Fear of Roller Coaster

[BCohen89]

Soo yes I know its a little silly but I have a fear of roller coasters! Joining the military ..No PROBLEM , Go on a roller coaster ...NO WAY! I was hoping someone here would be able to help that may or may not have the same issues as me ....last year i did ride Rockin Roller Coaster and the Hogwarts ride at Universal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated !
PS we are going on Tower of Terror First!

 

[TwilightZone]

Do the method my aunt does - close eyes the entire ride.
Or you can wait in front while your friends/family are riding.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

How did you feel after Rock 'n' Roller Coaster? That's one of the more intense Disney coasters.

One way to address a fear or phobia is to "gradually and repeatedly expose yourself to what you fear in a safe and controlled way."

You might want to try a more mild coaster, like Barnstormer. Ride that until you feel comfortable, and then move up to something like Big Thunder, which is pretty mild by coaster standards.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Soo yes I know its a little silly but I have a fear of roller coasters! Joining the military ..No PROBLEM , Go on a roller coaster ...NO WAY! I was hoping someone here would be able to help that may or may not have the same issues as me ....last year i did ride Rockin Roller Coaster and the Hogwarts ride at Universal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated !
PS we are going on Tower of Terror First!

I don't like roller coasters, the feeling that my heart is in my throat is not something I find enjoyable. I guess the basic reason is fear. If I can feel safe with something I don't have that extreme a feeling. I grew up dealing with roadside carnivals put together quickly by people that I felt could barely get themselves up, much less put up a ride that I would consider safe. The only place that I would ever ride a coaster or ToT was in Disney. Why? Because, in spite of the unproven maintenance problem spewed out by "friends" of Disney, I know that the pockets of TWDC are very, very, very deep. Disney has a team of lawyers that cost more per year then my whole family combined will ever make in my lifetime. They are not going to risk lawsuits and they know they will lose because they want to save a few pennies by cutting back on safety.

So, because of that, I have much more faith in the Disney safety of the rides then any other place. Stationary coasters in other places are probably as safe as well, but, I don't like that empty stomach feeling so the super coasters are something that I will not ride. Wooden coasters have thousands and thousands of small pieces of wood holding it together. Wooden coasters are outdoors in the rain, with the wood eating bugs, and a lot of centrifugal force being pressured on all those potentially rotten wooden elements. So, there are not on my list other then the list of what to avoid. Nothing in Disney gives me that feeling and I therefore I have ridden them all.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

PS we are going on Tower of Terror First!

Amen to that!!

I used to have an issue with severe anxiety, not that I was afraid of any one specific thing, but instead myself. It destroyed my dream of working in PD. It was so bad that I once had a panic attack immediately after the PotC boat I was on left the station. I've done this ride a million times before but there was a few years where I was that bad, and because of things like that I ended up developing agoraphobia for a little while.

Currently I'm 1000 times better at managing and while i'll credit my recovery to a massive combination of things, you just have to keep telling yourself "this isn't going to kill me or do any permanent damage". Ultimately it all stems from a fear that just shouldn't be there. I will say however that if you just don't enjoy coasters because they themselves make you feel ill or iffy, than embrace it. i'm sure not everyone is able to take the headaches that come after an intense ride lol.

I will also say that my friend, who served overseas as a gunner in a convoy, will do just about anything but go near any kind of snake lol whereas me i'll pick one up if I know it doesn't bite.

Ultimately, if you are determined enough to get rid of your fear of coasters, you will.

 

[TwilightZone]

How did you feel after Rock 'n' Roller Coaster? That's one of the more intense Disney coasters.

One way to address a fear or phobia is to "gradually and repeatedly expose yourself to what you fear in a safe and controlled way."

You might want to try a more mild coaster, like Barnstormer. Ride that until you feel comfortable, and then move up to something like Big Thunder, which is pretty mild by coaster standards.

My first coaster was either space mountain or california screamin'.
Now both of these are in disneyland, but I guess it goes to show that a medium roller coaster would maybe also be a good way to start.

 

[epcotisbest]

Soo yes I know its a little silly but I have a fear of roller coasters! Joining the military ..No PROBLEM , Go on a roller coaster ...NO WAY! I was hoping someone here would be able to help that may or may not have the same issues as me ....last year i did ride Rockin Roller Coaster and the Hogwarts ride at Universal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated !
PS we are going on Tower of Terror First!

I don't do roller coasters anymore because of some physical issues. Have not been on one in years and that does not take away from the enjoyment of the trip. My advice is if you don't care for roller coasters, skip them and don't give it another thought. Enjoy everything else and have a good trip.

 

[LAKid53]

Technically, Tower of Terror isn't a roller coaster. My daughter will do RnR all day long. She went on ToT once...and that was it for her. She doesn't like falling.

But you've done the most intense roller coaster at WDW. How did you feel afterwards?

I'll do the Rip Ride Rocket at Universal again before I'd do the Hulk. The Hulk banged me up too much.

 

[nickys]

The first coaster I ever rode was Space, on my first visit. I clung on for dear life and closed my eyes (yes, I know ). Totally terrified me, and I've never ridden it since.

Thing is though I can do BTMRR no problem. The difference there is a perceptual one. It's "on the ground", even though the "ground" is little more than polystyrene or whatever they use to cover up the coaster tracks. But my brain sees the ground and so I know that I can't really fall out. And it' s that fear of falling that I can't conquer. Even on Soarin I'm clinging on, certain that I'll slip out of the seat, but I love the sensation of flying.

The drop on Splash scares me so much I realised I had no idea what the ride scenes were, at all! I spend the entire time dreading the end, rather than enjoy the scenes. I had to watch Martin's video of it to see the ride.

No way am I getting on Barnstormer! Not kidding, it's up off the ground. So's Slinky but I'm hoping I can manage that. And nothing will get me on EE or RnR, nor Guardians when it comes.

 

[GVentola]

I spent most of my life afraid of roller coasters, though I could handle "kiddie" ones like Barnstormer, and Primeval Whirl. Then my parents started talking about moving from Orlando to Costa Rica. I didn't want to leave Disney World and was very upset. Finally, Dad said he would stop talking about it if I went on The Incredible Hulk (Islands of Adventure) with him. I agreed. And I found that scary rides weren't so scary after all. The thing I've dreaded most about coasters is what Goofyernmost described as an "empty stomach" feeling. I don't like feeling that way. But most coasters, even when going downhill, don't affect me that way. Except for Space Mountain, because I can't see the drops ahead of time. Yes, the Hulk is less scary than Space Mountain, for me, anyway.

For me, the scariest part in most roller coasters isn't the drops, but the long climb upward at the beginning of most. The last time I rode a coaster, the red side of the now extinct Dragon Challenge at Islands of Adventure, I wasn't scared, but I did feel sick on it and for a while after it.

My fave coasters combine roller coaster and dark ride, and have no lift hills to climb upward at the beginning: Rock'n'Roller Coaster at DHS, and Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios. Though nothing can prepare you for going from zero to sixty at the beginning of RnR, not even having been on before!

I have yet to go on Tower of Terror, though. Since that's a thrill ride that goes straight down, I'm 95 percent sure I'll get that empty stomach feeling on it. I was going to go when they first opened it, but I was scared and then I realized theme parks are meant to be fun, not stressful, so I skipped it.

 

[BCohen89]

Technically, Tower of Terror isn't a roller coaster. My daughter will do RnR all day long. She went on ToT once...and that was it for her. She doesn't like falling.

But you've done the most intense roller coaster at WDW. How did you feel afterwards?

I'll do the Rip Ride Rocket at Universal again before I'd do the Hulk. The Hulk banged me up too much.

I felt a ton of addrenaline and great hahahaha

 

[LAKid53]

I felt a ton of addrenaline and great hahahaha

Don't think you'll have a problem with other roller coasters at WDW, then.

 

[Dayma]

I do not do roller coasters and never have. My feeling is do what you enjoy at the parks as there is so much to do whatever your tastes are!