The school will not try and force you to send him or force him to choose to go.
They might point out all the positives but it will ultimately be your decision. I'm surprised again by how many posters in this thread have an automatic position to see the school as the enemy and that the chocolate isn't interested in what is best for your child or what you want.
FWIW for any other people reading this, it often helps if kids have a chance to try a sleepover and something low key and local, before it gets to a big trip a long way from home. Kids who have been in Beavers and Rainbows since KS1 or gone to Brownies and Cubs often have a chance to do 1 night sleepovers, often in a local village or church hall. It's very low key and local and just builds up confidence. Other families have people over for a sleepover or their kids stay with grandparents. It's just little steps so a trip away at 11 isn't the first time...and then it doesn't feel like such a big deal.
Op, I'd say, have confidence in your child. I think you were surorised that he even wavered about going. You thought it would be a definite 'no' and clearly he could see aspects he would enjoy and doesn't want to miss out on.....that's more than some can see as positives at this point. It's a real sign, that with 6 months to prepare, he could well be ready, even if he has wobbles, by the time it comes. Year 6 is a big changing time. Kids really are growing up and ready for more and it's all about little opportunities and confidence building and trusting them and giving them opportunities in safe and supported environments. This kind of school trip does exactly that. It is its entire purpose.
I don't think anyone is a 'hater' on here, and no-one is being critical. We can all see it's tricky. No-one likes the idea of their child being thoroughly miserable, or wants the practicality of dealing with that, and lots of people feel the concern about how their child will cope. These are normal responses to children growing up and facing new opportunities. And gut feeling is important. Some people just know categorically that their child won't cope or have a terrible time. Often these are cases where a child has extra needs and it's all part of that. Schools know and understand those issues and are really good at accommodating lots of those issues, but there might be some they can't, or situations where you decide its not right. General, normal nervousness though can usually be overcome given a positive attitude from home and school, and especially if a child feels at least some kind of desire to be part of it.
In the end, I think we all want our kids to have opportunities to grow in confidence and independence in a way which is safe and appropriate. As parents, one of our roles is to provide those graduated opportunities and to help our child as they become available. People do take steps at different times, but the journey is something all young people have to go on and yr6 into yr7 is a key change and growing point. Some parents feel fearful of this and knowingly or not, some hold their kids back...it might be their own fears, or fears for their child or general lack of confidence about all kinds of things. That's where the real pity lies....not in the few who really the opportunites just genuinely aren't suitable for, for whatever reason, but those, for whom those opportunites would make a big difference, but who don't get them. It's the thing that marks out one group of children from another more than anything else....access to and encouragement to take up opportunites. Some face everything opportunity as something exciting and worth trying, but for others, it's seen as some kind of attack or threat. And I know money plays a role in that, because opportunites often cost.