How scary is the tower of terror?

[pickles]

I ride almost any ride and I ride ToT to humor my kids..once a trip. That said I hate ToT..the drops itself are tolerable, especially after the first one, but the anticipation just kills me. I can't stand the part leading up, because I KNOW what is coming.

My personal opinion is, a person should try every ride at disney at least once and then if you hate it don;'t do it again. That is the rule we have with our kids, and yes, I am one of those bad parents with crying kids on a ride, BUT they have never been made to do a ride a second time and 90% of the time after doing it the first time, they were begging to do it again. One must learn to face your fears especially if you are an adult. You would be surprised to find the things you enjoy after thinking you would hate or fear them

 

[liltoot]

SCARY? My DW described the ride as being a HUMAN YO-YO!

I like any ride that can lift me out of my seat!!!! That takes some doing. I'll just leave it at that.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

My husband and I are not HUGE fans of thrill rides - moderate roller coasters are fun for us, but the really big ones are not our cup of tea. I think almost everything at Disney is small enough for our tastes, but we were wondering how scary the tower of terror is? What is the ride like? What can we expect? (My husband is afraid of heights - is that an issue on ToT?)

Thanks everyone!

I don't think it's bad at all.

It's like a roller coaster that doesn't go anywhere, and as for the height issue, you only know that you are up high when they open the doors to show you, the rest of the time you are in the darkened elevator shaft. It's over so quick, you barely have time to really notice. Okay, well, maybe the "surprise" drop is scary, but it's over quick.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

P.S. It was very smooth the last time I was on it.

 

[inkkognito]

I do not like ToT... but not because it's "scary". I wouldn't use that word to describe it. I had fun up until the drops... I just HATE that feeling in my stomach.

You can actually conquer that feeling in your stomach. I used to get it till I married a roller coaster fanatic and went on more coasters than I care to every count, many with BIG drops (Magnum at Cedar Point...a 200 foot favorite). Eventually you become totally immune to it. I used to hate the feeling, and now I can barely remember what it felt like. I don't even get it on those slingshot things where they strap you into a roll cage and shoot you 200 or 300 feet into the air (so of course you free-fall down and bounce a few times).

 

[luckymom3]

We love it, it's just one of those feelings you have to experience yourself. If this makes you feel any better...last year when our daughter was 5, it was and still is now, her favorite ride she can't wait to go back just to go on it another 5 times!

 

[arielmomma]

the Tower of Terror is a thrill ride, but I don't think that its too bad. Its not rough like a roller coaster and the scary parts aren't as long. I will admit, however, I have not encouraged my 5 year old to ride it even though he is tall enough. I do not think that the fall would bother him (see its not that bad) but the darkness and the ghosts would scare him to death!

 

[bonybroad]

On a scale of 1-10 I give it a 5million and 6.
Everybody has heard my story about the paramedics coming because I went into shock and had to have oxygen.
Very embarassing!

 

[luckymom3]

the Tower of Terror is a thrill ride, but I don't think that its too bad. Its not rough like a roller coaster and the scary parts aren't as long. I will admit, however, I have not encouraged my 5 year old to ride it even though he is tall enough. I do not think that the fall would bother him (see its not that bad) but the darkness and the ghosts would scare him to death!

I agree with you about the darkness and ghosts. That's why I never let her twin sister on, she is afraid of all that. But I knew Bella could do it, she's been on EE too!! she begs us to let her on, and now that she's tall enough we let her try!

 

[vettegirl]

It's not the ride that it is scary it's the preshow. Super creepy but fun. I remember the first time I rode it at DL I was super nervous but came out shaking and laughing at the same time. I jumped back in line immediately.

 

[pbharris4]

You can go through the beginning part and see the basement, boiler room or whatever it is and then go out the chicken exit before you get on the elevator if you want.

I will try anything once. I LOVE roller coasters of all kinds, but things that drop...not so much. I did try it knowing I wouldn't like it. I have had those "Falling in elevator" dreams a few times. While it's not scary..I just don't like the feeling of my stomach in my throat and falling randomly. If it was one big fall I could live with it. I would try just to try it. You never know unless you do it!

 

[sexyravenfan]

We rode ToT for the first time last year..me, my dad, sister, and her bf. I think not knowing and worrying when I was going to drop was the worst for me that I completely forgot anything that happened during the ride. When we did drop though I screamed my pants off and loved it!

 

[WantToGoNow]

I love TOT but my dh and my ds7 are both afraid of heights. I got dh on it one time and he was terrified - he didn't tell me until after the ride that he has had nightmares all of his life about falling elevators. My ds7 has yet to try the ride and has already announced that he will not be riding it in November either. My dd5 can't wait to get on it. Atleast with dh not riding, I have someone to leave ds with while the rest of us ride.

 

[teach22180]

I like any ride that can lift me out of my seat!!!! That takes some doing. I'll just leave it at that.

That's what I'm looking forward to! I love going down the hills on a coaster; I'm just not a fan of the twisty turning stuff. I'm thinking I'm going to love this ride! Thanks for asking the questions, OP, as I've enjoyed reading the answers. My young adult doesn't do thrill rides, so I skipped this ride each of the previous two trips. It's one of my big goals for this trip!!

 

[d1gitman]

I would say this, everything leading up to the actual 'drop' builds the excitement factor. It does get pitch black, can be spooky or scary to some. The ride itself, extremely intense. Like Robo said, they don't drop you, they pull you down, and up and down at random. Combined with the darkness, viewing out the tower window over the park, it is very intense. True to many Disney attractions, it's all the details in conjunction with the ride itself. Personally I love it but if someone is not a big thrill seeker, this might not be the ride for them.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I too am scared of heights but I do ToT at least once every trip. I always come off scared in a good way! The height thing really doesn't bother me and I think it is because you are in an enclosed car so height doesn't seem to be an issue. The thing that scares me is the coming out of the seat.

I do think it is a smooth ride. I find Dinosaur much scarier a ride than ToT.

I will say that I feel it is less scary to ride it at night than in the day. When you are going up and down an open window appears to the park. In the day the bright light can be kind of shocking when you are in complete darkness whereas at night it is more of a gradual transition and not so scary IMO.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

To the OP here is a link to a Youtube video of what it's like to ride the Tower of Terror, so hopefully this will help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGCHodIZrd4

 

[sherry_car]

I am not scared of heights, but otherwise you could be describing my likes in rides. I like roller coasters, as long as there are no big drops. I don't like that sinking feeling. I almost didn't try TOT, but finally got talked into it. I was so glad I did. I LOVED it! The story made the ride for me.

 

[chippydale33]

you're all going to find this strange, but IMHO, the Frog Jumper at amusement parks gives me more butterflies while dropping than ToT hahahha. i really dont seem to get that same feeling on ToT, which makes me enjoy it even more b/c i hate that feeling. haha but i really think it's all about what your willing to do and how you react to different rides enjoy your trip!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

you're all going to find this strange, but IMHO, the Frog Jumper at amusement parks gives me more butterflies while dropping than ToT hahahha. i really dont seem to get that same feeling on ToT, which makes me enjoy it even more b/c i hate that feeling. haha but i really think it's all about what your willing to do and how you react to different rides enjoy your trip!

I totally agree with you! We went on ToT last year and I enjoyed it and was mildly frightened. We went on the Frog hopper type kiddie ride at Seaworld and I was terrified! I think it was the difference between being enclosed on ToT and just hanging open on the Frog hopper! My kids thought I was nuts!