Tower of Terror: How bad??

[MomRN]

I was just about to mention- Well, my 3 year old survived it. BUT, in retrospect, letting him ride it was probably one of my worst parenting mistakes ever. He was terified afterward.

For me, I was terified that he was going to fly out of the seat, so I had a death grip on him. And normally I close my eyes during scary rides, but I wanted to watch him...

By myself I'd do it over, but I like rides. Not again with him until he's 20. Or 5. If he let's me.

 

[Abbie]

Well, let's be honest here. If you suffer from ride anxiety, rest assured, this attraction will probably give you the heebie jeebies!
From the dark theme, to the eerie mood of the cast members, to the down right scary boiler room, to the awesome 3-D effects that mesmorize your senses... ALL BEFORE THE INEVITABLE DROP!

But I'll let you in on a little secret:
It's not that bad. It's actually quite smooth. You'll be screaming from the surprise of the drop(s), and you'll be laughing at conquering your fear, all at the same time.
It is, in my opinion, THE best ride at all of Disney.

As the Nike ads used to state, "Just Do It!"
I promise, you won't regret it.

This is so funny to me because I was so petrified getting on this ride that I would swear to you that we stood in a line, then got in a car to ride. I have absolutely no memory of anything coming before, no preshow, no boiler room (really??), nothing. All I could focus on was the actual ride. And like you said, I was screaming and laughing the whole time (partly with relief that it was so different than what I had feared!). It was totally worth it, even if you miss all the preshow stuff!

 

[twitch]

One of the things that may be worth mentioning is that you don't get dropped... you get pushed/pulled down the shaft.

On the one hand, that's how you accelerate faster than 32 f/s/s....

On the other hand, that comes with a certain security that you're always connected to ropes and pulleys.

I agree with others who say that this is the best thrill ride in all of WDW. It simply makes me laugh and laugh... because it's so much fun and themed so well.

 

[blestmom]

...it's the going up and hanging there part that is scary ...

That, to me, is the scariest part of the ride. The drops are pretty fun.

 

[McFlea]

One of the things that may be worth mentioning is that you don't get dropped... you get pushed/pulled down the shaft.

This is just what I was going to mention. It's also what helped me be less afraid - just knowing I wasn't dropping, but was, in fact, being pulled down helped a lot.

 

[carly chloe]

I don't like freefalls either and I've went on TOT many times (mostly because everyone else does). Once I'm in the elevator- I'm like- I shouldn't of done this! But it's not that bad and I go on it again!

 

[goofy53073]

I finally got up the courage to ride it last Spring and I am glad I did ride it but I also don't think I will ever do it again For me it truly was terrifying!! I do NOT like the feeling of falling- and the fact that you do it multiple times totally freaked me out!

 

[HappyGramma]

I am a 57 year old Grandmother and I love TOT. It's a not to miss ride for me. I'll be almost 58 on our next trip and I have every intention of riding it again. By the way, it is one of the few rides that I don't get motion sickness on.

 

[rjvose17]

My dh and I are big ride junkies and love love love TOT! We do them all at all parks. The only thing we have refused to do is the big sling shot out on I-Drive! I won't admit publicly but I'm almost 30 and the dh is 30 and we have been going together since 2000. For us TOT is a must do each trip and just this passed Dec we finally convinced our dd7 to do it! She was terrified and says she's not going on again but I bet she will! I will say I'm afraid of heights on things like ladders but I'll do the tallest coaster out there, and on my first ride ever I was so scared I almost cried but love it now! I would say go on it you can at least have the satisfaction of knowing you did it and have no regrets.

 

[dalstitch45]

After years of letting DS badger me into getting on TOT, I finally rode it this summer. I thought the drops were never going to end. He laughed so hard at me, as I was holding on for dear life. I was never so happy to get off that one. I wanted to kiss the ground. I don't think I would ride it again. At least I can now say I have been on every ride at WDW.

 

[6bowmans]

I always have ride anxiety for some unknown reason, but I go on anyway....I always get nervous leading up to Splash mountain, and BTMRR, then end up loving them , yet the next time, the anxiety comes back with the anticipation...SM, I have not tried, since it is all in the dark, I get nervous about it. I love test track, but TOT??? I look at and shudder, then I am always reading about people that love it...SO tell me 30 somethings and older....do you love, have you ridden, would you go again?? Thanks for yuor input!!

TOT is our favorite ride - it is not as disorienting as any of the roller coaster type rides or MS. The darkness and anticipation of the drop cause the most anxiety - but we love it. My 65-year-old father went with us to Disney a couple of years ago. He really dislikes roller coasters. However, he did give in to our pleading to ride TOT with us. To this day I have the picture from the ride on my desk because it caught my father with a smile on his face.

 

[Micca]

Like everything at WDW, it's not just a "ride" it's an "attraction." Everything about TOT is so cool (especially if you have any background watching Twilight Zone episodes.) The drops are so fun because you never really feel like anything bad is going to happen, just something unexpected. It is much less jarring than several other attractions at WDW. Definitely in our top 5 attractions in all of WDW. BTW, I'm old enough to be the father of the op.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I'm 34, and I rode ToT for the first time in November. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The theming is great. The worst part for me was when we were in the little car moving towards where it drops. I was afraid for some reason that it would drop before I realized we'd gotten to the drop area, but of course, it didn't. If I counted right, we were dropped 6 times. I couldn't tell if we were going up or down at any given time though. My DS7 loved it, he rode before when he was 5. My DS9 was a little unsure going in, but he said it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, he wasn't afraid of it any more, and he didn't care if we never rode it again.

I am a ride chicken. I did Space Mountain for the first time in November also, and I won't do that one again. Too jerky. I saw go for it, be brave, and you might find that you like it. Of course, you might hate it, but once the dropping starts, it's over quick, and then you'll know.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

At least my brother in law wasn't there... the youngest of 7, my brother in law was MUCH older than me, more like an uncle. So, we would go to Hershey Park, PA..... or Wildwood, NJ... and he would say things like.. "This ride isn't bad, you should get on it... only 1 person fell out of it so far this year... that's good compared to last year!"

 

[disneydad1]

anticipation makes it scary - also the hesitations before dropping - some seem longer than others. the drops themselves aren't that bad because they don't last very long. i happen to think that the dark is better than being able to see how high up you are, but i'm afraid of heights.

 

[chimo2u]

I am the biggest ride weenie. I bypassed this in January 2008 (our first trip). I was sooo scared, it took me taking the chicken exit at least 3 or more times on EE and RcnRC to get up the neves to "just do them".....

on that trip, I managed to finally do EE and RcnRC...I .loved EE, but after about 5+ times of riding RcnRC, I can leave that ride....it just doesn't do it for me, I don't really love it at all!

I never got up the nerve for TOT until my trip in Sept 2009. I didn't want to leave WDW with regrets, and I didn't think I'd be back again for a long time.....fast forward to TOT! OMGoodness!!! I don't know why I allowed myself to be scared for so long. The drops where very mild....not at all freaky like I was sooo worried about!!! It honestly felt very fun. I really liked the air time where you feel like you are floating a little on the down pull.

The stomach in your throat feeling/sick feeling did not happen at all. If I could just give you encouragement to try it, I think you will really love it! You will feel so proud that you just did it, and you will be able to leave having no regrets. It really is fun, the que and the pre-show are more nerve-wracking than the ride itself because it is such a creepy/haunted feeling.


I hope you get the courage to give it a go!

Now, if only I could take my own advice about Forbidden Journey at Universal Studios! I am still trying to get up my nerves to try that one on my Feb trip with my 14 yo son. I would hate to disappoint him and not go on it, because I know how badly he wants to try it....but he also does not want to go alone! (that's no fun)....so I really am trying hard to remember my mantra of "NO REGRETS!"

 

[CLR4321]

I am a huge fan of thrill rides, with the exception of ones that spin. I love ToT! I have been on it many times, and will go on it many more! I will say that the first time I saw the ride, the look of it was - well - terrifying! Just like the name says! I still do get that anxiety type thing when waiting in line for thrill rides. In a way I am glad, because the anxiety adds to the ride and makes it more fun!

 

[Lillian Gracey]

You could always watch videos of it on youtube, they might not be the best quality, but you can get an idea of what the ride is like!

 

[Coach81]

TOT is my oldest sons favorite ride (13) he has loved it since he was big enough to ride it... (probably 8 or 9).

I don't mind it.. it has actually grown on me over the years.. it is pretty intense for your first ride.. but then after it is over.. it usually is much better...

Good luck with your decision.

 

[seelyt2]

I'm 40 something, and was Chicken Little and got the courage to ride it last month with DD9. It was awesome. I don't suffer from anxiety, but I was nervous. I did it first thing (after TSM) so that I didn't have all day to back out of it. The drops didn't bother me like I thought they would - they were fun after the first one, since I knew what it felt like. A lot of the anticipation (I thought) was leading up to the drops....the storyline, the sights...The worst part for me was that stupid black and white twirly circle thing for the Twilight Zone part. I say stupid because that stuff makes me dizzy. Other than that - I'm glad I did it and will do it again the next time I'm there.