The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (158 page)

Soarin’
is a majestic simulated glide over California, exhilarating but gentle enough even for young children and the elderly.  It’s one of
DCA
’s best attractions, an absolute must for first-time Guests, especially if this might be their only trip to the resort.

California is where aeronautic titans and test pilots have pushed us higher and faster into the wild blue yonder
for close to a century.  In 2013 and 2014, California’s
Mojave Desert
is where private companies are testing and developing spacecraft that will someday carry ordinary passengers into space.  Much of the feel of this land is vintage, but it’s as relevant today as it ever was.

Take a little time during your
DCA
visit to stroll through this district and appreciate California’s contributions to the future that is now. 
Did You Know?
  In October 1947, pilot
Chuck Yeager
broke the sound barrier.  As a tribute,
Imagineers
have hidden references to the number “47” in
Condor Flats
.  An online “urban legend” asserts that “47” appears all throughout
Condor Flats
–as if it’s hidden here, there, and everywhere.  Not true.  My sister and I debunked that myth during a January 2013 visit.  But there
are
a couple of “47”s hidden in plain sight.  Can you and your companions find the number “47” in
Condor Flats
?  Hint:  Pass by the
Fly n’ Buy
.

Condor Flats
Attraction

Soarin’ Over California
(FP) (S)
Must be 40” or 102 cm tall to ride
.

[
FastView:
 
If you and your companions only experience one thing at
DCA
, make it this majestic flight over California.  A
Disneyland
attraction where Guests break into spontaneous applause after the experience concludes.
]

Condor Flats
is flat and rugged, themed to the California desert testing facilities where aviation engineers and gung-ho pilots design and test increasingly fast and sophisticated aircraft and spacecraft.  Dessicated rock cliffs rise along
Condor Flat
’s southeastern border; it used to be that if you looked carefully, you saw dinosaur fossils embedded in the hardscrabble rock walls.  However, with the 2012 opening of adjacent
Buena Vista Street
, the fossils were removed to provide a less jarring transition between the districts.

F
rom the cracked asphalt under your feet, stippled with landing lights and streaked with fading airstrip lines, to the hangars and vintage gasoline pumps and stacks of tires, this is paradise for gear heads who like to wield wrenches and get oil and grease under their fingernails.

A blazing red airplane
used to burst from the front of the
Taste Pilots’ Grill
, seemingly frozen mid-takeoff.  A massive shuttle engine still hangs from girders near the front of
Soarin’ Over California
, emitting a cooling fog on hot summer days.  An authentic old Cessna prop plane, tail number N2FL1B1, is parked to the west of
Soarin’
.  A hot rod is suspended from the ceiling of the
Fly n’ Buy
.

Bottom line, if you’re a fan of cars, planes
, or rockets, and the mechanical geniuses who create and test them,
Condor Flats
is for you!

Condor Flats
’ centerpiece is the massive hangar that houses
Soarin’ Over California
, a
DCA
Opening Day
attraction designed by
Mark Sumner
, one of
Disney
’s most talented
Imagineering
engineers.  I was privileged to hear him speak at the
D23 Expo
in September of 2009.  His innovative ride design for
Soarin’
was nothing less than inspired, and resulted in one of
DCA
’s original
E-ticket
thrillers, an attraction popular enough to be replicated as
Soarin’
in
Epcot
’s
Future World
in 2005.

Soarin’ Over California
is one of the most popular attractions at the
Disneyland Resort
.  The 2010
Zagat Disneyland Resort Insider’s Guide
rates it as the third most popular attraction resort-wide, beating all other
DCA
attractions and even
Disneyland
favorites like
Indiana Jones
Adventure
,
Haunted Mansion
,
Matterhorn Bobsleds
, and
Peter Pan’s Flight
.  Only
Pirates of the Caribbean
and
Space Mountain
were more popular than
Soarin’
.  Consequently, expect long lines that can reach two hours on peak days.  Consider getting a
FastPass
if your time is limited, or plan on experiencing
Soarin’
right after the park opens, or on a weekday or off-season morning.

Guests queuing for
Soarin’ Over California
follow a series of railed switchbacks only partially shaded by a canopy.  Other than a rousing medley of inspiring military-and-aviation themed music, there’s little of interest for Guests in line outside the
Soarin’
hangar.  On a hot summer day when the queue is long, be prepared with sunblock and plenty of water to keep hydrated, and games or conversation to keep your party occupied.

FastPass
holders and
Single Riders
can avoid the congested, dull exterior line; they walk right up to Cast Members at the right (east) entrance and are directed inside for wait times of only five to fifteen minutes, depending on the volume of
FastPass
and
Single Riders
ahead.

Whether you’re in the
Standard
or
FastPass
/
Single Rider
line, once the queue enters the gargantuan show building, you find yourself in a fascinating corridor that celebrates landmark planes and aviators of California.  The reverent and visually interesting display of wings, flags, photographs, and informational placards entertain and educate waiting Guests.  Learn about Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and many other aviation titans.  The inspirational music and the black-and-white photos of planes and pilots are surprisingly affecting.

Eventually Cast Members wave
you down either the west (left) or east (right) corridor, where you wait for another Cast Member to organize Guests into three columns of about eight Guests each for three entrance areas,
Alpha
,
Bravo
, and
Charlie
(military-speak for Gates A, B, and C).
Single Riders
are tapped to fill in gaps in each column.

There’s a video monitor mounted above each of the three gates, showing clouds
against a blue sky and listing the different California locales that you’ll soon be flying over:  San Francisco, Redwood Creek, Napa Valley, Monterey Bay, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Palm Springs, Camarillo, Anza-Borrego, Malibu, San Diego, and Los Angeles.

Moments before boarding, actor
Patrick Warburton
appears onscreen and delivers the
Soarin’
safety spiel in his inimitable deadpan comic style.  Kids will recognize
Warburton
’s voice because he voices
Kronk
on
Disney
’s animated TV show
The Emperor’s New School
.  Adults will know
Warburton
as Elaine’s mechanic boyfriend David Puddy on “Seinfeld”.  He’s funny, as always, but take heed of the information he provides:  Guests prone to motion sickness or afraid of heights shouldn’t ride; Guests who do ride must stow loose items in the mesh pouch under their seat and fasten their seatbelts; smaller kids must use a special seatbelt loop for extra security.

When the entrance door opens,
a Cast Member leads the Guests in column one into the massive show room.  Column two follows column one, and column three follows column two.  Each line of Guests will fill a separate row of seats on vehicles
Alpha
,
Bravo
, and
Charlie
. 
Alpha
and
Charlie
have a capacity of 27;
Bravo
(in the center) can hold 33 Guests.  Fill in all empty spaces to be sure you don’t throw off the seating count.  It’s a vast, dim space crowded with Guests and Cast Members, so if you get confused or turned around, just tell a Cast Member what gate and column you were in and they’ll direct you to the proper row.

Once you find your seat, place any purses, packs
, or bags and any loose item that you don’t want to lose in the capacious pouch under your seat, and be sure the little ones in your party do the same.  Buckle small children into their seats, following all instructions about the special safety loop, and then fasten your own safety belt.  Cast Members will check each row to be sure all Guests are secure.  Then the tarmac lights embedded in the floor begin to strobe blue, you’re cleared for takeoff, and the lights are extinguished.

Whoosh!
  In the dark you feel yourself lifted high above the floor gently, silently, and rapidly.  Your feet dangle in the air.  If you were seated in the second or third row of your vehicle, you’ll see the feet of other Guests dangling above and in front of you, since the rows are lifted to different altitudes, the first row being the highest and the third row the closest to the ground.

What happened? 
You boarded at ground level, but then the three-tiered vehicles, almost a million pounds of metal, scooped you up silently to the heights of the show room and suspended you there cantilever-style!  (The ride vehicles were designed by
Sumner
during one Thanksgiving weekend using a classic, dusty old Erector set—remember those?)

A lovely
Jerry Goldsmith
-composed orchestral piece begins playing.  Its lilting, spiraling theme will continue throughout this four-and-a-half-minute experience.  The 80-foot tall concave Omnimax screen in front of you brightens, showing clouds and blue sky.  Your seat and the canopy over your vehicle tilt; you find yourself whoosing through the air high above San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge!

It’s impossible to convey in printed words the elation of hang gliding above the Golden Gate
and all of the locations presented in
Soarin’ Over California
.  For almost five minutes you float above California, moving through space from north to south, and through time from morning to night.  Because the screen is concave it embraces you three-dimensionally; whether you look up or down, to the side or dead ahead, you appear to be flying above and through actual Golden State locales.

Beyond the visual illusion, the vehicles move subtly,
providing the physical sensation of gliding on air currents, and in addition to the majestic soundtrack there are audio effects, like the sound of feet or shoes rustling against treetops as you just barely clear the trees, the sound of a golf ball keening past your ear, and the rumble of passing jets.  Hidden fans blast you with air at appropriate moments, and there are even location-specific scents delivered to you via hidden nozzles in your vehicle canopy, the smell of sagebrush in the desert, pines in the forest, oranges from the orange groves, and ocean breezes along the coast.

From San Francisco to California’s redwood country, its farmlands, mountains, deserts, beaches
, and urban landscape, the highlights of its natural and manmade beauties unfold above and below you.  It’s nothing short of glorious.  The journey culminates with a flight over
Disneyland Park
wearing its holiday lights;
Tinker Bell
waves her wand and fireworks explode above
Sleeping Beauty Castle
.  The music swells a final time; silence and darkness descend; your vehicle ghosts back to floor level as rapidly and quietly as it originally ascended.

There are usually a few seconds of awed silence before the lights go back up, and then the Guests break into applause.  Everybody who experiences
Soarin’
is mesmerized and delighted.  The flight touches a deep human chord in everyone who takes the journey.

Smiling and in some cases
slightly teary-eyed, Guests unbuckle their safety belts, retrieve their valuables from under the seats, and then flow toward the exit.  Following the flow of Guests up the exit ramps, you emerge in front of the
Soarin’ Over California
hangar.  If you have the time, you’ll want to get a
FastPass
so you can ride again later in the day.