What's so bad about the Sun Wheel ride??

[VegasMike21]

To me the line is just super slow moving and it seems like they could of fit more cars on the wheel, especially more stationary cars.

 

[auntyjenn]

When we went to DL and my son was two, he came down with a slight fever and by the second day in DLR the first time he even smiled was on the Sun Wheel. One person's magic is another person's, uh, something yucky.

 

[lulubelle]

Cannot do the swinging gondolas. The fact that you are not strapped in, not even a lap belt or bar and are "free swinging" is too much for me. Once was enough. But the red stationary cars I love. The line is short, the view beautiful and peaceful and it is a very relaxing five minutes or so. A lot of clueless people get into the swinging gondolas with little kids and you can hear them screaming their heads off. And yes, the barf bags are used more than we would like to see.

 

[LukenDC]

I took a ride in one of the Sun Wheel's rocking cars and it made me nauseous. Next time I go on the ride I will be sure to take one of the stationary cars. The stationary cars also have a much shorter wait.

The ride itelf is visually appealing and offers a great view of the parks.

 

[Leggyb]

It really makes that many people sick??? So why is the line so long?! Probably because most people are like me and will have to try it out for themselves despite the warnings of others. I am more intrigued to ride it now, than I ever was before!

Just so everyone knows.. I get car sick extremely easy.. but I am a thrill ride junky and have never once gotten sick on a ride.. so go figure.

 

[lisadoll93]

It scares me It feels like I going to fall in the water and of course my kids love it...

 

[moko]

I liked the Sun Wheel up until the very end of it. We got a stationary cage and I'm not usually afraid of heights (but afraid of falling a little bit)... but at the very end, I kind of got that funny feeling like butterflies in my tummy. Nothing major but I think I was thinking too much and it got the better of me.

 

[disneyscootergal]

I think the Sunwheel is the only ride I've ever noticed with "barf bags" in DL or DCA

Really? Where are these?

I've only ridden it once, and that time I went on a stationary cage.

 

[Tangent_]

For me the swinging cages were interesting, but not nearly exciting enough. It wasn't enough to be fun, just enough to be annoying when enjoying the sights. My personal math for that ride is something like Swinging cars: +.5 for swinging, -1 for long wait, -1 for lower max height. Non-swinging cars: +1 for practically being able to walk on, +1 for higher max altitude, +1 for more relaxing ride to enjoy the view. We never bother with the swinging ones anymore.

For my wife and me the only upsides to even having the swinging cars is that it draws people away from the non-swinging line, and every once in a while we get to enjoy the spectacle of somebody panicking as if they were about to be skinned alive and flung into a pit of burning sulfur. I can empathize with phobias, but come on... If you're that afraid of heights why in the world would you get on that thing? It's not like the height is a surprise. Self-induced hysteria is just more funny than it is sad to me.

 

[Adi12982]

We both preferred the non-swinging side. . . the constant rocking is what bothered me some. . . funny thing is I can go on Screamin' after a full meal and be fine but I did feel this some in my stomach. I wasn't able to enjoy the view as much on the swinging side. The non-swinging had no line. You go through the exit to go in - just letting you know because we missed it our first time - we only saw the side that said exit - nothing about the non-swinging (that was on the other side of the exit).

 

[Adi12982]

Really? Where are these?

I've only ridden it once, and that time I went on a stationary cage.

They are on the swinging cars - only problem with our ride is that the bin was empty! Thankfully no one needed one!

 

[deletedpenguin]

All I have to say is:

 

[Leggyb]

^^^ HAHAH! That made me laugh Thanks for making my day

 

[Jeanne B]

We got back from our first trip to DL a couple of weeks ago and the Sun Wheel was the one thing that we all agreed was a complete waste of our time. It said a 20 minute wait but it was more like 40 minutes plus and I think by the time we stood in line, got on the ride and got back off it was an hour or more (and we got on and off Screamin in about 15 minutes, go figure!!). DD13 wanted to go on a swinging cage, not good I soon discovered!! I was starting to feel pretty ill towards the end and because it the wait and the ride took so long we didn't have time to go on the Grizzly raft ride (we didn't get there until late in the afternoon since we spent most of our day at DL). DD was kind of bummed out since she wasn't impressed with the Sun Wheel either and had we not wasted so much time doing that we could have gone on the raft ride.

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

Part of the thrill of carnival rides is in the fact that they are put together by hand, tightened with a simple wrench, by high school drop outs, and you are just not sure how safe the cage you just climbed into really is. Well the Sunwheel is Disney's answer to carny rides.

As someone posted previously, the inner cars give you the feeling that they have somehow disconnected from the frame of the wheel and you are beginning to slide your way off the ride and to your death. Again, there are no restraints or handles and the feeling of safe and secure has completely vanished. Add in a fear of heights and it's not thrilling or exhilirating like a Space Mountain or California Screamin', it's down right freaky!

While you are up there sliding to and fro there is a sort of erie calm feeling entangled with the fear and excitement. You really do feel detached from the world, which only adds to that "about to die" feeling. It almost forces you to face your fears of heights, death, loneliness, etc.

I will say that as adults both my wife (not afraid of heights) and I (afraid of heights) were shaken up by the experience. Our kids on the other hand thought it was a great time and were practically bouncing off the walls of the cage with excitement. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they have not had time to develop the fears and concerns we adults have? I don't know.

I do know I hated the ride. But, I'm glad I experienced it the once. I will however never do it again.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Yes, our barf bag bin was empty too. My son (who has been known to ride Screamin and Expedition Everest as many as seven times in a row and can do the more intense Mission Space after eating two funnel cakes) got very upset and ill on this ride (swinging car). The problem is that it seemed like forever and he was truly terrified. I ended up dumping my backpack so he would have something to barf in but he didn't need to thankfully. Close but no cigar thank God (I really like that backpack). What worked for him was that I started having him do Lamaze breathing. Really getting him to concentrate on his breathing. Its funny now and we laugh, but honestly at the time my mother instinct took over and I was ready to tear that thing apart to get him out of there. It was awful to see him that unnerved. And you don't know until its too late. Dh literally had to almost carry him off the ride and lay him down on a bench.

He can ride the non swinging cars okay (we had done those before and honestly didn't think the swinging ones would bother him). Although we did that the next trip and the couple above us who were swinging right towards us all the time decided to have "an encounter" in their car which was really embarrassing. And endless. We skip the Sun Wheel now!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Part of the thrill of carnival rides is in the fact that they are put together by hand, tightened with a simply wrench, by high school drop outs, and you are just not sure how safe the cage you just climbed into really is. Well the Sunwheel is Disney's answer to carny rides.