When did you start liking roller coasters?

[Butter]

I pose the question for a simple reason... my family got Paramount Kings Island (near Cincinnati) season passes for the first time in the kids' lives this year (and for the first time in my life or my wife's for that matter).

In thinking about it, I considered whether or not my oldest son, Ethan would enjoy riding a big coaster or two with me. He's about to turn 6. I know that when I was 6, I wouldn't even ride the spider-y looking ride that spins you around and sends you up and down a bit. In fact, I cried on it once, and didn't go on another amusement park ride until I was 18.... when I really started getting into roller coasters.

Ethan told me he would ride a big ride with me. He is just over 48" tall, the minimum for most big rides. I told him if he didn't like it, he never had to do it again.... and I didn't make him the first time. He said he wanted to ride The Beast with me. OK... I was all for it, but wasn't sure how he'd react.

We went on the old Beastie (now the Nickelodeon themed "Fairly Odd Coaster"). He liked that a lot. I told him the Beast was kind of like that, but a lot bigger and higher and faster. He still said OK. So, we went off and rode it, leaving my nearly 4-year-old Alex to pout about being only 43" tall. I tried to impress upon Ethan that he was totally safe, and even moreso because I was there with him.

We went up the first hill... and already I was thinking it was a mistake. Ethan betrayed nothing, sitting mostly motionless, but looking a bit concerned. Then we go over the first drop... and that thing jars you around a lot... and Ethan is small in the seat, so he got thrown around a lot more than I did.... then, as we're approaching the 2nd lift, he says "I wanted to stay with Mommy!" I assure him that it'll be over soon... he never started crying, but he didn't enjoy it. So much so, that he didn't want to ride anything the rest of the day.

He did ride one more semi-scary ride in Nickelodeon land, called "Avatar - The Last Airbender"... a small coaster, but kinda weird. It's basically a big rotating platform that goes back and forth along a couple of hills spinning around. It made me a little sick... and Ethan started crying shortly before it ended, despite assuring me that he really did want to ride it.

Later on, I was asking him why he didn't like it... he said "I did like it!" He said he wanted to ride it again next time in fact. I said "so why were you crying then?" He said he wasn't crying. I said "so why did I see tears?" He said those were "tears of fun." Yes, tears of fun.

I guess I just kinda feel bad about taking a nearly 6-year-old on The Beast... but I honestly didn't know how he'd react to it until he did it, and was wondering how young some of you started riding the big coasters.

Alex did ride a few small things and had fun, but didn't really like the coasters because "they made my tummy hurt" (by going up and down really fast).

[tanglewood]

When I went to Disneyland age 10. Before it wasn't that I didn't like rollercoasters so much as I was too nervous to ride on them, but when there I guess I decided to make the most of it and just jump in head first. Absolutely loved rollercoasters ever since.

[Bee]

I went on a coaster when I was a kid (probably around 10) and hated it. Never went back on one until I was in college. I enjoyed that much better. I think the coasters today are much better because the one memory I have from the first coaster I went on as a kid was violent shaking and feeling like it was going to come apart (Of course back in the 70's that was probably a possibility :D). Now when I go on one it's about the speed and movement which I enjoy.

[Raiders Army]

I like them and the Tilt-a-Whirl. Thing is, you want a fat person next to you in the Tilt-a-Whirl, but not on a roller coaster.

[finkenst]

i worked for two years at KI...

i miss those days

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's going to almost certainly be a case by case thing here Bof69.

Case in point -- I don't do coasters. Period. I don't care much for anything more than about 6 feet off the ground.

On the other hand, my just-turned-8 year old thrillseeker will ride almost anything. Loved the new Expedition Everest at WDW, rode everything at Six Flags/GA except (I think) Superman, rode all but one of the coasters at the park in Virginia (can't remember the name, I wasn't on that trip).

But it's interested to see what he doesn't like to ride, especially since you touched on his biggest reason for the ones he doesn't like. Tower of Terror at WDW is a good example: he rode it 2-3 times, liked it okay except that because he's so light, he tends to "float" out of the seat. And it isn't the floating that he dislikes so much as it is the ker-thump each time he returns to the seat. It doesn't scare him particularly (I believe that since he'll admit to the ones that do scare him), he just doesn't like getting thumped on a ride all that much.

[CraigSca]

I had never been on a roller coaster until I was 16. I guess my family just wasn't a roller coaster family. Anyway, went to a birthday party at Great Adventure and went on the Sarajevo bobsled and Rolling Thunder. Only after going on both of those did I realize how much I hate the feeling of losing your stomach and being completely out of control. Now...I'm a mess at theme parks and wouldn't get on one if you paid me.

[TargetPractice6]

I've gone to King's Island ever since I was a little kid and never got up the guts to ride any roller coasters until I was about 14 (I think... 13-14 sounds about right). I rode The Beast one night and absolutely loved it.

[sabotai]

Always have and always will.

[Karlifornia]

I remember I went to a King's Island in Ohio when I was about 5. I was petrified of roller coasters, but I wanted to impress my cousins, so I went on a kiddie coaster. Big Mistake. I was scared shitless. I got over my coaster fear a few years later, and now I will ride absolutely anything. Even Thunder Mountain Railroad during a snowstorm.

[Lathum]

I love them all, the more out of control I feel the better.

I wouldn't feel bad butter. If you don't take him on the ride you are the mean daddy. He made the descion on his own and it doesn't sound like he was to traumatized.

[Bearcat729]

When I worked at KI I would go ride the coasters rather than go on break.


Anyone been up to Cedar Point and rode the Top Thrill Dragster? Hell of a coaster, but not something I would wait hours in line to ride.

[Greyroofoo]

Best time to go to Cedar Point is in May. I went last year and no ride (including top thrill dragster) had more than a 20 minute wait. The lines on wooden coasters were almost non-existent

[MrBug708]

Cant stand them. Splash Mountain at Disneyland is pushing it

[Lorena]

I have always LOVED them!

[ScottVib]

13-14 I really didn't have the guts until the first time I was at an amusement park with a girl and didn't want to look like a wimp. (The stupid things guys do... :p ) I actually enjoyed myself and didn't need further prompting to ride roller coasters after that.

[dawgfan]

As far as I can remember, I've liked roller-coasters. Now, that's not to say I've always liked them - just that I can't remember a time that I didn't. The fact that I definitely did love them at some point in my childhood might well cloud a possibility that I didn't at first.

I'm pretty sure my roller-coaster history was that I first became aware of them at the extremely modest amusement park at the Seattle Center, and I probably rode a small kid's version of a roller-coaster first (it was very small and not that exciting relative to modern, big roller-coasters) and liked it. I then moved up to the bigger (but still relatively small) roller-coaster there. My first time at Disneyland was when I was around 7 or so, and I was tall enough to ride all the roller coasters there at the time - Space Mountain, the Matterhorn and Big Thunder Railroad. I loved all of them, and I always hit the roller-coasters first at any amusement park I go to.

[Sweed]

I was 9 or 10 when I took my first ride on a big wood coaster in 1969. I remember I was nervous because my Mom told me she rode it when she was young and it nearly broke her neck.

Rode in the front car with my brother and it was a very slow day at the park. Loved it and since there was no line the operator let us stay in the front seat for 15 consecutive rides.

Butter as far as your 6 year old I wouldn't feel bad if he was excited and asking to go. There's a very good chance you feel worse than he does. I know I hated it when my kids did try something that ended up scairing them.
The first time my son went tubing behind the boat I hit a wave I couldn't avoid and he flipped off it backwards. He wasn't real happy and I felt about as low as I ever have in my life. I just talked to him about it back at the campsite that night. Explained what went wrong and how sorry I was. Also
told him that whenever he felt like trying it again to let me know, no pressure to get back on the horse or anything like that. A couple of days later he was
ready to try again and decided he liked it.

I think the positive to try to take from this is he has now gone once and knows what it is. I don't know you or your son but if it were me I'd talk to him about it. Let him know that there will never be any pressure to try again but if and when he thinks he'd like to that you'll be there to go with him.

[Craptacular]

I was a little scared of them at first, and finally went on Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain when I was 12 or so. I still wasn't thrilled, but the next time we went to Great America, I gave Demon a try. I was instantly hooked, and now will go on pretty much anything the parks have to offer.

[Rizon]

How do contact-lens wearers deal with roller-coasters? I'm always afraid my lenses are going to come flying out.

[BYU 14]

Can never remember not liking them and still do......

Funny thing to me is how many Teens now seem not to like them. We take our Football Team to camp in California every year and the last full day there we hit Magic Mountain....always the highlight for me, but probably a third of the Kids don't ride any but the tamest Coasters because they are scared and come right out and tell you. These are the same Kids that would chew nails and run through a Brick wall on Friday nights if it would help them win.

[bbor]

If i want my head ripped off i'll wrestle my wife :)

[JeeberD]

I love 'em now but hated 'em until I was ten or so. I remember that we went to Expo '86 in Vancouver and there was a big coaster there. I would have been around nine years old that summer, and I refused to get on the sucker. My dad kept telling me that I needed to do it and would never have another opportunity to ride it again, but I refused. And I could tell that my pops was disappointed. Soon after that I decided that I needed to try coasters, and the next time went somewhere that had them I rode as many as I could...and fell in love with the bastards.

The only one I don't really like now is the Texas Giant at Six Flags over Texas. It's one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) wooden coasters in the country, and that sucker rattles and shakes and I always end up with a headache afterward...

[Terps]

I wouldn't go near one until I was at least 17 or 18 and now I like them all.

[kingfc22]

I want to say around 9 or 10, but I can't remember for sure.

[Marc Vaughan]

I'll let you know if it ever happens ...

To me RollerCoasters just don't make sense - wheres the excitement in something you KNOW is safe? - it has to be otherwise you couldn't go on it.

For me riding a motorbike is always going to be a bigger buzz than being crammed into an uncomfortable seat (I'm 6'6'') and subjected to centrifugal force for a few minutes while surrounded by people attempting to scare themselves .... bah humbug ;)

(my wife on the other hand loves them)

[ScottVib]

How do contact-lens wearers deal with roller-coasters? I'm always afraid my lenses are going to come flying out.

It's never been an issue for me. I've never had a problem with it.