Storm Force Accelatron
Storm and Professor Xavier need your help to… uh… spin around?
Magic Kingdom has Mad Tea Party. Islands of Adventure has Storm Force Accelatron.
This is a typical teacups ride, where guests board a vehicle and then it’s time to spin non-stop for about three minutes. Easy to understand and direct to the point, just as we like it! You just need to look at it from afar to know what this ride is about. We’ve seen it in movies, we’ve seen it in carnivals and also in some of the most popular theme parks in the world.
In fact, there is a small detail that many people may not notice at first. Just like in Mad Tea Party, you can actually double spin in Storm Force Accelatron. Not only do the teacups spin by themselves, but there is a wheel in the center of each vehicle that you can turn to spin even faster. And I mean, faster. That’s the technique known as double spinning (alert: we came up with that term), which some individuals might not enjoy. Kids usually love it. Adults? Not so much.
The Good
I really enjoy classic rides like this one, which are in the same tier as carousels and haunted houses. They just feel so nostalgic, you know? Kids, in particular, love them. Whenever I bring my nephews here, they become like the Hulk as they turn that wheel so fast that it looks like we're going to lift off. They're always laughing while doing it and never get dizzy. As for me? I force a smile, sit down, and wipe away a small drop of sweat from my forehead.
The Bad
Some people find this ride lacking in charm compared to Mad Tea Party, and I can understand why. The queue lacks anything particularly special, and the storyline involving Storm and Xavier needing your help to stop Magnet may not resonate if you're not a fan of the X-Men. There's a narrative where the X-Men seek your assistance to spin the wheel as fast as possible to gather energy or something along those lines. You can bet that kids will give their all to spin that wheel as fast as they can and not pay attention to this piece of lore at all.
You know what Storm Force Accelatron has that's better than Mad Tea Party? The ride duration. Mad Tea Party lasts for about 90 seconds, while Storm Force runs for a full 3 minutes. Do the math and you'll realize that's double the time of the Magic Kingdom ride! Whether that's a good thing or not depends entirely on your fondness for spinning around.
I love the X-Men, especially the cartoon from the 90s, and the recent X-Men 97 on Disney+ is also very good. It’s cool to see something based on Storm, and you even have the chance to take a picture with her in Marvel Island later on.
Will Kids enjoy it?
Kids love this ride. Seriously, it doesn’t mean if they are spinning like crazy, they are always smiling, laughing and trying their best to turn that wheel as fast as they can. I mean, kids rarely get dizzy. Adults are usually not a big fan of Storm Force.
The last time I rode, I spun so fast that I ended up with a slight headache. Let me just say that, getting old is *not* fun. You know what’s fun? This ride has very low wait times, so you are looking at something between 5 and 10 minutes most of the time.
One last thing to keep in mind: there are no height restrictions to ride Storm Force Accelatron, but you need to be at least 48 inches if you want to ride it alone. This probably won’t matter in the end, since this is the kind of rise that is fun to go with your friends and family to see who is the first one yelling for people to stop turning that wheel.
