From: geoff@pmafire.inel.gov (Geoff Allen)
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 92 15:31:24 GMT
Organization: Computer Nerd (is that redundant?), WINCO, INEL, Idaho
Subject: Re: through a novice's eyes
Summary: 
Followup-To: 
Organization: Computer Nerd (is that redundant?), WINCO, INEL, Idaho
Keywords: 

To Don and other not-so-hardcore types: The following is written
somewhat in jest.  I'm not making fun of you.  No offense is intended,
so I hope you find none.

libes@cme.nist.gov (Don Libes) writes:
>Went to KD last week - had never been to a roller coaster park before.
>Figuring we should warm up on something easy, we headed for the
>Grizzly. 

Heh, heh.

I've never been to KD, but from what I've heard....

>Somehow we assumed since so little of it was poking up above
>the forest tree tops, it couldn't be that bad.  Oh what a mistake. 

Yeah.  Mistake.

>My SO lost her hat on the first drop, and the inside of my elbow soon
>became welded to the pathetically flimsy bar that doesn't come down
>nearly enough as I cowered in my seat in terror.  (What is the right
>way to hang on with such loose restraints?) 

You don't.  You put your hands above your head and *enjoy* getting flung
out of your seat. ;^)

Seriously, if they don't have you locked in tightly, you aren't going
to get thrown out of the train.  There's no way they'd get insurance
otherwise (and you can bet they're hevily insured).

Example: later on you mention the rocking pirate ship that goes upside
down.  You're strapped in tightly on that one, I'm sure, 'cause you
*could* fall out.  I've been on similar rides, but not the pirate
ship version, so I'm making assumptions about the restraints.)

>As if the ride itself
>wasn't bad enough, the feeling of emminent decapitation as we plunged
>into that tunnel at the end was an incredible shock.

You have *lots* of headroom.  Just remember that.  It's an optical
illusion.

[Other rides, including...]
>a short loop which
>just has a single large hill up which you go, only to be slammed into
>the water with a good soak at the bottom.  

This one is fun.  (I've ridden it elsewhere.)

>This last one appeared to
>be just as enjoyable to the on-lookers who strategically position
>themselves in a walkway directly over the ride for maximum drenching.

Didn't you ever play in a sprinkler? ;^)

>(Are roller coaster enthusiasts into S&M, too?)

No.

Well, at least *I'm* not.

>In particular, the Avalanche (bobsled) became quite tame

See, you're getting the hang of it already!

>which made me
>wonder if being on a coaster is an entirely different experience for a
>novice (like me) than an experienced you.  

I used to be *terrified* of roller coasters.  Now, they don't scare me,
but I do have loads of fun on them.

When I was last at Lagoon, there *was* one ride that scared me.  I've
heard it called Flying Scooters; Lagoon calls it the Flying Aces.  It's
these little airplane themed cars that hang from cables around a big
wheel.  You have a big rudder-like fin in front of you that you control.
I got the thing *really* going, since there was a bit of a breeze, and
thanks to Gerry Swetsky for riding tips, if he's still out there.

Anyway, I felt like I was *way* out of control on this thing, and
noticed that I was going a bit higher than everyone else.  Then I got
out of sync with the wind, and things got really wild.  It was pretty
scary.

But a roller coaster is a *controlled* experience.  What's to be scared of?

>I read about people who do
>a ride 10 times in a row.  Doesn't it get boring?  

Nope.

>What's the thrill?

Airtime (getting lifted out of your seat on the hills).

Accelleration.

Shucks, it's just loads of fun.

>(Heck, you must stop throwing up after the 3rd or 4th time.)  

Never thrown up (though a Rock-o-Plane makes me come *really* close).

>Me, I
>had this uncontrollable urge to flee from the loading area of each
>ride, and I had a terrible pain in my gut as I went down each drop.

I can relate!  There's hope for you yet, though.  Just look at me. ;^)

>One of my friends was saying how much he envies me because he no
>longer gets those kinds of feelings.  (What a pity, eh?)  

Well, your friend sounds a little warped. ;^)

>It was kind of hard to say the whole experience was "fun".  Well, the
>Anaconda was fun, a very very smooth ride.  But otherwise, I thought I
>was really just testing my courage, patience, endurance, and
>stupidity.

So you ride the Anaconda a few more times.  Then you say, ``I'd really
like t try the Rebel Yell again.''  And you do, and you have fun.  Then,
one day, you say, ``I'm gonna ride the Grizzly!''  You do, and it's a
blast!  By then, you're hooked, and there's no hope for you.  Good luck!

>I saw quite a few people coming off the Shockwave (stand-up coaster)
>looking like they had injured themselves, and one woman appeared to
>have had a near-death experience on the pirate ship (whirls you in a
>giant circle, in a very unnatural way).  

Well, swinging around upside down on a pirate ship is a pretty unnatural
thing to do. ;^)

Thanks for the post, Don.  It's interesting to see what the non-weirdos
think of the rides!

Geoff ``Formerly Fearful, now a Freak'' Allen

--
Geoff Allen          \  Please remain seated and keep your hands and arms
uunet!pmafire!geoff   \  above your head at all times.  Enjoy your ride.
geoff@pmafire.inel.gov \
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster