Sometimes, I am accused of not thinking like a normal person and that is probably true.  Of course, I am not real sure what a normal person actually is.  Anyway, when we are in Florida, we enjoy visiting the amusement parks and riding the rides.  One of our favorite rides in Disney’s EPCOT is “Soarin’ Around the World”, luckily it is a fairly old ride and the wait times tend to be manageable.

If you have not been on the ride before, it is 3-D ride that simulates flying in a hang glider around the world.  This is not an intense ride in anyway. (Its not going to compete with the Formula Rossa in Abu Dhabi, afterall this is Disney).   We have ridden this ride more than a dozen times and we began recognizing places that we had traveled to in the past.  However, we also noticed many places we had not been.  So we decided we might as well turn the ride into an adventure and visit all the locations depicted…..yes we have have time and money😊

So here is a quick summary of the filming locations and how you can visit them if you chose to.  There is some overlap with my other blogs but not much.  Anyway, fasten your seat belts and “Let’s get Soarin”.

Disney World

To start this adventure, you probably should go ride the ride.  This will be one of the most expensive parts of your travels.  Disney is not cheap….Micky is a damn evil mouse (rat).  If you are lucky enough to live in Florida, the resident passes are fairly reasonable (around $500 annually) and include parking ($35 a day!).   Disney does offer good discounts for military members and you can buy these tickets before you arrive at local military bases or you can get them at the ticket office or Shades of Green in Disney World.  A big advantage of getting your tickets at Shades of Green is that you avoid sales tax.  In 2025, a one-day ticket starts at $119.  FYI: Our favorite time to visit EPCOT is in the spring or fall when they have a concert series every night for free.  These include major artists and are a nice way to end a day. Each concert is only 30 minutes long and repeat 3 times in the evening.

Below is a listing of each of the depicted locations in the ride in order.  This ride is duplicated in multiple Disney Parks and each one is slightly different.  We have only ridden it in Florida.  If you would like to see a video of the ride, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh4V0vfN5QE

Matterhorn

This is the first stop in Soarin’.  To get there we traveled to Zermatt, Switzerland.  Switzerland is the most expensive country in the world and Zermatt is one of the most expensive places in Switzerland.  We booked one of the cheapest hotels we could find in the small alpine town to take the cog railway up to an overlook of the mountain.  In our case, we completed a transatlantic cruise and got off in Civitavecchia, Italy (the cruise port for Rome) and had purchased rail tickets to Switzerland.  Unfortunately, we arrived the day of a railroad strike and had to ride “at risk” across Italy.  Surprisingly, everything went smooth until we reached Domodossola, Italy.  There a landside occurred and blocked the tracks.  So, we spent the night in this cool little town and got to Zermatt a day late (I talked about this in a previous blog).  When we arrived, in Zermatt, we were enchanted by the pretty little Alpine Village that bans all cars.  The only thing that was missing was the Matterhorn!  Unfortunately, it was snowing on the mountain and it was completely invisible.  We were there however, and we opted to take the cog railway up the mountain and at least get to take some fake photos of the mountain.  The Gornergrat Railway is very expensive ($162 per person peek season.)  Its only about a 35 minute ride…but this is Switzerland….did I mention that this is the most expensive country on Earth. 

Fortunately, on the ride down the mountain, the Matterhorn did become visible for a few minutes.  The hotel we had in Zermatt was very expensive and total crap!

I would not recommend staying in Zermatt, unless you are prepared to spend a lot of cash. This is very “Disney like”….without the rat.  Staying in Domodossola, Italy, on the other hand, was actually quite pleasant, reasonably priced and less than two hours by train from Zermatt.  Another option, would be to skip Zermatt all together and just view the mountain from elsewhere in Switzerland.  Afterall, its a big mountain. Next stop:

Isfjord, Greenland

This is one of the more difficult places to get to and we got to this location almost by accident.  We had booked a transatlantic cruise in 2022 that left from Copenhagen.  However, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, RCL opted to cancel having a ship in Baltics.  But they allowed us to transfer our cruise to any other ship doing a Transatlantic that year.  Cruises that include Greenland and Iceland are very rare and expensive.  So, when we learned that we could sail from Amsterdam to New York and see Iceland and Greenland for less than half the price, we jumped on it. 

The cruise through the Fjord was spectacular, although cold.  I will say the rat was a bit misleading on this destination.  There were no polar bears playing on the ice or whales jumping around.  But still it was nice to see some of Greenland before it becomes more popular or part of the United States.

There is no good way to see these Fjords without taking a cruise.  Cruises routinely visit Greenland on spring and fall Atlantic crossings.  Some ships are sailing round trip in the summer from New York to Greenland but not frequently. This is a very isolated part of the world.  Next Stop:

Sydney Harbor, Australia

The famous Opera House and Bridge in Sydney, Australia is easy to get to….but a long way away.  In our case back in 2018, we traveled down under and spent some time in Sydney.  The City is a wonderful place to explore and we highly recommend it. We flew in and took a month-long Transpacific cruise to return. If you have the time, you will find that the cruise is not much more expensive than the flight.

When we were there, a friend told us that we had to climb the bridge, it was easy, but expensive (around $250 a person depending on the date and time).  The climb is not difficult or scary.  We did it at Twilight, which was the cheapest time and a lot of fun.  FYI, I found out later that our friend had never actually climbed the bridge…it was good advise anyway. Next stop:

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle is the model for Disney’s Cinderella Castle.  It is set in a small town about an hour south of Munich in Germany’s Bavarian region.  In our case, we opted to drive over from Switzerland and spend a night in the little town. This is an easy place to visit and a great excuse to drive through German’s Black Forest…and maybe drink some beer.

This was well worth a visit…even though it was cloudy and rained a bit on us.  The castle was sold out on line, but there are tickets available each day at the ticket office.  Hiking around the area was also very good and made for a pleasant…but wet day.  Next Stop:

Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Kenya)

Mount Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania very close to the Kenyan border.  Unfortunately, clouds hid the mountain most of the two days we were there.  I wrote a separate blog on this trip, so I won’t go into all of the details but it’s safe to say, it was a pretty incredible (and expensive) adventure.

In regards to the Soarin video, the rat oversold this destination as well.  There are thousands of elephants around but not too close to the mountain.  Much of the snow has melted and elephants don’t like wet feet….so they left.  Elephants pretty much chose where they want to go in Africa.  So you might see a few elephants around but not herds playing on the Serengeti. Next stop:

The Great Wall of China

This is one of the seven new wonders of the world and I described it in detail a previous blog.  This is well worth a visit and easy to get to from Beijing.  We didn’t see anyone flying a kite up there but you could have.  Next stop:

Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

This is the only remaining original ancient wonder of the world and I did write up on how to visit it in an earlier blog.  The rat is pretty on target with this destination.  It’s easy to visit from Cairo and large numbers of tourists visit it daily.  The new museum is now open as well.  Americans are welcome and the security is extreme.  We felt quite safe.  Of all the places that I would visit a second time, this is high up on the list.  Next stop:

Taj Mahal, India

Again, this is one of the new wonders of the world and I wrote up how to visit it in an earlier blog.  India is not a favorite country, but the Taj is worth the effort and trouble.   India is fairly cheap except for airfare. Just make your trip short and don’t get bitten by any rats …..Disney or other.  Next stop:

Monument Valley, Arizona/New Mexico USA

The American southwest is amazing and I am glad Disney included this location in “Soarin”.  I recommend that you avoid the 4 corners monument here…huge tourist trap.  The rock formations are spectacular.  The easiest way to see this is to rent a car and drive either from Albuquerque, NM, Phoenix, AZ or Las Vegas NV.  Las Vegas is slightly further away but you pass right by the Grand Canyon.  If you have the time, do the “Grand Circle Tour” of all the national parks in this region.  Don’t waste your money on a tour. Just make some reservations and rent a car. This is possibly the most spectacular location on earth!  (At least that we have found….and we have been in a couple of places.)  Next stop:

Lau Islands, Fiji

To be fair, we never made it exactly to Fiji but we were close.  On a transpacific cruise we visited Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea in French Polynesia.  The scene shown in the ride could have been from any of these beautiful but remote islands.   There also is no inexpensive way to visit these locations.  Cruises here are expensive and time consuming, and flights are expensive as well.  Hotels and resorts on the islands are also not cheap.  I would opt for a transpacific cruise between Hawaii and Australia and combine it with an expanded vacation.  Next stop:

Iguazu Falls, Brazil

Iguazu Falls was one of our absolute favorite trips.  We did this excursion on our own flying in from Buenos Ares and departing to Rio.  We stated at a local lodge that was walking distance from the falls.  I have written a blog regarding this trip, where I have included many specifics.  This would be another location worth a second visit.  Also, it is ridiculously cheap! Next stop:

Eiffel Tower, France

When in Paris, you must visit the Eiffel tower.  I have climbed this beast three times and each time I was not willing to wait for the elevator to make it to the top.  I recommend climbing it during the evening when the lights are on.  It is a beautiful structure and was the tallest manmade structure when it was built in 1889 (It replaced the Pyramids.)  It is open until 11:00 PM and the crowds drop after 9:00.  Its even not all that expensive, less than $20 in 2025 (climb to the second floor.)  Just make sure you use the restroom before you climb the tower.  There is one small toilet on the second level with large crowds.  Unfortunately, I had to use that restroom pretty much in front of that large crowd….not my proudest moment…but when in France…wee, wee!  Last Stop:

Epcot Florida USA

The last scene in Soarin’ brings you back to reality and to EPCOT for the fireworks show.  It’s a good ride…and an amazing adventure.  Overall, the “rat” did had some good ideas!

But wait, as I mentioned previously,  this ride is slightly different depending on which Disney park you visit…..so will there be a potential sequel to this blog?  We will have to see.