I've always hated the feeling of free-fall which has deterred me from sky-diving, but after hearing rave reviews from family members who visited another iFLY location out of state, I wanted to give it a try for my and my dad's birthdays, as I felt it was the closest we could experience without having to feel that gut-dropping free-fall feeling.
After lots of research, I learned that you just hover a few feet above the ground in your first sessions, and only go up higher when purchasing a high-flight add-on, and can only or do flips/tricks if you come back and actually train through their levels. I also knew the flights were short before booking.
I booked discounted flights for outside of peak hours, and saw in the FAQs that the experience would be up to 1hr, 45 min so I planned for all of that time, and even though we didn't start on time because the previous group was still going and then a training session, we were still done before the hour and 45 min mark. The training videos and faqs were helpful so we were well prepared.
I came with a group of 4, booked two flights for two, and four flights for two. Knowing my dad was a bit squeamish, I thought he'd be able to handle it and booked two flights for him, but after watching the previous group for a bit, he decided to pass on the experience. The staff let us transfer his two flights to another member in our group, but I did the math later and realized if I had just booked 4 flights per person x 3 people, which was how it ended up, it would have been $25 less. I understand it is the business' right to not offer refunds, and was appreciative that we were allowed to transfer the flights between people, but I do wish we could have been allowed to use that $25 that I overpaid toward the high-flight experience, which two of us ended up purchasing ($40).
The three of us now had 4 flights each and the staff suggested breaking them into 3 slightly longer flights each instead (number of total flight time seconds would be the same), which we agreed to.
Our flight instructor Eddie was really friendly, knowledgeable, and helped make the experience as relaxing as possible. We got suited up and had a good time watching the groups before us go. We were called into the tunnel waiting area and it was just our group of three which was nice. My dad stayed out and was allowed to watch and take videos from right outside the tunnel.
I wasn't nervous at all, but once I got in the tunnel, I felt like I couldn't get a good breath of air (breathing through nose only with mouth closed) and started to feel anxiety and panic settle in. I was able to still follow the directions and experience the hovering sensation, but my mind was distracted by the uncomfortable sensation of the high pressure wind on my face and my inability to breathe comfortably. I was ready to get out of the tunnel before the timer was up.
After my second flight, I got a bit more comfortable and the instructor clearly demonstrated how to control movements forward and backward, and spin a little. I decided to add on the high-flight on my third flight just to get more variety out of the experience. By the third flight, I was able to breathe more naturally and relax when hovering in place, but once we got to the high flight, I just felt the sensation of inability to breathe again. I figure that for some people, it may just take more exposure to get used to and to be able to breathe comfortably. Others may adapt quickly and have no issues. The other two in my group had an awesome experience and had no issues breathing (one has done two sky dives before).
Overall, I had a great experience here, and would recommend it! My only feedback would be if someone decides to completely pass on the experience after booking, allow others in the group to use the overage paid toward other flight upgrades. Knowing my dad was hesitant, I wish I hadn't booked him just in case he wanted to bail, if I would have known how easy it would be to add flights for him once we got there. read more