Disney Imagineers used Apple Vision Pro in a behind-the-scenes workflow to re-engineer “Soarin’ Across America,” a patriotic 250th anniversary update of the EPCOT classic. The company says the headset helped replace scaffolding and extra gear during accelerate
By the time America’s 250th anniversary arrives. EPCOT riders will be gliding over the United States instead of the usual sweep of global wonder. What changes for guests. though. starts far earlier in a studio—where sound. timing. and visual planning have to move at a pace Disney Imagineers say they couldn’t slow down.
Disney has shared a brand-new behind-the-scenes video as part of the Disney Unscripted series on YouTube. detailing what it took to revamp an existing attraction. The ride is “Soarin’. at EPCOT. ” which has been rebranded to “Soarin’ Across America” for the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
The concept is simple on paper: instead of aiming the flight experience at wonders around the world—or versions tied to California—Soarin’ Across America sends riders on an airborne adventure across the United States. But Disney’s makeover isn’t just a new route. It requires capturing all new aerial footage and crafting an all-new musical score. bringing filmmakers. musicians. and Imagineers into the same tight loop of work.
The video zeroes in on the music and sound effects mixing phase. where Disney’s audio media designers turned to Apple Vision Pro. In the process, the headset was used to create a digital workspace. For Megan Duncan. one of Disney’s Senior Sound Editors. the appeal was less about polish and more about solving a scheduling problem.
“So, usually for a Soarin’ attraction, we need to build scaffolding, but that was a ‘no-can-do’ for this project because we were on such an accelerated schedule,” Duncan says in the video.
That line lands because it clarifies what was at stake: scaffolding and additional equipment were part of the normal approach for Soarin’—but the timeline wouldn’t allow it. Disney says the Apple Vision Pro helped replace that scaffolding and extra equipment. According to the video. most of the workflow required an Apple Vision Pro. a custom desk attached to the flight simulator seats. and only a small selection of audio mixing equipment.
The story also reinforces that Apple Vision Pro isn’t just a consumer experiment. While the headset hasn’t exactly been a consumer-facing hit, it has continued to prove itself in professional work settings. The video points to recent use in New York. where it was learned the Apple Vision Pro has been used for hundreds of cataract surgeries in about half a year.
Back on the ride itself, “Soarin’ Across America” has already opened in EPCOT at Walt Disney World in Florida. Disney expects it to open on July 2 in Disneyland in California.
The sequence is straightforward: new aerial footage and a new musical score demand coordination across creative teams. and the mixing phase demands a workflow fast enough to fit an accelerated schedule. In this case. the missing scaffolding wasn’t a small convenience—it was the problem Apple Vision Pro was brought in to solve.
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