I recently went back to Disneyland again for my niece’s fifth birthday, and I realized that I have strong feelings about the “Soaring Over California” ride in California Adventures.

It is probably not the worst ride in the park, but it feels like the worst ride because everyone keeps talking it up.  Friends and family always say “People told me to be sure to ride Soaring over California.” It’s like when people hype some movie as being the greatest ever and then it turns out to star Ben Stiller. I would probably rather do Soaring Over California than, say, Tarzan’s Treehouse or something, but I still feel adversarial to the whole concept.

Basically, you sit in a chair in front of a large projected movie screen and “fly” over various California landscapes:

Oooh! Hot air balloons!  Look out, you might hit one! 

And then they spray you with various scents--for example, you’re flying over a bunch of orange trees and then you smell oranges.  Wow, it’s like you’re really there.  With a bunch of orange trees.  That’s...mind blowing.

Here’s my issue: the concept of the ride is fine. But why waste it on California landscapes? The ride is already in California. If you want to see a bunch of hot air balloons, go ride a hot air balloon. You want to fly over vineyards? They have so many vineyards in California that I’m starting to think that they reproduce naturally, like fungus. Are there really winemakers overseeing all those damn things?

Instead of boring California scenery, they are tons of cool things that you could be flying over.  All it takes is a little imagination. Here are my suggestions for revamping the ride: