The Barnstormer Review
The very first step in your career as a roller coaster enthusiast
Do you want to know if your kids will love roller coasters in the near future? Are you looking for a great option to test drive your little ones and see if they will enjoy riding something like Expedition Everest and even Islands of Adventure’s VelociCoaster in the next few years? You’ve come to the right place. The Barnstormer is the perfect ride to introduce children to this beautiful thing that we call… a roller coaster.
The Barnstormer is a ride inspired by Goofy, a junior roller coaster aimed at kids that doesn’t feature any loops, huge drops or anything that could give you a headache. It’s mostly a testing ground to see if your children will love roller coasters, and then jump to something like Hollywood Studios’ Slinky Dog Dash later on. In fact, after testing the ground with The Barnstormer, you can take your children to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, both of them also located in Magic Kingdom.
The Good
The Barnstormer only takes 53 seconds from the moment your train leaves the station to the end of the ride, the highest drop is around 30 ft and it reaches a maximum speed of 25mph. Tron Lightcycle Run, in comparison, reaches 59 mph at the start. So, yeah, The Barnstormer isn’t scary. It is a fun ride, though, especially for toddlers and small children from two to five years old. They have a blast here, since it’s actually not very easy to find roller coasters for the younglings out there.
This roller coaster doesn't have any big jumps or sharp turns, but that's okay considering its purpose. You'll experience a small drop and a few gentle turns, mostly from left to right, but nothing too intense.
The Bad
The biggest letdown with this ride is definitely how short it is. It only lasts 53 seconds officially, but some of that time is spent going up the chain lift and later on slowing down to get off. In practice, you are only riding it for about 30-35 seconds, which goes by quickly. I understand that this is a junior roller coaster for kids, and Disney doesn’t want to let younglings aboard a roller coaster for too long if they end up hating it, but it’s still a very low ride duration. In fact, it might be the shortest ride in all of Disney World.
It's the worst, especially in the summer when the park is packed, waiting in line for 40 minutes or more just so you can ride a roller coaster for less than a minute. Ouch.
Will Kids enjoy it?
Magic Kingdom is packed with rides for kids, so you might want to skip this one if you anticipate a long wait in line. If your kids can't ride other roller coasters like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, then it's worth considering. However, if they can ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, your time is probably better spent there.
