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Flying Theaters

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A Flying Theater is a type of amusement ride which is mostly - but not only - implemented in theme parks and large entertainment venues. By combining motion, film, sound and special effects realistic flying experiences are created. Flying Theaters are also defined as multi-media, multisensory, media-based attractions. Though Flying Theaters come in different forms and sizes what they all have in common is the use of one or multiple motion systems to simulate movement.[1] in combination with a big screen, in many cases a dome screen[2].

History[edit]

The first Flying Theater as it is understood today was introduced by The Walt Disney Company in 2001[3] in their „Disney California Adventure“- theme park as „Soarin’ Over California“[4]. The creative team that developed „Soarin’ Over California“ was lead by Rick Rothschild[5], back then a Creative Senior Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering[6].

The predecessor of Flying Theaters were motion simulator rides such as Star Tours[7], „Body Wars“ (EPCOT, 1989; [1]) or „Wild Arctic“, (SeaWorld Orlando, 1994), which have been around in theme parks since the 1980’s. These motion simulator rides were so called „capsuled rides“. Guests were put into a capsule (like a professional flight simulator) which was mounted on top of a motion-system. The movie was either a small projection or even only a TV-screen, the sound came from multiple speaker systems and special effects were mostly reduced to wind.

The success of „Soarin’ Over California“ motivated The Walt Disney Company to build more „Soarin’“-attractions, the first being a copy of „Soarin’ Over California“ in their EPCOT Theme Park in Orlando, Florida (2004). Until today Disney has implemented „Soarin’ Over the Horizon“ (Shanghai Disneyland Park, 2016)[8], "Soarin' around the World" (replaced the original "Soarin' over California" in "Disney California Adventure"[9]) and is right now completing an installation in „Tokyo Disney Sea“, which is scheduled to open in 2019[10].

Technology[edit]

In Flying Theaters, motion systems are used to move people synchronously to the motion of a projected film. Synchronicity between the motion of the film and the motion of the motion system(s) is achieved by motion control software[11]. The importance of synchronous movements to create the feeling of reality has been reported already back in 1969 by NASA.[12] The setup of a Flying Theater depends on the size and the capacity of the attraction. Accordingly either one motion system or several motion systems are put in front of a large screen. The screen can be either a dome screen (like in a planetarium) or a curved screen.

An important part in creating the feeling of reality as well as the feeling of movement plays the audio system (see also: Doppler effect). Therefore most Flying Theaters have installed surround sound systems. The audio system is installed directly in the room and in most cases the full spectrum of special effects is applied: wind, scent, water-spray, lightning[13].

Variations and different concepts[edit]

Since 2013, when Flying Theaters became popular all over the world (see list of Flying Theaters below), different concepts have been developed: The original Disney concept consists of a Dome screen and 9 gondolas in which guests are seated and heaved from the loading-position on the ground up into the dome-screen by 3 massive crank arms, to be positioned over the whole width of the screen with their feet dangling in the air[14]

A comparable concept where the guests are also sitting in multiple gondolas in front of the whole width of a screen with their feet dangling in the air, was created and first installed in 2013 as Fly Over Canada (Canada Place, Vancouver, Canada). Instead of heaving guest up with humongous crank arms, in this Flying Theater large steel structures in the back of the theater are used where stairs bring guests up to their respective loading positions.

Another solution is a huge platform on which guests are seated in 3 rows and then the whole platform tilts towards the screen into a 90° upright position and the guests are positioned across the whole width of the screen with their feet hanging down.

All these concepts result in an immersive ride experience. At the same time a disadvantage of these concepts is, that only guests who are seated directly in the middle of the screen get a perfect view. The view of the guests who are seated at the edge of the screen is distorted, because lines that should be straight appear curved due to the outer curvature of the dome screen. This shows, that when using dome screens, the position of the guests is of utter importance.

Although the „Soarin’“-concept was a success from the beginning, it took more than 10 years until the market became really interested in Flying Theaters. The reason may be that a huge space is needed for a system as described above, as well as the mechanical complexity and the enormous investment in infrastructure, e.g. steel structures of up to 350 tons or a 90-ton platform which tilts from a horizontal position 90° into a vertical position.

This led to the development of alternative systems which provide better results in terms of view lines. The basic idea was to go back to the roots of motion simulator rides, but now in combination with dome screens and open theater spaces instead of a ride-capsule: as a result guests are sitting on a platform (which is mounted on top of the motion system) with stadium seating to provide undistorted sightlines for almost all guests. This setup is more compact and therefore makes it possible to position almost all guests in the center of the screen. Furthermore, the development of powerful electric motors has made possible the use of all electric motion systems even when large capacities (=heavy loads) are needed. These all electric motion systems allow smoother motion as opposed to the often jerky hydraulic ones, which have often been developed in the 1970's.

Although dangling feet create a certain flying impression like when you are on a hang-glider, the perfect sightlines are decisive for the overall immersiveness of a flying experience[15]

List of Flying Theaters 2001-2018[edit]

Year Name Operator Link
2001 Soarin' over California Disney California Adventure Soarin'
2005 Soarin'over California EPCOT Center, Walt Disney World History of Soarin'
2010 Flying over Taiwan E-DA World, Taiwan E-DA-Themepark (website)
2012 Viaggio in Italia Ferrari world Abu Dhabi Ferrariworld, Abu Dhabi (website)
2013 Fly over Canada Canada Place, Vancouver Fly over Canada (website)
2014 Fuji Airways Fuji-Q Highlands, Japan Fuji-Q Highlands (website)
2015 Hubei in the air Wanda Movie Park Blooloop Magazine: Wanda Movie Park
2016 Fly over America Mall of the Americas Fly over America (website)
2016 Soarin' over the Horizon Shanghai Disneyland Park Shanghai Disneyland Park (website)
2016 Soarin' around the World EPCOT Center, Walt Disney World Walt Disney World Resort (website)
2016 Wings over Washington Pier 57, Seattle (Miner's Landing Wings over Washington-A Flying Ride
2016 Krrsh: Hero's Flight Bollywood Parks, Dubai Krrsh: Hero's Flight (website)
2016 Fly Adventure Lotte World, Seoul, Korea Fly Venture (website)
2016 Extraordinary Journey Futuroscope Extraordinary Journey (website)
2016 Hexaflight Wanda Mall Movie Park, Nanchang, China Hexaflight, China (website)
2017 Soaring over Russia/Soaring over Moscow Zaryadye Park, Moscow, Russia Zaryadye Park, Media Center (website)
2017 Voletarium Europapark, Rust, Germany Voletarium (website)]
2017 Race trough New York, Starring Jimmy Fallon Universal Orlando Resort Universal Orlando Resort (website)
2017 Washington Revelations Museum of the Bible, Washington DC Washington Revelations (website)
2018 This is Holland This is Holland, Amsterdam This is Holland (website)
2018 Fly over Paris Flyview Paris, Paris, France Flyview Paris
2018 The Flyer-San Francisco Pier39, San Francisco The Flyer-San Francisco (website)
2018 Fly over Mexico Amikoo theme park, Mexico Fly over Mexico (website)
2018 Beautiful Hunan Macrolink Flying Theater Changsa Tongguan Kiln Historical and Cultural Resort Blooloop Magazine: Beautiful Hunan Resort, China
2018 Galactic Odysee Warner Bros. World, Abu Dhabi Warner Bros. World, Abu Dhabi (website)
2018 Agila the EKsperience Enchanted Kingdom, Philippines Enchanted Kingdom (website)
2018 Fly over China Shijingshan Amusement Park, Bejing Blooloop Magazine: Fly over China opens in Bejing Amusement Park
2018 Volarium-Il Cinema Volante Cinecittá, Rome, Italy Cinecitta-World News

Press & Media[edit]

InPark Magazine (2018)[2]

Parkerlebnis (2017) [3]

Interpark (2017) [4]

Parkworld (2018) [5]

References[edit]


This article "Flying Theaters" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Flying Theaters. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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  3. http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Soarin%27_(attraction) | The Disney Wiki: History of "Sorin'"
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  13. "Ride Systems of Flying Theaters".
  14. "Soarin'".
  15. "Dynamic Motion Rides: Flying for all".