Mission Space Orange, what’s so bad?

FWIW - 4 year-olds have to do green - can't ride orange. I rode with my 4-yo last year. She really liked it and wanted to go again. I think it had a lot to do with it was a big-kids ride she could ride with her sister. Her brother and Mom won't do either because of the claustrophobia - that capsule is tiny!
I didn't realize this was a rule. We're going soon with our almost 5 year old. We were probably going to skip doing the orange anyway, but I didn't know they had an age requirement for that side.

There is no age requirement. My son rode it at 4 when it was only orange experience. However the height minimum is 44 inches which many 4 years olds won't meet. The height restriction for green is much lower since they can give you a booster on that side.

Orange made me reach for the space sickness bag.
 
There is no age requirement. My son rode it at 4 when it was only orange experience. However the height minimum is 44 inches which many 4 years olds won't meet. The height restriction for green is much lower since they can give you a booster on that side.

Orange made me reach for the space sickness bag.

This is correct. They also cannot provide a booster on Orange Team at all, though at 44 inches one is not needed (I overheard someone asking last time I was there, so just in case there is confusion).

No ride at Disney is restricted by age. The Age limits are only for riding alone. Anyone 7 and older can ride alone, but under 7 must have someone over 14 seated with them. All riders are subject to height requirements of course.
 
I’m susceptible to motion sickness in certain situations. I can do coasters all day but some simulators make me sick, including Mission Space. Last time I felt like a barely made it. I got off the ride dizzy, sweating and close to puking. I can’t think of any other ride in WDW that does this to me although there are several at Universal.
 
My family did Mission Space green last year and were kinda bored. We are DH, DS7 and DS4. We are considering doing orange on our trip next week. What is it that makes orange more intense? I have read about a lot of people getting motion sick. Does it shake more to simulate G Force? How is it really different? Thanks

I have done both Green and Orange and don't care for either. Orange is definitely not for those that get motion sickness easily but as far as excitement factor, the theming of the ride is not really anymore exciting than green, just more powerful. The G force is for real and while it's not scary per se, the feelings can be intense.

Just an FYI, those I rode with love thrill coasters and said they had never felt that sort of feeling before. It's not something you can compare to a coaster. Just as an aside, the force when you are "launching into space" is so strong, it produced tears out of my eyes and my daughters LOL and I honestly tried to move my head forward and couldn't. I don't get motion sick at all on this ride but I will say when it was over, I am always thankful. My younger daughter that was 10 on our last trip passed and my older daughter rode with me at age 12. She is scared of Everest and most other coasters and she was fine on this ride and actually liked the feelings. I am not a fan.
 


I typically get motion sickness on Expedition Everest and some other roller coasters, so I avoided doing the Orange side for the past few years. However, I recently decided to give it a try. I was really surprised because it didn't bother me at all. So much so, I rode it immediately a 2nd time to see how a would feel again. No issues the second time as well. I have rode several times since then and occasionally feel a little dizzy/motion sickness very briefly, but it goes away immediately.
 
There is no age requirement. My son rode it at 4 when it was only orange experience. However the height minimum is 44 inches which many 4 years olds won't meet. The height restriction for green is much lower since they can give you a booster on that side.

Orange made me reach for the space sickness bag.
Fair enough - it's a de facto age restriction.

I have no problems riding Orange and I'm no fan of spinny rides. You have to look absolutely straight ahead though. FWIW, spoiler alert, my first couple of rides I thought it was weird that they abandon you on Mars. It wasn't until I paid careful attention to the pre-ride that I realized that it's supposed to be a training exercise in a centrifuge, not a ride on a rocket to Mars. That seems strange to me that they wouldn't take the immersive experience that extra step.
 
It's by height (44" for orange, 40" for green), not age. A tall 4 year old could ride orange.

We took our kids on Orange when they were 4 and 6. They were tall for their age. Both of my kids LOVED it, as did we. It's our favorite ride at Epcot. I should point out that we love spinning rides and coasters. There is no ride we have ever encountered that makes any of us sick, although in my old age I have found some too bumpy/painful (hello Matterhorn).

I understand that Orange isn't for everyone, but there are large numbers of people out there who love it. While the lines may not be super long, we have never ridden when the pre-show chamber wasn't full. There are a lot of families who really enjoy this ride, and you won't know if yours might be one of them unless you try it. This being said, if you have issues with simulators or spinning rides, then you may want to re-think it.

No one has mentioned that they blow cold air on your face to help keep you from getting ill. Drives me nuts. They do the same thing on Smuggler's Run. At least on SR I can stuff a sweater in front of the vent to block the flow. On MS Orange I have to keep my head very far back to avoid the cold blast.
 


They do the same thing on Smuggler's Run. At least on SR I can stuff a sweater in front of the vent to block the flow. On MS Orange I have to keep my head very far back to avoid the cold blast.

Smuggler's run doesn't "spin" though does it? I thought it was more like Star Tours in that sense.
 
It probably isn't nearly as bad as my experience made it out to be.
Last year my wife and I decided to ride the green side first and then immediately walked on to the orange side as it was a walk-on.
I made some serious miscalculations:
1) We had a cup of coffee at the hotel, jumped on the bus to EPCOT and went directly to the ride. I recommend having a little more in your stomach than coffee. HAHA
2) We rode the green then the orange back to back. Not recommended either. Ha
3) We got in the orange simulator and immediately the lady sitting next to me began to panic right before the lift off. She started yelling, "I can't do this" repeatedly... I thought to myself, lady we are launching, you are doing this regardless. HAHA... We got to the spin part of the take off and my stomach for the first time ever on a ride got a little queasy. To add into this, the lady next to me, then yelled, "I'm going to throw up"! I immediately grabbed both her bag with my right hand and my bag with my left hand as I knew if she hurled I was all over with, because my gag reflex is terrible. LMBO
Thank God, everyone walked off the ride without any projectile issues occurring. I will say, that experience combined with it not being a fantastic ride IMO keeps us off that one for the time being. I'd ride the green side and maybe when that memory fades a bit, I'll ride the orange one again. Haha

It was a serious of terrible decision making on my part, combined with a lady that put us right on the edge! I doubt anyone else will have that combination of poor decision making and sheer bad luck! Just thought I'd share,as it was pretty funny stuff.
 
It makes my chest hurt badly and feel like it's been squeezed. Not a pleasant feeling at all, so I skip it.
 
Thanks everyone for the clarification about the age/height requirement. My 4 year old is 47 inches tall now, and I anticipate her being at least 48 inches by time we go in February.
 
Smuggler's run doesn't "spin" though does it? I thought it was more like Star Tours in that sense.

No, it doesn't, but they still blow that horrible cold air in your face. I asked, and the CMs told me that there's no way to turn it off, and it's to prevent motion sickness.
 
My daughters, 5 and 8 years old both love to ride MS orange with me while my wife rides green alone lol. She hates Orange but we love it! My 8 year old first rode Orange in 2016 when she was 5. It's a must do for us every trip and personally I have never felt any "spinning" just the G-force pressure of simulated launch, decent and landing. The slingshot around the moon is my favorite part.
 
It's hard to say, since it seems everyone reacts differently to it. I get very motion sick on Star Tours, but MS Orange doesn't bother me. Although, I did make the mistake of looking to the side once, and I got a little dizzy, so I always make sure to look straight ahead, and I'm fine.
 
Neither DH or I will do the Orange side again. In my case, I can be prone to motion sickness on some things, so it made sense. But DH never gets motion sickness - ever. But the Orange side gave him a horrible headache and made him nauseous for the rest of the day. The green side is fine, but agree it's kind of dull. So this is just one ride we are happy to skip.
 
Mission Space Orange is intense, but if you’re avoiding rides at WDW that have killed people with pre-existing conditions, you should also avoid Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Rock’n’Roller Coaster, Space Mountain (x3), Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

And let's not forget the Carousal of Progress (I believe in DL, to be fair, though)
 
There is no way I would ever ride orange. I am an audiologist in a medical clinic so I see dizzy patients every day. When you spin, you are displacing the fluid in your inner ear which causes you to get dizzy. Think how it feels when you sit in a revolving chair or the old merry-go-rounds they used to have on playgrounds and spin on it for a min. You get that sense of your body having to catch up when you are done. Orange spins you must faster and longer. The little cilia in your semi-circular canals are moved which causes you to get dizzy. Ever heard of people saying they had rock in their ears that caused them to get dizzy? That is calcium crystals that get loose and move where they shouldn't hitting the cilia and causing you to get dizzy when you change positions. You are really displacing those crystals when you spin like in orange. My advice is if you want to try orange, try spinning in an office chair for a few mins as fast as you can and see how it makes you feel.
 
It's hard to say, since it seems everyone reacts differently
Probably the most important point. Reduced to four characters: YMMV

... That is calcium crystals that get loose and move where they shouldn't hitting the cilia and causing you to get dizzy when you change positions. ...
Hmmm. So that might be why some acquaintances of mine mentioned getting dizzy spells. I myself had this notion that drinking more water helped prevent similar ailments such as kidney stones and gallstones (other kinds of crystals). And also preventing loss of stature due to shrinking of the spinal column? The downside is having to use the rest room often which can cause problems waiting in long ride lines.
 
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I get nausea on Forbidden Journey, but I was fine on Orange. I had seen a video about how fighter pilots use a special breathing technique to help deal with G forces. I did the same thing during the ride and felt better. Not sure if it actually worked or it just made me feel better mentally.
 

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