Ideas on gauging how scary a ride may be

[tor29c]

I admit I'm not the most daring of participants and usually I determine if I can attempt a ride based on the height requirement. My upper limit is 40" minimum height. I love BTMR and Space Tours. I've done Mission Space:Green and that was pretty frightening but I'm glad I did it. Can't even image ever going on Space Mountain! Now for our upcoming October trip I reserved FP+ for Soarin. I read the description of going 40 feet up and I'm kind of freaked. For those of you who have a mild fear of heights how bad is this ride? How do others gauge if a ride will be too scary for you? Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Disneydreamer23]

My mother is terrified of heights there's three different levels levels 1 2 and three level one goes at the highest level III is the lowest so whenever we go on with her we always sit in the third row and she's fine

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

To clarify the above, the three levels or ride heights on Soarin' have nothing to do with fear factor, its just the rides way of getting more people on it at any one time. As for the the actual height, once you're watching the screen you forget all about your physical height off the floor.

 

[Mom@disney]

I am really scared of heights. The first time I went on Soarin' I wasn't sure what to expect. We sat in the first row, and while I was talking to my youngest daughter, we were swooped up quite quick. Well, I was taken aback and shaking with fear the whole ride...we were really high! The next time we went, I sat in the third row. And that was fine with me.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

my advice may suck depending on how you feel about 'ruining' the magic. my brother is claustrophobic, has a fear of elevators, and isn't crazy about heights. my husband went online (nothing ruins the magic for him) and learned about how tower of terror works and sat my brother down and explained it carefully. my brother decided to give it a try and loved it! maybe if you go online and see some lights on soarin' photos and learn how it works, it won't seem so scary. (fyi, my brother who does not like heights is not as thrilled with soarin'. the first time he rode it he was scared because he was surprised. now that he knows what it entails, he enjoys the ride).

 

[iluvMainStMagic]

The suggestions to ask for the lowest row are a great idea - you can enjoy everything but still know that you are really not very far off the floor.

Something that might help is that once the rows are raised up into place, you are basically stationary. There are a few minimal effects to make it feel like you are flying, but (to me) they are not scary- no sensation of "tipping over", "dropping", etc that would make you feel like you were about to fall. However, the video on the screen gives the illusion that you are hang gliding over a variety of locations in California - ocean, mountains, etc, so what you are seeing feels like you are are up in the air....don't know if that would bother you. The screen doesn't go all the way around the sides, so if you need to, you can look to the side and see the edges for a "little less illusion". My husband does not like heights and held on tight the first time or two that we rode it. Now he is comfortable that we really aren't very high, and he loves it. (By the way, the lights are very dim when you "lift off" but it's just a few seconds and then the film starts - same at the end when you come back down.)

About 5 sec in, this video shows guests being seated in the front row (which goes the highest).


Here is a video of the ride to see if it will make you feel like it's too high for you to be comfortable, it also gives you an idea of what the ride vehicle looks like.


This is a picture taken from the vantage point of the middle row once the 3 rows are lifted into place. It's from Wikipedia, the info there gives a good overview of the ride and it's effects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soarin'_Over_California

[sorry for tmi]

 

[CamiCan]

If it's like the one in CA, I'd say if you're really scared just close your eyes the whole time and you'd only feel minor movement and almost nothing at all. Most of the "thrills" come from optical illusions that make it feel like you're soaring/dropping, etc. My bf the science geek actually likes this ride because of the science behind the effects. I've gone on this (CA) with a girlfriend who was also terrified of heights and she closed her eyes at parts and was fine enough to go on it again the next time she went with me (several months later).

 

[DManRightHere]

I admit I'm not the most daring of participants and usually I determine if I can attempt a ride based on the height requirement. My upper limit is 40" minimum height. I love BTMR and Space Tours. I've done Mission Space:Green and that was pretty frightening but I'm glad I did it. Can't even image ever going on Space Mountain! Now for our upcoming October trip I reserved FP+ for Soarin. I read the description of going 40 feet up and I'm kind of freaked. For those of you who have a mild fear of heights how bad is this ride? How do others gauge if a ride will be too scary for you? Thanks for your thoughts!

I guess it depends on what you're actually uncomfortable with. If it's heights, if you can do btmrr you can do space mountain. I find mission space more intense that btmrr and space mountain (I think that's more of my clausterphobia though).

For soarin, just ask a cm for the bottom, tell them you have an issue with heights. I seems to be 10-15 ft off the ground on the bottom.

 

[tor29c]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm hoping I'll be brave enough for the third row! Thanks iluvMain for posting those videos. It does give me a very good sense of what to expect. Dman, I won't be the one to prove a person who can do BTMRR can do Space Mountain. Not sure what it is about that ride but looks way too scary for me! I did Splash Mountain for the first time in April and it definitely tested my threshold for scary. I think I'd do it again though because visually there was so much to enjoy.

 

[CamiCan]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm hoping I'll be brave enough for the third row! Thanks iluvMain for posting those videos. It does give me a very good sense of what to expect. Dman, I won't be the one to prove a person who can do BTMRR can do Space Mountain. Not sure what it is about that ride but looks way too scary for me! I did Splash Mountain for the first time in April and it definitely tested my threshold for scary. I think I'd do it again though because visually there was so much to enjoy.

IMO Both Space Mountain and Splash Mountain (Disneyland version) are FAR scarier for a person with a fear of heights and motion than California Soaring. Splash Mountain drops FAST from an actual height while Space Mountain is jerky AND fast with sudden motion throughout. You can't close your eyes and escape your fear like you can on Soaring.