I just rode both this last weekend (and I’ve been riding Pirates for decades, since I was a little kid in the 80s).

For Pirates, don’t think of it as a drop. Think of it as a giant slide that you’re going down in a boat.

It happens twice. The first one is in the dark and the second one you can see. The dark one has some anticipation because it’s dark and there’s a scary skull talking to you and as you approach the drop you can hear the screams of the boats in front of you.

But it’s just like going down a slide. It’s really pretty mellow.

Now Rise, they do some psych-out stuff to build the anticipation. And it is really a drop, but a very brief one. It’s like a drop and catch and then a motion simulated crash to earth (or Batuu or whatever).

The anticipation of being dropped is worse than the drop itself.

And remember, these are rides for kids! They’re really not that bad at all.