BREAKING! New Soarin’ Across America Coming to Disneyland & Disney World

Disney just announced that a new version of the Soarin' film is coming to both EPCOT and Disney California Adventure. Soarin' Across America is the third version of the Soarin' films. Originally, the ride debuted as Soarin' Over California and then Soarin' Around the World debuted.

Let's get into what Disney released about the new Soarin' Across America film that Disney announced this morning. At Mickey Visit, we keep a close eye on the latest Disney news, including ride changes and closures.

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New Soarin' Across America Film Coming Soon

Disney shared information on how they are participating in an overall celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. The new Soarin' Across America attraction is one key part of the bigger celebration. Here's what Disney shared about how they are approaching what they are calling “Disney Celebrates America.”

The Walt Disney Company is joining a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary with a new initiative called “Disney Celebrates America.” Kicking off on Veterans Day 2025 and continuing through the July 4, 2026, weekend, this celebration will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and platforms to honor America’s past, celebrate the present, and inspire its future.

Through heartfelt storytelling, experiences, and meaningful support for veterans, military families, and communities, Disney will shine a spotlight on the people, places, and moments that make our nation special—a tradition of honoring and uplifting others that’s been part of Disney’s story for more than a century.

As America’s preeminent storyteller, Disney will help bring the semiquincentennial to life by celebrating the dreams, stories, and optimism that have inspired generations. From sports and entertainment to travel and tourism, Disney encourages families everywhere to explore, learn and discover the diverse lands, and vibrant communities that make up our shared story.

To mark the occasion, Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort will celebrate coast-to-coast, anchored by the Summer 2026 opening of Soarin’ Across America, an immersive flight experience aboard the beloved Soarin’ attractions at Disney California Adventure park and EPCOT. Soarin’ Across America will take guests on a breathtaking journey, highlighting some of the country’s natural beauty and iconic cityscapes.

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Here's the poster released for the new attraction:

“At its heart, America’s story is one of imagination, ambition, and possibility – the same ideals that have guided Disney since the beginning,” said Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “This celebration honors both a nation and a spirit that never stop dreaming about what’s next.”

Soarin' has been a fan-favorite ride since it first opened as Soarin' Over California with the opening day of Disney California Adventure in 2001. This version of the attraction, highlighting iconic locations across the Golden State, debuted at EPCOT in Disney World a few years later in 2005. While the official version of the attraction has since then been switched over to Soarin Around the World, focused on natural and manmade wonders from across the globe, Soarin' Over California has returned for limited runs on both coasts. It returns during Disney California Adventure's Food & Wine Festival, and it ran briefly at EPCOT from 2023-2024.

Disney shared that even back during the time when Soarin' Around the World debuted, they were already looking forward to the next iteration of this favorite attraction. “When production wrapped almost a decade ago on Soarin’ Around the World, we started thinking about where we might go next with the format,” Tom Fitzgerald, Portfolio Executive Creative Director and Chief Storytelling Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering, said. “A trip across the United States felt like a natural next flight for Soarin’ to take, and the 250th anniversary of our nation provided the perfect opportunity to ‘book the flight.’”

Bernice Howes, Executive Creative Media Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, oversaw how the scenes would be captured for this new version of the ride. Howes and her team mapped out which locations they were going to capture before utilizing advanced camera and aerial technology to capture these scenes. While I love every version of Soarin', it was very interesting to see the big improvement in technology between Soarin' Over California and Soarin' Around the World. I expect that now, nearly 10 years later, we're going to be pretty impressed by the quality of this new iteration.

Howes shared a bit more about the process. She explained, “We sought out satellite maps to display a realistic visual of the locations, and set up aerial paths in order to understand our filming location needs and how one location transitions into the next to tell the story.”

Then, Howes, Scott Sohan, Principal Visual Effects Designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, and their team began a series of camera, lens, helicopter, and heavy-lift drone equipment tests to figure out the specifications they needed for a unified set up they would use to film the new scenes. You can see a helicopter with camera mount used to film scenes for Soarin’ Across America in the photo above.

One of the biggest questions is which locations across America will be highlighted with so many to choose from. We feel pretty certain based on the concept art that we will see the Statue of Liberty in New York. “Our goal was to offer guests a sampling of the diversity of America’s beauty and urban wonders with the hope it would paint an emotional portrait for the nation’s Semi-quincentennial celebration,” Fitzgerald said. In the behind-the-scenes photos shared by The Walt Disney Company, we can see some shooting happening in a mountain setting as well as a bayou setting. The bayou setting below looks similar to the bayou about an hour outside New Orleans that we toured during a trip with Imagineering to learn about the inspiration for Tiana's Bayou Adventure. 

Just like the previous versions of the attraction, this new story will lean into contrast to highlight a range of unique destinations. Howes described the roadmap of the attraction as: “Contrasting shots of different American locales — scenic wonders, amazing cities, and the beauty of the coasts. The use of the physical landscape of the United States as a unifying element. Then, using continuous camera movement to smoothly transition between these scenes, linking them together to show the geographical ‘whole’ of the nation, from natural locations to large cities to national monuments that represent America the beautiful.” She described that “The film’s creation is designed to embody America’s spirit for today’s guests and future generations.”

Disney released a new video with Patrick Warburton where the iconic flight attendant is sharing the news.

See the full video below:

Disney also shared more about the 250th celebration.

Over the July 4th weekend, Disney also shared that “the beloved fireworks show “Disney’s Celebrate America! — A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky,” will play across all three nights of the holiday weekend, July 3 – 5, at both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom Park“.

There will also be a TV special on July 4th. The celebration will culminate on the July 4^th weekend with a 24-hour, multi-platform broadcast, “Disney Celebrates America,” highlighting America’s 250^th anniversary events nationwide across Disney’s linear networks and streaming platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ABC, Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX and National Geographic, ending with a special evening fireworks broadcast from Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort. David Muir, anchor and managing editor of “World News Tonight with David Muir,” will lead the daylong coverage and be joined by ABC News anchors and correspondents reporting from across the country for this once-in-a-lifetime presentation featuring top entertainers, athletes, explorers, and historians – all coming together to spotlight the wonder, achievements, and dreams that define the American spirit.

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