Is Space Mountain Scary?

[Holderman]

I give you my pledge to get over my fear of rollar coasters and to ride SM at least once if not twice. Scouts Honor.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

My dad who was 70 the last time he went, loved Rock'n Rollercoaster, his favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom by FAR is Splash Mountain. I loved It's A Small World when I was 11 and our whole family still loves it today. I never said that everyone will like every ride. There are many attractions that I’m not particularly fond of. Though if you meet the height requirement, (FOR THE MOST PART) the rides are constructed for the entire family to enjoy. Disney doesn't have roller coasters that have the 200 foot drops like the Titan at Six Flags, or the Texas Giant wooden roller coaster that completely beats you up. Disney does an excellent job building attractions that the entire family (can) enjoy. You can always find exceptions, like my 100 year old great grandmother who's in the nursing home on oxygen, but the use of the word (entire family) has to be taken with some reasonability.

Which would be great if what defines "family friendly" is what YOUR family can do or likes to do.

In the end, not all rides are designed for all people, not all rides are family friendly. Discussions like this where you see people weighing in that this ride is too much for them just go to reinforce that.

 

[Haley]

I would just try it once- I mean the worse thing that could happen is you don't like and don't do it again.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

Parks have to have a level of thrill rides to be succesful,a park like Disney is never going to have coasters like what you find at Cedar Point or Six Flags but what they do have are thrill rides that many people can ride,obviously not everyone can or will ride them but for example a ride like TOT is a ride with a great theme and big enough appeal to draw anyone from 8 to 80 years old.

I just visited Legoland,a park that's supposed to be for the 2-12 age range,all I can tell you is that this park will appeal to a lot more than just kids.To start off it's a beautiful park with many attractions that everyone will enjoy like the Island in the Sky,the ski show,they have 3 different 3-D movies,the old gardens area have been kept and are as beautiful as ever.All these areas are popular with a lot of seniors which I saw tons of at the park,there are several attractions which are going to be mostly for kids but they also have 4 mildly thrilling coasters that most people will enjoy,I really enjoyed 3 of them as the Flight school inverted coaster was actually a bit rough as I kept smacking my head on the restraints.They also have some other unique flat rides like the wave racers which was a lot of fun.In conclusion even this park built for kids has to have a certain level of thrill rides,their coasters are probably just a notch below what you find as Disney as far as thrills.

I was thinking about visiting Legoland Florida in 2013. Is this a one day or two day park experience? How were the lines and crowds? What is the commute like from Orlando? Did you require any overnight accommodations? Thanks.

 

[DOOM1001]

I was thinking about visiting Legoland Florida in 2013. Is this a one day or two day park experience? How were the lines and crowds? What is the commute like from Orlando? Did you require any overnight accommodations? Thanks.

The park closes pretty early,5pm on most days but I hear it's been closing at 6 or 7pm lately for holiday crowds.I went on a pretty calm day overall,I got there at opening and only had one wait over 10 minutes so I was able to get the park in in one day.I have seen some trip reports on the park that showed huge crowds and long wait times.Some of the rides also don't have big capacities so I could believe long wait times if the crowds are huge,in this kind of situation you might possibly want to spend two days at the park,I think most people will agree that it's not a two day park however.The park is beautiful and a definite must do,I got from the Legoland parking lot to the I-4 exits around Disney in 35 minutes so unless you wanted to do two days there's no reason to stay in Winter Haven.

 

[DOOM1001]

I was thinking about visiting Legoland Florida in 2013. Is this a one day or two day park experience? How were the lines and crowds? What is the commute like from Orlando? Did you require any overnight accommodations? Thanks.

The park closes pretty early,5pm on most days but I hear it's been closing at 6 or 7pm lately for holiday crowds.I went on a pretty calm day overall,I got there at opening and only had one wait over 10 minutes so I was able to get the park in in one day.I have seen some trip reports on the park that showed huge crowds and long wait times.Some of the rides also don't have big capacities so I could believe long wait times if the crowds are huge,in this kind of situation you might possibly want to spend two days at the park,I think most people will agree that it's not a two day park however.The park is beautiful and a definite must do,I got from the Legoland parking lot to the I-4 exits around Disney in 35 minutes so unless you wanted to do two days there's no reason to stay in Winter Haven.

 

[kevdo]

Yeah, you probably won't like Space Mountain if you didn't have a good experience on Big Thunder.

And you definitely should avoid Rock'n'Roller Coaster and Expedition Everest.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

If you think SM is rough now, then you would have really hated it a few years ago. I rode it once in 1999 and then not again as it jarred my back to the point where any attraction with any intensity to it was out of the question for the rest of the trip. Well a few years ago I went (after the refurb) and it was much smoother (thankfully). And I would say if you found Railroad scary then yes SM will be scary.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

The park closes pretty early,5pm on most days but I hear it's been closing at 6 or 7pm lately for holiday crowds.I went on a pretty calm day overall,I got there at opening and only had one wait over 10 minutes so I was able to get the park in in one day.I have seen some trip reports on the park that showed huge crowds and long wait times.Some of the rides also don't have big capacities so I could believe long wait times if the crowds are huge,in this kind of situation you might possibly want to spend two days at the park,I think most people will agree that it's not a two day park however.The park is beautiful and a definite must do,I got from the Legoland parking lot to the I-4 exits around Disney in 35 minutes so unless you wanted to do two days there's no reason to stay in Winter Haven.

Thanks so much for the info, DOOM! I keep hearing wonderful things about this place, so it is a must do. I'm glad it's a one day park that closes early, so there is no need for additional accommodations outside of Orlando. I can't wait to start planning our Universal/IoA/SeaWorld/Legoland vacation for 2013.

Sorry OP ~ for going off topic -- even though Space Mountain is kind of rough on me, it's still one of my favorite rides.

If you think SM is rough now, then you would have really hated it a few years ago. I rode it once in 1999 and then not again as it jarred my back to the point where any attraction with any intensity to it was out of the question for the rest of the trip. Well a few years ago I went (after the refurb) and it was much smoother (thankfully). And I would say if you found Railroad scary then yes SM will be scary.

You're saying that Space Mountain is actually 'smoother' now, lol. That's just awful - I didn't think this ride could get any rougher.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Thanks so much for the info, DOOM! I keep hearing wonderful things about this place, so it is a must do. I'm glad it's a one day park that closes early, so there is no need for additional accommodations outside of Orlando. I can't wait to start planning our Universal/IoA/SeaWorld/Legoland vacation for 2013.

Sorry OP ~ for going off topic -- even though Space Mountain is kind of rough on me, it's still one of my favorite rides.

You're saying that Space Mountain is actually 'smoother' now, lol. That's just awful - I didn't think this ride could get any rougher.

For me it was and considerably so.

 

[HarborBlvd]

For starters....I had the face when you started off your post with your "DS and you both being in your 30's". I was like...what??...her dear son and her are both in their 30's? How does that work? Then later in your post, you mentioned your sister and then I got it.

That being said, I'm not a thrill seeker either. Thunder Mountain is about as exciting as I get in regards to roller coasters, and most people find that ride relatively tame. I went on Space Mountain once at Disneyland, and threw up. While I didn't find it scary, it certainly made me think twice about the frozen banana I had just had. I distinctly remember constantly being aware of glimpses of low beams and being afraid I would come out of it a few inches shorter than when I went in. I've never been on the SM at WDW, and don't really have any plans to. I also didn't ride RnRC or EE, and I foolishly allowed myself to be talked into going on ToT, which scared the you know what out of me. I didn't enjoy it for a second. Although, I will say, the only thing I regret about our entire two week trip at the world was not buying the photo from the ToT ride. The look on my face was priceless. Sheer terror.

To each his own, and if you skip SM, and the other coasters, the good thing about Disney World is there's plenty of other things to see and do.

 

[flortlebap]

I find SM "worse" too! Just because it's rough, unpredictable, and you have to sit on your own. I feel like I'm about to fall out, so I'm not crazy about it. That said, I love EE, BTMR (I find this a little tame!) and even RnR so I guess it's about personal taste. My DS8 will do BTMR but I wouldn't take him on SM.

 

[Albytaps]

This time around my back didn't hurt after SM. Last year, I got slammed and it ended up hurting my back. I think it was just the way I was sitting and tensing up.

 

[redshoepaul]

This is me enjoying Space Mountain.

http://i43.tinypic.com/1zzjpqr.jpg

I'm kidding, I love the ride and I think my girlfriend and I rode it 6-7 times in 1 day on our last trip..