenon. Go on a weekday in November and it’s quiet and a great experience, but there are zero extras and most of the kiosks are closed. Go on a sunny Saturday in March or April and it’s crowded but everything is open and there are all kinds of fun pop-up entertainment.
They are just different experiences.
DH’s work conference in Orlando was just moved to the end of March instead of December so now we need to decide what we want to do. If MVMCP comes back I’m probably in. If not, then I think nope.
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So true. As a homeschooler, I typically do whatever I can to avoid crowds. But I have been pleasantly surprised on occasion that the crowd is exactly what we need to have a more vibrant experience.
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We only have two campus days a week which gives us similar flexibility. I also know when to go do something to avoid field trip crowds. Those are the worst! Crowds. No extras. 
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I disagree with this. First timers have nothing to compare to. You miss it because you experienced it.
Example: three of our great granddaughters went to WDW last September. At MK they experienced some of Adventureland and some of Frontierland, late breakfast at Crystal Palace and a Tink meet and greet.
Because of hurricane Dorian they missed Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and several princess m&gs.
If you asked them did they have a great time at MK, they’d enthusiastically tell you they did. Because everything was new and fun and different.
I will say they didn’t seem to enjoy their Crystal Palace breakfast on their first day as much as they enjoyed their breakfast at Cape May on their last morning. Because by then, having experienced 2 other character meals, they knew the drill.
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