3. It's a ride that can be enjoyed by everyone

Walt created Disneyland because he wanted a place where parents and children could play together. In his dedication of the park in 1955, Walt said, “Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future.” He made sure his park would speak to adults and their need to remember the past and children, who almost always are looking forward into the future.

Nowadays, theme parks like to offer attractions that micro-target certain groups – experiences like thrilling roller coasters or fairy tale meet and greets. Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom has an attraction that allows children to play make believe with Belle from Beauty and the Beast and an attraction that honors the legacy of each of the American presidents. There really is something for everyone.

But what makes Soarin' unique is that it is an attraction for all. It's not overly thrilling, but it's not deadeningly dull. It's not aggressively hip, but it's not needlessly nostalgic. It touches on something that anyone can connect with, and it lets them enjoy its thrills at their own pace.

If you ride Soarin', you'll be riding it with everyone else who visits Disney's California Adventure or Epcot that day. It doesn't separate people by size, age, or motion-sickness. Like Walt always wanted, it's an attraction that can truly be appreciated by all.

4. It showcases how beautiful the world can be

Image: Disney

Yes, escapism is fun, but it's not everything. Escapism can make you forget your problems, but it doesn't get rid of them. Escapism is like a warm coat you can wear in the winter – yes, you feel warmer, but it doesn't make the winter end any sooner. Escapism is great, but it's not real magic.

Real magic is when someone makes you look at the crude, imperfect world you inhabit each day, and allows you to see the beauty and promise within it.

Walt was obsessed with showcasing the beauty of the world we inhabit. He invented Circle-Vision 360 as a way of showing off just how amazing and majestic the natural world is. Epcot is littered with attractions that draw their lineage back to that exact impulse from Walt – attractions like Impressions de France and O, Canada.

And, years later, Soarin'.

It's easy to show people a princess or a dinosaur or a rocket ship and make them feel happy. It's much harder to show them the world they live in and ask them to look at it with fresh eyes. It requires an optimism and an infectious spirit. And, importantly, it requires an appreciation of the world as it is, warts and all.

Walt had all of that. He knew how people felt in their day to day lives, and he knew how to make them forget about it. But, perhaps the greatest thing he could do, was allow them to reconnect with their world in a newer, stronger way. For him, that often involved reconnecting with the natural beauty of our planet – and that's a technique Soarin' picks up lovingly and effectively.

Soarin' shows people something they could see with their own eyes, and yet, when it's done, they applaud anyway – as though they're seeing something that couldn't possibly be real. Somehow, Soarin' makes the real world seem magical again.

Not bad for something dreamed up on an erector set, eh Walt?