Should people who are afraid of roller coasters give it a try?
What do you think?
I would say that people should start with the less intense ones, and then try faster ones until they find their limit of comfort.
First upside down: Greezed' Lighnin at SFKK. I was really scared. First "coaster" was..... (Something) worm at World's of Fun(kiddie). First real big coaster was the Beast. I agree with stepping up on big coasters. That's how you get to like them. To this day, I am also a coaster fanatic. I might have regretted riding my first Arrow custom looper, but I have no regrets for my first rides ever.
First looping coaster was Montezuma's Revenge. First coaster at Magic Mountain was Viper. Favorite coaster is X2.
My first roller coaster ever was Colossus the Fire Dragon at my home park Lagoon. Being a Shwarkorpf (or however it is spelled) 84 foot, double looping steel coaster, I started off pretty darn big for my first coaster!
From Joe Brown
Posted October 4, 2010 at 8:25 AM
I'm scared to death of coasters. The last one I rode was either the Racer at Kings Island OR Sreamin Delta Demon at Opryland. I get nervous just watching them.
So that being said how intense is Thunder Mountain at Magic Kingdom? I want to to try to suck it up and ride one of these with my 9 yo son.
Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyworld is a piece of cake. My dad used to ride this when he was over 80 years old!!
There's no way I would go on anything that was bad and I love this one. Its one that most people can cope with.
From Tim Odom
Posted October 5, 2010 at 9:25 AM
For the longest time I was afraid of coasters. Back when I was a kid, I chickened out on Big Thunder Mountain, and never looked back.
However, in late 2001, I decided that that fear was useless. 'Why be afraid of heights when rollercoasters, for the most part, are extremely safe?' I thought. So, when we went to Disneyland, I decided to hit up my first coaster, California Screamin'.
I was scared out of my mind in line, but kept going. When I sat in the seat, I was shaking. But, I still went through with it. The ride itself is pretty good, but at the time I loved it. It was perfect for me (it launches you at the start, which warmed me up, and has a loop in the middle, which helped get me over that hurdle.) I ended up riding that 3 times that trip.
Now, I just cannot get enough rollercoasters. I just finished a road trip where I hit 2 parks (Busch Gardens Europe and Cedar Point), and had something like 41 rides on 17 different coasters (sorry, I did not hit all 17 at Cedar Point, saw no point of riding Jr. Gemini and the like...)
So, I would say give them a shot. Look for something that looks like fun to you, like California Screamin' did for me. And have fun with it. If you don't like it, well, the good part about coasters is that most of them are short. :)
Big Thunder Mountain is a great coaster to start your life long love affair with roller coasters.
The themeing is great, drops aren't too high, and it's the only coaster that I can do entirely hands free. Not that I'm condoning such a practice. You must hold on at all times ;)
After that you can move up to Space Mountain, then graduate to Rock n Roller coaster and Expedition Everest. Have fun...
yes, defianatley... everyones a little afraid at first but once you ride one great coaster you get a rush and want to go on more, try and start out with a pretty easy coaster, not too big, fast or too many inversions and you should love it ;)
Joe, it's good to see a reference to the Screamin' Delta Demon. I loved that ride, don't think I've ever seen another like it.
My first roller coaster was the Timber Topper at Opryland (later renamed the Rockin Roller Coaster), and I rode the Wabash Cannonball once or twice, with its corkscrew loops...
I don't know how much I would dislike coasters now, but watching POV video from Dueling Dragons makes me...uncomfortable.
I Still Remeber My First Coaster Dueling Dragons Ice I was 9 years old
I'm a big believer in facing your fears head on, so if riding coasters gets someone away from a fear, I say to give it a shot.
Start with some of the tamer ones, and work up to your comfort level. If they never work therir way up to Millenium Force or Raging Bull, that's ok. . . but they could certainly ride some of the others, and some of those are pretty great, too!
I rode my first coaster due to peer pressure. A girl I liked wanted to ride Shockwave at SFOT back in '87 and I couldn't chicken out.
I was scared of roller coasters, but I think my first roller coaster was The Roaring Tiger at Circus World in the early 80's when I was 9 or 10.
No. People who are afraid should continue to be afraid. They should also drive under the speed limit to the point of frustrating the rest of us and be timid in speaking up when it comes to sticking up for themselves. It's best to let this fear dictate their lives and take this way of life to their graves.
As for the rest of us, the line is now one person shorter.
I wasted SO MUCH time sitting while my family rode coasters because I was afraid to ride anything that turned you upside down. This was due to a bad experience with a Zipper ride at the Va. State Fair when I was a teen. Was too clueless to realize that carnival and fair rides are very different from coasters. I'd ride woodies or coasters that didn't invert you like the late, lamented Big Bad Wolf at BGW. Finally, someone remarked to me that the Rebel Yell at Kings Dominion was so much scarier and rougher than the Anaconda so I said, OK, I'll ride it and I got over the turned up side down fear by just shutting my eyes and it was fine. Now I love coasters of pretty much any kind though I don't know if I'd ride Superman the Escape or Kingda Ka. The other thing that helped me was accupressure wrist bands for nausea and motion sickness called C-bands. They really made it possible for me to ride things I couldn't before. Never have gone on another Zipper though.
Martha, I'd love the opportunity to ride a Zipper again for the first time in probably 25-30 years. I had the opportunity earlier this year, but the carnies were not allowing single riders (I understand that to be an industry-wide regulation these days.)
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