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Jayo
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29 Oct 2014, 8:25 pm

Is it a "spectrum thing" to be totally petrified of roller-coasters? For the longest time in my childhood & youth, I was really afraid to go on rollercoasters, even the "tamer" ones - I was so afraid that I didn't think I could conceal my fear in the line-up right up the embarking point, where staff would undoubtedly ask me the familiar repetitive question: "Are you alright? are you gonna be alright?? ARE YOU SURE???" and then being left embarrassed as heck, and the fear of THAT embarrassment getting to me also. :oops:

However, I did "conquer" my fear if you can call it that. When I was 16, I went on my first roller-coaster, at Canada's Wonderland in the Toronto suburbs where I lived. It was the Wild Beast, and I believe it's still there today. It's moderately scary. Later on in my late 20s, I went back there with a girlfriend who really wanted to go on the Top Gun thrill ride, which goes upside down - something that scared the heck out of me (maybe due to sensory issues), and she noticed I was a bit nervous but I had to "be a man" about it and steel up my nerves, which I did...and I went through it, but closing my eyes most of the time. I did it a second time (on a second visit, as I don't think I could have done two of them in the same). Then I also went on The Vortex, which was really steep and scary. However, I would NEVER consider going on one of the insanely tall and long rides, like Behemoth or that "Kingda Ka" one in New Jersey, and I'm sure there's some 300-footer or something in one of those places like Six Flags Texas or Cedar Point. 8O 8O

On a humourous note, I likened my little predicament to that of Rain Man where I could've imagined myself compiling stats on all the rollercoasters and theme parks that had fatalities, and the only one that didn't was in Australia :P But don't get me wrong, I do think about it more logically, that statistically you are far more likely to get killed driving to the theme park by some idiot talking on his cell phone thru a red light, than you are to get killed on the coaster. And I certainly didn't worry myself driving to the theme park. That's why I found my reaction (and Rain Man's) to be a bit of a paradox for people on the spectrum.



L_Holmes
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29 Oct 2014, 8:41 pm

I hated them as a kid. I still don't particularly like them. My mom says as a young toddler I wouldn't even go on the swings, and as a baby I would get terrified from my baby swing even on the lowest setting. So I've never enjoyed lots of motion.

We used to go to Cedar Point every year when I lived in Ohio, and when I was 10 I was basically forced to go on the Millennium Force, which is one of the tallest roller coasters in the world. So combine my hatred of excessive motion with my fear of heights... it wasn't fun.

There is another at Cedar Point, I refuse to ride it, ever. It's called the Top Thrill Dragster. It has no sides on it, and it is the fastest roller coaster there, I believe it held the world record or still does for speed. It is over 120 mph. And plus, they play a SUPER loud dragster engine noise over the speakers before it goes. I refuse to ride.

Now I will usually ride at least some roller coasters when I am at an amusement park. I make it a game to make my face look as calm as possible. it makes it easier to ride, and it is really funny afterwards to see all the pictures of screaming people, and then me looking totally stoic :lol:


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Skilpadde
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29 Oct 2014, 9:24 pm

I've always loved roller coasters and the feeling they give me.


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khaoz
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29 Oct 2014, 9:49 pm

don't have any problem with the ones who go upside down and corkscrews and all of that, but cannot deal with the ones who just go high in the sky and back down the hill. I have no problem with the rides that just take you straight up into the air, stop, and drop back down.



AspergersActor8693
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30 Oct 2014, 12:12 am

I used to be scared of Roller Coasters, pretty much anything bigger than a Junior Roller Coaster. But then one year while at Six Flags Great Adventure a friend of mine convinced me to go on what was then called Medusa, a Floorless Roller Coaster, and I actually really enjoyed it and from then on have been on other large coasters like Nitro, El Toro, Comet, and even Kingda Ka one time. However after two or three coaster rides I am absolutely done with coasters for the day, I wind up feeling uncomfortable and can't do them anymore for the day.



WitchsCat
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30 Oct 2014, 5:52 am

I did like them when I was a kid, but became more uncomfortable with them as I got older. It was hard for me to handle the speed and sudden movements, and it didn't help that I have a fear of heights. I went on the Serial Thriller in what used to be Six Flags Ohio, and I was crying the whole time; I was so traumatized. I'm sticking to slower rides, like the carousel.


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redrobin62
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31 Oct 2014, 6:50 pm

It's not that I fear or hate them, it's just that I'm not really interested in them. I usually ignore those rides when I go to a fair.



funeralxempire
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31 Oct 2014, 6:54 pm

I loved rollercoasters as a kid but they give me bad headaches.
I'm not sure they'd be as thrilling to me as an adult though, since I can get the same g-forces in my car whenever I feel the need to.


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Kiprobalhato
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31 Oct 2014, 11:40 pm

Skilpadde wrote:
I've always loved roller coasters and the feeling they give me.

same.

i live 40 miles from 6 Flags Magic Mountain, i've gone three times this year. (company party)

my faves are tatsu and goliath. i never get sick.


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felinesaresuperior
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01 Nov 2014, 4:17 am

i was eleven when my parents took us to the amusement park. from where i stood, i could only see the rolercoaster going up, but not down. i heard muffled screams and wondered about it. i told my parents this looks kinda nice and let's try it...

i was so sorry afterward, and i kept my eyes closed too. never got on one again and never will.

i think aspies are more sensitive and feel everything deeper than nts.



felinesaresuperior
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01 Nov 2014, 4:18 am

WitchsCat wrote:
I did like them when I was a kid, but became more uncomfortable with them as I got older. It was hard for me to handle the speed and sudden movements, and it didn't help that I have a fear of heights. I went on the Serial Thriller in what used to be Six Flags Ohio, and I was crying the whole time; I was so traumatized. I'm sticking to slower rides, like the carousel.


they say autistic people are not afraid of heights, but i am slightly more careful about heights than the average nt.



Kiriae
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01 Nov 2014, 6:43 am

I like some of them and hate others.

The ones I hate are the high, track based trains with no barriers on sides. That just go up and you can't see anything but the wagon and the sky around. It is even worse when the wagon spins around (the "teacup" train) while going up and down with no orientation point. They scare me off.

But I have no problem with the ones that have some kind of visible barriers or track. For example I kinda like the bobsleigh where you are in a ice tube and slide down, the wild river pontoon ride and even the "universe" rollercoaster where you are in a dark, huge room with a lot of lights and the wagon goes down and round with huge speed.
Even a track-train kind of rollercoster is fine to me as long as it enters some tunnels or speedily gets into water causing huge water walls on both sides.

I can't really say I fancy the feeling of gravity going wild but as long as I know where I am going and I see I am not simply floating in the air I kinda like it. Although some rollercoasters and carousels make my stomach sick.



Campin_Cat
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01 Nov 2014, 10:25 am

I LOVE Roller Coasters!! ! I don't have a problem with going upside-down, and I'm not afraid of heights. I always sit in the very first seat, and ride it twice in a row!!

The rides I can't handle are the ones that spin-around----the teacup ride makes me have motion sickness just LOOKING at it----and, I don't like bumper cars, either, cuz I don't like how it rattles my body.



Misslizard
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01 Nov 2014, 11:47 am

I loved roller coasters,when I was a kid I went to Six Flags over Georgia and road the Scream Machine,at the time it was the tallest I believe.A whole bunch of nuns in full habit went down it,talk about hilarious looking.I liked the rides that would spin,like the tilt-a-whirl.and the one that would spin you in a barrel and then the bottom dropped out and you were stuck to the side.It wasn't that fun if someone puked.
But I hated those swings and the Ferris wheel.
Now I'm not into rides becuse of the crowds and worry they may not be in good repair.


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Kiriae
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01 Nov 2014, 1:49 pm

Misslizard wrote:
Now I'm not into rides because of the crowds and worry they may not be in good repair.

Yeah, thats the reason why I don't go to the Lunaparks. The waiting line of a hundred people in front of every attraction makes me sick. Wait 40 minutes in crowd just to ride a rollercoaster for 5 minutes. It just doesn't calculate.



nick007
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01 Nov 2014, 5:16 pm

I used to get motion sickness as a kid so I never ridden any & am afraid to.


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