What did Coasters feel like before you become obsessed?

[Vid_w]

Well, for me, I loved them, but didn't know anything about them.

I was marathoning Blue Tornado (SLC) and Magic Mountain (Vekoma double loop corkscrew) like they were some uber smooth rides, and the funny thing is, I wasn't bothered at all by the roughness.

But now, that I'm often reading through coaster related stuff, and my coaster knowledge has increased, i've become more aware of the things that happen to you while riding.

For instance, I never noticed the airtime before, on Magic Mountain.

 

How about you?

[ebl]

I used to be terrified of the Matterhorn at Disneyland, but I grew to like the darned things. That's been all but seven years of my life, so I don't remember much (besides the Matterhorn) that I didn't like.

 

Eric

[jkwan]

That's exactly what happened to me. Before this site turned me into a coaster nerd, I thought that the Mind Eraser (SLC) in Six Flags America was awesome. Also now that this site became part of my life, I never really realized that Goliath, at SFOG, had so much airtime.

[Speeddeamon128]

I wasn't terrified of coasters before I was obsessed I just needed to get forced on them. That was until I was forced on a sling shot in Ocean City, NJ when I was 8 years old. While I was upside down & 150 ft in the air I thought to myself "This is awesome!" The next day at Wildwood I rode every coaster at Morey's Piers. My theory was if I could ride a sling shot then a roller coaster should be no problem. Ever since then I've been hooked on roller coasters & now they are my drug

[Jds03]

I used to be terrified of them before I was 10, but since I was a hyperactive, aspiring artist at that age I used to draw them like crazy but with absolutely no intention of riding what I was drawing. There was just something about them that fascinated me, but I was too afraid to ride anything other than the Trailblazer at Hershey, so when the day came in May of 2002 that I gathered the courage to step on Steel Force at Dorney and later Talon, there’s no wonder I because obsessed.

[The Disneylander]

Nothing like that for me-I was instantly obsessed the moment I rode my first roller coaster, which was GhostRider.

[thrillrideseeker]

I use to enjoy riding coasters, and I used to actually get scared on a coaster when I would ride it for the first time. But now... everything seems as if it is not good enough. In my mind I am always thinking... Well it could be higher, it could be faster, it could be longer, and that keeps me from enjoying the ride. After having been on so many coasters, I seriously just do not find a thrill in them any more.

~Matthew

[Kennyweird]

I used to be terrified of coasters as well - you couldn't get me to ride even a puny Roller Skater.

 

But one day while at Kennywood I finally mustered up enough courage to ride the Racer - AND I LOVED IT! And ever since then I've been addicted to coasters.

[monsterfan99]

As a child, I loved the coasters at Busch Gardens Tampa that I would ride on vacation. However, I hated (aka scared) Screamin' Eagle at SF St. Louis. The ride alone was enough for me to hate wooden coasters. Then my second woodie was the Raven and I was hooked. I even got the chance last year to conquer Screamin' Eagle in November of last year.

 

My fiancee was scared of big coasters until she did Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Great America. Now she enjoys them, although not to my level, and looks forward to theme park trips.

[CreditCrazy]

I used to be terrified of coasters but I've always had an interest in them. How they worked, how high they went, how fast they went, etc. Because of that, every year I learned more about them, and every year I got more scared of them. I don't why, I definately wasn't scared of falling off or any accidents or anything, I just wouldn't go on one. And it wasn't just coasters. I wouldn't ride Log Rides, Flat Rides, anything. Finally, March 08' I went to Vegas and on the way I rode the Log Ride at Bufallo Bills. Then later that month I went to Northern California and went to CGA, SFDK, SCBB, and GG. I rode the kiddie coasters at each park and had a lot of fun. In April I rode Ninja and Revolution at SFMM. And in June, I rode my first big coaster that pretty much decided if I could ride/handle/like big coasters or not, Viper. Of course, I loved it. And now I love riding coasters, which added to the interest I have in them. I'd also have to say I really began to know and learn things about coasters in 2007. It could have been because I just became more active on the computer and found all these coaster sites, or maybe all the coaster books I read, or...I can think of a lot more.

 

So basically before I started riding them, I guess I just looked at coasters the same since I've always liked other things about them besides riding them.

[BuschSchoe]

I never really thought that coasters were anything special, I just rode them and didn't really make a big deal about it at all... my first few coasters were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, Goofy's Barnstormer at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Jack Rabbit, Whirlwind, and Bobsleds at Seabreeze Amusement Park.

But when I moved to Virginia... after I rode Alpengeist at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, I really started getting interested in coasters, and researching them online.

[DBru]

I had always loved coasters and thrill rides, and would cry when my parents wouldn't let me on one, or I didn't meet the height requirement. When I was 3 years old, my mom finally took me on the Beastie (FOC) at Kings Island. I held my hands up the entire ride, and have had a passion for coasters ever since.

[Wood Dragon 1988]

No homo, but I've always have had a thing for coasters. I rode the wooden coasters at Kings Dominion when in 97 when I was 8. After that, I remember I would always ask my dad about coasters, such as when they opened, and how tall they were. I didn't ride any "huge" coasters until 2001 when I rode Volcano. After that, I always liked them, but it wasn't until 2005 when my coaster-hating sister got to go to Kings Dominion for a church event that my interest became an obsession.

 

I remember arguing about something, and reading the map she got. Then I got on line, started Googling stuff to find sites, etc. I didn't ride a coaster again until July 2006, about a year after I started going on coaster sites!

 

So basically, I blame Kings Dominion and my sister who hates roller coasters for starting my coaster obsession! I no longer go to Kings Dominion and my sister still does. Go figure.

 

That's my story, I don't know if it makes since.

[spaceace12]

I was terrified of flat rides, log flumes, and anything else that wasn't a wave pool or lazy river until a few years ago (yes, I was 24 when I first rode anything that I can remember). I first got on Liberty Launch at HW, then eventually over the next year, rode all the rides at HW I could. So, yes, it is all different since I wasn't afraid of them.

[odene497]

I used to love coasters, but never rode them because of the dreaded feeling I got in my stomach when going down hills. After a few years had gone by, the way I perceived the feeling had changed.

[Rollerman87]

I used to be terrified of coasters. I waited 45 min. for my party that went on Riddler's Revenge during my first trip to SFMM. I chickened out on Xcelerator my first time there when it opened as well. Then I went on 'em and found them amazing. Now, I don't scared of coasters. I went on TTD with only a little fear on the launch section. But yeah, I feel the little things now too, like the Canyon Blaster at Circus Circus' Adventure Dome is an awesome coaster, but there is a part when you tun to go into the corkscrews that the top wheels jump off on the track, leaving the upstops to handle business. Scary awesome airtime!

[tedten]

I use to enjoy riding coasters, and I used to actually get scared on a coaster when I would ride it for the first time. But now... everything seems as if it is not good enough. In my mind I am always thinking... Well it could be higher, it could be faster, it could be longer, and that keeps me from enjoying the ride. After having been on so many coasters, I seriously just do not find a thrill in them any more.

~Matthew

 

I'm kind of with you on this but luckily not to that extreme. I've totally lost the fear part of coaster riding & I'm always hoping for a 500 or 600 foot steel coaster with a complex layout. TTD & KK are alright but think of a 500 foot tall flight of fear type of ride, or a coaster with a 500 foot tall chain lift. I'm sure there will be some more record breakers in my lifetime which I am impatiently awaiting.

 

The first coasters I was obsessed with watching were Shockwave & the original Batman: the ride @ SFGAm. Shockwave was the tallest, fastest, coaster with the most loops when it opened. My first ever coaster to ride was Viper with my Dad the year Raging Bull opened and needless to say I fell in love with them immediately and rode all the coasters @ SFGAm in one day including Raging Bull which Instantly became my favorite. Here I am 10 years & 60 coasters later more obsessed with them than I was on day one.

[the ghost]

I went to Knotts when I was like 4 (the good days of the park) with my grandparents and wanted to ride jaguar, so I asked my grandpa who was in his mid 60's at the time and he said the ride was too scary.(I did not really get the concept that older people are more fragile, and my grandma had/has parkinsons)I had a fear, until I rode Jaguar the following summer with my dad, and loved it. I was really upset a few months later when I went to SFMM with my Dad and discovered I was not tall enough for any of the large B&M's. That was also the only trip which I have ever chickened out on a roller coaster(Superman the Escape) which I rode a few years later and really just felt like it was pointless(still feel this way) We then went back the next Summer and went on my second or third(at the time number 1) favorite coaster, Riddler's Revenge. A few summers later we went to Busch gardens and I rode Apollo's Chariot and Alpengeist (both still in my top 10) and was completely hooked. I am addicted to coasters and have been on Screamin at least 50 times and will never be bored of it. I am (hopefully) going on a TPR trip within the next few years, but don't know how or when the moment is right. If my family goes to Africa next summer for a mission trip, I can hopefully get some money from them, because I can't go due to college, and go on a coaster trip. In other words: COASTERS ROCK!!!

[matteocrepaldi]

I just was too scared to ride coasters but I wasn't scared about log flumes (even if I was really nervous about the big drop!).

 

On summer 2002 I went to Gardaland as I used to do every year and I spent my day with some friends who didn't ride roller coasters; one of them got traumatized from Space Mountain and made me belive coasters were way too scary.

 

In March 2003 I had a very good chance to get on some major rides when me and my parents were in Chicago. We wanted to go to SFGA but it was closed! I still think about how crazy it would have been to have S:UF as one of my first credits in the opening season (missed!).

 

I finally started in April 2003 when I went to Kentucky Kingdom. My first experience was on Thunder Run. The drop looked much more steeper from the lift hill. I also lost my hat because I was sitting on it and I had no idea about ejector airtime or just the fact that you could get thown out of your seat.

[itnotfair]

I was totally afraid of the Matterhorn until my grandparents made me ride it. Then I loved all Disney coasters, and eventually moved up to Knott's and Magic Mountain coasters. I've always looked forward to theme park trips, but I wasn't obsessed like I am now. I remember hitting SF with my friend, and he was like, "Oh yeah, Batman, that's a B&M. They are great coaster manufacturers!" And I thought he was a nerd. "Who cares?" I thought. Since I discovered the internet's many coaster resources, my obsession has grown exponentially. I'm probably way more obsessed and dorky than he ever was!

[Crazy4Coasters!]

It wasn't until the age of 17 I got the testicle fortitude to get on my first ride. Before that I would always head to parks with my friends but would never get on a ride. I always had a fear that I would puke my guts out while riding or after I rode a coaster. The thing that finally got to me was seeing kids getting off with huge grins after they rode, which ultimately forced me to push myself to finally ride. Montezooma's Revenge was my first coaster and boy did I ever choose a good one for an ice breaker. From there forward I haven't looked back.

[dr.gumbo]

I couldn't comment, I loved roller coasters before I'd even been on any. I think I first became interested when I was at school as a kid and I decided to draw an amusement park for no particular reason (my only real knowledge of coasters came from TV at the time) . Obviously, I've been interested ever since.

[socalMAN123]

I was completely scared to death of them. Absolutely terrified. I wouldn't go on Jaguar at Knott's because the helix "almost went upside down". Once I finally conquered my fear of Jaguar and Montezuma's Revenge, I became a full fledged coaster enthusiast.

---Brent

[Tömmioh]

I was also scared of them. The biggest thing I rode (could ride) before becoming an enthusiast was the woodie at Linnanmäki.

 

It wasn't until 2004, after playing RCT, reading, seeing lots of info, videos and photos of real coasters that I managed to get on bigger coasters and most importantly inverting ones.

 

It's quite funny that when at Särkänniemi in 2001 I said that I wouldn't ride Tornado for 2 million bucks (that time finnish 'bucks', would be about 450'000$) Now I would pay 4€ to ride it once in the winter .

[mike541x]

I was scared of them, but yet I still loved theme parks and loved watching roller coasters. I was even scared of the smallest rides like wave swingers. I was even forced to go on the Wild One at SFA. Even after I went on it and thought it was amazing, I still refused to go back on it. Riding roller coasters used to feel like I was going to die. But now I love them. A few days ago, I watched a POV of Whirlwind that used to be a Knobels, and all I thought to myself was "I can't believe I was scared to go on that."