Big news for EPCOT fans and honestly one of the more exciting attraction updates of the summer season.
Soarin’ Around the World is being swapped out for a brand new film called Soarin’ Across America, and the timeline for the whole thing is moving fast. Cast members get to experience it first, starting in just a few days. The public opening is May 26. And there is a closure window in the middle that every EPCOT visitor between now and Memorial Day weekend needs to know about.
Let us walk through the whole thing.
Starting May 6, eligible Walt Disney World cast members and employees can register for preview dates throughout May. Each cast member can sign up for one date and bring up to three guests along. This is the standard way Disney lets the people who run the parks experience new and updated offerings before general guests arrive, and it is a nice perk for the folks who make the magic happen every single day.
Public opening at EPCOT is May 26. Disney California Adventure gets its version on July 2. Between those two dates, Soarin’ Around the World closes on May 14 for the transition. That twelve-day closure from May 14 to May 25 is the part that matters most for guests who have EPCOT trips on the calendar.
What Is Actually Different About Soarin’ Across America
Here is the thing we know people love about Soarin’: the experience of lifting out of your seat, the wide wraparound screen, the scents that shift with the landscapes, the whole sensation of actually flying somewhere breathtaking. None of that is changing. The hang glider seating, the theater setup, the scent system, all of it stays.
What changes is where you go.
Soarin’ Around the World takes guests across multiple continents, famous landmarks, and global landscapes. Soarin’ Across America is all about the United States, celebrating the country’s 250th birthday with more than a dozen American locations, an original score composed specifically for this version of the film, and scents matched to the American landscapes guests will be flying over. Disney has already shared footage from filming at the Grand Canyon, which is among the confirmed destinations and sounds like exactly the kind of sweeping natural landscape that Soarin’ does better than almost any attraction in the world.
One important thing to know: Soarin’ Across America is a limited-time version of the film tied to the 250th anniversary celebration. It is not a permanent replacement for Soarin’ Around the World. The global film will return. Disney has not said when, but the limited-time framing makes clear this is a seasonal offering rather than a permanent change to the attraction.
The queue is also getting freshened up alongside the film update. New carpet has been spotted going in at the EPCOT Soarin’ queue, with a busier and more detailed design replacing the older pattern. The installation is happening in stages overnight while the attraction is still running during the day, so you might see a mix of old and new carpet on your current visits. Walt Disney Imagineering also filed a permit for set installation at the attraction, so the updates inside go beyond just the flooring.
The Part That Most Directly Affects Your EPCOT Day
May 14 is when Soarin’ Around the World closes. May 26 is when Soarin’ Across America opens. Those twelve days in between are when the attraction is completely unavailable.
If you have an EPCOT visit scheduled anywhere between May 14 and May 25, Soarin’ is not running. Not delayed. Not with a long wait. Closed. If Soarin’ is one of your group’s must-dos, that is important information to have before you show up rather than after.
The good news is the window is short and the dates are clear. If your visit is before May 14, you get Soarin’ Around the World. If your visit is May 26 or later, you get Soarin’ Across America and the freshened queue. The only problematic dates are the twelve in between.
Soarin’ consistently draws some of EPCOT’s longer wait times on any given day, and the excitement around a brand new film is going to push that demand even higher when it opens on May 26. If Soarin’ Across America is specifically what you want and you are visiting in the first week or two after opening, plan to either book Lightning Lane early or prioritize it as a park open ride before the crowds build.
Why This Is Worth Your Attention Even If You Have Seen Soarin’ Many Times
The Soarin’ film experience is one of the genuinely remarkable sensory achievements in modern theme park design. The combination of the visual scale, the physical sensation of the lift, and the scent work creates something that lands differently than almost any other attraction in the parks. When that formula is applied to American landscapes, including the Grand Canyon and more than a dozen other locations built specifically for this version with an original score, it is going to feel new even for guests who have ridden Soarin’ dozens of times.
The 250th anniversary context also gives the film a reason to exist beyond novelty. Disney is building something that is meant to feel meaningful for this specific moment, which tends to produce better creative results than a film swap made purely for commercial reasons.
For Disney food fans who are planning EPCOT visits around the International Flower and Garden Festival, which runs through early June, pairing a festival visit with the Soarin’ Across America opening window in late May gives you a genuinely stacked EPCOT day. Seasonal outdoor kitchen booths plus a brand new attraction film is the kind of combination that makes an EPCOT day feel like a full event rather than a routine park visit.
If EPCOT is on your calendar between now and the end of May, check which side of the May 14 and May 26 dates your visit falls on and plan accordingly. It is a quick check that makes a real difference in how you structure your day. And if you want the full Soarin’ Across America experience with the new carpet, the new film, and everything fresh, May 26 is your earliest option. We will have full coverage of the experience once it opens.
