Disney reimagined Soarin’ Across America for America’s 250th celebration and Disney Unscripted goes behind the scenes:

From capturing stunning aerial footage over a tapestry of diverse American landscapes to crafting an all-new musical arrangement of the iconic Soarin’ score, see how filmmakers, musicians, and Imagineers worked together to bring this next chapter to life. You’ll also get an inside look at how each scene is designed and fine-tuned through ride testing to create the smooth, immersive sensation of flight.

I’d rank Soarin’ as one of my top two or three favorite Disney rides (along with Rise of the Resistance and Indiana Jones Adventure). This glimpse of how it’s programmed—acceleration curves, wind effects, scents, music—gave me an even deeper appreciation for the magic.

The Imagineers even used Apple Vision Pro headsets to reduce the amount of physical hardware they needed to take up with them on the ride, using (what I presume to be) Mac Virtual Display. Megan Duncan, a senior sound engineer/mixer, explained (while wearing a Vision Pro):

So usually for a Soarin’ attraction we need to build scaffolding, but that was a no-can-do for this project because we were on such an accelerated schedule. So [senior manager for Audio Media Design] Greg [Lhotka] had the brilliant idea of using screens in a digital space. I don’t have to bring up a bunch of screens, and I just use this mouse and keyboard to control it through Bluetooth in my headset. Now, we can actually be in the carriage, mixing in the carriage instead of having to lug up a bunch of things onto a scaffolding or lift.

People keep dismissing Vision Pro, but it’s found a niche as a highly portable large- and multi-screen environment.