Mickey's Fun Wheel - is it scary for toddlers ?

[barefootmomma]

This seems to be random depending on the CMs I have seen them going down the line looking for smaller parties to put together, and then other times - just loading per party (some cages will just have 2 people in them). Whether the line is long or not ... it seems completely random to me.

I've seen this exact same thing. If being in a gondola with others is not your cup of tea, I am sure that you can ask the CM to be in one of your own and they'd be fine with it. After being seated with another family (a husband and wife from Arizona) who basically grilled us about politics in California for the entire ride (no joke), I can't say sitting alone is a bad idea.

 

[Ginger Renae]

The Fun Wheel (Called the Sun Wheel when I went on it) is probably the only ride I will never go on again. Actually, I may consider taking one of the stationary gondolas, but the first time I went on it, we were in a swinging one and even though I have no fear of heights, there were no seat belts or anything so when you swung, you were totally horizontal, laying on your back, or facing totally down. I was close to tears, lol.

I had a death grip on the metal grate behind my seat.

That was me. It was several years ago on the Sun Wheel that I thought I was going to have a panic attack. I didn't realize how much those darn things really moved and it really surprised me that they didn't have seat belts or some other kind of restraint bar. I might try one of the stationary gondolas with DD, but I don't think I will try the swinging ones ever again!

 

[blackjackdelta]

My whole family enjoys the wheel. A couple do have a fear of heights which I do not consider irrational(part of the fight or flight mechanism) but I have always asked them to challenge their fears because you never know what can go from fear to fun.

Jack

 

[cinderellabride2011]

My family rode on it last time we were there for the first time, we decided to go on the swinging gondalas thinking it wasn't going to be too bad. (BTW this was with my 4 y/o too). I almost peed my pants!! That was one scary ride!! And i'm all for roller coasters and tower of terror...but the feeling of not being securred with a seat belt and having NOTHING to hang onto freaked me out! And ofcourse my 4 y/o DD was scared too but she just hung on to my fiance and she was fine. What freaked out my DD was tower of terror.

 

[tdashgirl]

I've seen this exact same thing. If being in a gondola with others is not your cup of tea, I am sure that you can ask the CM to be in one of your own and they'd be fine with it. After being seated with another family (a husband and wife from Arizona) who basically grilled us about politics in California for the entire ride (no joke), I can't say sitting alone is a bad idea.

Ha! One time the CM put us (party of 3, me-DH-DD6) with this young teenage couple. You should have seen their faces I think they totally wanted to make out and we were totally ruining their plan. We were very nice to them, didn't bug them one bit, but still, they had stone faces the entire time

My whole family enjoys the wheel. A couple do have a fear of heights which I do not consider irrational(part of the fight or flight mechanism) but I have always asked them to challenge their fears because you never know what can go from fear to fun.

Maybe one day Right now, being in the stationary cages is about as far as I can go to challenge my fear!

 

[Eeee-va]

How many people ride in each gondola?

Will a party of 2 (mom and son) be placed in a gondola with others?

In addition to CM discretion, the time when we were placed in a gondola with others, the ride was very busy. The other two times, when we rode alone, the line was minimal. So if you really want to ride alone (and don't want to request it), then I'd say get there early. If there's no line, I think it would be pretty silly for a CM to go to the effort of placing strangers together, you know?

I didn't mind riding with someone else but it is much easier to take pictures/be casual when you're riding with people you know. I would hate to ride a swinging gondola with strangers because I'd probably be whimpering.

 

[Mickeybell]

i too have an irrational fear to go on , cuz they lock you in the cages and i had nightmare where i was riding it and it fell into the water next to it and i was locked into the cage. so now i dont go on it

I had that thought too! I rode it a few years ago and was freaking out. I just wanted the ride to end. Then I rode it when they had the water drained and I was fine. I guess I wont be riding it on our upcoming trip cuz the water is back.

As for taking a toddler on it, we took our 2 1/2 year old on it and he liked it. Wasnt afraid at all. (we went on a stationary one)

 

[jtown]

They have barf bags under the seats in the swinging gondola's say no more. I HATE the swinging ones. LOVE the stationary ones.

Seriously? Like potential souvenirs or just generic bags?

 

[jennym68]

I have just returned and went on the Fun Wheel with my 4 year old. I was scared to death as another ferris wheel elsewhere i had been on was not fun. I have to say this one is so totally non-scary (the nonswinging gondolas that is) its really harmless and slow moving. The view from the top was great and my 4 yr old son was not the least bit frightened.

 

[pearl12970]

I am concerned about him picking up my worry too. I have never sat on a Ferris wheel THIS huge so the sheer height does scare me a little. I don't sit on scary rides or roller coasters EVER . I can see myself getting nervous as the gondola slowly move up and stops again then move up. It's the stopping that makes me nervous specially when u r so high up !!
I am glad to hear everyone's unanimous response ( almost) that the stationary ones aren't scary. Just curious - do they swing at all ? Can you " feel" them swing a little when you are high up and it has stopped ?.
How long does the entire ride last ? Thinking of how ling wull the torture last ? LOL
Thanks everyone for your replies

I rode in 2009 with a couple and a girl about your boy's age (complete strangers), and the girl not only seemed to love it, but was insisting it wasn't scary. (I hadn't ridden it since 2005, if then, so I found that reassuring. ) My only concern is that it's possible he might pick up on your worry and react negatively. But it's hard to tell from your post if you're actually somewhat frightened of it, or just a little bothered by it.



It likely won't change your mind, but the ride is based on a design that's been running summers in Coney Island since 1920 with a flawless safety record. So the mechanics of it are sound.

(That said...I still don't love it, as I don't care for heights! )

 

[jennym68]

I didn't feel them move at all...they are fixed in place and don't swing. Honestly its so slow and the stops to let people on and off are not sudden jerky movements at all. Really i found the whole ride fairly boring to be honest and was quite surprised at how safe i felt. I even looked down at the divers checking the WOC equipment in the water and i am terrified of heights! I really think you will be fine...my son didn't seem to pick up on any anxiety i had.

Edited to add...i don't remember the actual time we were on the ride,its not an eternity, it seemed to go pretty quickly for me. We got on, and then off the next time it came down so its not like you go round and round

 

[imp&pixie]

On our first trip to DCA our family went on the Fun Wheel in the swinging cars. OMG!! No other ride in both of the parks has even made me sicker. The motion totally messed with my equilibrium and gave me motion sickness.

The next trip I took my dd on the non-swinging cars and it was okay, gorgeous view, but it was FREEZING up at the top. My dd was actually hiding under the seat to keep warm (this was either in January or April, I forget which trip we did it.) We wanted to get off after one trip around but the CMs sent us on a second trip. We were begging to be let off when we realized that they weren't stopping.

 

[garada3]

i don't remember the actual time we were on the ride,its not an eternity, it seemed to go pretty quickly for me. We got on, and then off the next time it came down so its not like you go round and round

You only go around once? They do not load all the gondolas and then spin the entire wheel for a minute of two?

 

[tdashgirl]

I am concerned about him picking up my worry too. I have never sat on a Ferris wheel THIS huge so the sheer height does scare me a little. I don't sit on scary rides or roller coasters EVER . I can see myself getting nervous as the gondola slowly move up and stops again then move up. It's the stopping that makes me nervous specially when u r so high up !!
I am glad to hear everyone's unanimous response ( almost) that the stationary ones aren't scary. Just curious - do they swing at all ? Can you " feel" them swing a little when you are high up and it has stopped ?.
How long does the entire ride last ? Thinking of how ling wull the torture last ? LOL
Thanks everyone for your replies

I think you should at least give it a try. I have a fear of heights, but I can handle the stationary ones. You feel pretty safe in those cages. They seem pretty "rock solid" if that makes any sense. Very little swinging.

 

[Mom2aJessieGirl]

We rode it in August in the stationary cars. I did NOT like it and my DD4 didn't like it either. While they are called "stationary cars" do not be fooled. They may not "swing" along an oblong track like the swinging cars, but they do SWAY back and forth from their attachment point at the very top of the car.

While it was generally a smooth ride, I did not enjoy the swaying sensation at the top of the wheel. The only reason I rode it to begin with was to get a better view of the park. And man does it offer a great view!

As far as the time of the ride, when we were there they unloaded/loaded the entire wheel and then let it spin one full time before it was unloaded/reloaded. I enjoyed it much more when it moved than when it was still. You could see the swinging car next to you and at times it looked like it would crash right into your car!

The party in front of us was told to board with another small party and they declined. The CM didn't have a problem with it. YMMV.

 

[jennym68]

You only go around once? They do not load all the gondolas and then spin the entire wheel for a minute of two?

that was my experience last week..i was quite disappointed really as i figured they would let us all go round once after everyone was loaded...probably one of those variable things from CM to CM...

 

[cheshiregirl]

I took my 3 year old DS on MFW for the first time about two weeks ago. We rode in a stationary car and he loved it.

Meanwhile I realized right after we got on that my newly potty trained little boy hadn't gone to the bathroom since lunchtime and I spent the whole time worrying he was going to have an accident while 100 feet off the ground

We went around once while they were loading (we were about the 3rd-4th batch loaded on) and then one full revolution before we got off.

 

[Bella_Tink]

My husband and I took our 2 1/2 year old daughter on the ride. I wanted to ride the stationary gondola but my husband insisted we ride the swinging ones. My daughter was a little scared. She didn't cry, but she was really quiet and not smiling at all. My husband on the other hand, got sick!

 

[pixarmom]

We were on Mickey's Fun Wheel last month. Now, at home, our pre-schooler will occasionally exclaim, "Mickey's Fun Wheel!" Our three boys (ages pre-school to pre-teen) loved it - and so did we. I was a little concerned about our pre-schooler, but I have photos of him squealing with happiness on this ride.

We did the swinging gondolas (based on the requests from our persistent pre-teens!) and went a full rotation one time with very little movement. We weren't sure if the ride was over after that first rotation, but it was not! On the second rotation, the gondolas moved quite a bit! I don't usually like ferris wheels (ToT, Space Mountain, RnR at WDW are fine - just not a fan of ferris wheels) but I loved this one.

Of course, some little ones just won't like that much movement. We had to hold onto our youngest, if that's any indication! And as others have mentioned, they do have sickness bags available - so we assumed that was for a reason!

 

[aliceinoz]

edit: sorry wrong post!