I was able to ride it instantly though i wasn't anywhere near complete control right away. The first time i stepped on it I was able to ride it out, took a liltle bit of time to learn to turn effortlessly and jumped off it a few times which caused it to fly around on its own. After about 2 days of short use I was very comfortable. I often walk my energetic labrador retreiver on it, and learning how to control him on it took much longer. At first i didnt know how to stop him if he ran faster than its max speed which would force me to either jump off the solowheel or let go of his leech.
I worked for cirque du soliel for a decade though so things like this are very natural to me.