Disney has quietly started work on a third major ride at Epcot, this one a version of Soarin' Over California, one of the most popular rides at Disney's California Adventure.It's the latest move by Disney to ensure that its No. 2 theme park matches the thrills found at its other Orlando parks as well as at rivals Universal Orlando and SeaWorld.
Industry insiders say Soarin' will go near the Land pavilion, toward the front of the park. Soarin' is expected to open in 2005.
Signs of construction were visible from inside the park this week. Asked about a construction crane towering from behind the Land, spokesman Gary Buchanan said, "The activity taking place is in support of a new project, but we have no announcements to make at this time."
But, he said, "We will have some exciting news" during a media tour in October to promote Mission: Space, a new spaceflight simulator at Epcot.
On the original Soarin', which opened with California Adventure in 2001, riders are hoisted above a large-format movie screen for an imaginary hang-glider flight above California.
Soaring above redwood forests, riders smell pine; gliding over its citrus groves, they smell oranges.
People familiar with Epcot's plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their jobs, said its version of the ride may feature a slightly different movie.
Soarin' is only the latest step by Disney to add excitement to Epcot, a park that Disney expert David Koenig on Friday called "the Educational Kingdom."
Epcot is the country's second-most-visited theme park, but it draws far fewer visitors than Disney's Magic Kingdom, according to the trade magazine Amusement Business.
Attendance at all of Orlando's parks has fallen off in recent years as the economy has cooled, families have started vacationing closer to home and competition has increased.
Last year, the Magic Kingdom was the country's most-visited amusement park with 14 million visitors. Epcot was No. 2 with 8.3 million. Its attendance slid 8 percent from the year before, the largest decline among Disney World's four parks.
Originally conceived as a sort of world's fair, showcasing global culture and cutting-edge technology, Epcot's image is that "it's for old people and schoolteachers," said Koenig, author of several books about Disney's parks including Mouse Under Glass: Secrets of Disney Animation and Theme Parks. With good-but-pricey restaurants and slow-moving rides such as Spaceship Earth, which recounts the history of communication, Epcot isn't the kind of park where you imagine "small children and families have loud, exuberant fun," he said.
But Disney began to change Epcot's image four years ago when it opened Test Track, a 65-mph thrill ride billed as a behind-the-scenes peek at how cars are tested.
Epcot's second big attraction opened this summer, the $100 million rocket-ship ride Mission: Space. In it, passengers are strapped into four-person capsules attached to a centrifuge.
The spinning capsule, rumbling sound effects and realistic "views" out of the windows give riders the feeling they're blasting off and flying through space.
Such a shift is "something they needed to do at Epcot for a while," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, a Cincinnati-based consulting firm.
Soarin' is a good choice for Epcot because it's a fairly easy ride to duplicate -- Disney's famous Imagineers did the heavy lifting when they designed the original -- and "it's one of the better attractions" at California Adventure," Speigel said.
"What they're doing is bringing to the guest a more interactive, participatory kind of ride," he said.
Pulling guests into a park's story line is crucial, said Abe Pizam, dean of the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management.
"If you build an attraction which is too passive . . . it will age very quickly," Pizam said.
"Epcot may be a little bit too passive," he said, but "rides are extremely popular, especially rides with a sense of excitement to them."
Soarin' is one of several attractions expected to open across Disney World in 2005 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.
Work already is under way on a stadium for what a spokesman described as an "E-ticket" stunt show at Disney-MGM Studios. Under Disney's old paper ticketing system, "E" tickets were required for the most spectacular rides and shows.
Disney-MGM's stunt show will replace the Residential Street of suburban house facades that was part of the park's back-lot tour.
Disney also has announced plans for a signature roller coaster at Animal Kingdom.
Occupying a manmade Himalayan mountain 200 feet tall, it could open as soon as fall 2005, but its official target is early 2006.
(c) http://www.orlandosentinel.com / By Todd Pack
Sebastian Horacek alias Coasters
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