Your Kids and The Barnstormer

jkl2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Anyone have a 4 yo (approx) who likes Soarin'? I think my son will like Soarin', but I'm just not sure, seeing as how I haven't actually been on it yet.

An unrelated question: On the Cyberspace Mountain thing at Disney Quest, does that thing manage to give you a zero-g feeling when you go down big drops? I just watched a video of people riding it and it seems pretty cool. Just wondering if they get that big drop feeling (not for my kid!).
 

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
Apparently, my first roller coaster was barnstormer (actually, technically Space Mountain was my first one since my mom rode it 6 weeks pregnant with me with her doctor's permission, but anyway). Now I ride everything. It's pretty tame, only 30 seconds. My parents used bribery to get me on rides for the first time. Go ahead and try it.:)
 

MichWolv

Born Modest. Wore Off.
Premium Member
Anyone have a 4 yo (approx) who likes Soarin'? I think my son will like Soarin', but I'm just not sure, seeing as how I haven't actually been on it yet.

An unrelated question: On the Cyberspace Mountain thing at Disney Quest, does that thing manage to give you a zero-g feeling when you go down big drops? I just watched a video of people riding it and it seems pretty cool. Just wondering if they get that big drop feeling (not for my kid!).


My three year old just went on Soarin' at DCA for the first time, as he just hit 40". He loved it. But he enjoyed Star Tours and Space Mountain more.

As for Cyberspace Mountain, I wouldn't say it really gives a zero-g feeling, but it is cool. The Sum of All Thrills attraction in Innoventions at Epcot is similar.
 

MichWolv

Born Modest. Wore Off.
Premium Member
I'm expecting my 4 YO son to be a little hesitant about a lot of the rides at WDW this Fall. I'm sure I can get him on slow rides (he knows he can cover his eyes if he wants) but my wife tried to get on the little kiddy rollercoaster at another amusement park last summer and he knew right away he wasn't into it. So I'm wondering if there's any chance of getting him on The Barnstormer, and if he likes that, being able to get him on something like Soarin'. I'm pretty sure he's over 40" now though I need to double check. He'll actually be abou 4 1/2 when we go.

Anyway, just wondering how your kids (if they're close to 4 or 5) did with the Barnstormer, how that got them ready for other rides, or if there was another "gateway" ride, what was it?


Both my guys went on any roller coaster they were tall enough for as soon as they could, and loved it. My now 3 year old was tall enough for Barnstormer when he was 32 months old, and insisted we ride it over and over. But he's never been afraid of anything. He's just hit 40", and last week at DL rode Star Tours, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers, and Tower of Terror. He loved them all. We hit gadget's go-coaster only because my little nephew was with us and only 37", so David agreed to hit the kiddie-coaster so his cousin could get some thrills in.
 

itsbetsyh

Active Member
the barnstormer terrified my daughter...she thought she wanted to go on it when she was 4. sometimes we go and she wants to ride a lot of stuff and other times we do more shows/less rides. not always the most fun for me, but i try to let her make her own decisions. she surprised me this last time and we got to go on Big Thunder Mountain.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Anyone have a 4 yo (approx) who likes Soarin'? I think my son will like Soarin', but I'm just not sure, seeing as how I haven't actually been on it yet.

An unrelated question: On the Cyberspace Mountain thing at Disney Quest, does that thing manage to give you a zero-g feeling when you go down big drops? I just watched a video of people riding it and it seems pretty cool. Just wondering if they get that big drop feeling (not for my kid!).

A 4 year old would need to be rather tall (51") to ride Cyberspace Mountain. Unless you have another kid you are referring to.

My kid at 5 adored Sourin'...though she did want me to put my arm across her legs during the ride...
 

mouselvrmom

Well-Known Member
I think it just depends on the child. My youngest rode as soon as she was able and is the only one of my four kids to regularly want to ride ToT with me. Now my oldest, when she was 5 my dad talked her into riding BTMRR with him while I was pregnant. He told her it was a train ride and she came off soo mad at him! She was like, that was NOT a train ride!!
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Last year my 2 and 5 year olds both rode it and loved it. The height restriction is 35". The 2 year old was desperate to do Splash and BTMRR too, but was just under the 40" mark:(. Like others said it depends on the kid. My youngest is a bit crazy and fearless and will do just about anything. My oldest is more timid and cautious. I wouldn't push it too much though. As someone else said a bad ride experience can ruin a vacation. When my oldest was 4 he was tall enough for Dinosaur at AK. I took him on and he flipped out. I hadn't ridden that ride in years and forgot how dark and frightening it was. After that he wouldn't do any dark rides the rest of the trip. He wouldn't even go back on Peter Pan or Pirates which he loved earlier in the trip. Luckily we had already done most of MK and EPCOT. If that had been the first day it could have been miserable.
 

MOXOMUMD

Well-Known Member
As soon as she reaches the height we rode Soarin and she loved that we were in the top row. She put her hands and feet out like she was flying. The Barnstormer she procrastinates all day about getting on and when we do she holds on for dear life. (I know, o_O.) This is my kid who would stay on the Star Tours ride if she could.
 

foreverbelle

Well-Known Member
Ah yes, it was my son's first roller coaster last summer at 3 1/2. He reserved it for the end of the trip when he had worked up enough courage to do it. And once he did, he absolutely loved it. The laugh all the way through has got to be one of my favorite things. We just returned about three weeks ago now 4, and he again rode it and again loved it. So much so that he was happy to do Big Thunder Mountain....and is in love with that one. Barnstormer is a great way to introduce the little one to those sort of rides!
 

RedDad

Smitty Werben JagerManJensen
It depends on the kid, but I would expect a 4 yo to be ok. My daughter went on Barnstormer at age 2 (almost 3) and did NOT like it. She doesn't like rough/jerky rides, and it is both. She went on Soarin for the first time about a week ago (she's now 3) and loved it, but Test Track was a very bad idea. She hated it, and it turned her off everything else but the kiddie rides for the rest of the trip.
 

SMS55

Well-Known Member
My now 10 year old has been riding it since he was 3. He has always loved it. As a matter of fact even now at 10 he loves riding it. The only problem I see is your little one might see it and it might scare him when he sees it speeding by or hears the kids screaming. Something like Soarin' he might not notice until he is on it. Might be cruel to do to the kid though. Since he's looking at a screen he might not notice he is off the ground to much. On Soarin' you might want to try sitting near the back of the glider so you aren't too high off the ground for him.
 

G8rchamps

Well-Known Member
Both kids love it- 8 and 5 last month when we went, but they both rode Nov 2011 as well. DO NOT force it, but if he'll get on it, he should be fine. Good luck and have a blast.
 

allgiggles

Well-Known Member
I think Barnstormer is a great first coaster for kids. As you can see by the video in the post on the first page, the ride is literally only 30 seconds long. I would grab a FP for it, though. No way would I wait more than 5-10 minutes for it since it's such a short ride. And BTW, FP's for Barnstormer, Dumbo, and Mickey's M&G aren't attached to the rest of the FP system. You can hold all 3 of those *plus* an additional FP attraction all at the same time. That may change when FP+ rolls out for everyone, but it's been that way for several months (maybe a year) now and was still true 2 weeks ago.

As far as Soarin', my (then) 4 year old loved it when she rode at that age. In fact, she wanted to ride it over and over (didn't happen...though we did manage to squeeze in a second ride later that day).
 

Gabe1

Ivory Tower Squabble EST 2011. WINDMILL SURVIVOR
My DD was tentative. I swear, excited and then nerves kicked in as we approached. Every time, loved it but often we had multiple chicken exits and it got old. So my DH and I wrote our own 1st timer reward (bribe) for each E ticket my kids rode for the first time. We found the gift shop that was themed to the attraction and they browsed. When we successfully rode the ride they got their 1st timer souvenir and we snapped a picture at the attraction with their souvenir. They knew if they did chicken exit, the offer was still good and the souvenir could be had the next try. More often than not they rode that E attraction and our vacations were better for it cause then they wanted to ride them again.
 

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