Conquering My Fears At Cedar Point-

I'm Andrew age 14 and I'm taking on Cedar Point next week, the roller coaster capital of the world. I am a real coaster know-it-all, I love them so much, but get this, I'm still afraid to ride anything higher then 60 ft. Next week I hope to leave my fears at the top of some of Cedar Point's killa coasters. As you can see my record isn't to hot- yet. Any die-hard coaster fans out there, send me any advice about riding these scream-machines. I am very excited and can not wait to go. Wish me luck!

Don't even think about closing your eyes. It makes the experience ten times more frightening as well as a lot rougher since you can't adjust to what you see.

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Linear Induction Media
http://www.rpoint.f2s.com

Hes got a point. I hate closing my eyes on rides. Try the Corkscrew or Disaster Transport first.

Yeah SFA is right when you close your eyes it hurts a lot mostly on woodies.

Start low and slow, and work up from there! Watch the rides first (you get some really good views), and a trick that seems to work -- I've never had the problem so I can't say from personal experience -- is to watch the riders coming off. The smiles, joy, happiness, and obvious FUN everyone seems to be having can really inspire you to join in. You'll regret it if you don't!

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Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/index.html

The hardest part about riding coasters when you are afraid is getting in the car. If you can just make that step you will be fine. Just don't look down when you are at the top (if you are afraid of heights), look straight ahead at the track.

Yeah, just step into the car and forget about your fears.

Good luck man! I made my first trip to the Point last August. Believe me, NONE of the coasters are even half as intense as they look. Hit Raptor right off...it's smooth, and not very intense, so I think you'd enjoy it. I know, your asking if I'm crazy for suggesting that you ride it first, but I think it would be a good choice. I'm terrified of heights, so MF and Magnum were challenging to get on, but I just forced myself to do it. Trust me, nothing is ever as bad as it seems like it will be, so just go for the big coasters right away, don't work up slowly. One thing that worked really well for me while trying to work up the courage for MF was watching the age groups of people getting off of it. I noticed kids that couldn't have been more than 7 years old riding, and I figured if they can do it, so can I.

-Raven_Rider

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"Hold on tight, with all your might, and enjoy your flight on the Raven!"

Yeah, that's what I did...and experienced the longest, scariest 2 minutes of my life, as the train sat in the station and climbed the lift of Shockwave. I was pretty much in the same situation that you are in now when I was younger. The best thing to do is to go to the biggest coaster there, sit down, and pull the lap bar down. Now you will be free to panic and contemplate what possessed you to lower this dreaded OTSR. Honestly though, I'd recommend going on a really big one first. Then your fear will be over quickly and you can get to enjoying the rides. Otherwise you'll just be slowly adding to your nervousness through-out the day, which (God forbid) might prevent you from riding one of the big ones. In conclusion, the fastest way to get over all of this is with one pull of the lap bar on, say Raptor.
Oh yeah, and remember-what are you afraid of in the first place? the .00002% chance you'll get a somewhat serious injury on a coaster? The hill that'll be over in 2 seconds? Hope this helps you out.
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"We are no longer the knights who say Ni! We are now the knights who say eckyeckyeckyeckypakungloopoingengzourjin." "Ni"

I have had the same problem in the past, and to some extent still do! The thing that works for me is just jump in the car, no matter how afraid I am and just pull the restraints down and say: Can't stop now! Of course, every time I have done this I have absolutely loved each ride!!

When it comes to my biggest coaster fears, right now it is focusing on my upcoming trip to SFMM! I will have no trouble with most coasters there, but Riddlers, Superman and Goliath still get me nervous. But I know that a trip to the mountain wouldn't be complete without these (the best rides in the park) just as a trip to the point wouldn't be complete without a ride on magnum, raptor and the force. Good luck Andrew.

Every coaster that I have been afraid of at one point has now become one of my favorites.
Above all, have fun!!!!

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"Clear, Dispatch"

I used to be scared to death of coasters... now im excited to ride, I'd suggest riding raptor 1st off because its quite thrilling to watch the sky underneath you :)

In order to coax my wife into riding MF with me, we sat out on the bay and watched it for some time. We worked out that the train required slightly less than 5 seconds to make it down the first drop... she found that very encouraging: "I can stand anything for 5 seconds".

Have fun!

If you do MForce 1st Everything else will be tame afterwards

Start with Gemini then take on the Magnum, AT ALL COST SKIP THE MEAN STREAK AT ALL COST SKI{ THE MEAN STREAK. REPEAT SKIP THE MEAN STREAK, I am starting u off with two of the funnest rides in the park and quickest ques. Also dont forget the kiddie coasters cuase they are kind of fun compared to others of their type. Save the Raptor for last. The helix is gonna hurt your feet.

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the return of Intaminrocks

I know this sounds silly, but you should really go to Millennium Force before you ride Magnum. If you are like me and have a real fear of heights, Magnum will be much more scary than Millie. If you ride Millie, there will only be about 22 seconds for you to sit there scared looking around at the heights. On Magnum it's like twice as long. If you have ridden Millie first, during the longer trip up on Magnum you can at least tell yourself that you've done bigger already.
lata,
jeremy
--just a friendly tip from your uncle jer...

Take a seat and enjoy the ride!!!The only way to overcome the fear is to face the fear!:)
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I am addicted to Cedar Point!:)

Ride Raptor first. The wait will be long, though you will throw away the fear of your feet dangling 137 feet in the air.

Another strategy would be to go ride MF. That'll kill just about any other fear.

You could go next year and hopefully they'll have a TA2K. You don't even have to worry about a lift hill.

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I don't need drugs to get high, I need coasters!"

I had the same problem, Untill my G/F made me get on the Shockwave @ PKD. I would ride corkscrew, just to go upside down. After that your ready for everything.
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©Bruce's Posting Co.

I'm afraid of heights (still am), though not too intensely. I forget when I realized I could do roller coasters comfortably, but they were much shorter when I started out. :) I'm heading there next week myself (Mon-Wed) and can't wait to try out everything. I still get that butterfly feeling right up until the train straightens out on the first drop (basically after it crests the hill and straightens out). I'm not sure you will have the same reaction, but the advice I see above is pretty good.

I personally have a psychological crutch by knowing that the restraint systems are tested and the possibility of being hurt or killed is incredibly tiny, so I convince myself until I lock myself in. I'm usually free to think "What was I thinking of trying this insane thing?" all the way up the lift hill and over that first crest. I'm fine after that. I use that to psyche myself the next time I see something new that's even taller and crazier. It doesn't stop the heart from racing, but the anticipation slowly goes from absolute fear into anticipation and after the first ride, eagerness. Hope you luck into something to help you out too!

For the record, roller coasters have actually nade me comfortable enough to ride the insane flat rides that I doubt I could have enjoyed without the perspective of the other rides I've been on. If you're near SFGAdv, or plan on getting htere, the Evolution would be intense enough to get rid of almost any fear you have of flat rides!