Tips on Getting Frightened Friends on Coasters...

Amen, Robvia. I love my wife very much, but she gets very frustrated, bored and annoyed very quickly at parks. The first time I went to SFMM, she got sick and I had to sit with her for 2 hours doing nothing when there was nobody in the park. And I rarely stay at a park until closing anymore, because I can't stand the guilt. Usually I leave by 5 p.m. and take her out to dinner or something to make up for the horrible day she just had.

On the other hand, if I leave her at home, I feel guilty too, because she'd be bored. It's a Catch-22.

I agree with Dawg Byte. My wife was terrified of roller coasters so I stopped trying to get her to go on them. But slowly, after watching me and everybody else having fun on them she started going on small ones. It's been a year and now she is riding hands up on everything but hypers and having a blast!

I agree with anyone who says start off small and gradually work their way up.Rite now we are working on my 6 year old niece and she is doing great because we built her up to Rolling Thunder at SFgadv and she loves it!! At first i was nervous because everyone nominated me to do it but,i sat back and thought up a strategy.What i always do when i take her on a new ride is talk her through it first and tell her what to expect and,i do this while we are actually on the ride.It takes her mind off the fact that it's scary the first time.When we get off the ride i ask her what scared her if anything and when she tells me i then remind her that when that part of the ride comes up she needs to laugh like it is funny.Has worked like a charm so far and,she is really getting used to airtime and starting to enjoy it alot!! She even begs me to go on the Intamin Freefall at Sfgadv now but,i think that may be a bit to intense for her rite now so,maybe by Labor Day she will be well prepared for it.Next year she should be tall enough for loopers so,i am going to start her on a single looper they have down at the shore.When she was even to scared to go on to begin with,i always told her i would hold her tight and talk to her the whole time and then she was willing to give it a try.

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~*Rickyswmn*~

I have a similar problem. One of my friends is deathly afraid of heights, and I want to help her by starting small and building up (this is going to be at SFGAdv.) like with Skull Mt. and Rolling Thunder, but I also want to ride Nitro and Medusa as much as possible. I don't want to spend hours trying to build my friend up to the point that she's ready to ride B:TR or Chiller, and not get a chance to ride Nitro a billion times. On the other hand, I do want to help her get past her fears and enjoy the big ones with me.

ApolloAndy said:
I also want to ride Nitro and Medusa as much as possible. I don't want to spend hours trying to build my friend up to the point that she's ready to ride B:TR or Chiller, and not get a chance to ride Nitro a billion times. On the other hand, I do want to help her get past her fears and enjoy the big ones with me.

Can i suggest you get to Sfgadv early and grab some fast passes for Nitro and Medusa or,would she be upset if she had to wait for you? My husband is also phobic about heights but,he will still get on any coaster he sees.If he gets real nervous he closes his eyes and then i let him know when we have hit the highest point and then he opens them because it's all downward from there.It would also help if you put her in the middle of the trains so its harder for her to look down :)Good Luck!!


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~*Rickyswmn*~

Thanks for the tips. I've tried a lot of what you all have suggested. She doesn't mind being the only one standing at the exit while we ride. We've also tried to force her in her seat but we let her go cuz we felt kinda bad. I guess I have to try to get her on a Shuttle Looper first and then maybe she won't think loops are that bad.