When you get to the pre-show area, you will be assigned to a “corral” A, B or C. Within each, there are 3 rows, 1,2 and 3. B is in the middle, so center of the screen. Row one is the top row once the seats are lifted, so no hanging feet in front of you.
You can tell the CM you want to wait for B1 and they will have you line up by the wall until after the corral clears and they begin filling for the next ride.
Which is terrific. Except that if you’re the only person waiting, you’ll be first in line for B1. Which will put you at the far end. And you’ll get some distortion.
Exactly! There was probably only one Imagineer sitting on the ride for testing, sitting in the middle of B1 and they said, “Yep, looks great!”
Meh. I’m of the opinion that anywhere in B1 is excellent and anywhere in B is fine (I don’t mind the hanging feet).
I miss Soarin’ over California. It was my favorite Disney park ride. I would cry every time I saw it. I’ve been on the World version twice and dislike it for all the reasons you’ve all given. It was a big fail for me. I still plan to see it for this next trip and will ask for B1 and see if that makes any difference to me. I agree with @ryan1-the CGI feels fake and I miss the real-ness of the old movie. The old version was in desperate need of an upgrade, but I wish they had done a better job.
We LOVED Soarin’. Couldn’t wait to ride it again. When we did in 2016 with the changes, I mostly came off the ride angry.
This sums up my reaction. We had hyped it up to my son who was just tall enough to ride and all the harsh transitions (water, snow, sand storm, etc) freaked him out. I don’t know if he’ll ever go on it again.
I personally preferred the California version, and also wish they had chosen to highlight our country’s beauty in the rework. It would have been a wonderful platform to show off the amazing variety of natural wonders we have.
Basically, I wish they had shown us what we’ve never seen, rather than what we’ve all seen before. And part of the problem with choosing such high-profile landmarks is that Disney would NEVER get permission to do fly-overs of those things in real life, so they had no choice but to CGI them.
Now, to be fair, there ARE some scenes intermixed that were nice. The waterfall, the desert mountains, etc. But then you have us flying INTO the EIffel tower? Really? And THROUGH the fireworks at Epcot? REALLY? (Note: I don’t mind that they ended at Epcot, nor that they added Tink. Makes sense. But the flying into the Fireworks just kind of ruined the magic.) Taj Mahal just looked fake. So did the African savanna with the elephants. (At least, the elephants did!)
Ah, good. We’re back to disagreeing about things. The natural order is restored.
I think putting Tinkerbell in the last scene is a disaster. Up until that point I’m perfectly willing and able to suspend my disbelief and accept that I’m flying around the world looking down upon its wonders. And then a wholly incongruous cartoon character appears and the illusion is shattered.
And I think the elephants are great. And I love the smell that’s pumped out during that scene.
But they aren’t elephants. They are digitally created representations of elephants. 
If I’m perfectly honest, I’d prefer they didn’t add Tink. But, I don’t mind that they did it for the final scene because it it is, after all, Disney. I can accept that Disney feels the need to do it. (Although, I felt it would have been enough to just have the hidden Mickey moment.)
You do know that Cindarella Castle (apparently that’s its official name) isn’t actually a castle, right? It’s not made of stone. And that the hanging mountains at Pandora are actually held up by huge steel girders disguised as vegetation. And they’re not made of rock.
WHAT?!?!
Anyhow, the elephants look too fake, and like Tink does for you, totally takes me out of the illusion. It was a nice try, I suppose…but the scene would have been better without them.
BTW, if you ride it at DCA, your ending will be at the castle at Disneyland, rather than at Spaceship Earth. Just as an interesting tidbit.
Makes sense. Although, how do they pull off the hidden Mickey? Or don’t they?
I… am somewhat ashamed to admit I don’t recall. The last time I was out there was before my 2017 deployment… the current lack of runDisney events out there keeping the carrot away from my nose, after all.
Perhaps @carthy15 or @lolabear_la can help jog my memory.
Three firework bursts make a hidden Mickey, if that’s what we’re talking about…(I haven’t ever seen the one in Epcot since I haven’t been to WDW post Soarin’ Around the World), but no structures in the park contribute to the Mickey as I’m guessing SE does at Epcot. The castle & Matterhorn next to don’t lend themselves very well to the curves required for such a feat.
That was kinda my guess. SSE makes a nice “Head” for the hidden mickey ears when the fireworks go off… that just doesn’t work with the DL structures.
I suppose that technically means there’s no hidden mickey in the DCA version, right?
There are 3 fireworks bursts themselves that do form a brief hidden Mickey, I believe right at the start of the fireworks bit (I don’t think I’ve ridden Soarin since July on a Parkeology challenge run so I was very focused on getting out the door to the next ride to concentrate at that part and I don’t remember when I last rode it before that since you know, it’s not a must-do anymore).
That would do it! At Epcot it’s just 2 bursts, in conjunction with SSE.
I can’t believe how silly I was to forget that.
Okay. Because, well, that’s my favorite thing to do at Disney. Find the Hidden Mickeys. We watched the Incredibles 2 last night. There’s (at least) one there. I also noticed the A113, which is found somewhere in Pixar movies (among elsewhere).
You are correct (of course!), the fireworks at the end on soaring make a (hidden) Mickey.
