# Is there a reason some people are affected by different amusement rides? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578 "2007-10-13T13:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/1 "2007-10-13T13:39:03Z")
Sorry, this is kind of long and probably boring to most GQ people, but there really is a question with factual answers in it, I think. I went to the fair yesterday with the boyfriend, not realizing that though we’ve been together for almost three years now I had no idea he was a _pushy bastard about riding the scary rides_. (I got him back - we rode the Scrambler after two corn dogs and three fried Oreos. And tons of those rides where the biggest person sits on the outside and gets creamed.) I don’t like roller coasters, I definitely don’t like the pirate ship, and I MOST CERTAINLY will not ride anything where they take you up and drop you for the hell of it. Nosir, not me, please die in a fire. I don’t like it, it isn’t fun to me, I don’t see the point. Being scared to me is not an amusement. However, I like spinny rides and I don’t mind heights. So, why do some rides incite pants-wetting terror in me and others? Has there been a study done on the specific motions that make the hindbrain think we’re about to die? He bugged me and bugged me until to shut me up I rode the tiny little itty bitty roller coaster. It was _mouse themed_, for God’s sake. [This](http://www.themeparksofengland.com/reviews/brighton/crazymouse.jpg) isn’t a good picture, but you can see how little it is - the people at the bottom of the picture are standing waiting to get on. The little cars seat four, us and two little girls - I had Himself sit between me and them because I don’t think it’s healthy for an eight year old to see an adult of almost 30 lose her shit. It was _awful_. I _hated_ it. The drops were, what, ten feet? Scared the crap out of me. A few after that, I _volunteered_ to ride [this spider thing](http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index/EyerlySpider.jpg). Nothing scary looking about it at all! There was _no_ way to know it was going to bother me at all. When it got up to top speed I started making noises like a very frightened piglet. The boyfriend was all “This does NOT count as one of my rides!” I think I drew blood on his arm with my nails. It wasn’t quite on purpose. Note, however, and I think this may be important, that the little cars aren’t stationary - they swing around. I don’t know _how_ he emotionally blackmailed me into riding the Rainbow. [You know,](http://www.galen-frysinger.ws/sweden/liseberg19.jpg) this sort of thing. Where you can’t see the ground coming and you’re always parallel to it. I spent the whole time in line terrified and then got on the ride and _loved_ it. We rode it five times. Which sucked, because then he was all, “See?” So dumb me got emboldened by the whole Rainbow success thing and said, “Okay, fine, let’s ride the [ship](http://www.beans-around-the-world.com/photos/missfair12.jpg) .” He’d been begging for the ship the whole time and he said if I rode the ship he’d ride the super-high swings. (This wasn’t the kind of ship that goes over the bar, FYI.) So, fine, let’s ride the ship, why not, it’s not so different from the Rainbow, right? Wrong. Very wrong. Everybody else was screaming screams of “Wow this is fun!” I was screaming screams of “I hate you and I hope you die and you deserve to get brain eating amoebas!” (Although I’m the one that said hey let’s do the ship - he’d given up on it.) Finally, he had to do the supergiant swings, since I rode the ship. These are new this year, I think - I _love_ [this](http://www.sbfairandexpo.com/images/carnival/waveswinger.jpg) kind of swing, and this was like that (can’t find a picture) except it goes up as high in the air as that take-you-up-and-drop-you ride, and it’s two to a seat but with the exact same restraint types as the old fashioned kind. And it was _scary_, man, although in a different way than the pants-wetting terror of the ship - I think it was the top parts of the brain instead of the bottom parts, and it was like, hey, there’s nothing under our feet. At all. And we’re being held in by, like, nothing. And now we’re swinging out. (It was also incredibly cool. And scary. And cool.) The boyfriend, I am pleased to say, was terrified. So, how’s come those rides and not others affected me? I thought maybe instability had something to do with it - the tall swing and the spider thing both have that instability thing going on, although with the spider it’s more like the Tilt-a-Whirl (one of my favorites) and with the swings it’s that feeling of being on a chain rather than a bar or something. And I thought maybe it was seeing what’s about to happen - I know a lot of the roller coaster thing is anticipation, and with the ship the terror only kicks in on the way down when I’m facing fowards, not backwards. And I thought maybe part of it was the angle of the body - on the Rainbow, you’re always upright, but on the ship, you swing around so you’re parallel to the ground when you look down. I know some people are affected by height and others are affected by spinning, but I’m looking for the answer for people who are bothered by roller coasters and pirate ships - the drop feeling, I guess. Have there been studies done on what that _is_? In other words, I really don’t know if I’m going to spend a ride clawing the hell out of his arm or not before I get on it, and I want to know if there are certain types of motion that I can see and know for sure if it’s going to scare me or not. Also, I’d be interested in knowing if there are studies done on different “types” of ride fear, and the chemistry involved when my brain sees the drop at the end of the pirate ship. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/2 "2007-10-13T15:00:34Z")
On rollar coasters the main point of fear for me is that first stomach wrenching drop, but after that I’m ok. I think it’s a matter of whether you’re worried just how bad it’s going to be. The rides do require you to surrender control of your movement, and that can be scary. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/3 "2007-10-13T15:09:52Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] On rollar coasters the main point of fear for me is that first stomach wrenching drop, but after that I’m ok. I think it’s a matter of whether you’re worried just how bad it’s going to be. The rides do require you to surrender control of your movement, and that can be scary. [/QUOTE] I’d agree, except that I did _not_ anticipate hating the Spider. That’s kind of what got me to ask if there had been any studies on specific motions, because I wasn’t dreading that one at all. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/4 "2007-10-13T17:52:11Z")
For me personally it is the sensation of free fall that roller coasters (and all similar rides) give you. I cannot stand it. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/5 "2007-10-13T18:41:19Z")
I doubt you could invent a roller-coaster big enough to scare me and I have been on some of the biggest and scariest one in the world. OTOH hand, I cannot stand any type of “spinnie” ride whether it is teacups or anything else. I have never understood why anyone would throw up on a roller-coaster because the motion doesn’t seem favorable to barfing. However, I have thrown up from a Tilt-a-Whirl and have no desire to ever go on such a thing again. I don’t mind controlled, raw fear but I can’t stand anything interfering with my sense of balance. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/6 "2007-10-13T18:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=suranyi] For me personally it is the sensation of free fall that roller coasters (and all similar rides) give you. I cannot stand it. [/QUOTE] I’m the same way. I am NOT afraid of flying. I AM afraid of turbulence that drops you 20 feet or more in a second. A flight where that doesn’t happen doesn’t affect me at all, before, during, or after. A flight where that happens will make me scream like a little girl (last year we were on a bad one…thing must have dropped a hundred feet). ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/7 "2007-10-13T19:46:24Z")
I present this as pure speculation until a real scientist shows up… but I speculate that a person who likes the big drop is a person who likes an adrenaline rush. These days the ultimate adrenaline rush addicts have been known to get their fix by BASE Jumping. > **[BASE jumping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASE_jumping)** > > BASE jumping (/beɪs/) is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend safely to the ground. "BASE" is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennae (referring to radio masts), spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs). Participants exit from a fixed object such as a cliff, and after an optional freefall delay, deploy a parachute to slow their descent and land. A popular form of BASE jumping is wingsui In co... (in case you think skydiving is nuts). Now I’m really going to go out on a limb and speculate that more males than females seem to get a bang out of said adrenaline. If you can pick holes in this, please do. This board is for fighting ignorance, including mine. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/8 "2007-10-13T20:22:51Z")
When my sister Sara was about 4-5, our oldest sister L had been put in charge of her at Disney World. Lea is 13 years older than Sara, so naturally she wanted to go on some of the big rides. Lea convinced Sara that Space Mountain was a kid’s ride called baby spacy ride. Sara still hates roller coasters. Siblings are fun, aren’t they? -Lil ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/9 "2007-10-13T20:45:19Z")
I love roller coasters and things that move forward and/or backward. The thing can even spin in a big circle as long as I am facing in the direction of the ride movement (like [this](http://theimaginaryworld.com/dtour30.jpg) or [this](http://www.geocities.com/le_cachot/kennywoodpark/129.jpg) or [this](http://www.themeparkreview.com/sfmm/zforce.jpg)) Once I start spinning laterally (e.g., teacups, [electric rainbow](http://americanaamusementpark.com/wheelnite80.jpg), things go bad. It’s quite sickening to me, but others love it. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/10 "2007-10-14T04:00:59Z")
Isn’t Space Mountain the one that’s all in the dark? Because that’s how I learned not to fear roller coasters – I could not see which way we were about to go so I relaxed and enjoyed myself. Wierd. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/11 "2007-10-14T04:12:48Z")
Amusement park “thrill” rides just aren’t that big of thrill to me. You gots your roller-coster, and I like the speed and all, but petty well nothing scares me. :eek: So I’m the wrong dude to ask, I guess. ☹ Then we gots the “spin and puke” rides and I just get nauseous. At Great America the only ride I really like is the Roaring Rapids ride, but I’ll do the Coasters. I do like the surround-theatre. That being said, I really enjoy Disneyland, since there are cool things to look at on the rides. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/12 "2007-10-14T04:31:53Z")
“Thrill rides” often aren’t. Most of them get an effect by playing on the rider’s sense of equilibrium. I’m similar to **Shagnasty** in that while I have never ever gotten close to nauseous (in a true “gotta puke” way) on a roller coaster, it can happen with the right set of conditions for me on thrill rides, especially when I’m hot, dehydrated (two common conditions at the amusement park) and there’s enough continuous motion on my inner ear. It’s still rare, though, as I do not get motion sick easily. As for roller coasters, you name it and I will get on it, though I haven’t gotten to ride as many as I would like. You ride enough and you learn to appreciate the charms of the various types. For instance, you’ll never get an inversion on a crazy mouse type coaster like the OP linked to, but the drops, sharp turns, and the way the car is connected to the track makes for a ride unlike any other type of roller coaster. Bobsled coasters are great because the only thing holding you on the track is the design of the track itself. (It doesn’t hurt when you get to sit behind and grab onto a pretty girl either.) The Storm Runner at Hersheypark is something else. 0 to 70 in less than two seconds is a real kick in the pants and I think you hit the cobra at about 75. I rode that thing the summer it opened and it was worth every minute of the two hour wait. They were still doing the countdown then and that really increased the nervousness before launch. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/13 "2007-10-14T04:47:34Z")
[QUOTE=kayT] Isn’t Space Mountain the one that’s all in the dark? Because that’s how I learned not to fear roller coasters – I could not see which way we were about to go so I relaxed and enjoyed myself. Wierd. [/QUOTE] Well, yeah, Sara is strange, like we all are, Part of it definitely had to be that Lea had tricked her, and she was 4-4.5. Me, I don’t like roller coasters that go upside down, which rules out a great many of them. It’s not because they scare me, but I really don’t like the shoving around that inevitably occurs with rides of that type. If it stays right side up, I’m golden. I’ll go on rides like the Spider if encouraged, but I know very well I’ll walk around queasy afterwards. I’d don’t do freefall rides. That’s where my inner chicken checks in. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/14 "2007-10-14T13:30:57Z")
I used to hate roller coasters. Now, I’ll ride them with my wife, no prob. Took some time and a lot of rides though. I’ll even say I like them now. I’m usually laughing like a maniac the whole time. [QUOTE=asterion] The Storm Runner at Hersheypark is something else. 0 to 70 in less than two seconds is a real kick in the pants and I think you hit the cobra at about 75. I rode that thing the summer it opened and it was worth every minute of the two hour wait. They were still doing the countdown then and that really increased the nervousness before launch. [/QUOTE] My Wife and I where in Hershey that summer too. Quite a ride. Cedar Point PA has some great ones. But we can’t discount Hershey Park. The Storm Runner - > [@](#): > > Description > This one-of-a-kind coaster will launch you from 0-72 mph in 2 seconds flat. 18 stories straight up, straight down. And that’s just the beginning. You’ll fly through a 135 foot cobra loop, barrel rolls, and a dramatic flying snake dive so fast, you won’t know which way is west. Experience STORM RUNNER, the MUST-RIDE of 2004 … only at HERSHEYPARK, the first hydraulic launch coaster to feature inversions. Part of the fun is watching the expresions of the riders change right when they get launched. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/15 "2007-10-14T21:23:01Z")
[QUOTE=kayT] Isn’t Space Mountain the one that’s all in the dark? Because that’s how I learned not to fear roller coasters – I could not see which way we were about to go so I relaxed and enjoyed myself. Wierd. [/QUOTE] Ditto. I adamantly refused to get onto roller coasters when I was a young child. Seeing all the hills and loops and how exposed people were, it freaked me out. Then we went to Disney. My father tricked me into Space Mountain, convincing me that it was a scenic outer space ride. Once I got over that hump of “roller coasters won’t kill you,” I’ve loved riding them since. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/16 "2007-10-14T21:32:50Z")
I fail to find g’s, either from falling or spinning, to be entertaining. It doesn’t scare me, it simply feels unpleasant and I won’t do it. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/17 "2007-10-15T02:30:24Z")
My body makeup must be more delicate (?) than most peoples, because I have felt like I was going to pass out from the force of a couple of the more tame roller coasters. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-some-people-are-affected-by-different-amusement-rides/422578/18 "2007-10-15T05:33:08Z")
I hate hate hate any kind of fast, rolling, turning, spinning contraption. What can possibly be good about primal fear? It generates an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach, no “high on endorphins” crap for me.