Inspired by this thread, why in the Sam Hell would anyone CHOOSE to have the crap scared out of them is beyond my comprehension. I absolutely hate to be scared. Scary movies - out. Haunted houses - out. Roller coasters - out. Bungee jumping - sure as hell out.
What is it that you thrill seekers have that I don’t have?
Basically, the adrenaline rush is fun. That’s about as much as I can explain it, but I’m sure others will be able to go into more detail.
Endorphins.
I love roller coasters, but I rarely find them scary. Exhilarating, I guess. I don’t like scary movies or haunted houses.
More interesting to me, why do some people insist that my life would be better if I had it? I don’t enjoy roller coasters. Why is it important to you that I spend a long time standing in line for an experience that will bring me no pleasure and will probably leave me feeling loopy for an hour or more, just so I can prove to you I’m not a 'fraidy-cat? :dubious:
They say it’s the adrenaline rush. Fine, but some of us don’t find the adrenaline rush pleasurable. There are people out there, and I find this hard to believe myself, but there are people out there who find no pleasure in chocolate, and you don’t see me force-feeding them. Let it go.
catecholamines, actually
I think mostly because they enjoy the ride so much and just assume you don’t because you haven’t given it a chance. I’m with you, though. I do not enjoy most roller coasters and absolutely can’t tolerate the more extreme rides (like the ones that spin you upside down or drop you fro 200 feet up).
On the other hand, I like the scary movies that the OP doesn’t. When I was a kid, they weren’t enjoyable, but something clicked over in me during college when I realized that fear in stories/movies was just a stylistic technique with no real substance. Now there’s an interesting and enjoyable level of suspense, but no actual fear.
There is no easy answer… Everyone is different.
When I worked at Dueling Dragons, a pair of tangled, inverted (legs dangle), near-miss (3 ft?) roller coasters in Orlando, FL, I was encountered by many guests who were afraid to ride but after several minutes of selling the experience I was able to convince people to over-come their fears and take it for a ride. Of course, they got off the ride and were completely thrilled, and wanted to ride all day long. I’ve not once had a person get off completely terrified after riding. Once they’ve experienced the ride the fear, for the most part, was gone. But maybe I’m just a good salesperson. I’ve convinced people who’ve never been on a coaster their entire life, and around the age of 50, to get on rides like Dueling Dragons and others - it’s a really good feeling helping people get over their fears and seeing them go on to live their lives differently.
This ideology is like this for everything else really. Once you’ve experienced something it’s not so hard to do it again… but experiencing something brand new, regardless of what it is, isn’t always an easy fear to over come. We all fear the unknown and there is nothing wrong with that.
Personally, educating myself as much as possible prior to trying something is what gets me over the fear of things so in a sense the experience isn’t completely unknown to me… you may want to consider this step before coming to a conclusion you never want to try something.
Dueling Dragons rocks my nuts off. That is all.
Hehe… Every morning I worked I would be the first person to opt in for test riding. Only 2 of us got to do this (1 for each train) and we couldn’t ride during the shift… Let’s just say it’s a great way to start the day. I mean, how many people can say they get to ride a coaster before their work starts… 
Boy do I miss those Dragons… I miss the Hulk too… Hell, I miss everything at IOA. Funnest job I ever had. Just sucks management went sour.
Some of us find the physical sensations of high adrenalin in the bloodstream to be pleasurable, some of us don’t.
That said, although I’m a bit of an adrenalin junkie myself, I strongly feel that those who aren’t should not be pressured to jump off bridges, out of airplanes, go white-water rafting, ride roller coasters, etc. Those are all optional activities, with either real or perceived risk and there’s no justification for forcing people to experience them.
I am not scared of roller coasters. I do not like the physical sensations I feel when subjected to the movements of the ride. If I am forced to do something that will make me feel this way I get apprehensive because I know I’m not going to like it. Its not like I am afraid that the ride is going to kill me.
That’s just because you wouldn’t have gotten me on the damned thing to start with. 
The awful thing is if you have one of those “You just NEVER TRIED it” people as your SO, and understandably they want to ride rides they enjoy and they don’t want to do it alone. I went to the fair one time with him and NEVER AGAIN. I finally said, fine. Fine! FINE. I’ll ride the goddamned pirate ship. I hate the very concept of the thing, I don’t see the fun in it, but I’ll ride it.
I did not like it any better when I got off, I assure you. And if you laugh at me when I scream in terror again I will claw your eyes out. (Er, not you. I still have some strong emotions about that one.)
ETA - also, what Loach said. I don’t think I’m going to die, I don’t think it’s unsafe, I think I don’t like it. I don’t find it enjoyable.
It’s type A vs. type B personalities. Some people enjoy adrenalin rushes and some don’t. I used to in my younger days. Now, not so much.
Conversely, I am convinced that I am going to die, it is very unsafe, and there’s not a darn thing I can do to save myself when it all hits the fan. I have talked myself into getting on roller coasters, etc. to be with my family, but I spend the whole time white-knuckling the frame, trying to breathe. And I gave up haunted houses in third grade, when a vampire rose up and grabbed my friend, and I beat the snot out of him with my cane. (I was dressed as an old woman.) They escorted us out. If I get scared, I get even.
I can’t speak for Dueling Dragons, but having been talked into the Screaming Eagle and then (years later) Space Mountain at DisneyWorld, I can state categorically that I am no fan of “the adrenaline rush” or “overcoming my fears” in such a way. I wish I could say it’s because I was an ICU nurse for so many years (adrenaline rushes are part and parcel of the job), but many nurses do like being scared, so that’s not it. I am very much a type A personality in some aspects of my life; this is not one of them.
I loathe rollercoasters, gory, scary movies and haunted houses. Actually, haunted houses I can pretty much laugh at now. The other 2–why would anyone waste their money? Being scared isn’t entertaining to me. Of course, it’s your money… Just don’t ask me to waste mine. I’m not scared that the ride will hurt or kill me–I just don’t enjoy the sensation of hurtling down at 80 mph or whatever it is and listening to people scream. It’s boring. They always scream. Ditto scary movies–the people are stupid; the monsters predictable etc.
There’s a Snoopy rollercoaster at Mall of America that is just about my speed. I will say that the Screaming Eagle (Great America in IL) was too jerky. The one coaster I was on (I believe it was the Demon) that I barely liked was as smooth as silk. I don’t like the plunge, but you can spin me sideways until I’m practically parallel to the ground and I’m happy. I blame my eustachian tubes.
Love roller coasters. Love them, love them. On the fair rides like the pirate ship and the others that toss you around upside down, I close my eyes and just enjoy the feel of being tossed around and hanging in air for those brief seconds.
On the other hand, I can’t stand horror. Intellectually, I’m very interested, because horror stories have some of the most interesting premises I’ve ever seen. But my imagination can be hyperactive, especially when I’m in bed and trying to fall asleep. I can paralyze myself with thinking a hand is about to reach out and touch me, for example. Horror and ghost stories stay with me in a way that’s not pleasurable at all, and so I try to avoid it when I can. Apparently, something I know is fictional scares me worse than something I know is solid and real. Go figure.
I’ve never found being scared all that entertaining.
I especially don’t like it in movies because it’s cheap and easy to do, and requires next to no skill in writing or directing (one reason why so many low-budget filmmakers use horror). And the audience for them is so undemanding that they think Alien is a great film, for God’s sake. :rolleyes:
Roller coasters do nothing for me. I did go on Space Mountain and didn’t find it all that much fun. You just sit back and let it happen. Big whoop. A ride like “Mr. Toad” is ten times more fun.
I don’t ride roller coasters. SWMBO loves them. When the kids were little, they would “take” Mom to AstroWorld here in Houston (sadly, closed now). The first ride they would head to was the Texas Cyclone. I’d settle on a bench and wait for them, and watch how many people would puke their guts out after getting off that ride.
Not for me, baby, not no way, no how.
As others have said, roller coasters aren’t that scary, they’re just a rush. Fer example, I never go in backwards roller coasters - I hate not being able to see where I am going and that scares the crap out of me and makes me ill. I don’t like upside down ones either.
But really fast ones, shooting down hills, and rocking all over the place! Let me on, and let me in the front! It’s the speed, baby.