Alright, so my 11-and-a-half-year-old nephew is a thrill seeker like my brother and me and wants to ride Diamondback with us on Opening Day. He's pretty tall for his age (a little over 5 feet tall in fact), but very lanky. He's also pretty mature for his age, but there is one problem with him riding Diamondback that I see - he's never been on an extreme roller coaster LET ALONE an intermediate coaster. I talked to someone who's ridden over 600 roller coasters (an impressive feat for anyone!) and he said to have him ride The Beast first instead of Diamondback because it's low to the ground and could possibly scare him less than the 230 foot tall new monster. What do you guys think? I'd love for him to enjoy Diamondback with my brother and me, but I also don't wanna scare the living daylights out of him.

Where The Beast is lower to the ground, being a wood coaster it will be rougher the Diamondback is (using other B&M coasters as a comparison point). With this you may rather have him ride something like Flightdeck or a steel coaster where the smoothness would be comparable.

My youngest son rode SoB when he was 7 and was 48 inches tall due to air soles..... Don't worry about it!

Edit: He rode Drop Tower and Slingshot the same year and loved them all.....

And, the second lift hill on The Beast is 141 feet tall, not exactly what most would consider low to the ground... You are after all above the tree tops.

I'm sure many will chime in...but in '89 my 7 year-old sister (who was tall enough) went straight from riding The Beastie (her pervious only coaster) to The Beast and Vortex for the first time back-to-back in the same day! She loved them and was never afraid of coasters.

In short, everyone is different, and if he thinks he can do it, then let him...life's all about taking chances and trying new things, that's how you grow up!

I was about 7 and The Beast was my first coaster and I absolutely loved it (it may have been 24 yrs youngeer but hey). I went straight to Screamin Demon and wanted to go ride Vortex but my dad thought it was too intense.

Like Tigellinus said though, everyone is different. Let him do what he's comfortable with. My wife got freaked out on the 1st drop of Flight Deck but loved FoF. She doesn't like the dropping feeling in her stomach and is touchy about hieghts (which I find is often people's biggest fear regarding coasters). If he wants to eases into it, Filght Deck then Vortex would be a great start.

I absolutely agree with the others. If the kid wants to ride Diamondback, let him! And start with it, if he wants. A different coaster is just that...different...and it may not meet with his tastes, and may well keep him from experiencing that which he wants.

Okay, Terpy, okay. It's not every day that an 11-year-old gets to be 230' in the air and 3 seconds later be going 80 miles per hour. My first adult coaster was The Beast with NO intermediate coasters in between. I speak from experience when I say that it scared the hell out of me. Just wanted some opinions is all.

And yet today, you happily ride. Was The Beast purely your choice at the time...or were you compelled in some fashion? I think that makes a huge difference.

I actualy didn't like roller coasters at the time. It was Math and Science Day 1998 at the park and my classmates said that I should ride it. I knew I didn't like coasters, but I gave it a try. What made it worse was that my classmates got on the train before me and left me to ride by myself. Like I said, I was pretty scared. It wasn't until I rode King Cobra that I started to like coasters.

And that's the big difference here. You were pressured into riding. The boy here wants to ride. And in that, there is all the difference!

Yeah, I guess so. I've seen 8-year-old girls get off The Beast and be smiling from ear to ear after the ride is over. What you guys have said in this forum makes me think he'll be fine if he rides Diamondback. Thanks for all your input. It's all about having fun, which I have no doubt he'll have on April 18th!

Just spot him some space. If he doesn't like it, tell him that's okay and you understand. Conversely, though, don't let that stop the rest of you from riding what you want when you want.

The one thing that drives me nuts more than anything else in most parks is adults forcing kids onto rides the kids don't want to be on...next is probably the demanding adults who stridently tell their kids "I paid $40 and you ARE going to have fun or we are going home." Sigh.

I'll never force him to ride anyhting he doesn't want to. That's just wrong and can ruin someone's day. Also, I've been anticipating this ride since late 2007 so there's NO WAY that if he doesn't ride I won't. Only 9 more days!

I know you won't...I can tell you are a great uncle!

Terpy, who is always amazed when adults try to enlist ride ops into forcing kids to ride...and impressed when said ride ops do not do so...

Thanks for the compliment, Terpy. My brother and I actually wanted him to ride The Beast last year and he was apprehensive beause he didn't know too much about the ride and thought it went upside down. We didn't get to ride because Cedar Fair doesn't like to extend the hours teenagers work at night (ridiculous if you ask me) so he gets to ride that this year. He knows a lot about Diamondback because he's seen me download the pov God knows how many times now. It's amazing what a little information can do.

In Cedar Fair's defense, Ohio law regulates the hours minors can work. Cedar Fair has no choice but to follow that law.

Yes, but I thought it was rude to close the line for the most popular ride in the park before the posted closing time. We ran to get there in time, did, and the line was blocked off with a garbage can and two employees that explained the situation. Didn't seem right to me.

I personally think you should, I'm only a year older than him, and I'm riding it.

My 8 year old brother is also planning on riding it.

This should be good for him if he's willing, but cousin who is the same age as me, rode the Incredible Hulk (I want to say he was 10 or 11) as his first 'big' coaster, and now he's absoulutely terrified even though he used to love rides like AE, Flight Deck.

It depends on the kid though.

i'm with everyone else, if he is willing to ride it, let him, but let him and only him choose to do so or not.

The way I see it, if he wants to ride it, let him ride! But good luck with whichever path you choose

UPDATE: I just found out from his dad that he rode Drop Zone/Tower and liked it so he has been on something extreme. I think I do remember him saying that he rode and liked Delirium too. I can't stand either so I think he might be more of a thrill seeker than me! Single digits in days remaining until Opening Day!

^^Be sure to post his on-ride pic in the future 'show your D-back on-ride photo' thread!!

If he fits in the pic with me, I'll definitely point him out in the keychain that I buy. Let me know when you post that thread!