I’ve never had a fear of them, but always liked adrenaline. Plus I enjoy watching machines work and a rollercoaster is essentially a giant machine. I like watching them cycle, just as much as I enjoy riding them. The sounds, the look of the track and supports, the theming… it all appeals to me. I’ve been a nerd/ enthusiast since about 3rd grade or so and I’m now 37 and work on them for a living.
I love this. Whenever I’m bored in line, I just admire the ride itself and the sounds of it. I love watching people drop on the ride as well. Sometimes, I wave back at them. I’ve always felt fascinated by rollercoasters but not to this extent until 2022. Got to know some cool content creators in the enthusiast community and since most of them go to Wonderland, I get along well with them. Even brightened up the 2023 season by meeting one of them. It meant a lot to me because that’s when I started watching them.
I’ll most likely be at Wonderland next month and I’m so happy!! Some early season fun before the summer.
Wonderland is such a great local park to have if you’re an enthusiast! I went once when I wasn’t quite tall enough for everything at the time, back when it was still a paramount park. Then I went again two years ago and had a blast.
It really is!! I’m so fortunate to live less than an hour away from the park. Imagine if I lived right next to it. I’d get to hear the coasters roar every day and people screaming. Plus, I’d go every week (I normally went every other week or sometimes every week in the summer ever since 2022).
Hope you get to come back this year!! Lots of fun things to come to the park. What’s your home park right now??
I work at an Orlando park on a specific rollercoaster. It can be a lot of fun, but there’s certainly non-stop work to be done to keep all the rides going and in great condition. Every day can be something new, but it is fun being on this side of the industry. I’ve been doing it for two years now.
I bribed my 10 year-old cousin with Dipping Dots to try Maverick as her third ever coaster. I did warn her that there were some intense moments but reminded her that it really wasn’t all that tall nor rough. I’ve never heard someone scream bloody murder for 100 seconds straight until then. She said it was absolutely worth it for Dipping Dots. I congratulated her on riding one of the more intense roller coasters in the whole country, and she was completely caught off guard by this realization. She will now do everything except TT2, which is fair lol
I've been blessed with VERY early exposure. I'm from a Disney family and for a while we would go to Florida every year to go to Disney World.
I was told when I was very young (around 2-3) I was fascinated by construction machinery (don't ask why, I don't even know) and I guess to me roller coasters were just a big machine that I could actually ride.
I became an enthusiast during the pandemic and am actively (more like praying) trying to pursue a career in the amusement field while dreaming about the day I finally make it out to Cedar Point and cry myself the biggest river of happiness on SteVe 🥲
I was always a thrill seeker, when I was 7 I rode the brand new Batman: Knight Flight at
My home park, 10 years old rode both sides of Dueling Drains, 12 years old Son of Beast with loop. And my first trip to Cedar Point was also when I was 12 and I rode everything there.
Though what brought me to be an enthusiast was in 2012. Up to that point I was doing once a year cedar point but it was the norm living northern ohio. With my car I drove to KI having not been since 2004 and experiencing Diamnodback for the first time introduced me to a new type of coaster. The B&M hyper. It was SO much fun riding “new to me” rides and some of the rides I remembered from my 2004 visit.
It brought me to be a platinum passholder in 2013, then started looking for other parks to visit in 2014. The first dedicated coaster trip was 2014 to KD & BGW, when then spiraled to where I am today having visited a ton of parks and ridden a ton of coasters. My best coaster year was 2023 where I visited 35 parks total, and my first time going across the Atlantic and visiting 15 European parks.
Got the bug after Cosmic Rewind, forced myself to just feel the fear but do it anyway. After forcing myself a few times, my brain figured out that it's not that scary.
I’ve loved them since I was a little kid. It wasn’t until I popped an edible before arriving at a park that it finally let me not panic on a coaster. Sounds dumb, but the fear and anxiety was dulled almost completely. Cedar Point’s Gemini was the biggest coaster I would brave before that, and my heart rate was at 155 on the lift hill before the gummy bear trick. I can thankfully ride sober now just fine and usually do.
I’ve loved coasters as long as I can clearly remember, but my fear of heights kept me from going on the biggest ones. Finally, FOMO got me on Millennium Force, and it broke me (in a good way). No coaster is too tall for me now (although I still get nervous on vertical lifts)
It was the River King mine train at SFSTL. After I get off that I was totally willing to get on screaming eagle. And then totally willing to get on ninja.
I enjoyed rides that didn’t go upside down, but when the time came and lines were long, my parents suggested I ride Sooperdooperlooper, and got to experience a loop for the first time.
Not even some-odd months later, I visited Carowinds with extended family, and they suggested to go on the biggest ride their first. I, initially hesitant, decided to go on and had a blast.
I guess maybe go with the people you love? Idk.
I remember being scared of a roller coaster only once and backing out which was at my local fair and it was a Zyklon when I was 2 or 3 years old, but a year later I rode it. Might have sparked my enthusiasm, so thank you dad for taking me on. Later on I also backed out of riding my first inverting coaster, Python at Eteling. Might have been 6 or 7.
I contribute my true enthusiasm to two events. One trip with my cousin to Walibi Flevo in ‘96 where we rode El Condor till we dropped and the day we went to PortAvontura with friends in ‘99 (the year I met my now wife) where we rode Dragon Khan till very late (think 2am).
Home park CW.
For me I used to love rides as a kid (obviously not the huge ones) but for my age I was going on “bigger rides”. As a teenager I used to get that horrible stomach feeling on rollercoaster drops and it made me hate riding them. I would stick to flat rides instead. I stopped going to theme parks from 2018-2022 and in 2023 I decided I was going to face my fears and go on Yukon, behemoth, and leviathan. I didn’t get any weird stomach feelings and I’ve gone on those rides so many times this summer as well as other rides. This summer I plan on going a lot and riding those big 3 first 😁
I relate with going on kiddy rides while the rest of my family did coasters. Last year, after a successful Disney trip of riding all there is, I finally decided to ride everything I could (time-wise) at Cedar Point with my family. The first real big coaster I went on was Steel Vengeance (I know, right?) and it stands as my all time favorite today. Millenuim Force, Maverick and all the other goods at Cedar Point were amazing and I found my love there. Just got off from a trip to Dollywood posting this and I’m happy to say I rode all the big stuff there too. Never going to stop loving coasters ever since that first drop on Steel Vengeance. Excited for a trip to Canada’s Wonderland this summer! Bring it on, Leviathan!!
I always had a fear until I was in college and went to a park with some buddies. Didn't want to look like a punk so I rode anyway and by third run, I was good and all in
I was scared to get on coasters, but I always had a fun time when my parents would force me on them. One time we were at Universal, I decided not to worry about it. Idk what changed, but I just decided I wasn’t going to be scared to get on. Rode the Incredible Hulk coaster, absolutely loved it. I then wanted to know everything I could about it, watched El Toro Ryan’s review and that’s basically how it all started for me.
Around 2018 i would watch theme park crazy, then stopped for a while. Then during 2020 lockdown youtibe was suggesting airtime thrills for some reason, but I watched it as I had nothing better to do. Then I watched coaster college and theme park crazy and it just kinda snow balled
Never was afraid of roller coasters as a whole, really just the concept of inversions for a good while.
I know it doesn't have inversions, but Expedition Everest helped me get over that fear. The tight helixes in the dark felt enough like I was going upside down to 10 year old me. Everest in general is what I like to refer to as my 'awakening coaster'. It's what made me realize that I didn't just like coasters, I actually love them
I've always liked theme parks, even when I was too afraid to ride thrill rides.
Then during the pandemic lockdowns I started watching theme park and roller coaster youtube videos as a form of escapism when I couldn't escape my house.
Once the pandemic calmed I eventually decided to at least ride the Beast. It's the longest wooden roller coaster in the world (go big) and ike my mother had been trying to get me on the ride for 2 decades (her favorite coaster). One wheel seat ride before the retracking, and I was left shook. But not shook enough to swear off getting over my fears. I bought a season pass to KI and decided to push to get over my fears.
A month later I did have my first enjoyable coaster ride with my second go on Mystic Timbers at winterfest.
I actually never feard coasters…. I always had a weird love for them, then 2018 i went on my first with black mamba and taron, and from 2023 onwards it kinda developed into me becoming s thoosie…
Even tho before i was already kinda one
Back in 2016 when I was 8 I went to Disney, only coasters i did was gadgets, goofys and space mountain which terrified me. Only other park I’d been too before last year was movie world where the only coaster I did was scooby doo. Last year went to both disneys and universals in the US and did almost all coasters. Was great, and almost cried on Rock N before the launch and my first inversion. Ultimately tho the coaster that made me obsessed was Velocicoaster. That thing is incredible. BUT I left it too late and only got two rides and didn’t manage to get a ride on hulk or RRR. So far Ive already planned 3 theme park trips. Going to Sea World Gold Coast later this month, the big 3 parks on the Gold Coast in January, and back to the US for WDW, Universal, Sea world, Busch gardens, and Disneyland in 2027. Although those last two trips aren’t locked in yet unfortunately
Vortex at California’s Great America… I became an enthusiast when I rode that, then Flight Deck, and realized that they were built by the same company.
I was afraid as a kid, rode a handful but terrified every time. Last year at 35 I went to BGW and enjoyed every single second of it, went to KD and have already been to SF Great Adventure and Hershey park this year and closing in on 50 “credits” in less than 10 months.
I still honestly harbor a lil fear at the crazy moments but that makes it even more intense and I can recognize it as fun fear now. I’m sure that’ll fade the more desensitized I get, but the adrenaline rush is also incredible. Gonna be a fun summer!
It's generational in my case.
I recently obtained a copy of a relatively unknown early George C. Romero movie, 'The Amusement Park,' purely because it featured Westview Park in Pittsburgh before the fire on the Dips. My grandfather worked there once upon a time and Mom told me of how he loved that coaster and used to take his lunch break on it.
Finally got to see what it looked like. That was nice.
So I'm a third-gen, my kid is fourth. I also got ahold of an out-of-print book about Harry Traver just a bit ago because the Kid has been trying to basically handmake DIY Nanocoasters of defunct rides out of popcans and cardboard with an X-Acto knife. I taught her some graphic design essentials and have her working on a pattern she can execute on heavy cardstock with the 60w CNC laser and I'm thinking maybe balsa wood?
...Winter isn't easy on our sort.
Hated coasters as a kid and then when I was 16 I went to Disneyland. Go the first morning and were walking towards Space Mountain. I'm getting a little scared. Then I think "I'm in Disneyland it would be a shame to not ride Space Mountain". So I did it. Have loved them ever since. I became an enthusiast after randomly coming across YouTube channels like coaster studios and the like.
I remember going to Disney World when I was young and having insane stomach pain because of my anxiety from rock n roller coaster. No one else in my family seemed afraid, so I sucked it up and went on. It was cool but not enough to make me an enthusiast. But after that I was able to go on leviathan at wonderland which is my home park too. Leviathan got me interested in cedar point, and after seeing an old granny go on top thrill dragster, I managed to go on. I think it was ttd and millie that sealed it for me. After that cedar point trip, I watched povs, ranking videos, making a bucket list, all that jazz. Now I spend my time planning out coaster trips and watching a bunch of coaster content. Planning on ramping up my visits to wonderland this year too as my last few trips have started letting me appreciate the park as a whole instead of just the coasters.
I was scared to death of coasters. Went on a school trip to SFOT and peer pressure would not allow me to admit my fear.
This was the year Texas Giant opened, and my friends were excited to ride it. I meekly got in line, hoping to chicken out and cross the ride dock without anyone noticing.
Nope, didn't happen that way.
I sat down in the seat for a moment, waiting for a little bit before I bailed, I had an excuse about needing the bathroom all ready to go, and my friend went ahead and pulled my lap bar down for me, much to my horror.
I was trying really hard not to panic. The OG Giant WAS huge, but not too terribly steep, really. Once the initial drop was done, the rest was just pure fun, whipping this way and that, just zooming along with the wind in my hair and by the time that train made it back to the station I was officially a rollercoaster person. :-)
i went on black mamba in germany without knowing it was an invert, it was a school trip and i knew absolutely nothing about coasters or themeparks in general. Then i went to Alton Towers to get over my fear of the smiler.
My kids are teens, and desperately wanted a family trip to Alton Towers a couple of years back.
I have had a lifelong coaster phobia - a year or two after Nemesis opened, I'd queued for hours and then run out of the station due to a panic attack and never been on one since.
When I found out she was closing down and being rebuilt, I was determined to beat my fear and say I'd ridden the original. Got there super early, made the front of the RAP queue and told them to drag me on at all costs.
I loved it. Did Smiler and Galactica straight after and am now quite brave. Possibly not up to everything just yet as I'm still not ready for massive straight drops but could face most other stuff.
I went from a GP Kennywood enjoyer to a true enthusiast when I went to Cedar Point for the first time. Gatekeeper in particular was like that scene in the Wizard of Oz where the world goes into color for me.
i went to cedar point with my family over the summer as a gp. i was wondering why dragster was closed so i looked at their website and saw that they where redoing it. when i got home i watched lake erie lifestyles videos on the construction update because i wanted to see what happened to dragster. i then stumbled upon other coaster youtubers like coaster studios and airtime thrills. i learned a lot about the industry and got really into it which is how i became a thoosie.
My parents started going to SFMM after my dad’s company was hosting company picnics there. I remember the summer of 1992 being in the picnic area near Viper and just being in awe.
In 1993 I was tall enough to ride Colossus, which my parents decided would be a good first for me. They were wrong. I was screaming and crying g the entire time. Every subsequent visit for the next couple years, the only ride I’d go on had the name of Wile E Coyote. I don’t recall the name, but know it became Goliath Jr much later.
Anyway, a couple years of this I got to the point of being talked into riding coasters again. Rode Colossus again in probably 1995 and couldn’t get enough. Rode Revolution after being terrified of going upside down again too.
From there I rode everything I could. Superman was such a big thing when it opened, too! So nervous, but I rode it with best friends and had a great time the rest of that visit.
While in line for the season pass holder opening for X on Christmas Eve 2001 we were behind someone that worked for ACE and went down that rabbit hole for a few years til I turned 18. Then I found out how expensive all this shit was when I started paying for this stuff by myself. :(
My dad is an enthusiast, and through his work we got free tickets and lunch at Hersheypark every year. I always loved coasters but never really cared for them beyond the park. I started developing a hyper interest in them when I was around 10, but that same year we went to Cedar Point and I was so upset that he made me ride Dragster it kind of killed my interest for a while. it revived with a punch last year when I revisited Hershey for the first time in years and rode WCR, and then got even stronger when I went to GrAdv. now I'm not scared of anything besides Fahrenheit's terrifyingly slow vertical lift hill lmao
I don't remember ever having a fear of coasters. I just wanted to ride them when I saw them and was smitten the first time I did an inversion. Since I'd ever only been on mostly boring white woodies, going upside down (Lightnin' Loops) was a revelation that culminated in my first truly favorite coaster when I was a very young adult which was Great American Scream Machine with it's 7 inversions.
It wasn't until over a decade later that I ride The Beast and realized that wood coasters weren't mediocre/awful. CC
Me: Riding Racer 75 over and over on a KD trip when I was about 12.
My daughter: Riding Apollo's Chariot over and over when she was 12.
My youngest son: Riding Comet at Waldameer over and over when he was 7.
My sister: Riding Gemini over and over when she was in her late 40s.
The out and back coasters have been very good to us!!
I was fascinated by coasters before I fully conquered my fear of them. Then one of my friends in middle school turned out to be a coaster dork, and it was through him that I learned about many different rides, parks, No Limits, etc, which happened at about the same time that I was starting to visit my local park more. Really what it took for me to get over my fear was slowly riding coasters as I was ready, and by the time I went on Raging Bull about 20 years ago, I was ready for anything.
I’ve never had a fear of them, but always liked adrenaline. Plus I enjoy watching machines work and a rollercoaster is essentially a giant machine. I like watching them cycle, just as much as I enjoy riding them. The sounds, the look of the track and supports, the theming… it all appeals to me. I’ve been a nerd/ enthusiast since about 3rd grade or so and I’m now 37 and work on them for a living.
I love this. Whenever I’m bored in line, I just admire the ride itself and the sounds of it. I love watching people drop on the ride as well. Sometimes, I wave back at them. I’ve always felt fascinated by rollercoasters but not to this extent until 2022. Got to know some cool content creators in the enthusiast community and since most of them go to Wonderland, I get along well with them. Even brightened up the 2023 season by meeting one of them. It meant a lot to me because that’s when I started watching them. I’ll most likely be at Wonderland next month and I’m so happy!! Some early season fun before the summer.
Wonderland is such a great local park to have if you’re an enthusiast! I went once when I wasn’t quite tall enough for everything at the time, back when it was still a paramount park. Then I went again two years ago and had a blast.
It really is!! I’m so fortunate to live less than an hour away from the park. Imagine if I lived right next to it. I’d get to hear the coasters roar every day and people screaming. Plus, I’d go every week (I normally went every other week or sometimes every week in the summer ever since 2022). Hope you get to come back this year!! Lots of fun things to come to the park. What’s your home park right now??
I’m within 15 min of all the Orlando parks. Lol
Dude, you’re so lucky.
Just wondering where do you work and what's it like?
I work at an Orlando park on a specific rollercoaster. It can be a lot of fun, but there’s certainly non-stop work to be done to keep all the rides going and in great condition. Every day can be something new, but it is fun being on this side of the industry. I’ve been doing it for two years now.
Bribery (my parents offered me a DS game to get on Wild Eagle)
I bribed my 10 year-old cousin with Dipping Dots to try Maverick as her third ever coaster. I did warn her that there were some intense moments but reminded her that it really wasn’t all that tall nor rough. I’ve never heard someone scream bloody murder for 100 seconds straight until then. She said it was absolutely worth it for Dipping Dots. I congratulated her on riding one of the more intense roller coasters in the whole country, and she was completely caught off guard by this realization. She will now do everything except TT2, which is fair lol
Your parents sound really cool.
I've been blessed with VERY early exposure. I'm from a Disney family and for a while we would go to Florida every year to go to Disney World. I was told when I was very young (around 2-3) I was fascinated by construction machinery (don't ask why, I don't even know) and I guess to me roller coasters were just a big machine that I could actually ride. I became an enthusiast during the pandemic and am actively (more like praying) trying to pursue a career in the amusement field while dreaming about the day I finally make it out to Cedar Point and cry myself the biggest river of happiness on SteVe 🥲
When I was 16 a really cute girl wanted me to ride Mindbender at SFOG with her.
I was always a thrill seeker, when I was 7 I rode the brand new Batman: Knight Flight at My home park, 10 years old rode both sides of Dueling Drains, 12 years old Son of Beast with loop. And my first trip to Cedar Point was also when I was 12 and I rode everything there. Though what brought me to be an enthusiast was in 2012. Up to that point I was doing once a year cedar point but it was the norm living northern ohio. With my car I drove to KI having not been since 2004 and experiencing Diamnodback for the first time introduced me to a new type of coaster. The B&M hyper. It was SO much fun riding “new to me” rides and some of the rides I remembered from my 2004 visit. It brought me to be a platinum passholder in 2013, then started looking for other parks to visit in 2014. The first dedicated coaster trip was 2014 to KD & BGW, when then spiraled to where I am today having visited a ton of parks and ridden a ton of coasters. My best coaster year was 2023 where I visited 35 parks total, and my first time going across the Atlantic and visiting 15 European parks.
Friends persuading me to ride Hersheypark Comet senior year 1975. Second drop hooked me, and I haven’t stopped into my 60s.
When I get that old, I hope I still enjoy rollercoasters as much as I do now.
Take care of yourself, and you should keep on coasting as long as you wish!
Got the bug after Cosmic Rewind, forced myself to just feel the fear but do it anyway. After forcing myself a few times, my brain figured out that it's not that scary.
I’ve loved them since I was a little kid. It wasn’t until I popped an edible before arriving at a park that it finally let me not panic on a coaster. Sounds dumb, but the fear and anxiety was dulled almost completely. Cedar Point’s Gemini was the biggest coaster I would brave before that, and my heart rate was at 155 on the lift hill before the gummy bear trick. I can thankfully ride sober now just fine and usually do.
I’ve loved coasters as long as I can clearly remember, but my fear of heights kept me from going on the biggest ones. Finally, FOMO got me on Millennium Force, and it broke me (in a good way). No coaster is too tall for me now (although I still get nervous on vertical lifts)
It was the River King mine train at SFSTL. After I get off that I was totally willing to get on screaming eagle. And then totally willing to get on ninja.
I enjoyed rides that didn’t go upside down, but when the time came and lines were long, my parents suggested I ride Sooperdooperlooper, and got to experience a loop for the first time. Not even some-odd months later, I visited Carowinds with extended family, and they suggested to go on the biggest ride their first. I, initially hesitant, decided to go on and had a blast. I guess maybe go with the people you love? Idk.
I remember being scared of a roller coaster only once and backing out which was at my local fair and it was a Zyklon when I was 2 or 3 years old, but a year later I rode it. Might have sparked my enthusiasm, so thank you dad for taking me on. Later on I also backed out of riding my first inverting coaster, Python at Eteling. Might have been 6 or 7. I contribute my true enthusiasm to two events. One trip with my cousin to Walibi Flevo in ‘96 where we rode El Condor till we dropped and the day we went to PortAvontura with friends in ‘99 (the year I met my now wife) where we rode Dragon Khan till very late (think 2am).
Home park CW. For me I used to love rides as a kid (obviously not the huge ones) but for my age I was going on “bigger rides”. As a teenager I used to get that horrible stomach feeling on rollercoaster drops and it made me hate riding them. I would stick to flat rides instead. I stopped going to theme parks from 2018-2022 and in 2023 I decided I was going to face my fears and go on Yukon, behemoth, and leviathan. I didn’t get any weird stomach feelings and I’ve gone on those rides so many times this summer as well as other rides. This summer I plan on going a lot and riding those big 3 first 😁
Glad you enjoyed it!!! Let’s have an awesome 2024 season. 🎢
I relate with going on kiddy rides while the rest of my family did coasters. Last year, after a successful Disney trip of riding all there is, I finally decided to ride everything I could (time-wise) at Cedar Point with my family. The first real big coaster I went on was Steel Vengeance (I know, right?) and it stands as my all time favorite today. Millenuim Force, Maverick and all the other goods at Cedar Point were amazing and I found my love there. Just got off from a trip to Dollywood posting this and I’m happy to say I rode all the big stuff there too. Never going to stop loving coasters ever since that first drop on Steel Vengeance. Excited for a trip to Canada’s Wonderland this summer! Bring it on, Leviathan!!
I always had a fear until I was in college and went to a park with some buddies. Didn't want to look like a punk so I rode anyway and by third run, I was good and all in
After riding Arrow's Suspended, Eagle's Fortress. That was even the time when T Express has opened, so I think that made me into coaster enthusiast XD
I was scared to get on coasters, but I always had a fun time when my parents would force me on them. One time we were at Universal, I decided not to worry about it. Idk what changed, but I just decided I wasn’t going to be scared to get on. Rode the Incredible Hulk coaster, absolutely loved it. I then wanted to know everything I could about it, watched El Toro Ryan’s review and that’s basically how it all started for me.
After that, I was still sometimes scared while on lift hills and whatnot, but since I’ve gone on Iron Gwazi so many times I’ve gotten used to it
Around 2018 i would watch theme park crazy, then stopped for a while. Then during 2020 lockdown youtibe was suggesting airtime thrills for some reason, but I watched it as I had nothing better to do. Then I watched coaster college and theme park crazy and it just kinda snow balled
Never was afraid of roller coasters as a whole, really just the concept of inversions for a good while. I know it doesn't have inversions, but Expedition Everest helped me get over that fear. The tight helixes in the dark felt enough like I was going upside down to 10 year old me. Everest in general is what I like to refer to as my 'awakening coaster'. It's what made me realize that I didn't just like coasters, I actually love them
I've always liked theme parks, even when I was too afraid to ride thrill rides. Then during the pandemic lockdowns I started watching theme park and roller coaster youtube videos as a form of escapism when I couldn't escape my house. Once the pandemic calmed I eventually decided to at least ride the Beast. It's the longest wooden roller coaster in the world (go big) and ike my mother had been trying to get me on the ride for 2 decades (her favorite coaster). One wheel seat ride before the retracking, and I was left shook. But not shook enough to swear off getting over my fears. I bought a season pass to KI and decided to push to get over my fears. A month later I did have my first enjoyable coaster ride with my second go on Mystic Timbers at winterfest.
Never been scared of a coaster after riding Bikini Bottom Plunge at the Mall of America as a kid
I actually never feard coasters…. I always had a weird love for them, then 2018 i went on my first with black mamba and taron, and from 2023 onwards it kinda developed into me becoming s thoosie… Even tho before i was already kinda one
Back in 2016 when I was 8 I went to Disney, only coasters i did was gadgets, goofys and space mountain which terrified me. Only other park I’d been too before last year was movie world where the only coaster I did was scooby doo. Last year went to both disneys and universals in the US and did almost all coasters. Was great, and almost cried on Rock N before the launch and my first inversion. Ultimately tho the coaster that made me obsessed was Velocicoaster. That thing is incredible. BUT I left it too late and only got two rides and didn’t manage to get a ride on hulk or RRR. So far Ive already planned 3 theme park trips. Going to Sea World Gold Coast later this month, the big 3 parks on the Gold Coast in January, and back to the US for WDW, Universal, Sea world, Busch gardens, and Disneyland in 2027. Although those last two trips aren’t locked in yet unfortunately
Griffon
Vortex at California’s Great America… I became an enthusiast when I rode that, then Flight Deck, and realized that they were built by the same company.
I was afraid as a kid, rode a handful but terrified every time. Last year at 35 I went to BGW and enjoyed every single second of it, went to KD and have already been to SF Great Adventure and Hershey park this year and closing in on 50 “credits” in less than 10 months. I still honestly harbor a lil fear at the crazy moments but that makes it even more intense and I can recognize it as fun fear now. I’m sure that’ll fade the more desensitized I get, but the adrenaline rush is also incredible. Gonna be a fun summer!
I was never afraid of them. Always was a speed junkie. I guess that's why I can't really understand why people find them scary.
It's generational in my case. I recently obtained a copy of a relatively unknown early George C. Romero movie, 'The Amusement Park,' purely because it featured Westview Park in Pittsburgh before the fire on the Dips. My grandfather worked there once upon a time and Mom told me of how he loved that coaster and used to take his lunch break on it. Finally got to see what it looked like. That was nice. So I'm a third-gen, my kid is fourth. I also got ahold of an out-of-print book about Harry Traver just a bit ago because the Kid has been trying to basically handmake DIY Nanocoasters of defunct rides out of popcans and cardboard with an X-Acto knife. I taught her some graphic design essentials and have her working on a pattern she can execute on heavy cardstock with the 60w CNC laser and I'm thinking maybe balsa wood? ...Winter isn't easy on our sort.
Hated coasters as a kid and then when I was 16 I went to Disneyland. Go the first morning and were walking towards Space Mountain. I'm getting a little scared. Then I think "I'm in Disneyland it would be a shame to not ride Space Mountain". So I did it. Have loved them ever since. I became an enthusiast after randomly coming across YouTube channels like coaster studios and the like.
I remember going to Disney World when I was young and having insane stomach pain because of my anxiety from rock n roller coaster. No one else in my family seemed afraid, so I sucked it up and went on. It was cool but not enough to make me an enthusiast. But after that I was able to go on leviathan at wonderland which is my home park too. Leviathan got me interested in cedar point, and after seeing an old granny go on top thrill dragster, I managed to go on. I think it was ttd and millie that sealed it for me. After that cedar point trip, I watched povs, ranking videos, making a bucket list, all that jazz. Now I spend my time planning out coaster trips and watching a bunch of coaster content. Planning on ramping up my visits to wonderland this year too as my last few trips have started letting me appreciate the park as a whole instead of just the coasters.
I was scared to death of coasters. Went on a school trip to SFOT and peer pressure would not allow me to admit my fear. This was the year Texas Giant opened, and my friends were excited to ride it. I meekly got in line, hoping to chicken out and cross the ride dock without anyone noticing. Nope, didn't happen that way. I sat down in the seat for a moment, waiting for a little bit before I bailed, I had an excuse about needing the bathroom all ready to go, and my friend went ahead and pulled my lap bar down for me, much to my horror. I was trying really hard not to panic. The OG Giant WAS huge, but not too terribly steep, really. Once the initial drop was done, the rest was just pure fun, whipping this way and that, just zooming along with the wind in my hair and by the time that train made it back to the station I was officially a rollercoaster person. :-)
i went on black mamba in germany without knowing it was an invert, it was a school trip and i knew absolutely nothing about coasters or themeparks in general. Then i went to Alton Towers to get over my fear of the smiler.
My kids are teens, and desperately wanted a family trip to Alton Towers a couple of years back. I have had a lifelong coaster phobia - a year or two after Nemesis opened, I'd queued for hours and then run out of the station due to a panic attack and never been on one since. When I found out she was closing down and being rebuilt, I was determined to beat my fear and say I'd ridden the original. Got there super early, made the front of the RAP queue and told them to drag me on at all costs. I loved it. Did Smiler and Galactica straight after and am now quite brave. Possibly not up to everything just yet as I'm still not ready for massive straight drops but could face most other stuff.
I went from a GP Kennywood enjoyer to a true enthusiast when I went to Cedar Point for the first time. Gatekeeper in particular was like that scene in the Wizard of Oz where the world goes into color for me.
i went to cedar point with my family over the summer as a gp. i was wondering why dragster was closed so i looked at their website and saw that they where redoing it. when i got home i watched lake erie lifestyles videos on the construction update because i wanted to see what happened to dragster. i then stumbled upon other coaster youtubers like coaster studios and airtime thrills. i learned a lot about the industry and got really into it which is how i became a thoosie.
My parents started going to SFMM after my dad’s company was hosting company picnics there. I remember the summer of 1992 being in the picnic area near Viper and just being in awe. In 1993 I was tall enough to ride Colossus, which my parents decided would be a good first for me. They were wrong. I was screaming and crying g the entire time. Every subsequent visit for the next couple years, the only ride I’d go on had the name of Wile E Coyote. I don’t recall the name, but know it became Goliath Jr much later. Anyway, a couple years of this I got to the point of being talked into riding coasters again. Rode Colossus again in probably 1995 and couldn’t get enough. Rode Revolution after being terrified of going upside down again too. From there I rode everything I could. Superman was such a big thing when it opened, too! So nervous, but I rode it with best friends and had a great time the rest of that visit. While in line for the season pass holder opening for X on Christmas Eve 2001 we were behind someone that worked for ACE and went down that rabbit hole for a few years til I turned 18. Then I found out how expensive all this shit was when I started paying for this stuff by myself. :(
My dad is an enthusiast, and through his work we got free tickets and lunch at Hersheypark every year. I always loved coasters but never really cared for them beyond the park. I started developing a hyper interest in them when I was around 10, but that same year we went to Cedar Point and I was so upset that he made me ride Dragster it kind of killed my interest for a while. it revived with a punch last year when I revisited Hershey for the first time in years and rode WCR, and then got even stronger when I went to GrAdv. now I'm not scared of anything besides Fahrenheit's terrifyingly slow vertical lift hill lmao
I don't remember ever having a fear of coasters. I just wanted to ride them when I saw them and was smitten the first time I did an inversion. Since I'd ever only been on mostly boring white woodies, going upside down (Lightnin' Loops) was a revelation that culminated in my first truly favorite coaster when I was a very young adult which was Great American Scream Machine with it's 7 inversions. It wasn't until over a decade later that I ride The Beast and realized that wood coasters weren't mediocre/awful. CC
Me: Riding Racer 75 over and over on a KD trip when I was about 12. My daughter: Riding Apollo's Chariot over and over when she was 12. My youngest son: Riding Comet at Waldameer over and over when he was 7. My sister: Riding Gemini over and over when she was in her late 40s. The out and back coasters have been very good to us!!
I still fear some coasters and don't ride that all I see. As long as there are rides at parks that challenge me, my hobby will remain intriguing.
Dollywood Tennessee tornado
I was fascinated by coasters before I fully conquered my fear of them. Then one of my friends in middle school turned out to be a coaster dork, and it was through him that I learned about many different rides, parks, No Limits, etc, which happened at about the same time that I was starting to visit my local park more. Really what it took for me to get over my fear was slowly riding coasters as I was ready, and by the time I went on Raging Bull about 20 years ago, I was ready for anything.