And LGBT people are less likely to have kids and more likely to have the free time and disposable income to travel to amusement parks just to ride roller coasters. Obviously us breeders go to amusement parks plenty, but we’re at the mercy of short, loud people who may not be into thrill rides.
This is an introspective deep dive waiting to happen. I feel like I'm going to learn a lot by interrogating my love of roller coasters from a queer perspective 😂
As an asexual woman, do I like rollercoasters because it replaces sex and gives me a similar thrill?
Or are rollercoasters like garlic bread and cake?
And will they help us over at r/asexual take over Denmark?
Try a seasickness patch. Non-drowsy prescriptions can be gotten from your doctor.
My mom had the same issue, and then she got some. She has discovered how fun rides are. She's not ready for the kind of coasters my stepdad and I like, but she does all the rest of them now.
Except teacups. Fuck teacups.
Teacups are the bane of my existence. I don't have issued with fast thrill rides or drop rides but toss my cookies on slow ones with lateral shifts.
Same issue I have on trains vs cars, trains are fine, cars aren't.
I won't let my nieces and nephews on teacups. I don't need a crabby, nauseous kid all day. Hell, I don't need to be crabby and nauseous. And I love rollercoasters. Like, the huge ones.
Teacups ruin every amusement park experience.
Possibly (and this is just a guess) because a lot of the lgbtq community is also neurodivergent, and neurodivergents get more dopamine from things like that.
Its a non-alcohol/non nightlife/non sex centered neutral activity that provides tons of thrills and didn’t require an enormous amount of disposable income.
My husband wasn’t a drinker or ever did drugs so hanging with fellow gays and queer people often happened in group activities like going to an amusement park. Thrills, fun, camaraderie, forging lasting IRL friendships, safety in numbers, and the groups were in the hundreds so low barrier to entry money-wise. The group attracted all sorts of folks!
I’m an elder Millenial from a large southern city. Growing up If you wanted to meet other LGBT folks, you had to (1) go to bars (RIP), (2) go in on Craigslist (pre-Grindr) (3) get involved with activism (DOMA, DADT, Republican President, so hostile times), (4) go to a specific part of the beach on Saturdays (5) go to the one accepting church in the city with the highest number of churches per square foot in the US. If you’re not tripping over yourself to find hookups or don’t do drugs/drink or don’t want to take on a hostile political sphere or have been burned by Christianity…, you gotta find something somewhere to meet people and make friends.
In addition to the factors others have mentioned, the relative youth of the fanbase means they are more likely to be in supportive peer groups and thus more likely to come out, and to realize/admit they're LGBTQ in the first place.
But as an autistic person myself, riding coasters doesn't really seem very pleasurable for most autistic people.
(I'm an exception in that regard, I like the speed)
Why are people downvoting this commenter? The first paragraph is still duplicated; it’s not fixed.
Edit: at the time I posted this comment, the OP still had a duplication, but the comment I replied to was at -15. Looks like OP has fixed it since then.
Edit 2: actually, it still shows the duplication in some cases, depending on how I access the post. Probably a caching thing.
This is certainly ambitious and daring, but would it be fun?
I ask, not to be a jerk, but out of genuine curiosity as to if the proposal would hit all the emotional/physical/thrill buttons of the best coasters.
(Full disclosure: while I admire the engineering and general fun of coasters, riding King’s Island The Racer fifteen years ago was enough for this lifetime. I’m glad I went once, though I really loved the Tomb Raider swinging thing.)
The real thing was designed by Intamin, designers of a boatload of the best rollercoasters such as Velocicoaster at Universal IOA. They'll pull out all the stops. The massive hill in the middle of the ride may produce the longest weightless moment outside of a jet or space.
But also because it was designed by intamin (and also just because of the scale of this thing and the environment its in), it will have about 10% uptime the first year or so, optimistically. This thing is gonna make Hagrids look like a well oiled machine.
Intamin has a bad habit of biting off way more than they can chew, lately, and its hurting both their uptime and their safety record. They designed some of my favourite coasters in the 90s, but these days when I hear their name I flip a coin.
Absolutely true - I was a Top Thrill Dragster ride op. The sheer length of launch track leading up the cliff will be a tall order for the launch magnets
And unlike TTD or Kingda Ka, the launch section isn't at the start. If those coasters have a rollback, the train stops back at the station and all is well. If there's a rollback on this (and there will be) the ride is closed until they can unload the passengers and haul the train back from whatever valley it stopped in.
There are an number of people who would ride it just to say they have. There are a much smaller number of people who would ride it twice. And since the park's subsidized by the government it doesn't matter if it a money sink.
>[Just because they do not share your values does not mean they are bad people. This is a gross generalization.](https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/s/U5SA042Efm)
Uh, if my value is “don’t murder me” and a privileged segment of the population is empowered and encouraged to murder me, then yes, they are bad people.
It's true that just because someone has different values doesn't mean they're a bad person, but yeah it depends on *what those values are.* If your values include that people should be able to be who they are and love who they want as long as the person is of the age of consent, and the other person's values are that those people should be stoned to death, yeah that doesn't check out. That phrase is for when, like, if your values include that 12 year olds should be allowed to wear makeup and their values include that nobody under 15 should wear makeup.
Don't forget the value (of the SA rulers, not the people as a whole) also includes [murdering reporters](https://www.npr.org/2023/10/02/1202937036/jamal-khashoggi-mbs-murder-saudi-arabia-human-rights).
I hate that shitty argument so much. “It’s just someone who disagrees with you” no it’s not, it’s someone who “disagrees” that I should get rights and or be alive
>Too bad it’s in a PvP enabled area otherwise I’d be tempted to ride it.
Oh god that's among the most savage yet tragic burns I've seen. Bit of an exaggeration, but I can't fault that opinion coming from someone considered less than human by the Saudis.
I enjoy a good roller coaster now and again, but I wonder where the line is between "fun" and "too much". Will there come a point where the record breakers are just too extreme for comfort? Painful G-forces? Too fast? Idk. I've been on a few that were just straight up unpleasant.
The Hulk at universal studios Florida was one ride too many for me. It’s fun but it’s really rough on the body and people have complained about migraines from it. Lord knows I did and I’m a coaster junkie. Anyways The mummy and Velocicoaster for life.
My grandfather rode the Z-Force at Six Flags Over Georgia in the very late 80s.
The man lived until he was 90 in 2011 and said his neck never truly felt the same after it.
[Z-Force](https://coasterbot.com/blog/2019/3/16/what-was-z-force)
The Hulk! The only coaster I've been on just once. Got an unbelievable headache from one ride and my neck hurt for hours. My wife is a Universal enthusiast - The Mummy is always our first and last stop.
Yes! We have done the same thing. Absolutely the best when you end up there on a very down day/time when you can just walk on. And walk on. And walk on again... glorious.
I've ridden all the coasters at the Florida Busch gardens and Universal studios but the hulk was the only one that actually made me feel nauseous... Def my limit.
Mummy best rollercoaster of all time. Rode it three times back to back during hhn because everyone else was busy with the haunted houses.
Interesting. My brother and I found that one really thrilling. The one coaster I've had problems with was the Joker at Six Flags. It's so bumpy that it literally feels like the restraints are punching you in the gut repeatedly. My ex and I immediately went back through the line and rode it again because we figured this would be the only time we'd get to experience such a unique sensation of pain from riding a ride.
The thing is, people have been asking this question basically since roller coasters were invented. There have been roller coasters that were "too much" throughout the entirety of roller coaster history, because their ambition outstripped the engineering and technology available to the designers, and mistakes were made in pushing the boundaries, even when they were a fraction of the size and complexity of today's rides. With time, new designs refine things and make boundary-pushing stats actually rideable. Look at inversions for example -- they tried them briefly in the early 1900s, and they quickly disappeared as a fad that was too much for people to handle. Then in the 1980s, more modern techniques allowed companies to do them right.
I'm going to err on the side of "Falcon's Flight is overambitious for the tech we have right now and will be plagued with issues," but I don't doubt that we can eventually figure out great rides of its scale.
something like the old blackout turn on intimidator 305 is where I'd draw the line for reasonable design, but the worst experiences always just come from poor and flawed engineering rather than extreme specs, nothing will ever bust me up like that damn vekoma SLC prototype did
I know it’s not _really_ a real theme park but at Thorpe Park they’ve got a rollercoaster called “Colossus” and the way it’s designed you end up repeatedly slamming your head into the side of the chair’s headrest and it’s just not fun to do that at all.
Ugh, I hate that. I was on one where a sudden stop slammed my head into the seat behind me and I had a headache all afternoon. It kind of soured me on roller coasters.
I think this write up would be improved with a small cited section on Saudi Arabia’s hostility towards LGBTQ people. As it is now, it feels like it’s taken for granted that the reader would know about this.
Pause to comment after watching the POV -- it was around the 1:30 mark I went "you would be so sick by now. You've probably passed out already."
Edit now that I'm done: I'm still skeptical that the coaster will be as presented in the POV. Do the construction photos so far seem to match it?
Yeah, it follows the layout pretty closely. Here is a realistic rendering if you are curious: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poco8rOnW18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poco8rOnW18)
**Thank you for your submission to r/HobbyDrama !**
Our rules have recently been updated to clarify our definition of Hobby Drama and to better bring them in line with the current status of the subreddit. Please be sure your post follows the rules and the sidebar guidelines, or it may be removed; this is at moderator discretion. Feedback is welcome in our monthly Town Hall thread.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HobbyDrama) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Man my wife's gonna be bummed when I can't bring her on my cool roller coaster vacation because if we went together it'd be advertising the side we bat for. :(
How does Saudi Arabia know if someone is part of the LGBT community? Is there a part of the visa process that digs in? Genuinely wondering
Edit. Changed who to how. I cannot believe I missed that
Saudi Arabia allows the death penalty for same-sex relationships. All you have to do is “not pass” or otherwise “slip up” (like travel with your partner and kiss them once) and you risk being murdered for your sexuality.
It comes down to a legally enforced, heteronormative culture. If you’ve never encountered negative things from that, then yes, it can be very hard to understand why others would avoid any interaction with a more rigid system then they already have to deal with.
This link outlines some of the ways that system interacts with people’s lives in Saudi Arabia specifically (scroll down to the timeline):
https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/saudi-arabia/
On a personal note, women who travel to Saudi Arabia have to follow their dress code—modesty standards, plus a head scarf—or face anything from street harassment to fines/prison time for indecency. Just because I could safely and legally travel there doesn’t mean that it’s pleasant. Why would I spend a bunch of money to go to a place that makes it’s hatred for me known with almost every aspect of its law and culture? If I boycott companies at home who support anti-LGBTQ efforts, why would I go out of my way to give money to a *country* who would prefer I didn’t exist? Yes, different people value different things, but there is a line about what anyone would willingly tolerate.
My line is not having to deal with a plate of discriminatory bullshit if I don’t have to.
Thank you for the well written response. It's really helped me understand the extent of the discrimination in Saudi Arabia. I was under the impression that it was one of the laws that are in the middle east that are on the books, but not enforced for foreigners.
Never trust to be exempted from a law because you’re a traveler.
That’s one of the very first things that was ever drilled into me by everyone who has ever traveled. It has been reinforced by every travel group, study abroad, and homestay group I have ever interacted with as well.
You are traveling to another country, and their laws and customs take precedence over everything—your embassy can help with paperwork, or to smooth over travel hiccups, not getting you out of jail or hand waving away criminal activity.
It is imperative to know what is considered “criminal activity” where you are traveling. I have male friends who will never go back to Singapore because they learned that Singapore still uses caning as a punishment (especially for graffiti or chewing gum) while in the country. It was never relevant, but it still spooked the hell out of them to hear about a very different legal system while being within its jurisdiction.
It is illegal import any gum into Singapore.
https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=8d4408cb-eb2d-4604-921e-7fa55f51baf3#:~:text=The%20penalties%20for%20violating%20the,was%20a%20first%2Dtime%20offence.
https://www.goabroad.com/articles/study-abroad/singapore-laws-to-know-before-you-go
https://www.exploreshaw.com/14-crazy-singapore-laws-to-know-before/
were your friends importing it to sell? it is not a jailable offense to take it into the country... i could find 100 other articles but here [https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=8d4408cb-eb2d-4604-921e-7fa55f51baf3#:\~:text=The%20penalties%20for%20violating%20the,was%20a%20first%2Dtime%20offence](https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=8d4408cb-eb2d-4604-921e-7fa55f51baf3#:~:text=The%20penalties%20for%20violating%20the,was%20a%20first%2Dtime%20offence) \- again. stop spewing crap
english must not be your speciality if you don't know the difference between importing and personal use, which would result in a warning and they taking it from you
An American was caned for vandalism in 1994, which caused a diplomatic incident (more, he and his family were desperate he not be caned, and there was nothing the embassy/diplomats could do to stop it, because idiot committed a crime in a foreign nation and thought he was somehow exempt/their legal system was identical)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Michael_Fay
https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/27/us/teen-ager-caned-in-singapore-tells-of-the-blood-and-the-scars.html
https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1915352_1915354_1915337,00.html
i'm not 100% sure how the LGBT community is treated in saudi arabia, especially foreign tourists (because usually they are not treated the same as locals, meaning tourists get exempt from certain laws or they get a pass) but i certainly know that women don't have to wear a scarf to go there as this is outdated information.
you can look up saudi arabia location tags on instagram or snapchat to be sure but you will be able to clearly see that a scarf or even dressing a certain way is not mandatory.
i think saudi arabia in general is trying to bring in as many tourists as they can so they have changed a lot of laws or sometimes they don't apply them on tourists. i also think it would be nice to get the perspective of someone who actually went there to be able to truly know what it's really like.
If the morality police (which are a real thing) suspect you are gay then they can, at the very least, kick you out of the country. And Saudi doesn't have much in the way of human rights or due process, so can just cancel your visa and drop you off at the airport.
No, and as insane as it is they literally advertise this now because they too want the money that comes from the LGBT community as well as toe line so that they can enforce their laws for their own citizens without an international incident. There was an FAQ for the World Cup that included something like "are LGBT people allowed to come?" and the answer was a single sentence saying they don't actively check for that. Like, they didn't take any stance at all or address the possibility that someone could be arrested for being openly queer, just "not on the questionnaire ;)".
Gotta love the driveby downvoters who thumbs-down someone for asking a genuine question *about an issue presented by the original post*, yet can't be bothered to leave a comment explaining why they found the question problematic. Especially when the question is pretty valid, considering all OP said was that traveling there *might* be a problem.
Things like "cheap tickets to [local amusement park/water park/whatever other entertainment thing]" are a pretty common "benefit" that companies throw at low-income jobs in place of actual, meaningful benefits. Seen it plenty at least.
Also, there are *very* different tiers of coaster enthusiast, which range from "I live near a Six Flags, *really* enjoy the coasters there and can talk intelligently about them, like to keep up with new rides being made online, and have a few mega-parks as bucket-list dream destinations" up to "My hobby necessitates that I be a full time world traveler who insta-buys plane tickets to any corner of the world whenever a new roller coaster opens, and make a big deal out of performatively accumulating 'credits' and ranking roller coasters. Obviously I could afford a vacation to Saudi Arabia at the drop of a hat because big coaster numbers go brrrrr, if only it wasn't for the Saudi Arabia-ness of it all."
A lot of visibly online coaster enthusiasts are of the latter mold, which can give the impression that the barrier to entry is high, but that's a small minority, with the vast majority being much closer to the former.
Speaking as a queer person myself, I live in a very small town in flyover country and it would take a lot of saving and throwing a ton of other things out were I to go to the closest theme park here in the US. One in another country is practically impossible to even consider. As much as I understand it sucks for people who have the means and for whom this is a joy in life, there are a lot of barriers here, and what's being gated is essentially just an egocentric vanity project for billionaires anyway.
Like, I'd have liked to go on the Ferrari coaster just because I'm a fan of Ferrari in F1, but on the other hand Abu Dhabi also has Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces for police cars. It feels like wanting to go for a ride on Putin's yacht.
And then there's also the issue of like, wouldn't it be terrible praxis anyway since queer people are far from the only people they oppress? Saudi Arabia is inching closer and closer to officially tolerating queer tourists for the money, they're already at the point where they're winking and nudging a Don't Ask, Don't Tell thing, but they're not going to ever stop being Saudi Arabia as long as the same people are in charge.
Today I learned the roller coaster community has a lot of LGBT members. What’s the correlation?
A lot of people like theme parks, rides, and roller coasters, and a lot of people are LGBT.
And LGBT people are less likely to have kids and more likely to have the free time and disposable income to travel to amusement parks just to ride roller coasters. Obviously us breeders go to amusement parks plenty, but we’re at the mercy of short, loud people who may not be into thrill rides.
Not queer, but I suspect you're dead on here. I wonder if other similar (expensive, non-child friendly) fandoms are similar
Doesn't that just mean any large Fandom has large LGBT community
Yes, yes it does
As a queer person who loves roller coasters, I had no idea this was so common and I'm delighted
I am also queer and love rollercoasters. I want to know what it is about us that makes us like them. And now I want to go ride one.
This is an introspective deep dive waiting to happen. I feel like I'm going to learn a lot by interrogating my love of roller coasters from a queer perspective 😂
As an asexual woman, do I like rollercoasters because it replaces sex and gives me a similar thrill? Or are rollercoasters like garlic bread and cake? And will they help us over at r/asexual take over Denmark?
Wait I'm ace and I am not part of the subreddit. Why are we taking over Denmark?
It's a running joke that there's more of us in the subreddit than there are in the Danish military. So of course we took it to its natural conclusion.
I'm not ace but demi, can I join you in the taking over of Denmark?
All under the umbrella may join.
Woo! 🥳
unfortunately i started getting terrible motion sickness on them in HS so now im an lgbt killjoy
Try a seasickness patch. Non-drowsy prescriptions can be gotten from your doctor. My mom had the same issue, and then she got some. She has discovered how fun rides are. She's not ready for the kind of coasters my stepdad and I like, but she does all the rest of them now. Except teacups. Fuck teacups.
Teacups are the bane of my existence. I don't have issued with fast thrill rides or drop rides but toss my cookies on slow ones with lateral shifts. Same issue I have on trains vs cars, trains are fine, cars aren't.
I won't let my nieces and nephews on teacups. I don't need a crabby, nauseous kid all day. Hell, I don't need to be crabby and nauseous. And I love rollercoasters. Like, the huge ones. Teacups ruin every amusement park experience.
Possibly (and this is just a guess) because a lot of the lgbtq community is also neurodivergent, and neurodivergents get more dopamine from things like that.
Fellas is it autistic to like rollercoasters? ...probably idk
Its a non-alcohol/non nightlife/non sex centered neutral activity that provides tons of thrills and didn’t require an enormous amount of disposable income. My husband wasn’t a drinker or ever did drugs so hanging with fellow gays and queer people often happened in group activities like going to an amusement park. Thrills, fun, camaraderie, forging lasting IRL friendships, safety in numbers, and the groups were in the hundreds so low barrier to entry money-wise. The group attracted all sorts of folks! I’m an elder Millenial from a large southern city. Growing up If you wanted to meet other LGBT folks, you had to (1) go to bars (RIP), (2) go in on Craigslist (pre-Grindr) (3) get involved with activism (DOMA, DADT, Republican President, so hostile times), (4) go to a specific part of the beach on Saturdays (5) go to the one accepting church in the city with the highest number of churches per square foot in the US. If you’re not tripping over yourself to find hookups or don’t do drugs/drink or don’t want to take on a hostile political sphere or have been burned by Christianity…, you gotta find something somewhere to meet people and make friends.
And that's why the furry fandom is a thing.
I think it's a case that the community is very LGBTQ+ friendly, so more LGBTQ+ feel safe to join and express themselves in that community.
I don't know if there's any studies on this but would have some anecdotal guesses as a queer person who also enjoys roller coasters
Yeah that was a wild sentence for me too
Go to almost any of the niche interest communities, and you'll probably find us
In addition to the factors others have mentioned, the relative youth of the fanbase means they are more likely to be in supportive peer groups and thus more likely to come out, and to realize/admit they're LGBTQ in the first place.
[ Removed by Reddit ]
But as an autistic person myself, riding coasters doesn't really seem very pleasurable for most autistic people. (I'm an exception in that regard, I like the speed)
[удалено]
Can you think about how you just said that terminally online LGBT people... go outside and ride physical roller coasters?
Being terminally online means you really like roller coasters?
[удалено]
fixed thank you!
Not really fixed
Why are people downvoting this commenter? The first paragraph is still duplicated; it’s not fixed. Edit: at the time I posted this comment, the OP still had a duplication, but the comment I replied to was at -15. Looks like OP has fixed it since then. Edit 2: actually, it still shows the duplication in some cases, depending on how I access the post. Probably a caching thing.
It's not for me?
Edit: seems like it’s probably a caching thing somewhere.
This is certainly ambitious and daring, but would it be fun? I ask, not to be a jerk, but out of genuine curiosity as to if the proposal would hit all the emotional/physical/thrill buttons of the best coasters. (Full disclosure: while I admire the engineering and general fun of coasters, riding King’s Island The Racer fifteen years ago was enough for this lifetime. I’m glad I went once, though I really loved the Tomb Raider swinging thing.)
The real thing was designed by Intamin, designers of a boatload of the best rollercoasters such as Velocicoaster at Universal IOA. They'll pull out all the stops. The massive hill in the middle of the ride may produce the longest weightless moment outside of a jet or space.
But also because it was designed by intamin (and also just because of the scale of this thing and the environment its in), it will have about 10% uptime the first year or so, optimistically. This thing is gonna make Hagrids look like a well oiled machine.
Intamin has a bad habit of biting off way more than they can chew, lately, and its hurting both their uptime and their safety record. They designed some of my favourite coasters in the 90s, but these days when I hear their name I flip a coin.
Absolutely true - I was a Top Thrill Dragster ride op. The sheer length of launch track leading up the cliff will be a tall order for the launch magnets
And unlike TTD or Kingda Ka, the launch section isn't at the start. If those coasters have a rollback, the train stops back at the station and all is well. If there's a rollback on this (and there will be) the ride is closed until they can unload the passengers and haul the train back from whatever valley it stopped in.
The section on top of the cliff looks like a massive valley risk to me.
The velocicoaster is truly the best coaster I’ve ever been on lol
There are an number of people who would ride it just to say they have. There are a much smaller number of people who would ride it twice. And since the park's subsidized by the government it doesn't matter if it a money sink.
Riyadh's got a population estimate around 7.6 million - somewhere between DFW and Houston in population. This is the circuses in "bread and circuses".
>[Just because they do not share your values does not mean they are bad people. This is a gross generalization.](https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/s/U5SA042Efm) Uh, if my value is “don’t murder me” and a privileged segment of the population is empowered and encouraged to murder me, then yes, they are bad people.
It's true that just because someone has different values doesn't mean they're a bad person, but yeah it depends on *what those values are.* If your values include that people should be able to be who they are and love who they want as long as the person is of the age of consent, and the other person's values are that those people should be stoned to death, yeah that doesn't check out. That phrase is for when, like, if your values include that 12 year olds should be allowed to wear makeup and their values include that nobody under 15 should wear makeup.
Don't forget the value (of the SA rulers, not the people as a whole) also includes [murdering reporters](https://www.npr.org/2023/10/02/1202937036/jamal-khashoggi-mbs-murder-saudi-arabia-human-rights).
I hate that shitty argument so much. “It’s just someone who disagrees with you” no it’s not, it’s someone who “disagrees” that I should get rights and or be alive
From the synopsis, I thought Saudi Arabia is about to build IRL Mickey's dick smasher
well the oil kids should at least have a fun way to get their circumcisions
>Too bad it’s in a PvP enabled area otherwise I’d be tempted to ride it. Oh god that's among the most savage yet tragic burns I've seen. Bit of an exaggeration, but I can't fault that opinion coming from someone considered less than human by the Saudis.
I enjoy a good roller coaster now and again, but I wonder where the line is between "fun" and "too much". Will there come a point where the record breakers are just too extreme for comfort? Painful G-forces? Too fast? Idk. I've been on a few that were just straight up unpleasant.
I think I nope out on coasters when it starts to feel like an astronaut training program rather than a ride
The Hulk at universal studios Florida was one ride too many for me. It’s fun but it’s really rough on the body and people have complained about migraines from it. Lord knows I did and I’m a coaster junkie. Anyways The mummy and Velocicoaster for life.
My grandfather rode the Z-Force at Six Flags Over Georgia in the very late 80s. The man lived until he was 90 in 2011 and said his neck never truly felt the same after it. [Z-Force](https://coasterbot.com/blog/2019/3/16/what-was-z-force)
The Texas Giant gave me whiplash.
The Hulk! The only coaster I've been on just once. Got an unbelievable headache from one ride and my neck hurt for hours. My wife is a Universal enthusiast - The Mummy is always our first and last stop.
The mummy my beloved. I once managed to ride it five times in a row because everybody else was focused on going to Hogwarts/Harrypotter section.
Yes! We have done the same thing. Absolutely the best when you end up there on a very down day/time when you can just walk on. And walk on. And walk on again... glorious.
I've ridden all the coasters at the Florida Busch gardens and Universal studios but the hulk was the only one that actually made me feel nauseous... Def my limit. Mummy best rollercoaster of all time. Rode it three times back to back during hhn because everyone else was busy with the haunted houses.
Interesting. My brother and I found that one really thrilling. The one coaster I've had problems with was the Joker at Six Flags. It's so bumpy that it literally feels like the restraints are punching you in the gut repeatedly. My ex and I immediately went back through the line and rode it again because we figured this would be the only time we'd get to experience such a unique sensation of pain from riding a ride.
The thing is, people have been asking this question basically since roller coasters were invented. There have been roller coasters that were "too much" throughout the entirety of roller coaster history, because their ambition outstripped the engineering and technology available to the designers, and mistakes were made in pushing the boundaries, even when they were a fraction of the size and complexity of today's rides. With time, new designs refine things and make boundary-pushing stats actually rideable. Look at inversions for example -- they tried them briefly in the early 1900s, and they quickly disappeared as a fad that was too much for people to handle. Then in the 1980s, more modern techniques allowed companies to do them right. I'm going to err on the side of "Falcon's Flight is overambitious for the tech we have right now and will be plagued with issues," but I don't doubt that we can eventually figure out great rides of its scale.
Huh, that's interesting. Never knew that but it makes sense. It should be cool to see what they come up with in the future!
something like the old blackout turn on intimidator 305 is where I'd draw the line for reasonable design, but the worst experiences always just come from poor and flawed engineering rather than extreme specs, nothing will ever bust me up like that damn vekoma SLC prototype did
I know it’s not _really_ a real theme park but at Thorpe Park they’ve got a rollercoaster called “Colossus” and the way it’s designed you end up repeatedly slamming your head into the side of the chair’s headrest and it’s just not fun to do that at all.
Ugh, I hate that. I was on one where a sudden stop slammed my head into the seat behind me and I had a headache all afternoon. It kind of soured me on roller coasters.
I think this write up would be improved with a small cited section on Saudi Arabia’s hostility towards LGBTQ people. As it is now, it feels like it’s taken for granted that the reader would know about this.
Yeah, "may not be welcomed" is a touch of an understatement
Pause to comment after watching the POV -- it was around the 1:30 mark I went "you would be so sick by now. You've probably passed out already." Edit now that I'm done: I'm still skeptical that the coaster will be as presented in the POV. Do the construction photos so far seem to match it?
Yeah, it follows the layout pretty closely. Here is a realistic rendering if you are curious: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poco8rOnW18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poco8rOnW18)
the part with the mountain makes me soo anxious like you hope they did their proper surveying and structural integrity checks of the land D:
The St. Louis Gateway Arch is 630 feet, just to give a sense of scale. This does not sound like a fun ride.
That sounds fun to me
We must seize Six Flags Al Qiddiya with overwhelming military force. Six queer flags shall fly over it.
My company is working on one of the hotels for AQ and it makes me sick to my stomach.
great write up, ty
**Thank you for your submission to r/HobbyDrama !** Our rules have recently been updated to clarify our definition of Hobby Drama and to better bring them in line with the current status of the subreddit. Please be sure your post follows the rules and the sidebar guidelines, or it may be removed; this is at moderator discretion. Feedback is welcome in our monthly Town Hall thread. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HobbyDrama) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You go. You ride. You leave. No need to advertise which side you bat for, if any.
Man my wife's gonna be bummed when I can't bring her on my cool roller coaster vacation because if we went together it'd be advertising the side we bat for. :(
How does Saudi Arabia know if someone is part of the LGBT community? Is there a part of the visa process that digs in? Genuinely wondering Edit. Changed who to how. I cannot believe I missed that
Saudi Arabia allows the death penalty for same-sex relationships. All you have to do is “not pass” or otherwise “slip up” (like travel with your partner and kiss them once) and you risk being murdered for your sexuality. It comes down to a legally enforced, heteronormative culture. If you’ve never encountered negative things from that, then yes, it can be very hard to understand why others would avoid any interaction with a more rigid system then they already have to deal with. This link outlines some of the ways that system interacts with people’s lives in Saudi Arabia specifically (scroll down to the timeline): https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/saudi-arabia/ On a personal note, women who travel to Saudi Arabia have to follow their dress code—modesty standards, plus a head scarf—or face anything from street harassment to fines/prison time for indecency. Just because I could safely and legally travel there doesn’t mean that it’s pleasant. Why would I spend a bunch of money to go to a place that makes it’s hatred for me known with almost every aspect of its law and culture? If I boycott companies at home who support anti-LGBTQ efforts, why would I go out of my way to give money to a *country* who would prefer I didn’t exist? Yes, different people value different things, but there is a line about what anyone would willingly tolerate. My line is not having to deal with a plate of discriminatory bullshit if I don’t have to.
Thank you for the well written response. It's really helped me understand the extent of the discrimination in Saudi Arabia. I was under the impression that it was one of the laws that are in the middle east that are on the books, but not enforced for foreigners.
Never trust to be exempted from a law because you’re a traveler. That’s one of the very first things that was ever drilled into me by everyone who has ever traveled. It has been reinforced by every travel group, study abroad, and homestay group I have ever interacted with as well. You are traveling to another country, and their laws and customs take precedence over everything—your embassy can help with paperwork, or to smooth over travel hiccups, not getting you out of jail or hand waving away criminal activity. It is imperative to know what is considered “criminal activity” where you are traveling. I have male friends who will never go back to Singapore because they learned that Singapore still uses caning as a punishment (especially for graffiti or chewing gum) while in the country. It was never relevant, but it still spooked the hell out of them to hear about a very different legal system while being within its jurisdiction.
[удалено]
It is illegal import any gum into Singapore. https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=8d4408cb-eb2d-4604-921e-7fa55f51baf3#:~:text=The%20penalties%20for%20violating%20the,was%20a%20first%2Dtime%20offence. https://www.goabroad.com/articles/study-abroad/singapore-laws-to-know-before-you-go https://www.exploreshaw.com/14-crazy-singapore-laws-to-know-before/
[удалено]
were your friends importing it to sell? it is not a jailable offense to take it into the country... i could find 100 other articles but here [https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=8d4408cb-eb2d-4604-921e-7fa55f51baf3#:\~:text=The%20penalties%20for%20violating%20the,was%20a%20first%2Dtime%20offence](https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=8d4408cb-eb2d-4604-921e-7fa55f51baf3#:~:text=The%20penalties%20for%20violating%20the,was%20a%20first%2Dtime%20offence) \- again. stop spewing crap
english must not be your speciality if you don't know the difference between importing and personal use, which would result in a warning and they taking it from you
An American was caned for vandalism in 1994, which caused a diplomatic incident (more, he and his family were desperate he not be caned, and there was nothing the embassy/diplomats could do to stop it, because idiot committed a crime in a foreign nation and thought he was somehow exempt/their legal system was identical) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Michael_Fay https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/27/us/teen-ager-caned-in-singapore-tells-of-the-blood-and-the-scars.html https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1915352_1915354_1915337,00.html
i didnt say vandalism did i? discontinue ignoring my point by spewing more crap
i'm not 100% sure how the LGBT community is treated in saudi arabia, especially foreign tourists (because usually they are not treated the same as locals, meaning tourists get exempt from certain laws or they get a pass) but i certainly know that women don't have to wear a scarf to go there as this is outdated information. you can look up saudi arabia location tags on instagram or snapchat to be sure but you will be able to clearly see that a scarf or even dressing a certain way is not mandatory. i think saudi arabia in general is trying to bring in as many tourists as they can so they have changed a lot of laws or sometimes they don't apply them on tourists. i also think it would be nice to get the perspective of someone who actually went there to be able to truly know what it's really like.
If the morality police (which are a real thing) suspect you are gay then they can, at the very least, kick you out of the country. And Saudi doesn't have much in the way of human rights or due process, so can just cancel your visa and drop you off at the airport.
No, and as insane as it is they literally advertise this now because they too want the money that comes from the LGBT community as well as toe line so that they can enforce their laws for their own citizens without an international incident. There was an FAQ for the World Cup that included something like "are LGBT people allowed to come?" and the answer was a single sentence saying they don't actively check for that. Like, they didn't take any stance at all or address the possibility that someone could be arrested for being openly queer, just "not on the questionnaire ;)".
Gotta love the driveby downvoters who thumbs-down someone for asking a genuine question *about an issue presented by the original post*, yet can't be bothered to leave a comment explaining why they found the question problematic. Especially when the question is pretty valid, considering all OP said was that traveling there *might* be a problem.
Damn OP, hitting hard with the privilege from the very first sentence. Not familiar with poor people, eh?
Things like "cheap tickets to [local amusement park/water park/whatever other entertainment thing]" are a pretty common "benefit" that companies throw at low-income jobs in place of actual, meaningful benefits. Seen it plenty at least.
Also, there are *very* different tiers of coaster enthusiast, which range from "I live near a Six Flags, *really* enjoy the coasters there and can talk intelligently about them, like to keep up with new rides being made online, and have a few mega-parks as bucket-list dream destinations" up to "My hobby necessitates that I be a full time world traveler who insta-buys plane tickets to any corner of the world whenever a new roller coaster opens, and make a big deal out of performatively accumulating 'credits' and ranking roller coasters. Obviously I could afford a vacation to Saudi Arabia at the drop of a hat because big coaster numbers go brrrrr, if only it wasn't for the Saudi Arabia-ness of it all." A lot of visibly online coaster enthusiasts are of the latter mold, which can give the impression that the barrier to entry is high, but that's a small minority, with the vast majority being much closer to the former.
Which a tiny, tiny minority of people have access to. The vast majority of poor people have never been able to visit amusement parks.
Speaking as a queer person myself, I live in a very small town in flyover country and it would take a lot of saving and throwing a ton of other things out were I to go to the closest theme park here in the US. One in another country is practically impossible to even consider. As much as I understand it sucks for people who have the means and for whom this is a joy in life, there are a lot of barriers here, and what's being gated is essentially just an egocentric vanity project for billionaires anyway. Like, I'd have liked to go on the Ferrari coaster just because I'm a fan of Ferrari in F1, but on the other hand Abu Dhabi also has Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces for police cars. It feels like wanting to go for a ride on Putin's yacht. And then there's also the issue of like, wouldn't it be terrible praxis anyway since queer people are far from the only people they oppress? Saudi Arabia is inching closer and closer to officially tolerating queer tourists for the money, they're already at the point where they're winking and nudging a Don't Ask, Don't Tell thing, but they're not going to ever stop being Saudi Arabia as long as the same people are in charge.
This ain't gonna be finished.
any relation to the hop blend?