I Took My Family to iFLY Indoor Skydiving. Here's Our Honest, Slightly Windblown Review.

Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you book through one of these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. I only share experiences I believe are genuinely worth a family's time and money.

Why We Finally Tried iFLY

Every family has the one activity everyone keeps saying "we should totally do that" about, usually for years. Ours was indoor skydiving.

Nobody in my house is jumping out of a plane. Ever. But floating on a cushion of air in a vertical wind tunnel? That felt like a loophole worth exploring. So last month, the four of us finally booked a first-timer package at iFLY, and I'm writing this review while the memory is fresh and my hair has only just recovered.

Quick context for anyone who hasn't heard of it: iFLY is the largest indoor skydiving company in the world — over 100 wind tunnels worldwide, more than 54 million flights flown, and a 4.8-star Google rating from tens of thousands of reviews. Their whole pitch is "feel what it's like to fly" without a plane, a parachute, or a fear-of-heights meltdown. The math checked out on paper. Here's how it went in person.

Check-In and Training (The Calm Before the Wind)

The whole experience takes about 90 minutes from door to door, which surprised me — I expected a full-day production.

Here's the actual sequence:

• Check in at the front desk and sign waivers (minors need a guardian's signature, so don't leave one kid's form to the last minute like we did)
• A short training class with a certified instructor — hand signals, body position, what to expect
• Gear up: flight suit, goggles, earplugs, helmet
• Walk into the tunnel area with your group and instructor

The training class is the part that quietly won me over. Our instructor was funny, patient, and extremely clear about the one thing that matters: relax your body, keep your chin up, and let the air do the work. My nine-year-old absorbed this in about four seconds. I needed the full seven minutes. Both of us flew.

The Flight Itself: What Flying Actually Feels Like

The tunnel is a vertical wind chamber where air blasts upward at speeds that would make a skydive from 10,000 feet feel familiar. Each flight lasts about 60 seconds — which sounds short until you're the one floating on it. Trust me: it's the longest, busiest minute of your day, in the best possible way.

The instructor steps into the tunnel with every flyer, steadies you at the door, and then lets go. And you just... hover. My son grinned so hard his goggles fogged. My daughter, who rehearses worst-case scenarios for a living (I assume), came out shouting "AGAIN" before her helmet was fully off.

Honestly? The watchability is half the fun. Everyone else in your group sits right outside the glass, and there is nothing on earth like watching your usually-reserved spouse discover flight and immediately attempt a Superman pose.

The High Flight Upgrade: Worth It?

Here's the upgrade everyone mentions and I'll co-sign: High Flight. The instructor takes you spinning up toward the top of the tunnel — several stories high — instead of hovering at the bottom. It costs a bit extra per flyer, it happens on the spot, and it converts a "that was neat" into a core memory.

My husband and I did it; the kids weren't tall enough to meet the requirements at our location. Verdict: do it at least once. The look on my husband's face at twelve feet up was worth the upgrade alone, and I say that with love.

Who This Is Actually For

• Kids as young as 3 can fly — there's no upper age limit, which makes this one of the rare activities that genuinely spans generations
• Anyone who wants the skydive feeling without the plane, the altitude, or the leap
• Birthday people, graduates, and "I don't need anything, really" relatives who are impossible to shop for
• Families who want one big outing where nobody gets bored, cold, or sunburned

A couple of honest notes: flights are short by design (packages include multiple flights, and they add up), and prices vary by location and package — check your local tunnel when booking. Also, they were running a promotion on 4-flight shareable packages when we went, so it pays to look before you book.

Our Verdict

Five stars, one fogged goggle, zero regrets. It's the rare "big adventure" that works for a 4-year-old, a 44-year-old, and (per the front desk photos) plenty of 74-year-olds. My kids have asked to go back for their birthdays, which — if you know how quickly kids rotate obsessions — is the strongest endorsement I can give.

If you've been saying "we should totally do that" for years like we did: book your flight at iFLY here, bring the whole crew, and thank me from twelve feet up.

Have you tried indoor skydiving with your family? Tell me I'm not the only parent who needed the full training class.

Feel What It's Like to Fly — Book at iFLY