Condor Flats Imagineer Interviews
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But Soarin' Over California is the highlight of the area. Soarin' simulates flying over many California landmarks. As you enter the large theater you take your seat in one of three separate vehicles, each with three rows. Architect Coulter Winn designed and built the hanger that houses the system which includes two back-to-back theaters in one building sunk 15-feet into the ground. After you put on your seat belt, you're carried as much as 40 feet into the air in front of an 80 foot screen and you feel as if you're flying over California. As the images on the screen bank and the altitude changes, the vehicles turn and tilt along with it. There's no narration on the ride, instead there's a moving score by Hollywood composer Jerry Goldsmith (Mulan, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek Voyager TV series). Wind effects and scents as you pass over certain areas complete the experience.

Inside Soarin' Over California. The people seen are in the front row of one of the vehicles. Each vehicle has three rows and there are three vehicles in each theater. You can see the front row of the second vehicle in the background.
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Backstory
According to Disney Legend, Condor Flats was once a Mecca for pilots and aeronautical innovators. The area brought the California aerospace industry from the beginning of the Age of Aviation to the beginning of the Space Age. Rumor has it the Lockheed Company built some of its top-secret fighters here before moving to Skunkworks and Jack Northrop did the prototype testing of the Flying Wing here.

This jet engine periodically features smoke and lighting effects to simulate a test
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From the mid-40s to the late 60s the area became the hub of rocket research and jet testing. As the aviation industry moved into more sophisticated jet, rocket and radar research, it moved into more sophisticated headquarters, but the old hanger remained. Slowly, pilots and aviation enthusiasts began to move back to this Mecca of flying. One of the retired experimental pilots from the Flight Test Center's heyday returned and set up Condor Flats Scenic Air Tours in the old motor pool.

And then a group of younger aviation enthusiasts found out that the old test site was still around. The hangar is now home to a new generation of fliers, and their logo stands out among all the faded images of years gone by. This group of dedicated aviators developed a sort of "flying theater," a simulator in which everyone can experience the exhilaration of flying. It was designed by the best young aeronautical minds, and then installed in the revered Condor Flats hangar.

A biplane does aerobatics at the Soarin' Over California grand opening
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