Paraclete XP Indoor Skydiving

What it is:  My husband and I wanted to do something fun for our anniversary this year, so we decided to try indoor skydiving.  Fortunately, we found Paraclete XP Indoor Skydiving in Raeford and discovered that it would also be a fun adventure with older kids as well.

When we drove up we knew we were almost there when we saw the tall building rising up on the side of the road, with two tall towers to manage the air circulation in the skydiving area.  We had bought our tickets earlier over the phone so we just came in, filled out waivers, and headed upstairs to await our flight time.

Before we started, we were able to watch some of the other "skydivers" in the flight area.  Apparently, you can head up to observe there at any time for no cost.  We watched some definitely pros flipping around and doing the most amazing stunts in there.  We were a bit intimidated but we were reassured that we wouldn't be doing that in the tube.

Soon, it was time for our scheduled flight.  So, they gathered our group together and lead us to the classroom.  There we watched a brief video and received a few simple instructions about hand signals that they would give when we were in the tube in-flight.  Next, we headed back up, put on a flight suit, helmet, ear plugs, and goggles.  Before we knew it they led us in to the flight chamber.  There we would sit on the bench and wait our turn for our two one-minute flights.

It was fun to watch everyone else go through their turns.  We had everyone in our group from kids as young as 5 years old to a group of obviously experienced skydivers practicing complicated formations.  When it came time for my turn I simply walked to the doorway and fell forward into the air tube.  There the guide helped me stay in the proper form and I floated around for my minute, having a great time.  It was definitely a fun experience.

While they say that anyone can try it over 3 years old, I would probably wait to bring my boys back for a few years.  My six year old would probably be too intimidated to step out into the air tube and I don't think that my 4 year old would have the body control needed to be in there.  That being said, the little five year old that was in our group was able to have a great time and the guide was holding on to her the whole time keeping her steady.

What we liked:  It was a fun, fairly easy adventure.  It didn't require any prior skill and it didn't take a long time.  There were no complicated instructions, we just got to head in there and have a good time.

What we would change:  It was definitely expensive, but one might expect this from an adventure like this.  It was $64 for one person for our two minutes of flight.  Plus, it was about 1.5 hours from Durham, so it was definitely an all day adventure.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.paracletexp.com/

Address: 190 Paraclete Dr, Raeford, NC

Hours: Sunday-Thursday: 9am-7pm, Friday and Saturday: 9am-11pm  **You need to book your flight time online or by phone before heading on over.

Photos:

(a view of the building)

(an interesting diagram of the airflow in the building)

(our outfits)

(I'm flying!!)