Thrilling? Or just plain fun?

Over the offseason I worried I wouldn't like coasters anymore, but I still do, in a different way though. I have been to SFDL 3 times this year, a new record, and its not even 1/2 way yet. I used to always be like "OH MY GOD I"M GOING TO DIE!!" but I don't have fear anymore. At the top of ROS, everyone is screaming, I'm not. I'm not scared at all, I wish I was. Somehow I overcame that fear and there is nothing I'm scared of. I don't get the butterflies in the stomach except on Power Tower because it thrusts you down.

Instead I have just plain fun. I loved Predator in the front seat. Its not the greatest wooden coaster but it felt so good to be in a PTC train, (who cares if its trailered ;) ) The ride was awesome, airtime, just plain FUN. I loved it. It wasn't very thrilling just a fun ride. Same with Superman. I don't get the freefall feeling or the "I'm going to die feeling" but it feels like you are flying, which is fun. Taking of your shirt and twisting it around your head like a helicopter is fun, I just love riding with other people and having a good time, even if its not scary anymore. I think thats why we are all enthusiests. We aren't scared, we are just on these coasters to have a good time. Even on Twister @ DL, the best part was when this kid kicked my hat accidently into the waterfall. It was funny because I was like "OH MY GOD! YOU JUST KICKED MY HAT INTO THE WATER!!!" I told him I was just joking and it was ok. He was scared though and he stepped into the water to get it out. So he was on a 12 foot ledge over rocks, just inches away from getting SF sued. Now thats a day at the park! Also I rode with this hillbilly talking about how hes been to the Busch parks but not any SF parks on Viper. They let me reride too. I rode in the rain and it was so much fun. Its the greatest arrow looper ever built and it ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS runs 2 trains. It also never breaks except for when they had to put the airgates in on my last visit.

What do you think?

------------------
I go to the point each year to have their new coaster break down, thats my life. Dragster and WT may have been closed, but MF is always there to fulfill my thrill needs
*** This post was edited by Ride of Steel 7/14/2003 9:26:31 PM ***

Isn't that what coasters are all about? Having fun is the reason we love these rides. Sure we say we love airtime and inversions, etc, and no matter what different opinions we have...everything boils down to how much fun it is. So even if you like a coaster for the smooth, front seat, and I like the out of control back on a certain coaster, we can always agree that we love the ride because even though it is different for all of us..it is just what you said....JUST PLAIN FUN!

Great post! :)

------------------
RollerCoasters aren't my whole life... they just make my life whole

I ride coasters for 2 reasons...

1) Because they are both fun and safe. Gives me and my friends something to do, as well as for me to do enjoy some things that I like such as speed. I also enjoy the rides as a whole.

2) It balances out my life. Its not like I'm addicted to coasters or that I need to ride them, but riding helps me to refocus how I think about things. After a couple hours of riding, I leave the park relaxed and able to think a little more clearly rather than when im stressed or angry. Coasters are basically just my way of letting off some steam.

------------------
1. Millennium Force
2. HypersonicXLC
3. Alpengeist

Some of my favorite coasters are Space Mountain, Adventure Express, Ant Farm Express, Blazing Fury, and Nitro... ;) I'm a "just plain fun" guy for the most part. Maybe that's why my interest in TTD and X is fairly low.

-Danny
------------------
Coaster Insomniacs- Coastin' the Night Away

Koaster King - Even if your just a "plain fun guy", how can you not be interested in TTD? Aside from its height, it looks like all fun.

------------------
1. Millennium Force
2. HypersonicXLC
3. Alpengeist

Yeah, man. Everybody knows that you are required to be interested in TTD! Go to hell for your wierd beliefs. Jerk.

--Ryan

------------------
"I don't like anyone's balls to roll..." - Koaster King

I have to agree with Danny, but to me all coasters are fun.

------------------
ALL NEW COASTER SITE!
www.coasterinsomniacs.com

Xcelerator looks like more fun than TTD, but TTD looks more thrilling. Still, I'm not a big fan of drop rides (cool people off jokes not accepted). I'm still interested in it though and I even said so in my first post. You'll find my interest in TTD be'low'. ;)

Ryan, I think you're the wierderest.

-Danny
------------------
Coaster Insomniacs- Coastin' the Night Away

*location reserved for my TTD interest*

What about Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland? The fun factor of that ride is throgh the roof. That ride is a hilarious scream. Easily one of Arrows best rides. Nothing too intense mind you, but the dark ride themeing with the abominable snowman screaming at you is great!! One of the best darkride/coaster rides I've ever ridden.

Wood - anything else is animitation

Intensity of a ride is inversly propotional to the amount of times you have ridden it (ie. the more you ride a coaster the less intense it seems). I love intensity, but this is the usually the thing that makes us love our first ride so much but we never feel the same way on that ride again.

If a ride is intense but not fun eventually it will start to bore people and you wont want to ride it. However how much fun you have on a coaster varries everytime (due to other riders, your mood, the weather, maintence, etc.) its the fun element that keeps you coming back.

Just think, why did you ride MF the first time? That monsters 300ft tall. Why do you continue? Its fun. Rides can be fun and not intense (roller soaker, Big Thunder Mt., Space Mt., etc) and youll reride them. Rides that are not fun but intense (most Arrow loopers, SLCs, etc) you dont.

------------------
Summer 03-CP, HP, SFDL, SFNE, SFWOA, and SFGAm.

You know I ride a coaster for the thrill the first time but I ride it for Fun the second, third, fourth, and so on. I scream on every Coaster I ride wether it's my first or 100th time. Why? Because part of the fun of a coaster is to relieve stress and part of that is being able to scream and act like an idiot if you want to. If you do those kinds of things anywhere else you are just weird.

It changes with "experience". The more you get out there and ride, the thrill level drops but the fun level increases greatly. Not many years ago, I was a "white knuckle" rider. A few years and a few hundred coasters later and the fear is totally gone (sometimes I wish I still could find that uneasy anticipation) but I think in the long run I enjoy the rides more now than then.

I think it just comes with being an enthusiast.

------------------
www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park Visits in 2003: 14

I have been out of the "white knuckle" stage of coaster riding for about 15 years now. Part of being an enthusiest, I believe, is staying passionate about coasters beyond that stage, because it does pass. But when you get a chance to experience that thrill on a coaster again for the first time, as an enthusiast, is a beautiful thing. I will probably get eaten alive in here for saying this, but it was riding X for the first time (Superbowl Sunday 2002) that brought back a thrill feeling I hadn't felt since riding my first "big" steel coaster, PKI's Vortex, a really long time ago. It was a priceless moment; I forgot what it felt like to be scared on a coaster.

------------------
paul ruben
ran lube up
*** This post was edited by Zingo! 7/15/2003 3:58:13 AM ***

I used to be terrified of roller coasters. I still am on ones I havent rode before. Once I ride the new-to-me ones a couple of times then I'm fine with them and dont get that nervious butterflies in the stomach feeling anymore. To me thats when the real fun begins because I can then relax and just enjoy the ride for what it is!

------------------
Eight Missionaries from Ohio and Arizona are stuck in a dangerous part of Africa... Please pray for them. One of them is my mother.

I love rollercoasters, but I still get scared/nervous on rides I have never ridden before. I still ride of course, It's just that I don't know what it's gonna be like. Does that make sense? This month I will be riding Titan at SFOT, and even though I am going to ride it, I am a little bit nervous. Here's another example. Yesterday, I rode my first ever Skycoaster. It was the one at SFAW. I was so scared once we made it all the way to the top. Then my friend puled the ripcord, and I wasn't scared anymore. It was the most amazing adrenaline rush since Millennium Force! I'm glad I finally did it! So basically I'm saying I only get scared/nervous on rides I haven't been on, and on the ones I have been on are just plain fun.

I know the feeling. Besides my first skycoaster (Kennywood), the last time I had that same feeling was on TTD. The first time I rode it waiting for the sled to engage was nerve racking to say the least. The suspense and not knowing what to expect were almost as good as the launch itself. But ohhhh what a rush that launch is!!!

Wood - anything else is an imitation

Agreed, Thrillerman. My entire body was shaking as I sat on TTD waiting for the sled to engage. I don't think I've been that nervous and excited about a ride since I first rode the Eagle at SFGAm... 15 years ago.

While that kind of feeling is a rarity these days, it's good to know there are still some rides out there that can make me feel like a 10-year-old.

------------------
Come on fhqwhgads!

After I rode the Steel Phantom many years back, I was never even slightly afraid of a rollercoaster ever again. It just sort of clicked in my head that after that, nothing is scary. And nothing ever was. I still get very excited over new ones, but NEVER scared since my first ride on Steel Phantom. You could say Steel Phantom scared me to the point where I wasn't scared anymore.

------------------
Kennywood Park, America's finest traditional amusement park.
Track Record: 60 coasters at 17 parks.

Fun is why I love coasters, when it is thrilling that is just a plus. :) If you are a roller coaster enthusiast because you love "the rush" then you won't be an enthusiast very long.

------------------
www.CaliforniaCoasterNews.com
www.SFMWZone.com