Is the sun wheel really that scary?

[ozdisfan]

Hey everyone,
I'm planning my first ever trip to disneyland next yr and have heard the sun wheel or "mickey's fun wheel" is truly TERRIFYING if you are riding the inner gondolas..... c'mon really?! wouldn't it just feet like a big push from the swing at the park haha?

 

[mechurchlady]

I have panicked on a Ferris wheel with my boyfriend at Knott's, the little itty bitty kiddie one. The first time I was talking to myself and it was scary but now I love it. I think it is the enclosed cage you are in that helps me get past my fear of falling. There are no seat belts or lap bars so how dangerous can it be?

I think it is that you are gently moving as the wheel turns but nothing seems to happen then SUDDENLY you are speeding. At times it seems like the other gondolas are going to crash into you. I am one of the few that love the ride it seems until you see the lines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMHFU8Q_vVI&feature=related

 

[ballarinamom]

Hey everyone,
I'm planning my first ever trip to disneyland next yr and have heard the sun wheel or "mickey's fun wheel" is truly TERRIFYING if you are riding the inner gondolas..... c'mon really?! wouldn't it just feet like a big push from the swing at the park haha?

We didn't do the inside gondalos. Sorry, but I was too chicken. I like a relaxing ride on a ferris wheel and they DO NOT LOOK RELAXING! Bedause of the spindles aiming in, the gondolas slide down fast and suddenly. So it's lie lots of sudden drops on a roller coaster.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

My kids and I have ridden it several times, and we always thought that the sliding gondolas was the most fun of the whole ride, plus, I love having a birds eye view of the parks.

There are two times that the gondolas swing, and since there are no seatbelts it can be a little disconcerting. To some people, I think the lack of feeling secure, plus that tug at your tummy (think elevator ride) can be really scary. We have never fallen, but brace ourselves when the gondolas swing. I do not think, but am pretty sure, (I'll have to verify) that there are any restrictions, and it is a very safe ride.

There are also stationary gondolas that people can ride if the swinging ones make them too nervous.

 

[daannzzz]

It is a little weird at first but once you get use to it, it is fun...even a pleasant feeling. HOWEVER if you are prone to motion sickness, like me, it can be very difficult. I have done it three times. Once I was a little sick, once I got really sick and once I was fine!

 

[PigletGurl]

It's very fun. I think the stationary ones are boring, and the swining ones give u butterflies in the stomach

 

[Tasscrapper]

How slow or fast of a loader is this ride? I really want to try it and I'm hoping it will be open by June or at least August. I hate going on the ferris wheel at our local amusement park cause it takes soooo long to load and unload and they only load like 4 cars on the top and 4 on the bottom even if there are tons of people waiting.

 

[PigletGurl]

Slow loading, but they have two lines for swinging, and one line for stationary.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

I got a little motion sick on this ride. And I'm not really a motion sick person. I think it's scary and I'm not afraid of heights either. I prefer the stationary ones.

 

[mechurchlady]

The current date I have heard is for a June reopening. Sloooow load for sure. The worst part is they load each gondola then go around once and then unload. I would love to ride that around 3 or 4 times. There is a separate line for stationary gondolas and often it is not as long as the ones that move.

 

[LuLusApple]

I rode both types Once. I rode the non swingers first and it was pleasant, so I thought I would give the swingers a try several years later. I will never ever go on the swinging gondolas again. I was scared out of my mind it really truley swings out. And as a PP said no seatbelts. It doesn't help that I am slightly afraid of heights. I won't do malliboomer again either. I can say I did it once and that was enough.

 

[pixiewings71]

I will only ride the stationary cars. My kids can ride the swinging gondolas if they want but I won't do it. We wait in the 2 lines, DBF and I in 1, the girls in the other, they swing I do not. AND the whole time I am on that ride I've got my fingers threaded thru the mesh and I'm holding on for dear life. I HATED the Sun Wheel, I will HATE Mickey's Fun Wheel......from here on out it shall be known as the Mickey Wheel of Death in my opinion. LOL Seriously, I hate it!!!!!

 

[brenda1966]

The Sun Wheel O' Death, now renamed Mickey's Wheel O' Death.

I hate it. I go on it because DD likes it. Has every since she rode it at age 4.
I don't like it because I don't like heights, don't like ferris wheels, and don't like being up high when I'm not strapped in tightly. I don't care if we're in a locked cage, I still feel like we are going to fall out!

Give me a fast moving roller coaster that goes upside down 3 times before the sun wheel.

And yes, it's a very, very slow loader and then you only go around 1 time! So, you spend a lot of time just sitting in that swinging cage of death waiting. LOL.

 

[brergnat]

I prefer the swinging cars. I find the stationary cars to be extremely unnerving. They are NOT truly statinary. They creak and move a bit, and it feels scary to me, especially when you're up high and stopped (and it's windy).

I MUCH prefer to be on a swinging car that is SUPPOSED to be moving. Then it feels more like a ride. It's not scary at all...it IS like a big push on a swing.

In my opinion, there is no point to riding the stationary cars. Swinging cars or don't bother.

 

[RuthieT]

I hated it... I cried and screamed the whole time haha.. But I am a big chicken....

 

[jemilah]

on the stationary bucket of the death I saw the look of fear in my poor son's eyes and felt terrible .

 

[jemilah]

on the stationary bucket of the death I saw the look of fear in my poor son's eyes and felt terrible .

 

[Quilter007]

DH is 6'3" -- will ride in the stationary bucket o' death only because he doesn't like waiting by himself. He's more than happy to go get a fastpass for ANYTHING while I take the kids on it. Younger DS doesn't really care for it either. Me and the older DS think the stationary buckets are boring & really prefer the swinging buckets o' death.

Best day ever @ DCA -- we convinced crabby DSIL to go on the swinging buckets o' death with her teenage kids. We went on stationary one w/ DH & DMIL (who closed her eyes and held on for dear life the whole time). Anyway, I think everyone in the whole park could hear crabby DSIL screaming the whole time! I simply had not anticipated that it could be such a terrifying ride....if I'd known that, I would have sold tickets to the rest of the family! Her bratty kids still think it's fun to tease her about it!

 

[CarrieQuiteContrary]

OMG I found the swinging gondolas terrifying. It wouldnt be so bad if there were seatbelts or something but it is not slow and smooth at all.When you swing around you rush forward and then one second you are basically flat on your back against the side that swings down and then clinging for dear life facing almost horizontal when it swings up.

I am not a chicken on rides but I will never ride the wheel of death again....

This is a shot I took while swinging down. I almost cried I was so scared.

 

[ghoulish delight]

I've only been on it once and I only agreed to do it by going on it in one of the stationary cars. I'm a tiny bit afraid of heights, and it was too much for me. Keep in mind, I'll go on any rollercoaster and LOVE Tower of Terror... so I'm not just some total chicken. I personally hated it and refuse to go on it ever again though.