How'd you get over your fear of Roller Coasters

[CoasterDirected]

If you were ever afraid of them. (I sure was, didn't ride racer till I was 12) For me, it started last summer when I went with my youth group in early June. I went with 2 good friends, one I saw for the last time since he goes to a different high school. (this was my first time going to KI for 2 years) Rode Beast, Bat, and Invertigo for the first time, we were going to ride Banshee, but we chickened out. However, The Beast sparked my interest in roller coasters, and I watched a crap-ton of POVs and Coaster Studios, if you haven't seen him, sub to him now. I went to Universal for 5 days with my family, and there were no lines for half of the days. It was roughly 8 and my mother who was the only one with me said I had one more ride before we went back to the condo. I said I wanted to ride the Dragon Challenge, we walked up to it and I tensed and my mom, who hates roller coasters due to motion sickness said she would ride it with me. The wait was "5 minutes", God, it takes longer to get to it than The Bat. We rode on the blue side (forget what dragon but it's the less intense one). And thats were most of the fear left, I rode the Hulk with my older sister the next day. Anyways, I was pumped to go to KI again, so I saved up $200 over 3+ months to get me and my dad season passes to KI, we used the free day for 2014 and he pushed me to ride every ride. Started with FoF and had some awesome ride attendants. ("hey do you guys want a countdown? Ok, 5,4,3 *launch*) got on Firehawk in 15 minutes, rode Beast, then my dad wanted to get on Diamondback. This was probably the most scared I had been for a roller coaster, but my MANLY MAN INSTINCTS told me to not show weakness. I was squeezing my lap bar so hard on the way up. I had a blast though, same with my dad, he hadn't been on one so tall since SoB in 2005. After that, my fear vanished, I'm planning on going to CP this summer, and can't wait. Anyone else got a similar story?

[JTW]

I was pretty young, 1st or 2nd grade, and chickened out while my mom was trying to get me in line for Vortex. The next summer my younger female cousin wanted to ride everything, and I wasn't going to let her show me up. It's been an obsession since.

[Tr0y]

My sister convinced me to ride Flight of Fear stating there was no big drop, which was my biggest fear. Rode it, and the rest is history...

[silver2005]

My way was through a psychological method known as flooding (though unintentionally so).  My family usually went a few times a year, and up until about the time I was in 3rd grade, I wasn't a big fan of coasters.  Even Beastie was too much for me,  though I did fine on Racer for some reason.  My first ride on Beast nearly scared me off them for good.  But I liked watching them.  Part of the way I convinced myself to get on them was just watching people coming off, seeing them enjoy themselves.  My first ride on Top Gun was a bit different as, to me, it acted differently than the other rides.  It was quieter, it didn't have as many fancy elements, so I gravitated towards it pretty quickly.  Through a combination of the exposure to coasters and that feeling of wanting to be one of those riders coming off with smiles, I kind of built myself up mentally to try the bigger ones.  

 

With Vortex easily coming off as the most intimidating of them to me (at the time, KI's largest coaster), I did that.  It was a dusk ride, and for me, it was getting past the first drop.  I wasn't a big fan of airtime yet, plus going through the loops concerned me.  I came off realizing it was an easier thing than I made it out to be.  The very next ride was my first Beast night ride.  On my first trip to CP in 1999, it took me a while to warm up to Magnum, though I rode near equally large rides like Mean Streak, Raptor and Mantis with ease.  Something about going over 200 ft got to me.  It seemed pretty high at the time.  My first Magnum ride was also a night ride, which is now something I make sure I do every visit I make to Sandusky.  

 

The ride that truly got me hooked was Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure.  It was one of the pinnacles of the coaster industry at the time and it made a lasting impression on me, one of the wildest rides I've ever done and the floorless aspect really made it come together about what a coaster could do.   

[jsus]

The entire drive down, I was terrified, thinking that there was no way that I would ever go on one of those terrifying contraptions.  After all, I had never been to an amusement park, and was eleven.  We walked through the queue for the former Disaster Transport at Cedar Point.  None of us knew what was going on until we boarded the train (bobsled).  By the time that ride was over, I was hooked.

 

On our next trip two years later, I had my heart set on Dragster, despite having been on little other than Disaster Transport and Snake River Falls the previous trip.

[jcgoble3]

My mother brought me to PKI about once a year in the mid-90s (for reference, I was born in 1987). However, I was mostly a chicken, and wouldn't ride anything other than what is now the Great Pumpkin Coaster and Woodstock Express, and some of the small flats like Scrambler. I even chickened out of the Days of Thunder ride in Action Theater. After a few years, I suddenly decided that I wanted to do something bigger, so I begged to join my mom on The Racer (forward; I was too chicken to go backward). She knew me too well, and realized that I didn't realize just how much bigger and faster The Racer is than what is now Woodstock Express, so she tried to talk me out of it, but I insisted. So we rode together, and by the time we got back to the station I was crying and didn't want to ride anything else. Soon after, changes in my parents' employment stripped them of the ability to afford trips to KI, which was fine by me since I wanted nothing to do with the place; it had spooked me that bad.

 

Fast forward to May 2010, at age 23. I was sitting at my computer, idly surfing the internet while keeping one eye on a Reds game on TV when an ad for KI Gold Passes came on the TV. Over the previous few years I had beaten several of my childhood fears, and I had also been looking for a diversion; something that could get me out of the house a couple times a month. I did a few Google searches, which allowed me to find both KI's website as well as KIC. After thinking about it for a few hours and studying my budget, I pulled the trigger and bought a Gold Pass online. On the first visit, I stuck to the smaller rides, starting with Adventure Express and Backlot Stunt Coaster, and then continuing with Flight Deck and The Racer, and found myself to be comfortable on all of them. The second visit I added The Beast, Firehawk, and Vortex, and on the third visit I added Diamondback, Invertigo, and Flight of Fear. I still remember my first ride on Diamondback, during morning ERT. I was nervous going up the lift hill, and screamed all the way down the first drop, but I quickly found it to be a fun ride, and by the time I got off I was ready to hop right back in line (and did, this time without screaming). I've been hooked ever since.

[homestar92]

A (now ex-) girlfriend dragged me kicking and screaming (quite literally) onto Flight of Fear. When I got off the ride, the next words out of my mouth were "let's ride the red one now!" (Aww, look at younger me, I was one of the people who calls Firehawk "the red one"!). 

 

And that's the story of how I fell in love with, and very nearly fell out of love with roller coasters in rapid succession (Firehawk reminds me of the dentist. No thank you!).

 

Then we went to Vortex... And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

For any who may be wondering, there is no ill will between us and she is still a friend and occasional coaster buddy. But I sometimes have to stop and wonder what on Earth I was thinking...

[Magenta Lizard]

Every summer of my childhood, I went to KI a few times and CP usually one trip (two park days). During that time, I went on Beastie (now Woodstock Express) once, probably when I was five or six, and I can't remember anything but motion blur and terror. I never considered riding coasters after that, and was perfectly happy riding flats and playing games.

The summer I turned 12, I went to a Girl Scout sleep-away camp, as I had for a few years prior, but this time on a special program where for part of the week we rode up to CP and camped out there (also visited Perry's Island and Put-in-Bay). The girls I had made friends with were happy enough on the non-coasters, and we had a great time not pushing my boundaries

The next summer, I did the same camp, only this time the girls I hit it off with were thrill seekers. I could either hang out all day with girls I didn't like as well, or I could suck it up and try coasters. I don't remember actually being scared, although I probably was, before the first one, nor do I remember which we started on. But, from the first drop, I was hooked. I eagerly rode every coaster in the park at that time (I think there were nine then).

[SOBwasaSOB]

I was very nervous when I rode my first big ride (Son of Beast) but it debuted the season I was finally 48 inches tall and I braved a 2.5 hour wait to ride it with my dad and cousins. I almost cried towards the top of the hill, but as soon as I had survived the first drop I fell in love with the stomach in your throat feeling. I rode everything I was tall enough for that day (still very timidly) and have not feared a ride since.....well TTD had me nervous first ride.

It certainly helped me get over my fear knowing I be relentlessly made fun if by my brothers and cousins but when your first ride is the biggest one in the park you know you can handle the rest. Drop Tower REALLY freaked me out though even after a few rides on it.

[dtk1378]

I was always afraid of riding on roller coasters that go upside down when I was a kid, never really afraid of the normal roller coasters. So I always refused to ride Vortex or King Cobra, or even Flight Commander for that matter. It was eventually just a thing of me getting older and more brave. I rode King Cobra first since it just had the one loop in it and after I got used to riding that quite a bit I decided it was time to try out Vortex. Never got a chance to ride Flight Commander more than a few times though. I ride Vortex as much as possible now though when I go to the park.

[McSalsa]

Well, here's my story:

 

My first big roller coaster rides came at Indiana Beach in 1999 (I haven't gone back yet), on what was then their largest roller coaster, the 78-foot high wooden Hoosier Hurricane. Believe it or not, I wasn't afraid of this roller coaster, and rode it 3 times in a row with my dad. So what would eventually cause the fear? Read on.

 

In 2000, Paramount's Kings Island began to advertise Son of Beast (as you'd expect as it was the big new ride), the "Tallest, Fastest, Only Looping" wooden roller coaster in the world. At some point that summer (I think August), my family decided to make a trip, and having braved Hoosier Hurricane so easily at Indiana Beach, I was cocky "I CAN SO TOTALLY TAKE DA SON O' BEAST! AND The Beast TOO!!!". However, after a 2-hour drive (we got lost), we arrived and I laid eyes on Kings Island for the first time.

 

This was so totally NOT the same as Indiana Beach! Where that was a small park with only one "big" roller coaster (if you could even call Hoosier Hurricane big), here you had a monster wall of wood 218 feet in the air, a 315-foot Drop Tower, a 150+ foot Skycoaster, a 138-foot Vekoma Invertigo, and a 314-foot model of the Eiffel Tower staring a 10-year-old in the face...and that was just from the parking lot (oddly enough, as a kid, I was uber-confused and wondered how they hid The Beast so well as I only saw the 2nd lift hill late in the day from the Eiffel Tower- had only someone told me to look behind Vortex...). This mere sight alone made me chicken out from the big rides, especially Drop Zone and Son of Beast and anything with even one loop. While I did do 2 of the kids coasters (The Beastie and Top Cat's Taxi Jam- now Woodstock Express & Great Pumpkin Coaster) without much issue, and rode a bunch of the flats (Scrambler, Monster, Zephyr, a bunch of kids rides, and the now-defunct Antique Cars) and even did the Eiffel Tower, I didn't ride any big coasters (probably due to how much SOB alone was intimidating me with its sheer size). Save for one: I did agree to try Racer, since that was still pretty much on the same scale as Hoosier Hurricane (Racer is only 10 feet higher). But I was for sure doing fowards. But Racer was about to shock me with something I had never felt before, and at the time was very afraid of: Negative G-Forces, aka "Airtime".

 

I thought I was actually going to fly out of Racer. This scared me and made me not want to ride another roller coaster, well save maybe Hoosier Hurricane again, ever. While I had a good time overall at Kings Island in 2000, roller coasters weren't my thing anymore.

 

During the rest of the 2000's, however, I started growing and maturing and sometimes on TV I would catch a roller coaster special. I learned of parks like Holiday World, Cedar Point, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and others via these TV specials. And I would eagerly watch roller coaster POV's when they showed them on these shows. In 2008, when my sister announced she was going to Kings Island with a friend of hers, this sparked my interest again. I thought "I wonder what Kings Island is up to these days..."

The first result that came up that caught my eye? Something like this...

"Due to Accident, Son of Beast to loose loop..."

Me: "OH...well dang. An accident on Son of Beast? Well, the removal of the loop gets rid of half the reason I won't ride it. What else is new...hmm...Cedar Point bought Kings Island!?!? (I had no idea what Cedar Fair was at this point) Interesting. Wonder if Kings Island will get huge new roller coasters because of this."

My sister came home from that visit, and she had conquered her fear of roller coasters on that trip. She also reported a huge construction site, and I said jokingly "Giant steel roller coaster." Little did I know, a few days later when I got on the PC and looked up "Kings Island" again...

"Kings Island announces Diamondback: $22 million dollar 230-foot hypercoaster..."

 

Me: "HOLY COW I WUZ RIGHT WTF...(clicks POV animation of ride)...OK, this looks cool. Hey, what's this website...Kings Island Central..."

 

My sister wanted to go to Kings Island again in 2009 when I shared this news with her. I decided to face this fear head-on, and would go to: it had been 9 years. I was a 19-year-old teen now, not some little kid. I might react differently to roller coasters at this point. I even had my eyes on a candidate for my first big coaster in 9 years: The Beast. I noticed from POV's it only had 2 huge drops, tunnels didn't bother me much, and it was mostly low-to-the-ground. Yet the 2 huge drops would get me "ready" for other coasters with huge drops, I assumed. A week before the KI trip, we stopped at a local carnival, and I rode a few of their rides to get used to amusement rides again. It went well even though the Carnival had no rides that went upside down, something I wanted to "test" myself at. More time passed, and soon, it was May 16th, 2009. Go-time. And I did a Trip Report on this visit...

 

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/17880-a-very-very-late-may-16th-tr-by-mcsalsa/

 

The short version, for those of you who don't want to read a whole TR: the first big ride we did was The Crypt, and my sister lied to me saying it didn't go upside down. I should have known better once I sat down and there were big, thick OTSR's. Those usually mean you are going upside down! When the ride cycle ended, I was annoyed. But not scared. I was actually annoyed that a ride that was flipping me upside down...only did it twice and lasted like 30 seconds. "THAT SUCKED! I hope the other rides here are better than that..." (Luckily for me, so far, The Crypt is the worst ride I have ever ridden at Kings Island to date! Though I probably would have liked it back in the Tomb Raider days...) Next up was my first big coaster in years, as I had decided earlier, The Beast. I was a bit nervous going up the lift hill, but by the ravine drop, I realized "Hey...this isn't bad at all! WHEE!!! SUPAH FAST!!!" The final helix's intensity was still enough to scare me just a bit though. Not too badly though, as I told the group: "We just did a ride that flips, and a roller coaster with big drops. (Points to Vortex) Time to combine the two." My fear of roller coasters was dead at that point, as now I looked towards them with anticipation, instead of fear. When we rode Diamondback, I also finally realized what that airtime thing was I had heard about on KIC. And later that day, I made amends with the ride that had caused the fear in the first place and rode Racer. Never got to ride Son of Beast though- it broke down, and by the time I returned, it had closed for good. Then I joined KICentral myself and am here now... (BTW, that TR above was one of my first posts ever...)

 

It would still be another year and half before I'd ride Drop Tower though. And that and WindSeeker do make me nervous even today. Though not as bad as a Ferris Wheel, I recently found out.

 

And that is my long story of how I didn't have, developed, then lost my fear of roller coasters.

[rhyano]

I rode Vortex when I was 8 and loved it but then over the off season I got afraid of loops but then the next season is I rode Racer, I found it much better than Vortex so I kept seeing how many coasters I can ride in one day and that made me a coaster enthusiastist

[MDMC01]

I don't really have one defining moment, but for me, it started out with milestones. My first coaster was The Beastie (now Woodstock Express).The next milestones were Racer (forwards), Beast, Son of Beast and Flight of Fear. Between The Beast and his son, Adventure Express and Top Gun (now The Bat) were my go to rides. I think I fully got into riding roller coasters as a teenager; before then, I loved to ride stuff, but was afraid of a lot of them. One summer (or was it fall), The Beast got "stuck" (it stopped for probably a minute) on the first lift and that freaked me out; when I went to Universal (Islands of Adenture) that next year, I only rode Hulk as it didn't have a lift hill (as was worried about getting stuck again on coasters with lift hills). Now that I think about it, I think Mantis was sort of a defining moment as that's one of first rides I rode by myself at another park besides Kings Island. I don't remember every detail of how I got to where I am today, but I do know this, by 2008, I was riding coasters like crazy, just like I do now!

 

EDIT: I remember in my early days I could only do about 4-5 rides a day and I was done. Now I can do much, much more!   

[xXDrummerKiDXx]

Keeping the story short:

I was always afraid of going down big hills and upside down.

Until I turned 7 and saw my family riding all of the big rides while I sat in the little area where kids who were too short or didn't want to ride sat.

So, I forced myself on Vortex.

I kept my eyes closed most of my first ride.

But I loved it so much, I had to ride again.

Now, I'm obsessed.

[kingsislandfan1972]

When I was little I used to be afraid of coasters until I rode OPA! at Mt. Oylmpus in Wisconsin Dells. But before that I was absolutley terrified of them, but now I absolutley love them. I worked my way up by going on smaller coasters and working my way way up to bigger coasters. My first major coaster I rode was none other than The Beast! The more coasters I went on, the more I wanted to ride. To this day I am a big coaster enthusist!

 

This is OPA!, for the ones who haven't seen what it looks like.

 

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/05/43/b1/3a/opa-indoor-roller-coaster.jpg

[benny1388]

I was never really afraid. I've been riding since such a young age that I remember having to sit and not ride certain rides when I was a little guy, but I honestly don't remember the first time I rode a coaster. I do, however, remember my first ride on The Beast.

 

I had to sit and wait so many times and I watched train after train of riders returning to the station with smiles on their faces that I couldn't wait for the chance to ride it. Then that magical day where the top of my head was high enough up on the sign that said you had to be "this tall to ride" (wer Hanna Barbara characters used throughout the park, or just in HB-land?)...and I was suddenly in fear for my life. My mom would not let me back out, and I was scared feces-less the entire time in line...

 

Before our train came to a stop in the station at the end of our ride, I looked at my mom and said, "Can we go again?". Since then, there's only been one coaster I actively do not want to ride again and that is Firehawk...and that actually makes me sad.

[faeriewench]

I was a Jr Gemini kid...then my cousins dragged me on Magnum.

There's my story.

[shark6495]

Umm not sure I ever did get over the "fear" of coasters.  I love em and will ride them, but there is always a dreaded feeling in my stomach. 

[NoChickens]

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/28023-tips-for-introducing-someone-to-coasters/page-3

 

 Post #90

[coasterfanatic83]

My grandma, aunt, cousin, and I were at Cedar Point, probably around age 9-10. I had been to KI before that, so I had ridden some smaller coasters prior to this.  I wasn't too sure about Gemini, so I said that I'll try the little one first (Jr. Gemini). When I got in line and saw that there was a bunch of little kids on it I didn't want to look like a baby so I went on the big one instead. And it was all downhill from there.

[marth555]

I was with a Group and I didnt want to chicken out of the first ride so I went on Firehawk and that was the start of my obsession

[darkrider68]

Cedar Point was always my home park.  We went there every year mid-late 70s, but I was always afraid of Corkscrew and Gemini.  In the early 80s we went to KI and with that magical visit, my fear disappeared.  I couldn't get enough of Racer, Screamin' Demon, Bat and Beast on that trip. Haven't had any fear since. 

[jbeast]

As a small kid, maybe 4 or so, my dad took me on what was then The Scooby Doo coaster. I was thrilled, but more on the scared side...I don't think my brain completely computed what I just went through. But, the thrill was enough to get me back on it over and over again that same season to where I really loved to ride it. But, I vividly remember walking next to The Racer, way before The Beast was built, and thinking there is no way I'm ever getting on that thing. It was just way too tall...it's funny to think, I know.

 

Then, at 8 years old, my grandpa who used to take me everywhere on vacations and my uncle who lived in Los Angeles at the time took me to Magic Mountain. The Revolution was brand new at the time and man was it intimidating. After being there almost all day, my grandpa talked me into riding it saying the loop looks like fun. I was scared and I still, to this day don't know why I said ok. Happy I did though! For some reason it just clicked. I rode with my hands up the whole ride (before the shoulder restraints), and I've never looked back since. That's definetley the ride that got me hooked. Luckily it did, so when I got back to Cincy, The Beast, Screamin Deamon and Bat and all their aura and mystique at the time was waiting for me. I remember seeing tv commercials for each of those coasters as a young kid. And the artwork and logo designs for each also spurred me to get into the creative design field. Funny how it all works out sometimes.

[Steph88]

My first coaster was Gemini. I think I was 7. My dad made me go on it with him. I don't remember being super terrified, just very hesitant. I required a little cajoling and I got on it. I've loved coasters ever since. Loved watching TV specials about the latest and greatest new coasters, etc.

 

However I was still scared of loops until I was 13, and once again my dad convinced me to go on a coaster with him. Serial Thriller at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. I actually liked it a LOT and got over my fear. I rode just about everything after that.

 

I still prefer coasters without inversions, but I'm not scared of them anymore. I just like coasters like Diamondback where it's more about airtime. Also sometimes overdoing it on looping coasters will give me a bad headache/neck ache. But that mostly depends on the coaster.

 

Edit: Typos in park name.

[CoasterDirected]

I am so glad to see this actually getting a decent amount of replies, I really enjoy reading them. Especially @McSalsa

[Voicetek]

When I was young, I would not go near coasters.  Well, not any of decent size anyways.  I was fine enough to ride the kiddie coasters, or what could be considered kiddie coasters.  There was a small coaster in kiddie land at Americana that I used to ride.  Also, I was sort of a fan of The Beastie when I was younger.  That was pretty much it.  My trips to the park were not all that exciting.  I would stick to the smaller rides and that was it. 

 

It was the year that Adventure Express opened that would be a turning point for me.  I was 10 years old and I was about to make an exciting transition.  I remember riding Adventure Express and loving it.  Here was a slightly bigger coaster that I could ride that I was not afraid off.  See, for me, it was pretty much the drops that I was afraid of.  I was scared to death of that first drop and the others that might exist during the ride.

 

After becoming very comfortable with Adventure Express, I started to get the urge to try out more coasters.  I expressed this urge to my dad who then began to bribe me.  One Saturday morning during breakfast, he told me that if I would get on The Racer that day, he'd buy me an Adventure Express hat.  I was like, "ok."  So, during our visit to the park that day, I braved The Racer and got my hat.

 

That was just the beginning.  From there I made my rounds slowly, but surely over the next couple of years going from coaster to coaster.  I don't remember the exact order of things, but I think it was Beast next, then Vortex, then King Cobra and so on.  Finally I had ridden all the coasters in the park and I had discovered something: I loved roller coasters!  Now I'll get on pretty much anything.  The bigger the better!  I love the speed and now, I love the drops! 

 

Although it took me a while to get the courage to ride coasters, it was definitely worth the wait!

[Cdeq]

I went to KI a couple times when I was younger. We spent most of the time in Nickelodeon Universe (i think that was the name) In,2009 I was (10 or 11) my dad took me 4th of July weekend. The only ride I really wanted to ride was Firehawk.  For Diamondback, my dad had to bribe me to go. After that, i felt like i could conquer anything. The only thing I didn't want to ride was Face off, I cried when my dad brought me in line.  Now I have been on everything in the park and been obsessed. 

[electricsun]

I don't really remembering ever feeling afraid or cautious. We spent most of our time in Hanna-Barbara Land when I was little as I was short and had a younger sister. Between ages of 9-16, we didn't go to any parks. I went to Cedar Point and Kings Island with outside groups in high school and CP with a date in college. But I just remember going with the flow and having lots of fun. I didn't really not want to ride anything.

What I do remember is watching my oldest nephew get over those "milestones" as his first visit to KI was when he was nine. I took him to Jungle Jack's Landing at the Columbus Zoo as a tester before taking him to KI. He loved all the spinning rides while I discovered that I couldn't handle them anymore. We rode Sea Dragon and he loved it so much that we came back to it and he rode it three times in a row with a group of middle school boys that were also riding it over and over again. With that, I knew I would be in good shape to get him to ride at KI. I think we rode Flight Deck (now, The Bat) first. The rest of the rides we just looked at, I described and we tried it. I didn't give him a choice about The Beast as I told him he couldn't come and not ride it. We could test different seats on each of the rides and would have lots of compare and contrast conversations.  It took him a year to get up enough courage to ride Diamondback. His reaction after was "WHOA! Why did I wait so long?!" Yeah dude...I tried to tell you! Almost four years later and he is asking about going to other parks. I may have created a monster.

[Creed Bratton]

I still get nervous on each coaster I'm on.....I'm not necessarily afraid or have a fear, but the height is what gets me. The honest way that I got over that fear was climbing the lift of Diamondback when I worked at Kings Island.

[jdf21972]

Still have yet to conquer my fear of TTD. Just looking at the height and the speed just makes me squirm