Flight of Passage – A Motion Sickness Perspective
I know the question most people tend to ask is how Flight of Passage compares to Soarin’. After riding the attractions one day apart, I can honestly say there’s no true comparison between the two. Soarin’ is one of those attractions that on a typical day I’ll be fine unless I look around to the sides too much, then it tends to get to me. Also, it’s one of those attractions that tends not to bother you once you know what to expect. Flight of Passage honestly did not bother me. Yes, as many have said, it is a thrill ride, but the environment you’re in doesn’t expose you to the motion sickness as much as you would expect. Rather that a tight and confined space with little circulation, Flight of Passage features a constant breeze flowing past your “banshee” and at times even sprays a gentle mist over you as you flow through the experience all while remaining relatively stationary.
Fast forward to our March trip of 2018 and we found ourselves traveling with a friend that also gets motion sickness who has struggled with simulators (not unlike me) for many years. They got on the attraction with full expectations that it could bother them, but they were determined to see it and try it for themselves at least once. Upon exiting the ride they did mention that closing their eyes to remove the on screen perception of forward movement really helped them when they felt uncomfortable for a short amount of time during certain parts of the experience (If you’ve ridden it you can guess which parts but I wont ruin it for anyone who has yet to ride it). Even in that situation, as they walked out of the exit queue they had a smile on their face and were beyond happy that they rode this incredible attraction.
Here’s my personal advice. If you can do Soarin’, Star Tours, Expedition Everest, Mission Space, or Rockin’ Rollercoaster, you should, at the very least, be able to get through the attraction without any problems. If you’re worried, take a motion sickness medication before you ride and that will likely solve a lot of your problems.
Something worth mentioning here at the end of this article (our May 2018 update), is that Disney has been passing out cards/pamphlets warning those with motion sickness not to partake in this attraction as you enter the queue. It also mentions certain medical conditions and circumstances that would prohibit you or that they advise against partaking in the attraction if they apply to you. Personally, I see this as a bit much for an attraction that I’ve never heard of someone getting physically sick on while partaking in the experience. My best guess is they learned they’re lesson in the early days of Mission Space and wanted to lay out all of the warnings. This attraction is no where near as intense as Mission Space and I will not even consider riding Mission Space during a trip to the parks. The entire set up of that attraction is not a good mix for motion sickness but Pandora is entirely different and isn’t quite was restricting as the capsules guests are put in for Mission Space.
Pandora, at least in my opinion, is a freeing experience. It’s hyper realism is unparalleled and, for the briefest of moments, you’re soaring over Pandora and you just feel free! (Did anybody else’s mind just go straight to The Shawshank Redemption while reading that… nope… just me? — In your best Morgan Freemen Voice, “and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.”— but I digress) You are flying on the back of a Banshee soaring over Pandora in a way that is indescribable in words. You have to see it to believe it, and you wont be disappointed.
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