Schrecken

Probably the most I've ever ridden a coaster in one day was Goliath at SFMM, where I rode it 32 times in one day (boy was I dizzy after going thru that helix so many times!). Otherwise, I've ridden at least a few other coasters maybe a dozen times in one day.

Sadly I made it to the "ripe old age" of 26 before I actually loved riding coasters. Before that, I had ridden a few here and there (only a couple of woodies, a wild mouse or two and a small carnival-type non-looping steelie, and also Space Mountain at WDW, which was my first) but my reaction to them was anything but love - it was more like "suffer thru it and be glad when it's over". I would only ride usually if someone else badgered me to join them; or in the case of the carnival coasters and mice, just to prove to myself that I could "handle it". But in the summer of 96' I found myself at SFA (wasn't SFA back then, it was still Adventure World) with one of my mom's friends (my mom was also there but her health is too poor for her to ride most coasters, besides she doesn't care for them anyway, but to her credit she did ride the Wild One that day) and one of her sons and his friends. Well, to make a long story short, my mom's friend dragged me onto the Mind Eraser, and the rest, as they say, is history. My first ride was anything but enjoyable (I was scared half to death - so much so I didn't even notice the head-banging at all, which wasn't anywhere near as bad as it is now, as that was a new ride back then), but something kept calling me back, and eventually, later that summer, after a couple more trips to the park, I found that I couldn't get enough of coasters. I hate to say that it was a now-notorious Vekoma SLC that sparked my love for coasters, but hey, that was way back in 96', and I didn't know any better.

If a ride is painful (extreme head-banging and/or serious roughness) then I won't be wanting to re-ride it and I won't rank it very high on my list. I can handle a couple of fairly rough patches on a woodie or some slight occasional head-banging on a coaster with OTSRs, especially if the rest of the ride is really good. But if my ears are stinging, my head throbbing, my neck and/or back aching after riding, that's it. If these things are bad enough, I put the coaster on my personal "do not ride" list. I hate to place any coaster on that list but unfortunately I've had to do it with a few, like both Hurlers, Wildcat at HP, Shockwave at KD, and Maverick at CP, and there are a few others. As for what makes a ride, any coaster that can make me hesitate, or even better, scare me the first time I ride it, is an all-time winner in my book (assuming that I also end up liking or really loving the ride - and pain and severe roughness are minimal or better yet, non-existent). Some examples include Millennium Force, TTD, I-305, and Skyrush (scare on the first two, hesitation on the 2nd two - I actually futzed around literally all day riding everything else before I decided to ride Skyrush - I was seriously worried about all the stuff I had heard about it!). Other qualities are coasters that are just flat-out fun - lots of airtime, and not painful to ride, like most B&M hypers.

I've had this problem with certain rides ever since I got into my early 30's (before that, only heavy-duty spinning would do it, like a Tilt a Whirl, Rotor, Graviton or similar ride). It started with Vekoma boomerangs (I could ride every other kind of coaster w/o getting sick), because the backwards part would make me queasy. I remember when Deja Vu opened at SFMM - I was there on media day and I was only able to ride 4 times when I got sick (I didn't throw up, just got queasy and had to quit). I did get totally sick on the boomerang at CGA a year or so earlier, but luckily I made it to the restroom before I tossed my cookies. A few years ago I began getting sick on looping coasters, not just boomerangs and spinning flats. I finally broke down and asked my dr. for a RX for the patch, and for the most part, it works really well. The only problem I have these days is indigestion brought on by looping coasters, which in and of itself can lead to nausea, even with the patch. I went to BGE a couple of years ago and ate a big breakfast that morning and then I got really nauseous on my 3rd ride on Griffon (funny thing it seemed I was OK in the seats closer to the center, but when I got on a far outside seat that was it). I decided to walk around for a while and wait until it went away, but as I was waiting for my friends to ride Alpengeist, it really hit me then. So I tried to find a trash can or some place where people wouldn't be walking, and I ended up puking in some bushes. But the peculiar thing was that the only thing that came up was the orange juice and coffee I had - no food came up at all, even though I had just eaten about an hour ago. Then earlier this year I went to HP and had breakfast that morning before hitting the park. I avoided the OJ but had a cup of coffee. Well, after just one ride on Storm Runner I was really green (I had ridden Fahrenheit three times right before that, but no nausea there). And again, I had to run and find a place to puke. And like at BGW, the only thing that came back up was the coffee. I've concluded that acidic beverages are a no-no, at least in the morning and along with breakfast (I can drink soda later in the day w/o problems). I also carry a small travel pack of antacids around with me in a park (they do work well if your problem is triggered by indigestion) and always wear a patch. Luckily, any problems I might have seem to be confined to the a.m. hours for some odd reason. Also, another thing that helps (for me, at least) - sometimes I get really dizzy from certain inverted coasters (which I fear might bring on nausea), so what I do is to close my eyes for the portion of the ride that causes that sensation. I rode Sidewinder at HP maybe a couple hours after my Storm Runner episode, and I just closed my eyes for the backwards portion of the ride, and that helped a lot. I am also careful not to get really hungry - I make sure I eat regularly because one time I got a little green on El Toro (after several rides) simply because I had an empty stomach and I was getting hungry. This is a frustrating problem to have - rather like someone who loves animals but is terribly allergic to them. But I've pretty well figured out how to beat this vexing problem by noting what triggers episodes and avoiding the things that are the triggers (like acidic drinks).

Probably one of the most memorable coaster night rides was my first night ride on Millennium Force - I had ridden it a few times during the day but I rode in the front at night (this was later in the year when the bugs weren't so bad) and I was actually creeped out by the sensation of the train disappearing into blackness as it ascended the lift hill. It looked like we were heading into nothingness due to the dark color of the track blending into the night sky. The rest of the ride itself was equally awesome, as of course most coasters feel like they are faster at night. I also found the Beast to be better at night, and the Voyage at night (this is one coaster where you don't want to take your first ever ride after dark!) was insane. Grizzly at KD is also better at night (though the one ride where I was riding with this guy who had never ridden it before wasn't so fun - he couldn't see where he was going and he ended up elbowing me in the head on one of the turns!). I-305 is best at night as well, and this also is a coaster you don't want to ride your first time at night! Also enjoyed my first ride on Skyrush at night (luckily the track is a light enough color you can still see it at night!).

I'd have to say my one and only ride on SOB back in 07' or earlier (I think that's when it was, at least it was before the loop was removed) was the worst of all - I've had very few coaster rides where I wish I could have stopped the ride and gotten off, but this was one of them. After the first couple of drops and the loop I felt like someone was jumping up and down on my head and jamming my neck vertebra down into my spine - needless to say, once I got off I had a pounding headache for at least an hour and my neck hurt for at least that long.

I'm not that into most flats because I don't care for too much of the centrifuge-like spinning that many of them do. However, there are some that I really enjoy and I could ride over and over, including S&S Screaming Swings (I really can't get enough of these, and usually never do because the lines aren't often short enough for many re-rides and every time I've come across one I have been traveling with a friend who doesn't care for them), Huss giant Frisbees (for some odd reason that same friend loves these, which is fine by me!), flying scooters, Himalaya-type rides (the kind with the fixed seats - not so much the swinging seats - y es these spin but there is more to it than a simple centrifuge), Trabants (these seem to be very rare these days), and also the old-fashioned wave-swinger type swing rides have a special place in my heart even though they aren't all that thrilling. The wave swinger was one that was both my best friend's and my favorite flat ride when we were teens, and as the years went on her health began to fail and she was no longer able to ride anything. So, when I'd go to a park she always asked me to "ride the swing for me", and since she passed away a few years ago, I always try to ride the wave swinger in her memory at least once at every park I visit if I have the time and the lines aren't too long. So I ride these for purely sentimental reasons. There is one other flat that I was really impressed with - the zipper. I can't say I'd be able to do any marathoning on one, since it's a very "active" sort of ride where you really have to work to brace yourself and hold on, but they surely have to be one of the most intense flats out there.

I'd remove the awful OTSRs on both Maverick and Revolution (leaving lap bars only on Revolution and putting I-305 restraints on Maverick) so I could actually enjoy both of those without getting a near-concussion. There are plenty of other coasters that have bad OTSRs that I'd replace with I-305 type or the new Vekoma type, but most of those aren't that great to begin with so probably wouldn't be worth it. I'd also do a New Texas Giant type revision on coasters that were a lot of fun when they were brand new, like Wildcat at HP and Hurler at KD.

The only coaster I ever bothered to keep count of ride times was on Goliath at SFMM - I figured I had ridden it at least 98 times (including 32 times in one day) over a period of a couple of years. Otherwise, I figure I've ridden coasters I like at parks I get to on a fairly regular basis probably a few dozen times, like at CP and KD. I am now keeping track of my rides on Skyrush this year, so far I'm at 13 total and I hope to marathon on it at least one more time before the year's end.

For worst B&M, it would have to be a tie between Vortex at CGA and Apocalypse at SFA. Both were rough and had an un-natural amount of head-banging for a B&M (in fact, back when I rode Vortex, I had never experienced any head-banging on a B&M and didn't think it was possible...). As for GCI, I'd also have to mention Wildcat at HP - rode that last month and really wish I hadn't.... I've never been on an Intamin that I would consider really bad, but there is, however, one that could be high up in my personal rankings if not for the awful OTSRs that the ride is cursed with. Maverick at CP could be a really fun ride for me if they would just retrofit it with I-305 style restraints. Otherwise, I'd much rather have to ride the front on Apocalypse at SFA than ride the front on Maverick, if I had to choose between riding one or the other. I really hated to place an Intamin on my "do not ride" list (these are the unfortunate few coasters that I find too rough/painful to ever want to ride again) but unfortunately with the beating I received the last time I rode it I have had no choice.

I don't bother so much with wood vs steel (unless that question is asked) or a rounded off number like a top 5 or ten. I've ridden roughly 183 different coasters over the course of my lifetime (most of them in the last 15 years as I spent a long period of my life terrified of coasters), which is a decent number from which to pick just a few faves. Basically my criteria for the top of my list (as said, there is no set number) are coasters that, for lack of a better description, blew my mind when I rode them the first time. What differentiates a mind-blowing ride from just a very enjoyable and fun ride are a few factors (not all need be present on each coaster but it must have at least one characteristic). The coaster must: #1 Scare the daylights out of me (either right before riding and/or on-ride) or at least make me very nervous about riding. This is a biggie - because I'm quite jaded and if a ride or coaster can do this then it's a winner for me. Note to coaster manufacturers and designers - if you can rise above the mediocrity and impress me this way you have my vote forever! #2 Exceed my expectations by a very long shot. #3 Provide something that is lacking (or seldom ever found in such quantity) on every other coaster I've ridden. This can include killer sustained airtime, an extremely powerful launch, extreme height, blistering over-all speed, other unusual characteristics that are unique to that coaster, etc. So only a precious few have ever met some or all of those requirements to end up in my own top personal ranks. Those coasters include (in no particular order): Millennium Force (see #1 and #3) TTD (see #1 and #3) The Voyage (see #2 and #3) El Toro (see #2 and #3) Skyrush (see #2 and #3) *Goliath at SFMM (#3 and also a bit of sentimentality on this one - it was at my home park, was my first hyper coaster, and I actually got to do some work on the coaster trains thru my job at the time. *Of course, these days #3 doesn't apply anymore but it did back then, so there are special reasons why I include this coaster over and above those listed earlier).

I found myself alone with a friend (if you can being with one other person alone) riding the Python at SFA one fall night when they were having their Halloween events. We were the only ones on the platform (other than of course the lone ride op on the boarding side) and the only ones to ride. It was pitch dark and the whole park was full of smoke from all the Halloween haunts and events they were having, and it was very quiet up there, just us and the sounds of the coaster in the night. It was also rather creepy and definitely lent an atmosphere to what was normally a rather simple, run of the mill Arrow shuttle loop. Then I was by myself (just me, no companion) on Verbolten for one night ride, and I was riding right in the front, and that was also otherworldly and creepy. I really enjoyed that one. For some reason (perhaps an ingrained psychological notion of there being safety in numbers; that, and facing something alone is almost always more daunting, even for those who have no fear of coasters) being alone on a coaster (or even with only one or two other people, leaving most of the train empty) is IMO a different experience than being on one filled with people, and it increases the thrill factor.

I have a few that intentionally chose not to ride (coasters that were up and running), most all of them due to wanting to avoid roughness and/or headbanging. I try to get all the credits I can, but ever so often there are a few coasters I just couldn't deal with. I often pass on kiddie coasters simply because they aren't worth the trouble. When I went to SFOG about 4 years ago both my friend and I (I had never been there before, and she hadn't been there in many, many years) passed on Ninja because it was hotter than hell (this was the summer that had those awful heatwaves down south - it had to be 110 degrees there in the park that day) and we were tired by the time we got to that part of the park, and I had a headache due to the heat. At the time I thought it was an Arrow and I was like "heck no"! But I was close as a Vekoma would have been just as bad in firing up an even worse headache. Otherwise I would have ridden it for the credit. When I went to SF Great Adventure a couple years ago I passed on Rolling Thunder because I had heard that it was extremely rough (also missed KK, but no fault of mine, as it was closed) and my back was acting up that day. I also had to pass on a couple of coasters at Dorney a few years ago because I was struggling with a bad bought of nausea brought on by riding Talon. I passed on Thunderhawk and Possessed that day, but I'm glad I forced myself to ride the Laser since it is now gone.

I've got a few - chronicling my history of coaster riding once I got past my coaster phobia. Here's an oldie of me on Anaconda at KD (looks like I'm still working out my coaster phobia, and maybe I was...I'm on the left in the back) Then there's my old fave Goliath at SFMM (on the right, in the back in the orange tie-dye shirt): And then me on TTD (on the left): Finally, I had to get one of myself riding the most mind-blowing coaster I've set foot on since I rode TTD and MF back in 04 (I'm in the left, or the viewer's right, center seat)':

I was going thru a big box of coaster and park memorabilia I forgot I had tonight and I actually found an article about the Universal coaster phobia program from an old news paper clipping, which I scanned here:

The first incident was when I was about 6 years old (this would have been hilarious at the time, but for the fact I was scared half to death, but when look back on it I find it funny) when I rode Space Mountain at WDW. I rode it with my mom and her best friend (I don't remember if the friend was in front of us or behind us, I think she was behind us), and back in those days it was much more common for women to wear wigs than it is now. Well, once we got off (I was scared half to death) my mom immediately started complaining to her friend (who supposedly didn't know what kind of ride SM was) that she had to spend the whole length of the ride holding onto her wig with one hand and the lap bar with the other! I don't think my mom was very thrilled that she almost lost her wig and had to hold onto it for dear life for the length of the ride. Later on I kinda got my mom's friend back for taking me on SM when we got on the teapots - I got it spinning so fast she got really, really dizzy and I was laughing at her! Then there was the time my mom took my cousin and I to WDW when I was 13 and he was 15. Well, we had ridden several of the rides and next up was the haunted house. As we got in line, all of the sudden my cousin began to freak out. Yes, he was actually afraid to do the haunted house (he had already been on Small World and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, so it wasn't fear of a dark ride) - seriously, what 15 year old would be afraid of the haunted house at Disney? Needless to say my mom and I thought it was really funny and we teased him about it for the rest of the trip. I don't think he ever went on it, either - so even worse he chickened out! At a Coastermania several years ago I was there with my friend and one of her friends who wasn't really into coasters, but had never been to CP before and wanted to go. Well, we rode TTD and when we got off and came into the photo area everyone was roaring with laughter. We looked up for our pictures and her friend had the most hysterical look on her face - her mouth was wide open and her eyes were bugged out and everyone was laughing their heads off. Well, she bought the picture and at later times in the day, she brought it out and we'd sit there and start laughing all over again. Then I went to Knoebels with this same friend (though her non-coaster friend wasn't with us) and we went to ride the hamster cage flat (sorry I don't know what it is called) and at that point I decided I was going get that cage spinning as fast as I could (she was OK with me operating the foot pedal since I'm younger and stronger). This woman is in heaven on a roundup or a graviton or an enterprise, so I thought I'd go ahead and spin the thing as hard as I could. Well, I really got the cage flipping fast and she looked totally surprised (and rather overwhelmed) at how fast I was able to make it go, and I started laughing and laughing and by the time the ride was over my face was beet-red - from laughing so hard and from all the spinning! Needless to say, we were both very dizzy. That reminds me of years before when I went somewhere (I don't even remember where, it's been ages ago + I think the ride is gone now so I don't know where it would have been) with another friend and we got on this flat ride that is like the Falcon at HP, but this one had cars that had this little button between the two seats that you could push that would cause the car to rotate around and go upside down over and over again, as long as you kept pushing the button. Anyway, he didn't know that it went upside down, and I started hitting that button over and over again and he kept saying my name "_____- hey, whoa, how are you doing that? What are you doing? Hey, whoa!" over and over. I was laughing my head off because I could tell he had no idea what was causing the car to flip (some other riders weren't flipping their cars), and I kept on cracking up when the ride stopped and I showed him the little button hidden between the seats (which he didn't see because he was tall and his legs blocked the view of it). I think this ride may have been at KD, as this was back in the late 90's.

I don't know if I can isolate just one, but I have ridden a few that I would never set foot upon again (actually quite a few of those would leave me no option to do that anyway, since they are long gone). Probably the worst of them all was Son of Beast - I had a raging, pounding headache and my neck hurt for almost an hour after I took my one and only ride on it. Then there was Drachen Fire (yes, I realize that there is still a lot of love for this coaster, but I'm willing to bet almost all of it is coming from people who are several inches taller than I am at 5'3") - I'll never forget the day when I went to BGE with my friend and every coaster there had an hour long line save for DF, and for the life of me I couldn't understand why it was a walk-on. The fact that it was a walk-on made me a bit suspicious but we rode anyway. Well, my neck got wrenched almost as bad as it did on SOB (it wasn't the head-banging as is normally the case on Arrow loopers; besides I can avoid a lot of that if I work at it on ones like Viper at SFMM) and it hurt for a good period of time after I got off. It was whiplash like that you would get in a car accident, on both DF and SOB. In fact, I did get into a car-totalling accident a few years ago where my car t-boned a much larger vehicle that ran a stop sign, and I was going about 25 mph at the time. It was bad enough that it turned the front of my car into an accordion and an off-duty paramedic came running to help me. And yet that still didn't hurt as bad as SOB and DF (actually all three events left me with a sore neck and a bad headache, but thankfully no permanent damage). Then there are just bad coasters that didn't leave me in pain for a while afterward but were painful during the ride and I wouldn't ride them anymore (for those that still exist): Wildcat at HP Shockwave at KD Hurler at KD (didn't even bother to get the credit at Carowinds!) Grizzly at CGA (rode it back when it was PGA) Windjammer at KBF Hoosier Hurricane at IB Psychlone at SFMM Maverick at CP (at least in the front of the train, where I got my ears boxed in pretty bad, I would only ride the back and only if I was with someone who really wanted me to ride it with them) Arrow loopers and SLCs are head-banger's ball territory, but if I was with someone who wanted to ride I could tough it out and defend myself from the head-banging.

Thanks for posting that - looks like they were different episodes but were made around the same time. IMO that would be cool if they made an updated version of that show - since there's a lot more stuff out there now than there was back when that was filmed.

Space Mountain at WDW was the coaster that put the phobia in me when I was 6, so I know what you are talking about here. I think the simple fact that it was indoors and pitch black in there was what did it for me. I know if someone had taken me on an outdoor version (like a wild mouse, or something like the Wildcat at CP) I would probably have liked it and wouldn't have been terrorized. But luckily you got over yours pretty early on; sadly I spent 23 whole years of my life avoiding coasters, so now I'm working hard to make up for lost time. Yes, it is odd that something that was once so terrifying can become so addicting; as with most simple phobias people learn to simply tolerate that which they once feared.

I have never been on the payroll of an amusement park, so the answer to that is no. However, I have spent a decent part of my career working in the amusement industry, including working for other companies who did work for various parks, and doing contract work with SFMM. When I lived in CA back in the late 90's and early 00's I worked for a company that did a lot of work on some stuff at Universal IOA. I was a scenic artist and I did some sculpting but mostly painting work on several of the characters that sit on top of the carousel in the Dr. Suess part of IOA. I also painted about a dozen of the aliens in the MIB ride, and I also got to glue some of the sensors in many of the figures, so needless to say, when I finally got to ride MIB, I had an unfair advantage! And while I worked for that company, I got one of the luckiest job assignments ever - a co-worker and I were sent across the street to SFMM to do repair work on the trains on Goliath. There were some cracks that had appeared in the fiberglass part of the trains right behind the seats, and our job (the job itself sucked - it was hot, and we had to wear protective gear) consisted of grinding down the paint and fiberglass, filling the cracks and touching up the paint. This was the off-season, so they only had one train running (the park was only open on weekends), and we were working on those that weren't being run. But the lucky thing was that one day (I think we were there for maybe three or four days) there happened to be a Discovery Channel crew there. No idea why they came on a day when the park was closed, there weren't even any coaster clubs there to film while riding. Well, on that day, my lunch break rolled around, and by then the film makers decided they wanted to see if the coaster ran faster with a loaded or empty train. So they were grabbing up anyone they could find to get a full train, and of course guess who volunteered (my co-worker passed, as he wasn't into coasters)! So I inhaled my lunch and joined a bunch of park employees who were rounded up to fill a train, and we were all told that we would have to go around for several times, at least 7 times and wouldn't be allowed off. So I was totally up for some mandatory ERT, especially since Goliath was my #1 steel back then. Let's put it this way - that was the best lunch break I've ever had in my whole working life! I got 7 rides in a row, non-stop cycling, no getting off, no nothing! On one of the other days they were also running one of the trains (no idea why, since the film crew wasn't there that day) and I got a ride or two again at lunch, and this time I had my camera with me and I asked if I could take some on-ride pics, and I got some really nice ones. Around that same time, I also did some freelance work for SFMM, working for the costume shop. I would do repair work on various costume parts, mostly the heads - like Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, etc - doing structural repair work on them. I would take some of the stuff home and work on it and then return it completed and hand them a bill, and other things were too big so I had to work on them on-site. I remember many times parking my car right behind Batman so I could get my tools and equipment out and work in the back of the costume shop. That's about the only time I ever really found the B&M roar annoying - because I had a radio and I couldn't hear diddly squat every time a train came around. But the best part was that when I was done and had handed them the bill, I could go right on into the park and grab a few rides on Goliath, Batman, Superman or whatever I wanted to ride before I headed home. I also developed some real sympathy for those who had to wear those costumes - I don't know how people didn't have a heat stroke in those things! I've also done a couple of odd jobs as a sub-contractor for a couple other parks, notably Silverwood in IA - they wanted a couple of fake lion skins for some kind of show, and I made two skins for them. I have pictures of my work for IOA but unfortunately the site I have my photos hosted on has been down for more than a day, so I will try to post a link when the site comes back online.

I remember seeing that too. I also remember an old Discovery Channel show on coasters where they were filming at BGE (don't remember the title of it, or if it was only about BGE or had other parks/coasters, but Alpengeist was their newest coaster at the time, so it would have had to have come out in the very late 90's) where some park employees dragged one of their co-workers who had coasterphobia onto Alpengeist. That poor woman screamed all the way thru and it sounded like she was being murdered - you could clearly see that she was terrified. Unfortunately there was no word as to whether she became a "convert" or was simply made worse in her phobia. I don't think she was very happy with her co-workers when she got off, but hopefully for her, maybe she did eventually come to love coasters. Actually, now that I think about it - both of these episodes could have come from the same show, given that they were in the same time frame.

I actually thought Skyrush was rather quiet (but perhaps that's because it's so close to the Great Bear) for such a powerful coaster, but I did notice the distinctive sound of the lift hill motor when I was taking pictures along the walkway.

As I recall (haven't been back out there since 01'), Goliath at SFMM had a very loud lift hill - sounded like a "pots and pans orchestra" of clanging metal from the anti-rollbacks. And yes, I always thought that Superman at the same park roared like a Concorde jet taking off...I had a friend out there who grew up with SFMM as his home park and he told me that back in the day when there were still payphones around, there was one installed along the walkway under the beginning of the incline on Superman. And that they eventually removed it (gee, I can't imagine why!).

I have a tough time picking an all-time favorite, so generally I pick a top five, and the rank within can change. Right now, my top five steel are as follows (they are all pretty much equal in their own way in rank, but the numbers are closest to the way I would rank them in order): Skyrush (this is a pic I took earlier this year) TTD MF I-305 Goliath at SFMM (tied with Nitro at SF Great Adventure) Wood is harder for me to rank, since I don't like woodies as much as steel coasters in general because I can't take a lot of roughness (and can't do many re-rides), but here goes: El Toro The Voyage Lighting Racer The Phoenix Ravine Flyer 2

Yes, I've heard of it. I suffered from it for 23 years of my life - I was so scared of coasters at once point I couldn't even stand to watch tv commercials showcasing local parks' new coasters. I didn't even want to go to amusement parks for fear that some one might try to drag me onto a coaster, and if I did go to one, I was very careful to not get anywhere near any of the coasters, for fear I might accidentally get in line for one and be somehow forced to ride it. So yes, totally irrational fears are the crux of simple phobias. Then one day a family friend had a company picnic at what is now SFA, and invited me and my mom. I was reluctant and said I wasn't into rides, but this lady assured me that we could spend the day in the water park, and so I agreed. Well, we ended up not in the water park but in the main part of the park, and I was very thankful that the old Arrow looper they used to have there was closed that day, since inverted coasters were my worst nightmare at the time. I was dragged onto the Wild One, but I was able to "handle" that, since back then woodies didn't have any inversions. I just white-knuckled it and moved on (during my phobia years I could handle woodies and wild mice, and that was about it). But then we made our way to the other side of the park, and I found myself face-to-face with my worst nightmare. Well, needless to say, I got dragged onto the Mind Eraser, and I thought I was going to die (not of head-banging, which might be the case these days!) of terror. That's a tough way to tackle such a phobia, going headlong into it like that, and I wouldn't recommend that as a way to get over a coaster phobia if you know someone who suffers from that. But I got over it, and I now ride coasters and other rides every chance I can get (otherwise I wouldn't be posting here!). And I never forget that I used to have a severe case of coaster-phobia, and I'm really glad that they didn't have coasters like TTD, KK and MF and I-305 (or other things that would look terrifying to a phobic, like B&M Dive machines, wing coasters, Eurofighters, Intamin hypers and pretty much anything with vertical drops or nearly so) around back then, as if someone had dragged me onto one of those, I'm sure I would have passed out cold! So if someone suffers from coaster phobia today, the world has indeed become a much more terrifying place than it was in 1996. But hey, the rewards are great for those that can over come it.