“I wonder how often they inspect this thing for metal fatigue?”
“Did that high school kid chatting up his colleague really pay enough attention to my safety harness? What if it opens mid-ride?”
“What was that noise?! Is that normal?! Oh god, it’s gonna leave the track! Just one more loop to get through …”
There was a time when I was very young where the genuine exhilaration and peer pressure counter balanced my anxiety about dying. But it was never that much stronger, so I could take them or leave them. Over time that’s switched, and it is extremely unlikely I’ll ever ride a rollercoaster again.
I recognize it’s irrational given the stats but if I’m not enjoying the experience even just because of the irrationality I still don’t have any strong incentive to fix that. There are lots more entertainment options available to me. I have the same, albeit more subdued, reaction to air travel but there I just deal with it because I have to.
My wife buys lottery tickets every day. I told her that statistically she is more likely to get killed in a car accident on the way to the store than to win the big prize. Now she sends me to get her tickets.
mmm
Yes! Loved it, especially the part where you teeter over the edge and get an awesome view of the park.
No so much a fan of the steep climb… especially as these rides are often prone to rollbacks…
I feel the same. At the start I’m always overly concerned with the harness/buckle and whether it’s working correctly… mid way through the ride, I get a brief sense of ‘ok, this isn’t too bad’ and then towards the end I’m just hoping I make it back alive.
Once I step off, my immediate thought is ‘I won… now don’t do that again’…
I went to Cedar Point twice this year, and on any first hill over 100 feet, I had to close my eyes and pretend I was still close to the ground. But once we drop, I’m having the time of my life. I’m not so much in it for the heights (not at all, really), but the twists, loops, speed and g-forces.
Back in the late 70’s I used to take my Brownie Troop to Disneyland, and while they loved Space Mountain, the only thought going through my mind as I rode it over and over and over again with them was “If I can’t see the tracks, how do I know I’m not just plunging to my doom??”
Upon Googling, that looks very much like Top Thrill Dragsterat Cedar Point in Ohio, except Top Thrill has a roll at the top of the track… Zero to 120 mph (193 kmh) in 3.8 seconds (3.8 in metric seconds). Wow! No time to think anything once you launch.
Wooden roller coasters are THE BEST. You don’t get flips or anything extreme, but it’s more than made up for with The Sounds. Those creaks and shrieks sound like it’s gonna flyapartatanysecondholyshiiiiiiiiiii!
Every rollercoaster ride I’ve ever had except one was a huge blast of fun adrenaline.
The one, though… it might have been terrific fun if it weren’t trying to beat the stuffing out of me. So rough, so much lateral slop. I came away with bruises at every restraint point.
I went to Thorpe Park a few years back - when we went over the top on the Stealth ride, I was thinking to myself “Who’s that fucking idiot screaming in my ear?”. Then I realised it was me.
One of the other rides (Colossus I think) was just physically painful - it threw me about in a way that hurt my head, neck, back, everything. I was more mentally composed on that one, but just wished it was over almost from the start.
The OW and 170 or so friends did 14 amusement parks across England and Wales in 11 days including both of those. Thorpe was her favorite although had I gone I would have preferred Alton with the strange dark attractions they have. Needless to say we’re members of ACE, Coaster Zombies, GOCC and a couple other clubs.
I will admit that I am not the coaster nut she is. I don’t mind speed (I raced both motorcycles and cars) but I am not a great fan of heights. Also I would like to have some sort of control; some say in the experience. When I ride its more from a sense of “one and done” and move on. I am not afraid or concerned, I just don’t get a sense of enjoyment. Put me down with the one designer who loves everything about them except riding them.
The OW on the other hand — you can put her in a seat on “Oblivion” and leave her there for hours and she is totally content. It isn’t just the thrill – it is being able to learn the ride and “ride the ride” so that you don’t get beat up by the repetitions. In a way the experience is the mind exercise and physical skill to take riding to the extreme.
which other than the lifts is almost silent. It is what makes it even more frightening than something like Shivering Timbers. OK – its not your normal wooden rollercoaster but it is a wooden rollercoaster.
I enjoyed quite a few of them for a couple of decades, although it varied a lot. Then the rides got rarer, my response was more “This is unpleasant and sometimes they kill people.”
My last ride was on a coaster in the amusement park inside West Edmonton mall a few years ago. I swear it compressed my spin half an inch. I only went because my brother really wanted to and I figured I’d be a good sport. I’m not planning on going on one ever again.
