Ride tolerance decreasing with age.. Anyone else?

I like the nap idea. For a while I was doing this at Cedar Point by parking behind Gemini so that we could take our cooler and spread out under the trees by the Hotel Breakers driveway and guard shack. We would lay a sheet out and I would fall asleep to the sounds of people screaming while my kids read a book or played some hand held game. I usually do half days now except when we were at Kings Island we just took a break in the late afternoon to eat and nap in our hotel room in the AC while the kids watched TV before we went for round two.

Luckily, my tolerance level has NOT decreased with my age. I haven't been on any coasters in 4 years due to back issues and living in BFE. But back in 2015 during my last trip to HoliWood Nights (age 44 at time), I managed 97 rides on Voyage in one day.

I consider myself a hardcore rider and love to see what my body can handle.

But now after 2 back surgeries (with a 3rd on the way), I think my Voyage marathon days are over.

The correlation between 97 rides on Voyage in one day and subsequent back issues is not lost on me.

I had the back problems long before Voyage. But I'm sure it didn't help matters! :)

I'm 46 and my wife is 53. We both dont ride spin and spew rides anymore. She won't ride boomerangs or water rides that get you wet, so that leaves me riding solo on those rides.

I took my mom and my seven-year-old neighbor to Camden Park yesterday. Of all the spinning I did, I only got a little dizzy/nauseous on the Rock N Tug. I am relieved that Tilt-A-Whirl was down for maintenance.

Even my mom, who is 65 rode most of the the rides with us. The Whip did her in though.

I'm 55.

So far, I've had no trouble at all. Still ride stuff the way I did when I was younger. I also figure skate for exercise and recreation.

I am 31 and I have certainly experienced a regression in my stamina. I would always get queezy from the spinny rides, but now roller coasters make me feel sick after a while. Last time I went out I took some ginger pills and they really helped. Went hard right into park close, but I have to be more selective of my rides. I can still ride all day, but I pretty much always feel like crap on the ride home. But its worth it and will just manage the queeziness going forward. Anti nausea ginger pills are about 7 bucks and will be a staple going forward.

Yes, unfortunately ride tolerance is decreasing for me. I am mid 30's, but I had to drive a minimum of 3 hours for a major coaster event. I was convinced I was just getting bad sleep or having coffee in the morning. I guess I can't blame Motel 7 anymore. Six Flags Over Texas has a great policy on riding Titan; you have to exit the station for each ride during ERT. I definitely get more rides on Titan this way and I probably try this on other coasters.

At 61 I still love them all. I don't have problems with nausia, but find my brain is more adventurous than my body. Coasters, especially woodies, beat me up a lot more than they used to. Last week at Holiday World I did 23 laps total on the 3 woodies and 6 or 7 on Thunderbird. The next morning I had major difficulty getting from the bed to the bathroom and then when heading to work used the front door and walked around the house to the drive way to avoid the 5 step down from the deck to the yard.

Heading to Kings Island tomorrow for first time...around age 30 I started holding on sometimes, at 33 I held on always, at 36 I flew to LA at 6am on 5 hrs sleep, vanned to the rental car, rental car drive an hr to six flags magic mountain...I get on Tatsu, I thought I was gonna cry. My friend says "let's go on again." I say, naw. She says really? I say ok I'm not old let's do it. Two hours into my day I felt like someone gave me a knockout punch. That ride is crazy. I passed on a couple coasters and then managed to ride X2 which I very much enjoyed. Even my friend said she couldn't do Tatsu a third time. It's just painful. I better get my rest tonight and my body better do its part and not acts its age (37.8) tomorrow :)

I am 43 and a ride junkie, and my 22, 19, and 16 year old kids are struggling with some of the stuff in todays world. (Rogaru, Gatekeeper, most anything b&m) I think its their long swooping elements, and horrible over the shoulder restraints on some of the rides(Rogaru). Maverick, Steel Veng, and others dive quickly in and out of the elements and dont hold on to the forces for long periods of time. I think we are hitting the limits of what the human body can handle. Just my opinion as I have been getting older and less tolerant of the rides myself.

I'm 44. Went to dollywood 2 days ago and all rides were walk on. Rode lightning rod 3 times in a row and it took a lot out of me. I didn't feel right the rest of the day. Rode Tennessee tornado a little later and thought I might yak. Never had that happen before. It was 90+ degrees out. Hopefully that was the reason why.

Heat and dehydration will definitely do it!

Although at 68 I find that I no longer have the same ride tolerance I had when I took up this hobby at age 59, I'm beginning to think that some of this is mental rather than physical. When I visit parks alone - which is most of the time - I tend to tire quickly but at Coasting For Kids at Kennywood a couple of weeks ago I found that my stamina had increased. First, I was really psyched for the event and second, I met up with a friend whom I hadn't seen since Coasting For Kids at Dorney five years ago. She and I rode Steel Curtain 7 times and both of us would have been happy to ride it indefinitely were it not for the fact that we had about 10 minutes to grab a couple of rides on Jack Rabbit before the park opened to the public and our ERT ended. The fact that Steel Curtain is easily rerideable probably had something to do with it but I believe that mental outlook played a big part, as did the fact that I'd never been to Kennywood before and everything there was new to me.

I'm 47 now and have been having some issues the last few years. Some days I'm fine with moderate riding, and others, coasters that I have ridden hundreds of times tear me up for an entire day.

So I consulted a doctor that specializes in motion sickness. What he told me was very interesting.

1) If you love coasters or surfing (water sports), never stop riding them (coasters or waves), not even for 6 months. As you age, your inner ear becomes more sensitive to motion, especially with hearing loss or Tinnitus. So if you stop for any amount of time, your body readjusts to life without those forces and your tolerance may never return.

2) Stay Far, far away from acidic foods like red meat, coffee and dairy. Having these foods and then riding coasters is like putting your already inflamed gut on spin cycle.

3) Get in Shape (this one is pretty self explanatory). The better shape you are in, especially around the core, the better you can handle coaster forces.

If all else fails, there are drugs that can help. For me, a light dose of anti-anxiety medication made a huge difference.

I find my tolerance for everything decreasing with age.

John Knotts said:

Stay Far, far away from acidic foods like red meat, coffee and dairy.

I'd get a second opinion...

Tommytheduck said:

John Knotts said:

Stay Far, far away from acidic foods like red meat, coffee and dairy.

I'd get a second opinion...

Nope, because everything I was told worked.

I must admit at age 45, yes, for myself anyway. But could the age of certain coasters also be a factor? In 2019 I got to Cedar Point twice, the second time with a fast pass plus. I hadn't been in years and didn't remember Raptor beating the everloving crap out of me. My head must have looked like a ping-pong ball bouncing between the restraints. But on the flip-side, the four laps on SV was a riot without complaint. The point being, I had my fill two hours prior to closing which was at 8:00 that day I believe.

I also got to Six Flags Magic Mountain this past October. Scream felt worse than Raptor. In two days at the park I road Scream, Riddler, Viper, and X2 one time. Viper was brutal on me and I seriously felt my breast plate or sternum crack and get jostled. Thought I was having a heart attack for a second. TC on the other hand, again, a riot with eight laps in.

One thing I do know for sure is the hard, horse collar restraints need to go. Dare I say I would have welcomed Gatekeepers restraints over the concussion causing, turn your brains to Rague sauce restraints that old Mantis gave me.

But part of life is getting older and not running so hot just like an old wood roller coaster.