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Scared of Roller-coaster's Need Advice

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Neilandrewhall

Roller Poster
Hi All
New Poster as one of my friend's has advised me to post over here for the best advice.

Hopefully you wonderful people will be able to Help me;

Im Absolutely petrified of Rollercoasters :( at Thorpe Park the only coaster i can managed is x-No Way Out as its in the DARK!. [Last time I went it was]

I see all the big rides like SAW and my jaw just goes :shock:

What advice can you guys give me to overcome these big rides? as my fear is falling out and killing myself because i don't think your strapped in enough :(
 
Hi Neil, being scared of rollercoasters can make your experience of being at a theme park crap. Usually when I start out at a new park such as Thorpe I do X to warm up it's an ok ride nothing special and is good for people that are scared. My advice would be to start off with Stealth and then if you still feel scared afterwards then you know you don't like coasters. Me being a skinny build doesn't help on some flat rides Saw and Stealth but you can do it.
 
Ride the biggest and fastest thing you can find. If your fine with that, your fine with anything.

Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk
 
Like i bought a Premium merlin Pass yesterday and I know their is no Theme park's open at the moment now till February its got me thinking how do i go about doing it? Thinking should I go Chessington or Thorpe Park First? I'm 5ft6 with Epilepsy and only weigh 8 and a half stone that's why ive got a fear of falling aswell.
 
Do Thorpe go all out and do Stealth. As most people say MAN UPP lol. Don't worry I'm 8 stone how do you think I feel on euro fighters and stealth along with rush and slammer.
 
I was in a similar situation when I was younger. I wouldn't go near a large coaster, didn't visit parks for years. It was only in 2007 that I started riding coasters and discovered that I really enjoyed the experience.

Personally, I chose to start small and work up. At each point, I rode something that introduced something else into the mix (height, inversions, launch, vertical drop etc.) and basically got used to each one in turn until it no longer bothered me.

The first thing to remember is that there is no risk of falling out. The rides are designed with redundant safety systems in place, and even if the restraint doesn't seem to sit tightly on you it's not a problem. As long as you're tall enough to meet the minimum hight limit for the ride, there's no way you're getting out of the restraint once it's closed, and modern rides won't allow the train to be dispatched until all the restraints are safely closed.

I'd probably start with Chessington first. Rides like Vampire and Dragon's Fury aren't too intense, but will give you a decent starting point without being too intense. Thorpe Park can then be a good second park to visit once you're ready to up the thrill factor. I'd suggest Nemesis Inferno as a good place to start at Thorpe, as it brings a bit of extra height and inversions without being too long or intense and then decide where you want to go from there. Stealth may look terrifying, and that launch has a pretty serious kick to it, but it looks a lot worse than it is. The same could be said for a lot of roller coasters actually.

One thing that a lot of people seem to dislike when starting out is the stomach-wrenching feeling they get when going down a big drop. That will subside with time as you ride coasters and your body gets used to the feeling. In the short term, if it's a problem for you, try to avoid breathing in as you go down the drop (either hold your breath or breath out).

Don't try to fight what the ride is doing. Initially, just keep your head back, hold on and let the ride take you where it wants to take you.
 
...OR just do what feels right for you. Because either going straight in at the deep end with big coasters like Stealth or starting with something more tame like Vampire and working up to Stealth works depending on you.

Having a group of friends can help you feel calmer in the queue and can ease any nervous feelings you may get beforehand. That's how my colleague got on things earlier this year.

As Mr Mouse said, you don't need to worry about the things you mentioned, you'll be 100% ok on any rides in an established theme park as long as you meet the height requirements (which you probably do).

I hope our advice helps in the new year :)
 
jj23w said:
Start bigger it's the better option especially with stealth.
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So wrong.

peep said:
Just find the smallest and work your way up.
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So right.

I was never 'scared' of big coasters but I remember looking at photos of the 'big' coasters at places like Thorpe Park and Alton Towers, (I particularly remember seeing the Big One in 2007 and thinking holy **** I'll never ride that) and thinking, nah not for me. I was **** ing myself when it came to riding Turbo on Brighton Pier in 2010, my first inversion on a coaster. But I did it and loved it, I think I was then sold, in October that year I went to Thorpe Park, I rode Nemesis Inferno first because it didn't look too terrifying and throughout the day slowly warmed up to Stealth when my brother and his kids were going on it.

There's no point in starting in the deep end, if you don't like the experience for whatever reason, you'll be put off for life. I might also suggest trying a few scarier looking flat rides too.
 
I used to be scared of coasters. I only got into them in September 2012. For me, it worked best to start with the smaller ones and work your way up. Starting with big ones might put you off for good. The far majority of rides are much less scary than they look. And you'll get used to the feeling. I kind of miss it now.
 
ray boundy64 said:
Start small and do it again and again then work your way up a step at a time.
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Repeat rides can definitely help. You'll know you're on the right track if you come off a ride buzzing, but are still nervous about re-riding. That's normal. Once again, the nerves will subside with time as you get used to the sensation of riding and you learn what to expect. In future, you'll start to see rides in terms of stuff you've already experienced eg. "Like Nemesis Inferno, but with a cobra roll", or "like Colossus, but a bit bigger and with less inversions".

If you can handle all the major coasters at Thorpe you'll be fine with just about anything.

Jordanovichy said:
I might also suggest trying a few scarier looking flat rides too.
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I'd add to that, beware of Detonator. Be sure you know what you're getting into before you ride it. It's amazing, but considerably more intense than its size would suggest. Don't ride that one until you feel you're ready for it, or you may find yourself put off drop towers for a long time.
 
Had a horrible first visit to the Towers where I chickened out of absolutely everything bar I think the Beastie or whatever it used to be on the Spinball site (could be way off there, I was young).

Went again with my school when I was 14, talked up the rides to the extent I was more fearful of being mocked for backing out when there than the actual ride. Went on Oblivion. Loved it, even though it's a ride that still scares me and still gets my adrenaline going.

After that I remember going on Corkscrew no problem at all, but left out Nemesis.

So yeah, if needs be and you think it works for you talk yourself into a position where you can't back down :p
 
I too was really scared of coasters back in the days, until I rode a few and found out they're a lot more fun than scary. In my experience, there are two sorts of "fears" you experience before riding: The fear of being upside down (inversions), and the fear of heights.

The fun thing with inversions is that they look a lot more scary from a stationary point of view than they do on the ride. Unless you're sitting in front row (and generally, you don't if it's your first ride on a big coaster), the seats in front of you, and the car you're sitting in, will fill most of your field of vision anyway. And those things will remain stationary relative to you for most of the ride, so on-ride it will look a lot more like the world is inverting around you than vice versa. There's also the G forces involved, pressing you against the seat regardless of the direction of travel (which furthers the illusion that you're the one sitting still). Unless the inversion is of the extremely slow type, you don't feel like you are upside down, but rather that the landscape is flipping around. Once you've experienced a few, you realize that inversions is nothing to be afraid of.

As for great heights, they're most intimidating as you're climbing (usually on lift hills), which I still admit to be a little unsettling to me. On the plus side, they usually offer a great view. Lift your gaze, enjoy the scenery, and look at the horizon. Sooner or later you'll go over the top, at which point the adrenaline rush will probably override your fears anyway. The illusion of impending danger will be washed away by sheer thrill. Plus, you're allowed to scream if you feel like it.


There is the "argument of crowds" too. If the rides weren't so enjoyable, there wouldn't be 45-minute queues for riding them. All those hundreds of people ahead of you in line have decided the ride is worth waiting for, because they know it's going to be fun. The park is letting all those thousands of people ride every day, despite getting their socks sued off if anything goes wrong, because these things almost never go wrong. The coasters of the world provide millions of hours of fun every day, and injuries almost never happen (actually, you run a bigger risk walking from the parking lot to the park entrance than you do riding the rides). The thrill rides are engineered to be extremely safe, to be as fun as possible, and the entire business plan of the park hinges on people having a good time riding them. It's pretty safe to assume you too will have fun riding.
 
jj23w said:
Start bigger it's the better option especially with stealth.
Click to expand...

You must be scared of coasters too considering that you've only been on 22.

I agree with most of the posters. Work your way in gradually, but, if you hit a wall and find the next step up is too much, take a deep breath and smash through that wall.
 
Visit a park like Chessington or even Legoland first, so you won't be too intimidated by any of the coasters you see.

Go on a quiet day if you can (school term time / or a Sunday before summer) - the less time you wait to ride, the less your fear / nervous anticipation will build up.

Don't watch the ride over and over before you get on, just chat to your mates in the queue or look at the rest of the park to distract yourself.

Don't put pressure on yourself to ride something big, try one coaster that looks the least imposing first and gradually find your comfort zone. (Even if it means riding X a few times to warm up!) If you manage to get on one big coaster at Thorpe, then you've done well for the day - you don't have to ride them all in one visit.

To avoid the stomach-in-your-mouth feeling, sit in the front row and watch the track as you go round. Watch a Coasterforce POV on youtube before riding a coaster, so have an idea of what it's like.

Log Flumes are a fun way to get used to drops without riding coasters, so have a go on them to warm up.

Remember, the nerves are a necessary part of what makes riding roller coasters exciting, so it's good to have a bit of butterflies in your stomach. The exhilaration you will feel having conquered a ride that scares you will make you feel invincible as you walk out the exit.

Don't take jj23w's advice and plonk yourself on Stealth straight away, chances are - you could put yourself off coasters for good if you throw yourself in at the deep end like that.

There are always 'softer' versions of most types of coasters, so try those first to figure out what you like / dislike. Ride a Gerstlauer Bobsled like Cobra at Paultons before a Eurofighter like Saw. Then ride a Eurofighter like Saw before a B+M Dive Machine like Oblivion. Ride a suspended family coaster like Vampire at Chessington, before a B+M invert like Nemesis. Ride a Vekoma launch coaster like Velocity at Flamingo Land, before an Intamin one like Stealth.

For that first big thrill, I'd suggest trying a B+M invert coaster like Nemesis Inferno first, the seats are very comfy and you feel so secure in those restraints. The novelty of your feet dangling will provide a good distraction from any nerves. The inversions are quick and the drop is bland, so you won't be too surprised by any of the elements.

Good luck!
 
Do a mix of what many of these posts suggest. Start out small and work your way up. If you think you can skip to a more intense coaster, then GO FOR IT! That's what I did when I got over my fear of launch coasters. Jumped from Rock n Roller Coaster to Kingda Ka. Now I love launches. Best of luck to you!
 
Get money to do it, hit up a medium sized one with just a couple or three inversions and then get hooked.

My VERY FIRST was corkscrew and it got me hooked. Wasn't scared or even threw up!

if you start out with inversions it will coast you in nicer as well. :)

However, naturally I'm not afraid of anything. spiders, snakes, rollercoasters, heights, thunder, loud noises, fast cars, BIG HONKIN TRUCKS, etc.... HO FEAR HERE!!

I've seen the manliest of men brought down by a snake or spider or a coaster like the beast or the bat or magnumxl and I had a hard laugh at them. USE THIS AS YOUR MOTIVATION AND YOU WILL DO EXCELLANTE!!!


My lack of big cash flow is the only thing that keeps me from going on all extreme coasters ever!!! I hope to do so someday!
 
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