Soarin' Around the World debuts this summer at Disney Parks!

​By David Platt, your Mouse Master specialist

Now it's time to say goodbye to.... Soarin' Over California. The revamp of Soarin' Over California, entitled Soarin' Around the World, makes its debut at the grand opening of Shanghai Disneyland on June 16, 2016. The very next day, it will debut at both Disney California Adventure® Park and Epcot®. FastPass+ reservations are available now for the Epcot version. 

This is going to be a big change-- while I'm certainly going to miss soaring over Yosemite, the Pacific Coast, and the Golden Gate Bridge, the new experience promises to be an excellent replacement. While Disney is holding some of its cards close to the vest until the debut, they've promised we'll soon fly over the Sydney Opera House, the Great Wall of China, and the (real) Matterhorn. When brainstorming which world locations the new version might include, I've got to confess that last one never entered my mind, but it makes perfect sense! Now, not only can we ride Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland® Park, but we can also hop over to Disney California Adventure Park and soar over the real thing! 

While I'm sad that I may not get to experience Soarin' Over California again, I certainly had a nice send-off for my last ride: my daughter and I rode it as part of our California Story guided tour at Disney California Adventure Park. Not only did we get to skip the line, but we also got a ton of interesting trivia from our tour guide as we waited to board our top row center seats. For instance, did you know that several components of Soarin' Over California are CGI? I had no idea!

What world landmarks are you hoping to fly over when Soarin' Around the World makes its American debut on June 17?