Share Your First Coaster Story...
My first coaster ride was at Michigan's Adventure when I was 7 or 8 years old. My dad decided he wanted to ride the Corkscrew, and my mom, who is deathly afraid of heights, wouldn't get on it with him so he took me instead. I was pretty scared at first, going up the lift hill (you can imagine what a ride like that looks like to a little kid from down below on the midway!!), and you can bet that I did not remove my hands from the handles on the shoulder harness for the entire ride! My mom says I came off it deathly white, but I must have enjoyed it since I rode it willingly twice more that day...and have been hooked on coaster rides ever since!
-----------------
~Lee~
Group Sales ATL '01
Park Admissions TL '02
----------------------
"What time is the snow going to stop?"
-----------------
Mine was on either Mine Ride or Avalanche Run. I can't recall (since I was only 7 or 8) which came first but I rode them both on the same day. Either or they both are special rides and I hope they don't get rid of either one. Yes, I'm calling DT, AR becuase after all it's still the same ride.
My ride on Avalance Run, I remember getting into the sled and the sled started climbing the hill. I remember cresting it and seeing NO TRACK. I knew all rollercoasters had a track. So it scared me to see no track on AR. Then the rest of the ride was a lot of fun seeing feet after feet of the light blue trough fly past me. Unfortunatly that would be my only ride on that ride uncovered.
My ride on Mine Ride was just as fun. I remember sitting in the middle of the train as it climbed the hill. At the top I didn't realize that it only dropped 5 feet. But then a few seconds later when it did drop the 30 feet or whateverm I thought that was fun. Then a few second later when the train went around the curve, I was jostled and almost flew out of the train SERIOUSLY. (Yes I was taller than the height stick) The people behind be held my shirt for the rest of the ride. The ride continued until the train stopped in that little area between the Loading plat form and the breaks outside. I was really excited that I really wanted to ride it again. So I did. Actually since that time, I have ridden CCMR mor times than any other ride at CP. I hope They never decide to take it out. It is a classic and it will always be fun to me. ;)
-----------------
- Chris -
http://www.thepointol.com/~simplycp
Computer Science - Ashland University
Witches' Wheel/Monster - 2002
3rd Shift Trash Removal - 2001
I've shared this before, but here goes:
An Enthusiast is Born:
A Novella by C. Charles Moore (my pen name)
I was seven years old. I had never ridden a roller coaster before (not even the Jr. Gemini), and my family decides to take me on the Blue Streak. Sort of a huge leap, especially considering my age. But anyways, the week before our big yearly CP trip, my family was getting me psyched up, so much so that a few days before we went, my dad even took me by the park on our boat after a morning of fishing so I could see it running. I was alternately scared out of my mind and exhilarated and most of all, curious.
I rode my first ride with one of my aunts (with a car full of family members), all of whom were loving the experience of watching me ride my first roller coaster (and laughing at the fact that I had my eyes closed before we even reached the start of the lift hill). Before riding, they warned me that there was one big drop at the beginning and then everything else was OK after that. Well, I remember how shocked I was when I found out they were all wrong. After the first drop, hill after hill continued, each drop as scary as the first. I remember the feeling of speed and of being hurled over those hills. I don't remember seeing anything; my eyes were firmly shut.
When we reached the turnaround, I thought the ride was over, so I opened my eyes...big mistake. Hurled down another drop, I screamed; my mom and aunts laughed. Another series of hills continued, but by this time, I was loving every second.
The ride came to an end, and I gleefully stepped out of the train and experienced for the first time the adrenaline rush that keeps me coming back again and again to roller coasters. I was so excited, running and jumping and being a royal pain to my family, but I didn't care. I wanted to ride it again. I got my chance later in the night. I then rode Blue Streak in the dark, in the very back seat, with my eyes open! (Not quite hands up yet!) From that day, I was hooked on coasters and automatically wanted to ride anything and everything. Heck, by the following summer, I was riding Magnum!
This experience has obviously been very important to me, seeing how I remember it in such exact detail. My love of coasters was born at this point. That night, I went home and started drawing and designing my own coasters (which I did all throughout school and still do via RCT today). The Blue Streak has remained a sentimental favorite of mine, so much so that I try to make it the first ride of every season (that is, when CP is the first park I go to for the season) in memory of that awesome first iniation into the world of roller coasters.
Overdramatization done on purpose, but more or less, this is how I feel.
My first coaster experience was at Michigan's Adventure, Cedar Point's lil cousin. This was about 4 or 5 years ago now. (Shivering Timbers was brand new that season.) The way I remember it, I was with my friends and the first coaster we set eyes on was the Corkscrew. So we jump into line, and wait a good 30-45 min to get up to the station. I hop into the seat, and my heart is beating a million times a minute. For some strange reason, I hit the button on my watch and time the ride. The ride was 45 seconds I think? I got off, I was all excited and all. But then when I told my friends how long the ride was, they all *****ed about how long the wait was for such a short ride. Oh well. It was quite exciting for a first ride.
And my second ride? Shivering Timbers. That was a big step up for me :)
-----------------
Tommy Penner - Variable X
"If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence you tried."
My first trip to CP was when I was 4. My mom liked CP, but hadn't been there in a few years because my dad decided to "develop" motion sickness on Witch's Wheel one time. He now can barely watch the merry-go-round without getting sick, much less ride it.
Anyway, it was 1989, and my mom had waited until I was 48 inches because she knew that was the height requirement for most rides. We started things off with Blue Streak, wich I rode hands up all the way because I saw my mom doing it. Next we hit what was then Avalanche Run, however I don't really remember that one ride I had while it was uncovered. We went on riding things like ID, CCMR, and Corkscrew. However, ever since I got off BS and actually figured out what these roller coasters did, I had been pointing at the brand new Magnum and saying "I wanna ride that one".
We finally made our way back there, and when my mom saw it up close, she started making excuses as to why she didn't want to ride it. Being a stubborm 4 year old, I just kept demanding that we go on it. We finally did, and I rode hands up while my mom held on for dear life. I have never stopped loving coasters since that day.
-----------------
-Chris Woodard
"Mean Streak would be better if they replaced the square wheels with round ones."
VertiGo: VertiGone but not forgotten.
-------------
Be wary of falling shoes while waiting in line for Raptor
My first roller coaster experience was not a very good one for me. I was 7 years old (1961) and my father took me to Walled Lake Amusement park, a small park in Michigan. I don't remember the name of the wooden coaster, but I still remember the ride. No seat belts, just lap bars. I literally flew above the seat the entire ride and was scared to death.
My first trip to CP was in 1966 and I refused to ride the Blue Streak, but when the Mine Ride opened in 1969, I loved it. A boyfriend talked me into riding Blue Streak for the first time in 1970. I was scared to death when I got on, but thrilled when I got off. We rode it over and over, and my love for coasters began.
-----------------
I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
My first coaster experience and my first coaster near-experience were two different things.
I went to Magic Mountain a couple of years after Revolution opened. I had never been on a coaster before and my neighbors took me along. I don't have a clear memory of the whole day but I do recall being in the station, next in line, when I started getting very nervous. Finally, after some argument and what I am sure was a few tears, the neighbors told me I didn't have to ride. There was actually a sign marked "Chickens" with an arrow pointing and that is where I ended up until their ride was over.
My first coaster ride ended up being Knott's Berry Farm's Wacky Soap Box Derby Racer followed by the original Corkscrew. On a subsequent trip to Magic Mountain I DID ride Revolution and Colossous.
-----------------
A lap bar is all you need!
My really bad website ~ www.expage.com/coasterpoint
-----------------
Cedar Point, the cure for the Summertime blues!
First Coaster Ride: Raptor, 2000
I was deathly afraid of coasters until my girlfriend and I went to the Point, where I have been many times before that, but I just never rode the coasters. We got in line for Raptor and all the way up the lift hill and down the first hill I was just repeating "Oh (explitive that rhymes with knit), oh ___, oh my God, oh God". But I loved it and rode it again and again throughout the day. So, yes August 1, 2000, the day I conquerd my fear of coasters and thats when I became an enthusiast. Raptor will always have a special place in my heart, but reality sets in to what is the best coaster there, and that of course is Magnum (which was one of 3 coasters I didn't ride that day--MF and Mantis were the other 2). I went back a month later and rode those. :-)
-----------------
My first "Big but little" coaster was the Iron Dragon. I remember when I first pulled down the harness to that ride at age 8 (i think). Man, I was ready. I wasn't scared, I just wanted to ride a roller coaster finally after all those years I was turned away because I was to small.
So, I had a huge smile on my face when the train pulled us up to the top. But then suddenly, every thing seemed to break loose (remember, im 8) after the drop. I loved the air time on that first drop, wasn't much, but thats what got me into coasters. After the ride, I do remember coming off with the seat imprinted on my legs. I think it had to do with dodging the trees. But I still will never forget that first ride. And if cp rips out that ride, i will be devastated. I hope nothing bad happens to that ride for a really long time. :)
-----------------
-Matthew Couts
my second obsession
-----------------
Cedar Point is the best. I will never stop loving it. You gotta, You wanna, You have to hold on...Cedar point hold on!! :) :) :)
-----------------
Tommy Penner - Variable X
"If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence you tried."
Check the statistics while you're there too...You'll get a good idea why boblo couldn't compete anymore... Sorry the link isn't clickable...I couldn't figure out how to do that...But please visit the site anyways...Thanks
-------------
Be wary of falling shoes while waiting in line for Raptor
*** This post was edited by Raptor_Rider on 3/28/2002. ***
You must be logged in to post