Most Personal Moments on a coaster?
2) 100th lap on Nitro.
3) 100th coaster. (Hypersonic)
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Sean Newman
2000: My first ride in MF, I was stunned so much all I could say was Wow for approx 5 min.
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002: Every time I go to CP I close out the night with my "Magnum Marathon" (after making sure I hit MF and Raptor after dark I go to Magnum and ride it until they kick me out of the park usually lasts 30 min) and I swear they turn off the trims during the final minutes before the park closes (I hear no hiss or slow down on the turnaround) and when that happens, hold on to your hats, because that return trip is absolutely amazing, so much air, so much speed!
2001: The Beast, at night, no trims, no explanation needed
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I don't care what anyone says, Magnum is better then Millenium Force.
First and only coaster ride with my dad. If you met my dad you would understand why this was a huge thing. My dad isnt just scared of heights, he is terrified. My theory on this is that my (at the time) 50 year old dad had to be going through a mid-life crisis or something. Anyways, we are at Big Chiefs riding the go-karts (something my dad does quite a bit with all of his racing buddies, he gets kicked out of more go-kart places than anyone I know). He leans over to me and says, "that roller coaster over there looks like a lot of fun, I wonder if that is the same one from the Discovery Channel?"(it was on Discovery Channel that year and the coaster in question is none other than everyones favorite ejector machine, Cyclops)
Now mind you this is before they pulled off the last car on this ride, in fact, this was the coaster's first year of operation. My dad and I watched the coaster go through a few laps and noticed how people in back are hanging on for dear life over the infamous last drop of the ride and how many are losing wallets and keys and everything else that isnt nailed down. My dad then says the words I will never forget until the day I die, "lets ride this coaster and lets ride it in back!"
Dragging my jaw along the pavement as we are walking up to the coaster's station my dad is remarking to me how he heard in this special on Discovery that the back seat is the place to sit because you get all sorts of "airtime" and how it was nationally ranked as one of the best wood coasters in the world.
We get seated in the last seat and take off for our first ride on Cyclops. I look over at my dad as we ascend the lift hill to see if he is turning the same shade of white he does when he is on a commercial airliner. Nope. Just a huge grin like he was in his third childhood(I say third because racing cars is definately his second childhood).
We go through the ride both tightly holding on throughout the ride and then we hit "the hill". It felt like the bottom just fell out of the world. As we coast into the station I hear my dad mutter "holy s**t that hill was absolutely crazy". This from a man that normally reserves profanity to when I skipped one of my classes.
As many of you know that have ridden Cyclops in the past, you dont get just one ride, you get two. Well my jaw hit the floor even more when he did the entire, and I mean entire, second lap with his hands up in the air.
I never got the opportunity to ride another coaster with him again. He absolutely refuses to ride anything with loops in it and I have never really travelled anywhere with him with coasters since. I look back on it not only as my fondest coaster moment, but also the most special time I ever had with my dad.
Cheers,
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Bob Hansen
Operation Wicked Twister
Goal: Lose enough weight (50lbs) to ride Wicked Twister in 2K3
Progress: 21 pounds since 1-1-2003
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There is no spoon.
The second was my first ride on MF. I was really not much of a coaster buff until then. In fact, after moving to Pa. in 1992 for a new job, I did not get out to an amusement park till 2000 when CP built the MF. When I heard about the MF, I decided to make a trip and give it a try. Wow, what I had missed. Raptor was new to me, Mantis was new to me, and of course MF. That is when I was hooked.
The third is in 2001. I hooked up with an old collage buddy and made a trip to The Point. I had forgotten that he had a fear of heights. HeHeHe. I got him talked into riding Mantis. On the way up the lift, he turned to me and said "This is the part where I tell you that I do not like you anymore." LOL. We had a great day, though I could not get him on MF, Magnum or Raptor. I almost had him talked into the Raptor, I told him that the whole ride was just like the very end of Draggon Iron, but then I said on steroids. That turned him off.
Another personal moment was my first night ride on MF. It was in May and as the sun set, it was cooling off fast. As we waited in line, we were freezing. All I could think about was the wind-chill at 94 mph. Going up the lift, I thought; this is going to be cold, then the adrenaline kicked in. By the end of the ride, I was warm, not even a hint of a chill.
My next personal moment will most likely be on TTD. Less than two months from now. I can't wait.
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Just waiting for May 4, 2003. :)
Through the place I work I was able to get Universal Orlando annual passes at a great rate, so I got some for myself and my children (15 year old daughter & 11 year old son - at that time) for when I would get them for summer visitation. On our first trip to the parks we just went to the Studios side, but our next trip was on my 48th birthday to IOA and I was going to ride all the coasters. Of course we hit Spidey first (get those re-rides in early!!) and then continued with the usual loop around the park. We got to the Flying Unicorn, which was under construction the last time we were at the park, and got my daughter's first coaster ride (my son had ridden a couple before, but wasn't real sure of them - just like dad). On the second ride on the Unicorn my daughter wanted to ride on the side by the catwalk because she didn't like the "open" side due to her fear of heights.
Next up was Dueling Dragons, I rode Fire first and then Ice then did them both for a second time and that did the trick! I learned that after the first time I knew what to expect and then I could relax and enjoy the ride the second time. I left the ride and my kids were like – “What took so long??“ I then had to take my daughter through the queue because she loves medieval things (big LOTR fan - especially when the first movie open on HER birthday), but she panicked when we got to the train loading area she did not want to go on the ride at all and was afraid I would force her. Later I went on the Hulk - first couple of rides I thought it a little rough and intense, but then I took a front row ride and loved it!
The next week when we made our next trip she decided to trust what I told her - that on the first ride everything happens so fast that it really is over before you can think about it - so my daughter took her first ride on Fire. She was praying out loud the whole way up the lift hill, but when we hit the brakes at the end of the ride she had the biggest grin on her face! It was so great to see her learn about overcoming fear this way – I was so proud.
The next week we made our last trip to the park for their visit and we almost couldn’t get her off of the Dragons. She tried the Hulk (front row – of course) and she got up the nerve to try Dr. Dooms Fearfall after I had done it (just to say I did). Did I say fear of heights - what fear of heights? We never could get my son on the big coasters, even though he said the Unicorn was getting boring – he just didn’t like the idea of turning upside down.
Well my son’s turn came when I had them back down this past Christmas (1st Christmas with my kids in 10 years). He had been talking that he was ready for the big coasters, but he was still trying to back out of it. We got him on Fire and after a couple of rides he was hooked – he didn’t ride anything but the Dragons that day - but still no Hulk, he’s worried about the launch (and I must confess that the launch still gets to me)
Next week is their spring break and I’m ready to hit the park again - first time this year, fresh paint on the Dragons, new seats on Dudley and first Hulk ride for my son!!
Long post I know, but it doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. When your children are growing up 800 miles away and you don’t get to spend much time with them, every moment is precious, and now riding coasters is like a little extra bond that the three of us can share.
On a side note: As I work two jobs to keep up with child support, it leaves me little time or money to venture to many amusement parks (stuck here in Florida at least these plenty close by and open all year), I’d like to express my thanks to all who post their experiences here, allowing me to vicariously experience those places (and coasters!) which I will not be able to experience for myself in the foreseeable future.
Keep those cards and letters coming!!
J
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"If you push something hard enough it will fall over." - Fudd's First Law of Opposition
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Dr. Thrill IS my family practitioner
Would you just LOOK at what you've done to CoasterBuzz - you're going to have to clean it up ;)
Mamoosh said:
Shaggy - methinks the "used raincoat" didn't come from a rider but from someone else with access to the drum. Thanks for those stories.
You don't happen to personally (or should I say: privately) know that person, do you?
Frank - Who never got caught kissing his boyfriend... in a haunted mansion, that is... ;)
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Dutch Coastin' :: European coasters, thrills and theming!
Special AAA Preview Day - My brother and I rode Millennium Force for the first time after waiting 2 hr 45 min in line. -It was one of the great highlights to my senior year of high school. :-)
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YOUNGSTOWN 2010
*** This post was edited by jkpark 3/6/2003 4:52:53 PM ***
Ah, the memories... There are many: Cedar Point, First ride on Batman, very first coaster ride (on Whizzer), Viper in the dark... But two stand out in my mind, as I credit them with my love for coasters.
The less important of the two was when I was nine years old. I had just discovered a love for coasters the year before, so now I wanted to go on B:TR (at SFGAm, of course). Okay, so when you're nine years old, that queue is scary. The fog, the music, the claustrophobia... When we finally got to the station, I was the most nervous I had ever been in my life. And then the ride op assigning seats measures me, and tells me I'm too short. Too short!! My mom and uncle thought I was tall enough. They described the missing height as "A millimeter or two, if that." Perhaps it's a rather lame memory, but it certainly stuck with me. And, I credit it with being a major step towards conquering something of an outright terror I had of coasters (despite the fact that I liked them). The next year, I was still scared, but I was determined to ride Batman.
My other memory is a classic coaster epiphany. I was eight years old, with a whopping two coasters in my track record (Whizzer and Rolling Thunder). Then my mom convinces my little brother to go on the American Eagle with her, leaving my uncle without a ride partner. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally gave in to the proddings, and entered the line with my uncle. When we got to the sation, he casually asked me if I wanted to wait for the front seat. Not knowing what I was getting into, I agreed. I was very much a nervous wreck. The line seemed to inch along. Yet I prefered that, when it came down to it: The first words out of my mouth, after the train started, was that the turnaround was fast enough. Then the lift seemed to go on and on and on. Finally, we got to the top, crawled over the peak, and hung over the edge for what seemed like forever, starring death in the face.
But when that train finally went careening down the hill, what a difference!!! I started to scream, at first in terror, but then in sheer delight!! I don't remember much more about that particular trip on the Eagle, But I do know that I enjoyed every second of it. It was then that I knew a very simple, but previously unknown, fact: I Love Roller Caosters. Thanks, Uncle Dave!!
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I hear America screaming...
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