I’m deathly scared of Rollercoasters, I hate that drop feeling. I physically curl up when planes are landing/taking off. It was pretty difficult to get me to Japan, and I rarely go back home because of it.
anyways, Im tired of seeing my Wife do the rollercoaster rides by herself.
What are some good baby or beginner coasters for someone with fear to slowly get over it?
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Out of the adult coasters, Big Thunder Mountain is probably the tamest. It can be quite fast, but there are no loops. Space Mountain and Raging Spirits are both no goes for beginners.
There are the kid coasters, though, which might be better:
Gadget’s Go Coaster at TDL and Flounder’s Flying Fish Coaster at TDS.
Hanayashiki at Asakusa has a very small historic coaster.
Literally all the Disney coasters are baby coasters.
Yokohama cosmo world (is that the right name) has a 40m high Rollercoaster that goes underground. It isn’t too intense.
Thunder Mountain is your best bet. Also, when you are on these rides, instead of fighting or opposing the motion, lean into it and think about driving or initiating the motion—trust me, it works. For the drop motion on planes, try to adjust yourself so that your stomach is as flat as possible, it makes a huge difference. Do these a few times, and each time gets easier. Soon, you’ll be like me, hate to do it still, but if I have to it’s no big deal.
Start with “pirate ship” rides first. Sit close to the center of the ship the first time, and then each time you ride it move one sit closer to one of the tips. This ride gives you a less extreme sinking feeling, but with more repetitions, so it’s easier to get used to.
If it helps, after riding that “free falling” tower ride enough times, I became totally unable to feel the sinking feeling anymore. Which is kind of sad because I actually enjoyed it.
I love rollercoasters. Some tips for riding them:
* Look where you are going, don’t close your eyes. It helps your body anticipate the motion.
* Loops can look scary but they generally don’t give you that “stomach in your mouth” drop feeling.
* Wooden rollercoasters and older steel coasters will tend to be bone shakers. Brand new coasters are generally much smooth.
* Try riding other fairground rides to get used to the dropping feeling. Smaller drop towers and pirate ships might help.
* Think about your seating position. Back row tends to be the most stomach churning as you go through dips and bumps at the highest speed
Whenever possible, try to get a front seat. The ride is much smoother the further forward you are.
A combination of growing up in the countryside and being quite an “indoor child” made me quite scared of roller coasters. Then 5 years ago when I was 40 I was on an expensive trip to Disneyland Tokyo (flights and hotel cost too due to living in Fukuoka), and I just thought that to spend all that money and not ride anything was such a waste. So I decided to go for it.
I think Space Mountain was the first ride, and it was absolutely fantastic. It’s really true that after the first one you just want more. Absolutely loved Big Thunder Mountain.
Now I’m an absolute fiend. We have subsequently been to USJ and Disney again, and I just try and get as many rides per visit as possible. Managed 9 rides last year at Disney.
Don’t worry about “low level” or kids rides. Just go for it. If you hate it, at least you can tell yourself that you gave it a go.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Space Mountain is less scary than Big Thunder. Yes, it is dark – but because you cannot really see anything in the pitch black, it’s kind of a magical experience flying through space. It really is a classic ride that plays with light to make you feel like you are going faster than you actually are. With Big Thunder, I really loved it – but I felt my head or body was going to smash against the sides of the rocks, which was ‘scarier’. I consider myself a moderate roller coaster rider – so I can handle things like Hollywood Dream at USJ, but not any of the extreme rides at Fuji Q.
I think TDL rides don’t really have that “drop” feeling in their rides. They are more like the fast and moving sideways.
You can try TDS’s tower of terror though. Although not a roller coaster you get the “drop” feeling (halfway) and it ends immediately.
Edit: Or the flying carpet cause you will be able to control it to go up or down
I don’t like roller coasters either. When I went to USJ I rode the the Hagrid coaster and it wasn’t so bad.