Disney just confirmed that Annual Passholders will get exclusive early access to Soarin' Across America at EPCOT before the attraction opens to the general public, and if you are a Passholder with any interest in one of EPCOT's most beloved rides, getting its biggest overhaul in nearly a decade, you need to be watching your inbox right now. The preview dates are May 19 and 20. The general opening is May 26. Registration is required, and capacity fills fast at these events. That is the essential information, and everything else below is the context that makes it matter.
What Disney Just Confirmed
Soarin' Across America Annual Passholder previews are officially scheduled for May 19 and 20 at EPCOT. Time slots are required, and a registration email will be arriving for eligible Annual Passholders shortly. Disney has confirmed that capacity is expected to fill quickly, as with every previous EPCOT Passholder preview event. The two-day preview window gives Passholders exclusive access to the updated experience before May 26, when the attraction opens to all guests and the standard operating day crowd levels that come with a major attraction debut arrive in full force.
What Changed Inside the Attraction
The Around the World version of Soarin', which has been running since 2016, is being replaced entirely. The new film, Soarin' Across America, was shot with custom-built 12K aerial cameras, delivering a level of visual fidelity on the massive IPCOT IMAX projection screen that is a genuine technical upgrade over what guests have experienced for the past decade. The presentation is in 4K.
Confirmed locations in the new flight path include a sunrise over the Grand Canyon, a glide through the Chicago skyline, and a trip to the Florida orange groves that longtime Soarin' fans will immediately recognize as a callback to the original experience that began in California. Disney is keeping the full flight list as a surprise for opening day, meaning both the May 19 and 20 preview guests and the May 26 general opening crowd will experience the full sequence as a discovery rather than a confirmed checklist.
The scent profiles throughout the attraction have been completely redeveloped for the American locations. Fresh pine from the Pacific Northwest and Atlantic sea salt breezes from the East Coast are among the confirmed additions, giving the sensory component of the experience a specificity that matches the landscapes being shown rather than the international locations the previous version was built around. The musical score has also been replaced with a new orchestral arrangement of the original Bruce Broughton composition recorded specifically to sync with the Across America flight path, preserving the emotional signature of the attraction's music while updating it for the new journey.
Why This Is the Biggest EPCOT Attraction News in Years
Soarin' Across America is the first major update to the Land Pavilion's headliner since 2016. That is nearly a decade of the same film running at one of EPCOT's most consistently visited pavilions, and the update arriving now is comprehensive rather than cosmetic. New footage shot with purpose-built cameras, new scents, new score, new locations, and a new thematic focus on American landscapes give returning guests a genuinely different experience from anything the attraction has offered since the Around the World version launched.
The return to domestic landscapes also carries a specific cultural resonance heading into the summer of 2026, with America 250 anniversary programming shaping a significant portion of Disney's content calendar. A patriotic flight across American landmarks arriving just before summer is not a coincidental scheduling choice.
