Star Tours and kids

[dougsmom98]

My kids meet the height requirement for Star Tours. My 5 year old loves Star Wars and wants to go on this ride, although I'm not sure he knows what he is really getting into. His brothers are 3.5 years old and have said they would like to ride too, but they don't really know what it will be like either. I have never been on this ride and the Unofficial Guide gives it a motion sickness warning. What is your opinion of it? Should I steer clear of this ride with my kids? If it helps, my five year old and I went on Dinosaur at AK when he was 4 and he didn't hate it, but won't do it again.
Thanks for your help.
Amy

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I haven't been in years--but if your kids like Goofy Barnstormer--then Star Tours is comparable (not trying to trivialize it though).

Basically--you are taken into one of the transports that one of the "characters" (a robot--I cannot remember who it is) decides to take you for a ride. Only--he doesn't really know how to operate it. It is comical in nature. It has a roller coaster effect, IMHO. The only diff--and the source of my motion discomfort is that there is no visible track--you are going on a wild ride--there are sudden drops (think plunging down a hill), and turns and such that kids their age (or my age) won't be able to predict.

I don't think it is as scary as dinosaur (no dinosaur popping in your face to try and eat you). Plus--the dinosaur ride is more rough as it is "traveling" over "terrain" whereas the star tours is "hovering" above "terrain".

I think you should go for it--perhaps watch a Star Wars movie or episode before coming to prep the boys for it. He may not want to ride it again--but neither does my husband . I would probably do it--but hubby won't. He claims it is not a chicken thing--he feels the same about TofT.

 

[dbail2]

This is what Deb's Disney says. :
Star Tours
Beyond Echo Lake Rollicking motion simulator ride to the moon of Endor and back. Closed for rehab July 16-August 1, 2004.

The ride is definitely not as jerky as the Dinosaur ride in the AK. I think they can do it if the young one makes the height limit.which is 40".

 

[marcyinPA]

My 5 y/o just met the 40" height requirement and rode Star Tours a few weeks ago. (he turned 5 a few days after our trip). HE LOVED IT!! He and my 9 y/o ds are Star Wars freaks, so it was right up their alley. BTW, my little guy is afraid of heights, the dark, monsters, etc. etc. but had no problems on this ride. We took him on Thunder Mtn. Railroad (without him knowing it was a coaster ) and he HATED it and told us we were mean. Oh, well, we won't take him on it again for a few years

Anyway, give it a try. The worst part about the whole ride is trying to get the kids through the gift shop at the exit without a tantrum

 

[NotUrsula]

DS has been riding it since he was 28 months. It's in his Top 5 list.

It has never made him ill. Honestly, it's not that much rougher than KS at AK, except for the 2-3 sequences where you are supposed to be doing a sudden drop, at which point the simulator tilts forward rather abruptly.

I think that the younger children are when doing this sort of thing, the easier it is for them. Simulator dizziness tends to come from not being able to see a horizon, but little kids very often can't see the horizon when they are in a car, and *most* of them do not routinely get carsick. I'd say that as long as you don't have kids who get carsick from a normal bumpy ride, they are likely to be fine.

BTW, DS is now one of the most extreme 7 yo SW junkies ever, and this ride started the whole thing. For four years now I've been reading starship "technical manuals" as bedtime stories, and he owns 4 lightsabers and 9 model SW spaceships. He has all of the films to this point completely memorized, and can recite the dialogue verbatim.

 

[dougsmom98]

Thank you all for your responses. I am going to schedule it first attraction on the day we go to MGM.
-Amy

 

[myboysmom]

My 5 year old rode it when he was 3 and had no problem riding it again this past spring. He had a good time on it, but it wouldn't be his favorite. It is very simialr to Body Wars in Epcot. He and I rode Body Wars (walked right on) while big brother and dad were on Mission Space. Interestingly he said the "driver" on Body Wars was much better than on "Star Tours"

We didn't find either very frightening.