My Experience at Flyover Las Vegas (Review)

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In Las Vegas, a city densely packed with over-the-top-attractions, one sets itself apart from the neon lights, slot machine noise and packed streets - Flyover Las Vegas.

This immersive flying attraction lifts you over sweeping landscapes, dramatic coastlines and iconic cities without ever leaving the strip.

With its combination of motion seating, curved screen, wind effects, mist and scent technology, it creates the feeling of true flight while only lifting you mere feet from the ground.

In this post, I’m going to detail my and my wife’s experience at Flyover during our visit. I’ll also cover topics such as location, ticket pricing, tips and more. Let’s get into it!

Location, Parking and Tickets

Flyover Las Vegas is located directly on the strip along its eastern side. It’s sandwiched between a Ross store and a Hard Rock Cafe, with MGM Grand being the closest resort and across the street from the New York, New York and Park MGM resorts.

This makes it closest to the southern end of the strip, but within a fairly easy walk from mid-strip. To contextualize, my wife and I were staying at the Flamingo Hotel (almost exactly at the strip’s mid-point) and it took us about twenty minutes to walk there.

From the northern end, it would be a hefty walk. If you’re staying there, I would suggest hopping on the monorail to the MGM Grand and walk from there. Of course, taxies, ride sharing, or driving and parking yourself are also options.

Parking is located in the Showcase Mall parking garage. It’s paid parking, so be prepared. Parking fees depend on several variables, including day of week, time of day, etc. Expect to pay between $15 and $23 per hour.

Tickets can be purchased through several resources, but I recommend booking directly on Flyover’s website. Unfortunately, there are several scammy sites that claim to sell legitimate tickets to many Vegas attractions but ultimately just take your money.

A few legitimate companies do sell Flyover tickets, though. A few include Viator, Vegas.com, Groupon (yes, it does still exist) and Undercover Tourist. You can purchase standalone tickets or as part of a bundle with other area attractions.

Myself, I purchased directly from Flyover and opted for their “Double Experience” ticket. There are several films to choose from and by going with this deal, you save 30%. For example, a single ride costs $39 (online) but with this ticket I paid $54 for two.

Your options for films are:

• Legendary Iceland

• Wonders of the American West

• Believe Chicago

• Call of the Canadian Rockies

Additionally, you’ll receive an additional discount ($10 or so) by being a Nevada resident. Don’t end up paying more at the gate by taking advantage of this option and NOT being a resident. They do check identification when you check in.

Another way to pay less is to purchase your tickets online ahead of time. Flyover offers discounts to those who purchase ahead of time rather than purchasing at the gate. Additionally, you can opt for their VIP option, which also includes two rides but offers one drink and skip-the-line privileges as well.

Furthermore, when purchasing your tickets, you’ll have to select your preferred arrival time as rides only begin at certain times. Be sure you’re on time. You can always arrive early and enjoy a drink at their on-site bar.

My Experience at Flyover

My wife and I arrived about fifteen minutes before our first scheduled ride. We entered through the strip-facing entrance and walked through a series of color-illuminated hallways before coming into the building’s atrium.

The first notable feature was the on-site bar. To the left of the bar is the entrance to the ride’s queue. Just beyond the bar is the gift shop and also where you can purchase tickets, if needed. Directly to your left will be lockers where you can store your belongings (not mandatory).

If you’re driving yourself here, this is where you’ll enter via the elevator (to the right of the bar) from the parking garage. We had some time to kill before our ride so my wife and I enjoyed a drink and some hilarious conversation with the friendly bartender.

I was in Las Vegas in early May for punk band No Doubt’s residency performance at The Sphere. This time of year is a pretty good time to go, crowd and weather-wise. As a result, we were two of just half a dozen or so people at Flyover.

When it came time for our first ride, we paid our tab and headed over to the queue. There, the friendly staff member scanned our tickets and explained to us what to expect. We then began a lengthy walk through an empty queue to the first holding area.

When you come into the room you’ll take notice of the numbers on the ground and rails between them. A staff member will assign you a number and you’ll then go to that space. According to our bartender, if it’s busy, they’ll put up to ten people in each space.

This is where we watched the first of two presentation videos, the content of which will depend on your choice of ride theme. For our “Double Experience” ticket, we chose “Wonders of the American West” and “Believe Chicago”.

In this case, our first ride was the former. You’ll be given basic safety instructions and be shown examples of scenes you’ll be flying through. I don’t remember the video’s exact length, but it couldn’t have been more than five minutes.

At the conclusion of the first video, we were lead into yet another showroom, this one with more screens and a central oval-shaped screen display. This video is longer (roughly ten or twelve minutes). It articulates the history, development and highlights of the theme you selected.

After a brief safety spiel by a staff member, we were then taken into the theatre where the ride vehicle is located. If you’ve ridden Disneyland’s “Soarin” attraction, you’ll undoubtedly recognize the ride vehicle as it’s virtually the same thing.

In fact, the creative director behind Flyover is former Disney imagineer Rick Rothschild, who developed the films used in the original Soarin’ attraction. Mark Sumner, who invented the ride mechanics for Soarin’ using an old Erector set, is not involved with Flyover.

There is no recording or photos allowed while the ride is in progress, thus, I don’t have any to show you. Therefore, I’ll do my best to articulate the ride and what to expect while you’re on it. Again, if you’ve ridden Soarin’ at Disneyland or Epcot, you’ll need no help from me.

Once you’ve been strapped in and checked by a staff member, you’re lifted into the air in front of a massive spherical screen. You’re not lifted very high, maybe thirty to forty feet off the ground. However, it feels much higher once the video begins.

The ride mechanics give you a sense of gliding in the air over multiple locations using several sensory tricks. The weightless feeling comes from the motion-based mechanics above you while synchronized wind effects, misters, scents and audio complete the sensation rather convincingly.

I cannot recall, nor did I recognize, every scene we glided through. There were twenty-two scenes all together. However, a handful of a few I can recall include:

• California Coast (Big Sur, Monterey, etc)

• Las Vegas Strip

• Bonneville Salt Flats

• Grand Canyon

• Zion National Park

• Yellowstone National Park

• Monument Valley

Unlike their counterpart at Disneyland, there’s a bit of a thrill element at Flyover. It’s nothing extreme, but during one scene we were “gliding” above the Nevada desert aside several military jets. When the jets began to barrel roll, we seemingly followed suit.

Now, we didn’t actually go upside down (this is a family-friendly attraction). However, using the motion platform above our chairlift-style seats and a vibration effect, as well as the video itself, we were excellently and convincingly given the feeling that we were, in fact, barrel rolling.

Both of the rides we took were between nine and ten minutes in length, nearly double that of Disney’s. When your ride is finished, you’ll simply head out the exit and through the photo station and gift shop. If you’re riding again, check with the attendant on when your ride starts.

There are many other attractions, shops, restaurants and lounges nearby if you’re looking for more to do. A short walk from Flyover is one of my favorite pizzas on the strip, “How ya Dough’n”, which is on the top level of the BLVD complex.

The M&M and Coca Cola stores are both nearby, as well as "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” museum at the Luxor (one of my personal favorites). Or you can take the short walk across the strip to the Cosmopolitan and enjoy a drink or two at the “Ski Lodge” speakeasy.

Is Flyover Worth it for Kids?

In short - absolutely. Flyover is one of the premiere family-friendly attractions on the Las Vegas strip. The only caveat to that is your child must be at least 40’’ tall to ride.

If their height doesn’t meet a certain benchmark on the ride vehicle, a secondary safety feature will be used to secure them. Basically, their seatbelt will need to be looped into the strap in the middle of their seat.

If they don’t meet the 40’’ height requirement, they unfortunately cannot ride. This is for safety reasons and the staff members will not bend this rule for any reason.

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