My DS10 is a little finicky on rides. He is fine with Splash, Space, Rock n Roller Coaster, Everest, and many 200’+ coasters. However, he is terrified of drop towers. He is also totally freaked by anything “scary” or “spooky.” No Haunted Mansion and WDW Pirates was barely okay. Even PG movies with a scary villain do him in. How do you think he’d fare on GotG? Can you tell how high you are? Are there any demon-y or loud and intimidating villains?
Hmm. I wouldn’t call it scary, but definitely sci-fi creepy. Are you familiar with the movies? The idea is that the “Collector” has captured them and put them on display. The queue is other weird/alien-ish stuff he has. The pre-show is just Rocket explaining how he needs your help to escape. The secondary queue is very industrial, with wires sparking and steam blasting occasionally. The CMs don’t do anything scary or demon-y!
In the ride chamber itself, IMO it’s less scary than ToT, bc you fly up and come back down initially. They use video projections to show the Gotg wreaking havoc in their escape. I find it funny, but they are shooting giant aliens with large tentacles, etc. They do open the doors at some point and you see how high you are briefly. But the vibe is more “action movie” fun than anything scary or demon-y. Despite it being basically the same ride as ToT it feels very different IMO. Hope that helps!
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My DD 8 is a no go these days on HM and was not thrilled with the spookiness of tower of Terror. I think she will love GOTG. Rock and Roll music, high energy, it’s a party. But there is that drop tower part of it, that you can’t get around.
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My kids hate the ToT theming even now at 12&15. They loved GotG- poss even more than RSR. Funniest ride ever- it bounces up rather than dropping down. If you like the marvel/ GotG movies then this is not scary theming at all.
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I’m going to dissent a bit.
GOTG was my favorite ride at DLR. ride five times in two days and would still be there 
if I could.
It is very loud and has a party-like atmosphere - but it’s intense.
It’s not as creepy or suspense filled as TOT. I won’t ride TOT. I hate the ominous part. But if strobe like lights and aliens and unexpected drops are likely to culminate into “too much” it might not be for him…
FP line does skip a lot of the collector stuff, but there is still some. It’s not scary. Just odd.
Rocket can be hard to hear and understand if you aren’t familiar with the context. But he’s not scary.
The “elevator operators” vary in skill at sending you off. Some are more ominous than others.
All that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t the kind of ride that scared him some the first time but that he wanted to repeat.
I agree with what most are saying. Basically the ride is more thrilling rather than scary. I liked TOT, but my family and I LOVE GotG!
If he likes GotG characters, I think he will be distracted by them so the drops won’t scare him as much. I thought ToT was more intense…same drops but the theming was scarier…I miss it. I thought the GotG theme was loud and annoying.
ToT is definitely spookier and creepier. But a word of warning - the ride itself is, in my opinion, a little scarier for someone who doesn’t like that type of motion (drops and bouncing). I took my DD6 on it (who was fine on roller coasters, etc.) and immediately regretted it.
She was fine in the preshow and up until the first drop. But she was frozen in terror for the remainder of the ride - I basically had to lock her eyes on mine and talk her through the rest of the drops: “Ok just one more - this is the last one.” And each time I was lying and I knew it! There are so many more drops and movements on GotG than ToT. I just wanted it to end!
I have ridden it multiple times before and since and love it myself. But I won’t take my kids again for a while.
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I have an 8 year old son and a 6 year old daughter and each have been very different, but I’ve encouraged them to always try something first before they really truly write it off as one they hate, so they’ve both tried it with varying results. For your son, I think it will boil down to how much he loves the Guardians and also how much the drop part aggravates him. There are different drop sequences matched to songs that play and it’s random as to which one you get, but the music with the antics of the Guardians characters make it more of a “falling party in a box” as I’ve had a friend describe it. So definitely very little “spooky effect” & definitely not as dark as either HM or Pirates. Also doesn’t have any death/skeletons involved nor a spooky villain, so maybe that will help? But as mentioned there are monsters on the video images.
As for how it has gone down for my 2 specifically:
My 8 year old son: first tried ToT in WDW when he was 4.5 yrs old. He did great on the ride, never freaked out after, but wasn’t at all interested in the rider swaps we had for it or 2nd day of FPP’s for it that we got & I didn’t push it. Fast forward to later that year (he was now 5 yrs old) & it was announced that ToT was being replaced in DLR by GotG. He absolutely refused to try DLR’s version even just once to say he rode it in DLR. I think it was mostly the spooky Twilight Zone theme though combined with the fact that he didn’t love the drops. (and spoiler: he now at 8 really regrets not riding it at least once & distinctly remembers passing up on using the FP opportunity that was our last chance to ride it bc he was too spooked and there may have been a few tears & some gentle encouragement from Mom & Dad to overcome it that did not happen). Then after GotG opened in May 2017, we made a trip to DLR and he was really excited by the hype of a new thing and was all about trying the ride. He was nervous for the drops but due to 2 things : 1) the party atmosphere of the songs and the possibility of getting one of six random ones & 2) the fact that he really latched onto loving Rocket (and has since expanded his love to all things GotG) culminated in it becoming his favorite ride at DCA (even over RSR & that was big as he was an everything Lightning McQueen kid). We’ve since successfully gotten all 6 songs/drop sequences & still try to make it once a trip to ride it and if there’s time try to ride it a couple of times so we can try for a couple of different songs. And recently he’s mentioned that even though he doesn’t love the drops, he’s getting more used to them & really just hangs on for dear life.
So from my experience with my son: I really feel like his love of the Guardians helped overcome his discomfort at the drops so that’s why I feel like their affinity to the Guardians really helps. But, as we move onto my daughter’s experience, that isn’t everything…
My 6 year old daughter: was too short both when we made our 1 trip to WDW and when DLR’s ToT closed, so never tried it but LOOOVES the spooky things (HM, Pirates & Indy are all some of her favorites). She also loves most coasters so I never worried too much about her in terms of thrills. On our first try of GotG she was 4 and just barely cleared the 40" height requirement but riding off of her brother’s hype of the new ride, was really excited to try GotG. She got a little nervous waiting to be let into the elevators, but was buoyed by the crowd around us who cheered when they measured her one last time just before loading and she was deemed tall enough. As soon as the first drop hit she was not a fan. At all. The drops were too much for her little tummy & she hated that she went airborne. She wasn’t crying on the ride, but was terrified. Then the second it stopped & the doors to the shaft were opened a full-on meltdown ensued with wails & tears & little screms and I had to rush her to Daddy (who was at the exit of the gift shop waiting behind with our then infant son) for his calming effect on her that she needs when she is in distress. She tried it a year later at 5 yrs old as she has also become a GotG fan and really, really, really loves the great girl power & strong female character of Gamora, but it was a very similar effect with her having (this time a little bit less of) a meltdown just after the ride ended. After that experience, we then decided that she should wait until she’s much older to try the drops again, but she is a Guardians fan (not as big as her brother, but still a fan) so we’ll see when that is, but I don’t think it’s quite yet as a 6.5 year old. So that’s why I added my caveat #2 that it really depends on how they do with drop rides. She doesn’t cope well so even her affinity of the Guardians doesn’t help completely overcome that feeling of being airborne/falling that she just doesn’t like.
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