Changes

The concept of Soarin' began in 1996, when Disney Imagineers began work on an attraction for the unbuilt Disney’s California Adventure park. The attraction was orginally originally designed as a motion simulator type attraction known as Ultraflight <ref name= "Martin"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?s=Soarin </ref>, which was to hoist vehicles over a large OMNIMAX screen, giving guests the sensation that they were hang-gliding over California <ref name= "book"> Pedersen, R.A. The EPCOT Explorer's Encyclopedia:. United States: Epcyclopedia, 2011. Print.</ref>. Development on the attraction hit a snag however, when Imagineers could not figure out a ride mechanism that would achieve the sensation they were trying to create. Originally, Imagineers had wanted to use the "dry cleaning idea", which would have consisted of a series of little hang gliders on a conveyor that moved around <ref name= "press release"> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/soarin/news/03oct2004-disney-soarin-press-release.htm </ref>. This ride mechanism (as well as others) however, proved unsuccessful and the attraction was eventually stalled <ref name= "press release"/>. It was not until Imagineer Mark Sumner came up with a system that would allow guests to board at the same place, and then be raised forward into the screen that the attraction became a reality <ref name= "press release"/>. The idea for the new ride mechanism came to Sumner when he was working at his home over the weekend, and he built a model in his attic using an erector set <ref name= "press release"/>.

Although the ride vehicle issue was solved, it still took Imagineers two years of preparation and filming before the attraction was actually built. Disney filmed the video for ride, from a helicopter using a 48 frames per second IMAX camera. The filming itself took a good deal of time, as Disney had to receive special permission and permits to film many of the attraction's locations <ref name= "press release"/>. Despite the setbacks, the attraction opened in Disney's California Adventure as Soarin’ Over California on February 8, 2001 <ref name= "Martin"/>.

Due to the overwhelming success of Soarin' in Disney’s California Adventure, Disney executives decided to make a copy of the attraction in Walt Disney World <ref name= "Martin"/>. Initially, Soarin ' was to be housed in one of the World Showcase pavilions in [[Epcot]], however when a suitable pavilion could not be agreed upon, the attraction was moved the [[The Land]] pavilion instead <ref name= "book"/>. With the location now determined, Disney announced the creation of Soarin’ on October 10, 2003 (although construction had quietly started in August) <ref name= "press release"/>.

In order to fit Soarin' into The Land pavilion, a new show building was created behind the pavilion <ref name= "Martin"/>. The old Food Rocks Theater was then walled off to create a hallway connecting the show building to the rest of the pavilionThe Land<ref name= "Martin"/>. The Additionally, the building was designed to blend in with the nearby [[Imagination!]] pavilion so that it would not take away from the that pavilion 's architecture<ref name= "Martin"/>. On January 3, 2004, Food Rocks closed, and later in the year the programming and testing of Soarin' began<ref name= "Martin"/>. In January of 2005 the entire Land pavilion closed in order to facilitate the integration of Soarin’<ref name= "Martin"/>. During the closure, changes were also made to [[Living with the Land]], as well as to the pavilion’s food court pavilion's restaurants and atrium <ref name= "Martin"/>. Finally on May 5, 2005 Soarin' opened to the public <ref> http://thisdayindisneyhistory.homestead.com/may05.html </ref>.  In March of 2015, Disney announced that Soarin' would receive a third theater and an upgraded projection system in 2016 <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/soarin/news/05mar2015-disney-confirms-soarin'-expansion-and-theater-upgrades.htm </ref>. As it turned out however, Disney had even bigger plans for the attraction in mind.

On August 16, 2015 Disney announced that the attraction Soarin' would be receiving a new film called Soarin' Around the World <ref name= "parksblog"> http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/08/soarin-around-the-world-coming-to-walt-disney-world-and-disneyland-resorts/ </ref>. According to Disney:

On January 4, 2016 Soarin' Over California was closed to make way for Soarin' Around the World. At this time, a third theater was added to the attraction, and the existing projectors were updated <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/soarin/news/19oct2015-epcots-soarin-closed-for-first-half-of-2016-for-refurbishment.htm </ref>. On May 27, 2016 the original Soarin' Around California reopened to guests for a brief period of time <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/soarin/news/27may2016-photos---soarin-reopens-at-epcot-with-third-theater.htm </ref>. Finally, on June 16, 2016, Soarin Around California closed for good, and on June 17, Soarin' Around the World made its debut <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/soarin/news/15jun2016-soarin-to-close-early-to-prepare-for-new-soarin-around-the-world.htm </ref>.