*ahem* Buckle up, soldier! Your training to ride some of the biggest drop towers in the world starts now, where you will defy gravity, find out if you’re scared of heights, and see if you have what it takes to ride Tower of Terror in a year or so.
Okay, I can stop the cliché military voice now.
Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop is a ride that you know what it’s all about from the moment you see a picture of it. It’s an outdoor drop tower for kids, where you go up and down for a minute and twenty seconds and get a nice view of the park. The tower is about 82 feet tall, but the drop is actually quite gentle. While something like Tower of Terror has a system that pulls you down to make it more intense, here the brakes activate way early, and it’s not a free fall from the start, so you can enjoy a nice breeze.
It’s basically the same going up, so don’t expect something like Doctor Doom’s Fearfall from Islands of Adventure, where you’re catapulted upward. Want something chill where your kids can have fun and test-drive the world of thrill rides? Then bring them here!
What we like about Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop
Hey, that’s a pretty good ride for children! The height requirement is very low, so even a two-year-old might be able to hop on it. This is also one of those rides that children of all ages adore. Seriously, just stay in the queue and look at their faces as the elevator goes up and down. It’s definitely hard to find a single kid that isn’t chuckling or laughing out loud. Even adults have a great time here, since the ride is gentle and it’s a nice change of pace from your typical children’s ride. Are they too used to dark rides, carousels, and playgrounds? Well, this will definitely give them something new to enjoy!
This is also a very chill ride for those who are afraid of heights and don’t want to go on Tower of Terror. You won’t get butterflies in your stomach, airtime, or anything like that. As we mentioned before, you are not free falling, since the brakes control both the descent and the lift. You do get a gentle breeze and plenty of laughs, though. The ride lasts about a minute and ten to twenty seconds, which is actually longer than RC Racer and the Indiana Jones ride at Parc Disneyland, so that is another nice perk.
What we don’t like about Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop
Looking at this ride, you will probably know right away if you want to go on it or not. There are no scares or surprises here. You will hear the army men shouting “go, go, go” and other commands from time to time, which is fun, but other than that, it is a very standard kid-friendly drop tower.
The main problem is definitely the wait times. It is not uncommon to get here and find queues ranging from 30 minutes to an hour. In fact, while writing this review, I checked the current queue and it was a 45-minute wait at 4pm. That might be a bit much for a kid’s ride, especially considering that Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin usually has a 10-minute wait and even RC Racer averages around 30 minutes. This is, after all, a ride that appeals to all ages, and children love how different it feels, so it makes sense for the wait times to be above average.
Conclusion
Do your children want a ride that is a little more intense? Bring them here. Sure, the wait times are above average, but this is definitely a fun experience and a good testing ground for future roller coasters and drop towers like Tower of Terror.
