Disney has released a new behind-the-scenes look at how Soarin' Across America was created.
The full 20-minute episode of Disney Unscripted — titled "How Disney Created the NEW Soarin' Across America" — is embedded below.
The video covers the full production process, from aerial filming across the country through to ride programming, sound design, and the final days before opening. It's worth your time if you want to understand what went into building the new experience now running at EPCOT.
The production timeline
One of the most revealing details in the video is just how compressed the schedule was. Tom Fitzgerald, creative director and chief storytelling executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, confirms the entire show was put together in under a year — a record for the team. The 250th anniversary of the United States created a hard deadline, and the production pushed to meet it.
"Sometimes an idea's just waiting for the right moment to happen," Fitzgerald says. "And that moment happened to be this."
How the film came together
The video shows the editing and sequencing process for the film, with the team working through how scenes flow into each other. An early version had New York feeling disconnected from the rest of the film — the team worked to smooth the transition from New York into Maine so the flight felt continuous rather than a series of separate clips.
Washington D.C. had multiple versions considered before the final cut was chosen. The Grand Canyon sequence was designed to feel like hitting an air pocket — a deliberate dip in the ride profile timed to the footage.
The team also worked carefully on the Los Angeles nighttime scene, ensuring the helicopter transition after the white flash felt right, with fireworks timed to the ride's physical motion.
The music
Bruce Broughton's new arrangement of Jerry Goldsmith's original Soarin' score is discussed by the composer himself, who calls it "a really good ride" and notes the team "took it up a notch." The score was mixed and tuned directly from the carriages while suspended in the theater.
Ride programming and fan effects
The video gives a rare look at the ride programming process, with the team spending two-hour sessions suspended in the carriages in the dark fine-tuning the fan effects for each scene. The Alaska sequence required the most fan work — the team jokes about needing their jackets given how cold extended fan testing gets. Wind effects were adjusted scene by scene, with the cattle drive kite sequence requiring a specific spike in airflow, and the Grand Canyon dip timed to a surge of wind to sell the air pocket effect.
The scents
Soarin' Across America introduces new scents for the new locations. The bayou scene uses what the team describes as a primeval, earthy smell. The cattle drive reuses the grass scent from the Africa sequence in Soarin' Around the World, which the team felt worked perfectly for open rangeland.
The attraction poster
The video includes a segment on the new attraction poster design, which features the Statue of Liberty, an eagle, and the American flag. The designer describes the concept of the flag being represented as the ground itself — crops and landforms taking the shape of the American flag as you fly over. Additional location-specific posters are also placed throughout the queue.
Soarin' Across America is open now at EPCOT. The attraction opens at Disney California Adventure on July 2, 2026.
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