I’m planning fastpass selection, and wanted to know if any of you have experience with a 4 year old on soarin. Would my daughter be scared on the ride? She meets the height requirement, but not sure if its something that’s still doable for her age.
It likely depends on the kid - my son rode it around that age and loved it (old version) but he’s a bit of a thrill seeker. In general it’s a fairly gentle smooth ride, but the new version has lots of “surprises” akin to the golf ball in the old version which could startle a kid. It’s also simulated motion so it feels like you’re flying. I’d lean towards trying, but you know your kid better than anyone else…
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Thanks! Just wanted to see if other parents of 4 year olds have taken their kids on the ride. Good to hear you had a pleasant experience. I’m not sure if my child is a thrill seeker, I guess i’ll just have to find out haha.
IMO, you don’t have to be thrill seeker to enjoy this. It is VERY tame in comparison to think like 7DMT or even Star Tours. If the kid gets past being lifted into the air, they’ll be fine from that point on. My daughter (6 at time of visit) hates everything remotely scary or fast. She LOVED Soarin’!!!
Are there drops in Star Tours? Or is it a fast ride?
It’s one of those motion simulators that tips quickly etc. combined with a “viewport” screen to give you the motion feel. But you’ll be physically leaning at a 30 degree angle when your “ship” crashes for example. It can bother those with a sensitive stomach - one of our friends we traveled with skipped it on our last trip because it bothers her. I wouldn’t say it’s fast though. Personally it’s one of our favorites especially given the typically moderate wait times…
What @Damavs said above.
My point is, Soarin’, while a motion simulator, is VERY smooth compared to Star Tours.
If your kid gets scared, they can always close their eyes. But honestly, I think they’ll be fine.
One of the tactics I use to try to get my kids on stuff is to point to the other kids their age in line and say “see, s/he going on it. You’ll be fine.” I got my son to go on his first coaster when he was 5 by saying “see the height guide. You’re taller than that. If it was going to be bad for you, they wouldn’t let you on.” He said “ok!” And today, he’s more of a coaster freak than I am! 
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I haven’t gone with a 4 yr old, but I wouldn’t hesitate to have taken my kid on Soarin at 4. Like others have stated, it’s a simulator, and it’s completely smooth. After you are raised into the air in your seat, the seats don’t move, you are simply just watching a movie. I think if you give the child some re-assurance that everything is ok, and that this is “fun,” they’ll be fine. I’d assume they’ll love it. Soarin is awesome.
Star Tours, however…
Star Tours is a BLAST. The seats move, and that crash part…I did it 3 or 4 times in a row during an emm. I usually don’t get motion sickness badly at all, but after the 4th time in a row, I was done with it. Not to say that it wasn’t an absolute blast, I loved it. But it got to me a little after so many times in a row.
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Huh. I forgot that. I think you’re right. I guess you just feel like the seats move after you’re lifted up because the video distorts your perception. In that case, it’s even tamer than I thought!
My 4 year old really didn’t like Soarin actually. She loved everything else we did (Test Track, Splash Mountain, 7DMT, Star Tours, etc.). It was the transitions that got her. The screen is huge and all the surprise transitions startled her. She usually isn’t afraid of anything either. Didn’t help that an elderly women who rode in our row right before us had an accident in the seat. Maybe she was startled by the transitions too.
DS was 4 & rode Soarin, Test Track, 7DMT, & Star Tours.
At 5 he’s asked to do it again this year!
My 4 year old rode Soarin, Star Tours, Space Mountain, Test Track, 7dmt and loved all of them. Soarin feels like you are flying and feels very smooth.
I would suggest trying a 3D movie first and see if he/she likes that. My son would do Splash and Big Thunder without a problem but hated Philharmagic and did not like the feeling of something coming at them. So did not try Soarin until 7 and he said that he wouldn’t do it again.
We are going in November and I plan on trying Soarin’ with my daughter who will turn 4 while we are there. She gets startled by surprises so we’ve watched Soarin’ on YouTube just to give her an idea of what it will be like (even though the experience on YouTube is NOTHING like actually being there), and it also gave me an idea if she might be too startled to actually enjoy it. I think she will be ok so we will try it in November!
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Our daughter has loved Soarin’ since she was 2.5 (she’s a tall girl). The only thing that bothers her about it are the fireworks at the end - they’re quite loud. She covers her ears for that bit.
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I also showed my DS4 how the ride lifted in the air like Tinker Toys so he was not startled when we got there. Heights are an issue for him sometimes.
Halfway through the ride last month my son asked me if anything else was going to almost hit us. He seemed a bit concerned but got through the ride without any issue. He did not request to ride it again, though. I think he would have enjoyed the original version more.
I just want to mention that this ride is very realistic and it could be your child’s first experience with a fear of heights. I took a 4 year old on the ride many years ago. She had ridden all of the rides available to her without incident, but this one was too realistic. She was never afraid of heights, to our knowledge, but she got really scared on this ride. Luckily we were in the back car, so we were the lowest off the ground. We were also at the far right side. I was able to point out the EXIT sign to her (on the far left of the building) and once she saw she was barely as high as the sign, she was able to enjoy the rest of the ride and actually even said she would be happy to ride again. Also, the seats are designed in a way that made it easy to comfort her unlike some seats that you can’t touch or talk to your companion.
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