Golden Zephyr

This is a fun and refreshing ride that usually has no line.
It can be a bit boring but it has a nice view and it is relaxing.

This is gentle enough for the whole family to enjoy and has an elevator for those that are mobility impaired.
The crew are usually pretty funny and do some silly sound effects.
The ride always feels too short.
It’s a good one to pick when the wait time is 15 minutes or less.

The Golden Zephyr looks cool and it is fun to watch the rockets go in wider and wider circles from the ground below. Rarely a wait (I think every time we have ridden it has been walk on) and helps make up for the shorter length of the ride. My kids think it is super fun and so I go on it with them, but I’d pass if I wasn’t with them. I love that there isn’t a height requirement, but don’t love that you can only sit 2 in a row, as I am often at the park by myself with my kids and we have to skip this one.

Kind of a throw back ride in a mist of new cutting edge 3D and animatronic state of the art thrill rides. But yet this classic style ride has it’s own charm. It is a smooth swing type ride as you spin around in Flash Gorden type space ships. Worth a 20 minute of less wait for sure, any longer you might feel it as a waste.

Personally, I do not like this ride!
I get on because my little girl loves it! I don’t like anything that makes me feel like if at any moment I am going to get flung out into open space! That’s the same reason I don’t like the swing ride right next to this one!
The last time I got on this ride we went around twice then the alarm went off and the ride had to be stopped because of high winds! I was soooo glad! :) if the line is short we’ll hop on! It’s just not something I look forward to!
Three weak stars! :\

I like this ride it’s one of those relaxing kickback kinda rides it goes around in a circle and slowly goes outwards. This is def a kill time ride but its fun too you make what it is.

I don’t know why this ride even exists because it is not even that fun nor is it long. I suppose during the hot summer it’s a good way to get in some breeze to cool off for a bit. I personally am not a fan of this ride because it makes me motion sick.

Why do DCA guide books make fun of this ride? It’s actually a pleasant, non-​jarring, non-​heart-​attack-​inducing ride in the park. You’ll get a nice view, the lines for it are usually shorter than anything other ride. Hop on. It’s a quick way for a little thrill.

You fly around in a spaceship… high… with no line to wait in. What else can bring a 3 – 4 year old boy more joy?

«You spin me right ’round baby
Right ’round like a record baby
Right ’round, ’round, ’round»
— Dead or Alive, «You Spin Me Round»
That pretty much sums up the Golden Zephyr — a very slow ride in a suspended rocket that goes ’round and ’round for about a couple of minutes. While each rocket can hold up to four people, most times there’s about 1 – 2 riders (or less) in each of them. And you just sit in the rocket as it goes slowly off the ground in a circle. In other words, think of this as a much slower version of the Astro Orbiter (or Rocket Jets) in Tomorrowland… if anything, you have a nice view of the park at least.
While I appreciate the throwback to the Roaring Twenties, I wondered why and how Americans of the era were so easily entertained by such a ride back then. In today’s era, the Golden Zephyr is only good for the kiddies and the resort completist — otherwise, you’re not missing much if you skip this one.

I never see long lines for this ride.
Rode it once, it’s not really my thing. It’s like a more taller, slighty faster version of Dumbo and Astro Orbitors, which is also, not my thing.
The ride is pretty short as well.
Golden Zephyr isn’t a bad ride, it’s just not my cup of tea.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Back away from the Golden Zephyr!
Back away from the Golden Zephyr!
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
— - -
Yeah, if it’s open, the queue is only about five to ten minutes (which isn’t bad at all)… but that’s if… IT’S OPEN! The attraction goes down with even the smallest of winds, because this little, itty bitty attraction is so fragile. Be careful! It might close if you breathe too hard by it!!!
Even if it’s not closed, the attraction itself isn’t very amusing. Circles. You go in circles not too, too high off the ground. At least on Silly Symphony Swings, your arms and legs have freedom. Not here. Here… you sit. That’s it.
I said Luigi’s Flying Tires was an attraction to go on once you’ve gone on everything else. I messed up. This is that attraction. This is the one that you probably don’t even bother going on — or looking at. It’s sad, but it’s true.
P. S. It closes early for the World of Color show every night.

The silver — not gold — zephyrs attract me, as someone who likes shiny things. Gleaming in the sunlight, reflecting the Paradise Pier lights at night, this ride has always caught my eye, but never seemed exciting enough to ride on.
Today I decided to take a spin (literally; the suspended rockets spin in a circle) and found myself, as I’d suspected, kind of bored. This ride must have been wonderful on a boardwalk in the 20s or 30s — and the slang used in the recorded announcement hearkens to this era — but since then, so very many more innovative designs for rides have come along, making this one sadly plain in comparison; the Silly Symphony Swings are almost the same ride and are just as simple, although you can ride individually, legs dangling, making them more fun. Turning in a circle only has so much appeal, even though flying through the air is always a good time, and once the zephyrs get going, the centrifugal force pushes them outward/​higher.
I have no idea why a ride that wasn’t going particularly fast made me dizzy for 20 minutes after it ended, but it did. I’m glad I went on, but don’t see myself clamoring to ride again.

There’s never a wait for this ride at California Adventure. We jump on when we aren’t running to another ride or are just walking around.
Located near Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and Goofy’s Sky School. It’s a swinging ride that holds up to 4 in car that is held by wires and you swing around the center console.
It’s about a 2 minute ride and you go pretty high up, and it gets cold up there when the sun goes down.
Our favorite part of the ride is the announcer with the British accent. Gool-​den Ze-​fa.

Located in Paradise Pier, this ride has a short line which was perfect as we waited to use Fast Passes for another. The rocket ships that you sit in didn’t go quite as fast as I thought, but the open seating adds to the thrill by making you think that you’ll fall out. Of course you won’t. It isn’t that thrilling. It does provide a good view of the rest of the pier.

I actually enjoyed my ride when I was on this ride a few years ago. Although I accidentally went up the wrong staircase to get to the entrance where people were let on (the first time), when I looked a little harder the second time, it was something I didn’t see at first.
I don’t traditionally take many spinning boardwalk rides at very many places, but this one definitely was a plus, and now entices me into riding more of these as I find them.
Both times I went up on the ride when I was hot, and by the end, I felt refreshed since the wind was blowing on me made me cool down. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Another attraction located at the Paradise Pier in Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California is the Golden Zephyr.
Guests board rocket ships that spin round and round over Paradise Bay. It is a very refreshing ride on those hot summer days, but can make one quite dizzy. Many times I have just closed my eyes while spinning and took in the cool air.
My daughter and I usually skip this attraction not only because it always seems to be out of commission once the winds at the park pick up, but also because my daughter is barely thirty-​seven inches, so she can’t really see out of the rocket ships, which takes away the main attraction of this ride. Maybe she’ll ask to go on this more once she’s a little taller.

Disney must have rides for the tweens — not in age but in guts. The kids who think they are too big for Dumbo (same thing as this ride, packaged differently) but wouldn’t be caught dead on a rollercoaster, etc.
For that group — this is the ride that makes sense. Disney is always so clever!!! You just go round and round. The view is nice, and nobody gets scared.

Fun and a great option to the swings.
Only catch is that it will make you dizzy or dizzier than the swings. Felt great tho with my eyes closed.

This ride is pretty tame but it was beyond thrilling for my two year oldish is happy than I am happy so I cannot complain. We got into the park early as we entered from the Grand Californian Hotel and we got to ride a good 3 times before we actually had to get off.
Beautiful view of the surrounding area in the park. Nice at night when all of the lights are illuminated and the Farris wheel is lit up!