Soarin’ Across America is almost ready for takeoff at EPCOT, which starts previews in a few days at Walt Disney World and will debut later in Summer 2026 at Disneyland. With this, Imagineering has offered a sneak peek at flyover locations, the updated score, new poster art, queue mini-games and more that’ll be featured in the limited-time journey!
Let’s start with basics. Soarin’ Across America is an all-new airborne adventure created for the America250 celebration. The new bi-coastal attraction will showcase the United States—from sea to shining sea—highlighting some of the country’s natural beauty, like Grand Canyon National Park, and iconic cityscapes.
Soarin’ Across America will be brought to life with the iconic elements that make Soarin’ unforgettable – the flight, the sights and scents, along with the score–it’ll feature a new orchestration of the classic Soarin’ musical theme. Walt Disney Imagineering has captured more than a dozen breathtaking locations for the new flight.
Soarin’ Across America officially opens on May 26, 2026 at EPCOT. Prior to that, Cast Member previews begin May 15, 2026.
Annual Passholders can preview Soarin’ Across America May 19-20, 2026. The attraction will use a standard standby line during normal park hours with no virtual queue or Lightning Lane offered.
Disney Vacation Club Members will receive “Priority Access” to Soarin’ Across America on May 21, 2026.
As we’ve previously discussed, this clears the runway for soft openings of Soarin’ Across America on that same day, or May 22, 2026 at the latest. We strongly suspect soft openings of Soarin’ Across America ahead of Memorial Day–ditto most attractions officially opening on May 26, 2026. But that’s another topic for another post.
Meanwhile, Soarin’ Across America doesn’t take flight at Disney California Adventure until July 2, 2026. That was announced a while ago with no updates since, but our expectation nevertheless is lengthy previews at Disneyland.
What Disney has not announced is when Soarin’ Across America will end, and we’ve been getting questions about that from readers who are worried they only have this summer to experience the US Semiquincentennial Soarin’. As explained in Why the Limited-Time Soarin’ Across America Will Have a Delayed Departure from EPCOT, that is highly unlikely. The short version of that article is that you likely have at least a full year, if not 18 months or longer, to experience the inaugural flights of the redone ride.
The latest development is that Disney Parks has shared a first look at some of the locales featured in Soarin’ Across America. From sea to shining sea, Soarin’ Across America brings breathtaking ‘seasons and regions’ to life…
Along your journey, you will glide above iconic urban and natural wonders, from the rugged New England coastline and the radiant welcome of New York Harbor to the vast expanse of Grand Canyon West.
The experience features so many quintessentially American settings… the autumn colors of the heartland; the beauty of our bayous; the great plains of the west; the northern wilderness; and sunlit island shores.
“Each scene helps to create a portrait of what we believe makes America so special,” said Tom Fitzgerald, creative director and chief storytelling executive, Walt Disney Imagineering. “It’s a tapestry of urban wonders, natural beauty, and iconic locations that celebrate the spirit of the nation and the 250th anniversary of the United States.”
A new musical arrangement by Bruce Broughton of the beloved Jerry Goldsmith Soarin’ themes underscores the adventure. Ride programming, wind, and more add to create a truly immersive experience.
All of this sounds fantastic to me thus far. I was hoping for the Bass Harbor Head Light in Acadia National Park as opposed to the Portland Head Light (also in Maine, not Oregon), but it’s not a massive difference. This taller lighthouse might present better in flyover form, or it could’ve been easier to secure permits for it. Either way, it’d be nice to see lots of representation for the US National Parks, which are America’s Best Idea.
While you await boarding at Walt Disney World, put your knowledge of the United States to the test with an all-new trivia challenge. The Soarin’ Challenge Across America, created in collaboration with National Geographic, invites guests to discover which state is “Most Likely to Reach for the Stars,” “Most Likely to Lend an Ear,” and “Most Likely to Strike Gold.”
Featuring fun facts from beloved National Geographic titles including 50 States, 5,000 Ideas and stunning photography from the National Geographic archives, the challenge transforms the queue at EPCOT into a celebration of American wonder.
These games are a fun way to pass the time if you’re stuck in standby for Soarin’ at a time when its line is slow-moving, but my personal hope is to never play them. With a bit of savvy strategy, it should be possible to incorporate Soarin’ Across America into the second half of an Early Entry and rope drop run for EPCOT. Likewise, doing it in the late afternoon, evening, or during Extended Evening Hours without a lengthy wait should be possible.
Disney Parks has also released a new poster for Soarin’ Across America featuring some of the new flyover locations:
My sincere hope is that Soarin’ Across America is superlative. That it ditches most of the cheesy CGI and bent architecture of Soarin’ Around the World that garners complaints, and features stunning footage from around the United States.
That it’s so popular we get future updates, Star Tours style, to Soarin’ Across America with new scenes from around the country. I don’t think this is an unrealistic expectation. Both existing versions of Soarin’ are fan-favorite attractions, and the ride concept is a crowd-pleaser. With great new scenery that fixes past mistakes, Soarin’ Across America could pretty easily be a 10/10 attraction.
I’m really excited for Soarin’ Across America and hope it does a great job showcasing the diverse natural scenery of America the Beautiful. Longtime readers know that one of my great passions outside of theme parks is the U.S. National Parks. There was a time when I was visiting Yosemite National Park multiple times per month, and I already have a ton of stamps in my U.S. National Parks passport (see My Top 10 U.S. National Parks So Far.)
The whole reason we started TravelCaffeine.com, our non-Disney sister site to this one, was to document international travel and trips to U.S. National Parks. If you’re curious about the destinations we’re hoping are featured in Soarin’ Across America, check out our list of the Top 18 U.S. Flyover Places for Soarin’ Across America.
This new version of Soarin’ is debuting as part of America250. The Walt Disney Company is commemorating the milestone of the United States Semiquincentennial with “Disney Celebrates America,” a company-wide initiative spanning programming, storytelling, and experiences across its iconic brands and businesses.
“Disney Celebrates America” will culminate over the weekend of July 4, 2026 with a 24-hour, multi-platform broadcast that highlights the United States Semiquincentennial events nationwide across Disney’s linear networks and streaming platforms, ending with a special evening fireworks broadcast from Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.
Speaking of the pyro, as part of the United States Semiquincentennial celebration, the 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, 2026, at both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom.
Okay, let’s review: version of Soarin’ with new flyover locations across America and an updated score, officially opening on May 26, 2026 at EPCOT but with previews and soft openings before, likely departure date from EPCOT sometime in 2027 or beyond, hopefully receiving strong satisfaction scores as a result of lessons learned (and applied) by Imagineering…anything else? Oh yeah, have a nice flight!
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Your Thoughts
When do you think Soarin’ Across America will end at EPCOT? Expect it to last through at least mid-2027, if not longer? Do you hope this version is so good that it sticks around indefinitely? Would you prefer to see Soarin’ Over California or Soarin’ Around the World…or all three versions in rotation? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
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