Flight of Passage, okay for a 6 year old?

[DWeav]

What are the thoughts of young children on FOP? I have a 6 year old daughter, she rode Soarin when she was 4 going on 5. She didn't freak out on Soarin at all. But at the same time, she wasn't exactly ready to get back on it the same trip. Star Tours, she freaked out on, sadly, on the same trip.

She'll be 6 and a half by the time we go to Disney for our next trip. She seems a little more confident now and seems to want to try more.

She's okay with things spinning, seems okay with rides that move quickly, but does not like drops. She won't do Thunder Mnt, Splash or Space Mnt but she wants to do 7 dwarfs.

Does the seat on FOP drop or how does it work? I get that it is front of a large screen. Is it pretty much just like Soarin? Or more like Star Tours?

Is Star Tours more jerky than FOP? I think that was the difference in her not minding Soarin but hating Star Tours. The initial thrusts and hard, sudden movements of Star Tours seemed to be the killer for her.

 

[CAS239]

fop will be fine for young kids. I've seen kids younger than 6 get off and want to ride again.

It's similar to Soarin as far as the screen. The seat is on a platform and dips down about 2-3 feet. I found it to be very smooth. There's no actual drops

 

[SomDayMyPrnceWillCom]

While it doesn't have an "actual" drop, it has a simulated drop that scared me when I rode it but I'm a fraidy cat and won't do roller coasters or ToT and such. I don't mind the Splash drop but this one took me by surprise and I felt my stomach fall. So I would think it's a judgment call for your kid and what you know she'll like or not. My son is 4 and tall enough to ride 7DMT at Easter on our next trip but not sure if he'd actually like it or not. He hasn't ever been fond of rides at parks and fairs but he did ride the family friendly rides at WDW this summer with everyone.

 

[Fratthouse]

I took my 6 yo on this last fall. He's not super adventurous, but enjoys Soarin' and Test Track. During the first part of the ride, he was like, "I don't like this!" Then a little bit into it, he settled in. When it was over, he took his glasses off and said "AGAIN!!". It ended up being his new favorite ride.

In terms of smoothness / jerkiness, it is much more like Soarin' than Star Tours. It's a very smooth ride. But the 3-d glasses make it much more immersive and more the feeling like you are really there - more like Star Wars than Soarin' to me. The content of the film itself is probably right between Soarin' and Star Wars - most of the ride is just beautiful scenery (like Soarin'), but there is a slightly scary moment mixed in. The star wars content is much more scary in that regard.

 

[Lizzim]

We took an 8 year old who absolutely hated it. He was spooked by some of the movement on screen and was terrified by the time we got off.

 

[PSUGuy]

My 5 yr old grand daughter love it.

Bill From PA

 

[AngiTN]

Until last week I was one to say, of course it's ok.
But we rode 6 times last week and on half of those we had kids crying during the ride, terrified.
Now, I haven't a clue why, we've taken DGD9 on there and she's never found anything remotely scary about it.
It's not a scary ride. But it clearly scared these kids and they hated it. It didn't ruin our ride, though the last one came close.
Luckily the dad was nearby and able to calm the child down, otherwise I'm not sure they would have been able to continue the ride.
So I will say, if your child is very apprehensive you may not want to beg/coerce them in to riding, at least until you've seen it for yourself at least once.
That was happening with these kids, their parents were talking it up to them while in line. The kids were never sure of it, all the way up to boarding. In the end, their parents should have listened as the kids did not enjoy it.
Now, I realize that opposite happens just as often, if not more, where the kids are apprehensive and ride it and love it.
The short answer is, really know your child here, this ride may not be for everyone, especially if they have a fear of heights. That seems to have been the kicker for the kids on the rides we had last week

 

[DWeav]

Until last week I was one to say, of course it's ok.
But we rode 6 times last week and on half of those we had kids crying during the ride, terrified.
Now, I haven't a clue why, we've taken DGD9 on there and she's never found anything remotely scary about it.
It's not a scary ride. But it clearly scared these kids and they hated it. It didn't ruin our ride, though the last one came close.
Luckily the dad was nearby and able to calm the child down, otherwise I'm not sure they would have been able to continue the ride.
So I will say, if your child is very apprehensive you may not want to beg/coerce them in to riding, at least until you've seen it for yourself at least once.
That was happening with these kids, their parents were talking it up to them while in line. The kids were never sure of it, all the way up to boarding. In the end, their parents should have listened as the kids did not enjoy it.
Now, I realize that opposite happens just as often, if not more, where the kids are apprehensive and ride it and love it.
The short answer is, really know your child here, this ride may not be for everyone, especially if they have a fear of heights. That seems to have been the kicker for the kids on the rides we had last week

Thanks! Luckily we have a Hollywood Studios (Star Tours) and Epcot (Soarin) day before our Animal Kingdom day. Maybe I'll have a better feel after she tries those again. Sounds like if she has any issue with those, it's best to wait until she's older. I'm sure you are right about the heights deal, and I'm sure that's why mine was a little apprehensive about Soarin and disliked Star Tours. She didn't fuss for Soarin, but I could tell she wasn't exactly into it. But it will be almost 2 years since she was on them, so I'll see how it goes before deciding.

 

[Aela]

My daughter (9) was very frightened going in this week. Daddy told her that the story about syncing to another mind and being in a different body was true. She was terrified. About to have a panic attack and nearly in tears. The people in with us were getting concerned their ride would be ruined by a crying child, i’m Sure.

But a couple seconds in she was thrilled. Stupid Dads

 

[tinkerhon]

Our ds6 would ride it all day if given the chance !

 

[kiramay]

My 7 year old was afraid at first. The whole set up can look scary. He didn’t want to get on the seat, didn’t want to wear the glasses... I was worried he’d refuse to ride. But he loved it and couldn’t wait to ride it again.

 

[csjordan]

My 6 year old twin niece and nephew loved it last week. However, the glasses are big and they had problems keeping those on, which frustrated them at first.

 

[Zachary Friess]

What are the thoughts of young children on FOP? I have a 6 year old daughter, she rode Soarin when she was 4 going on 5. She didn't freak out on Soarin at all. But at the same time, she wasn't exactly ready to get back on it the same trip. Star Tours, she freaked out on, sadly, on the same trip.

She'll be 6 and a half by the time we go to Disney for our next trip. She seems a little more confident now and seems to want to try more.

She's okay with things spinning, seems okay with rides that move quickly, but does not like drops. She won't do Thunder Mnt, Splash or Space Mnt but she wants to do 7 dwarfs.

Does the seat on FOP drop or how does it work? I get that it is front of a large screen. Is it pretty much just like Soarin? Or more like Star Tours?

Is Star Tours more jerky than FOP? I think that was the difference in her not minding Soarin but hating Star Tours. The initial thrusts and hard, sudden movements of Star Tours seemed to be the killer for her.

My 5 year old rode it twice back to back and loved it.

 

[Smittolis]

You know your child better than anyone, my just turned 5 year old rode it around 5 or 6 times when we were there last, it's his favorite ride!

 

[Aela]

Yes, the glasses won’t stay on. I read that in advance and tossed a tight headband in our bag for her. I would seriously recommend doing this too

 

[AngiTN]

As for the glasses, they can hold on to them. It isn't necessary to hold on to the bike with 2 hands. We told DGD to hold on to her glasses with 1 hand and the bike with the other.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

My 6 yo loved the original soarin at 4, hated the reboot at 5 (didn’t like the whale), and didn’t care for star tours. She did love fop.

I would give it a try, esp if she was ok with soarin.

 

[otten]

My 6 year old went earlier this week and loved it. She also loves Soarin.

 

[Juwu]

Just tell her if she can always just close her eyes if she gets scared. All you feel then is a little air on your face.

Worked for me!

 

[KittyKitty]

Our ds6 would ride it all day if given the chance !

Me too!