conquering ride fears

[Tiggeroo]

DH and I are going to Disney on our first no kids trip at the end of august. We'll also do Universal. I haven't been to the park for 7 years because of high school kids and activities. I have never ridden splash or space mountains, thunder railroad or TOT. When I came home last time I really regrettet it but I keep chickening out.
Now they've added so many new rides. I watch the commercials and trailers but I can't see myself getting on those rides. I want to ride the Mummy, Everest, Jurassic Park, etc.
I recently had a major health scare and have come to realize life is short. I want to stop living in fear and live more.
How can I get myself to get on these rides? Has anybody else conquered this.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

DH and I are going to Disney on our first no kids trip at the end of august. We'll also do Universal. I haven't been to the park for 7 years because of high school kids and activities. I have never ridden splash or space mountains, thunder railroad or TOT. When I came home last time I really regrettet it but I keep chickening out.
Now they've added so many new rides. I watch the commercials and trailers but I can't see myself getting on those rides. I want to ride the Mummy, Everest, Jurassic Park, etc.
I recently had a major health scare and have come to realize life is short. I want to stop living in fear and live more.
How can I get myself to get on these rides? Has anybody else conquered this.

I have this really obnoxious fear of heights! I also don't like going upside down or going extremely fast! However, 5 years ago, I rode RockNRollercoaster on the recommendation of two dear friends who told me how to conquer my fear of the speed and going in loops and such. Having my DH there with me of course was a plus but it was just something I had to work my way into. While standing in line I told myself how awesome it was going to be and that if I never do it again, it would be worth it! Well it WAS worth it and if I was to ever go to Disney again, I would be right there in line for RnR in a minute!
Now as for my fear of heights, I work on that daily. I couldn't get DH to do Tower of Terror with me, but we did Splash Mountain and we loved it! That drop was the bomb and even though my heart ended up in my head, I would do it over and over again! You'll be fine on Jurassic Park, just brace yourself at the end. I can't do Space Mountain because I'm prone to motion sickness and that ride does me in everytime, so I've basically given up on it.
I hope I've helped a bit, let me know if you need any other advice.

Blessings,
Denise

 

[Tiggeroo]

Yes that helps alot. You were afraid and you found a way to get on the ride. I don't want to leave and think again I should have done it.
I've waisted alot of time in my life being boxed in by fears and I want to get over it. What better place then Disney.

 

[DisDarling]

Im the same way, I have yet to conquer any of the Mountains, they terrify me!!
D.D.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If you do ANYTHING....go ride RNR...that coaster is so much FUN!!!! Go over & over again.
The only coaster as far as "fun" to me is the Millennium Force at Cedar Point, which is the ultimate in heights...but it is FUN. Gives you a smile when you get off.

As far as TOT, I did it, but it wasn't "fun" to me. I can take it or leave it.

I ride everything else except super spinning things these days.

 

[eclectics]

Just say "I'm going to try this just once. Nobody will force me back on it again!" You are empowering yourself and believe me, it feels good! I've avoided Star Tours for many years thinking it will cause motion sickness. Last year I said to myself I'm finally just going to try it once. It's three minutes out of my life and I can shut my eyes if I want to. Well, not only did I not get sick, I loved the ride and now it's one of my favorites. So, you never know! TOT on the other hand, was a one time event, sad to say. But at least I tried! Give them a whirl. You won't regret it.

 

[Loves Disney]

I was always too afraid to go on Alien Encounter. I kept telling myself, "Oh next year I'll go on it." Unfortunately, there is no more "next year" as they removed the attraction. I wish I could have overcome my fears, now I will never experience the Alien Encounter.

I would say the only way to overcome your fears is to force yourself in line and onto the ride. It is what I had to do here:

We were at Six Flags and my dad wanted me to try the Superman ride. I am EXTREMELY afraid of heights lol and don't very much trust any rides except for at WDW. It also didn't help that we had previously heard of two deaths on this particular ride and the fact you only had the bar to hold onto! I was dead set against riding and yelled at my dad to slow up and that I refused to get on. He never stopped walking towards the ride and as I was there with him I had no choice but follow him. I continuously tried to explain to him how I was not setting foot on that thing. He looked back at me and said, "yes you are." and quickly resumed making his way to the ride. He didn't stop until we reached the loading point. I was now shaking so hard it was incredible lol. My dad looked at me a laughed and tried to tell me to calm down. There is no calming down a 17 year old who is currently looking up at the tallest ride she had ever seen LOL. People around me starting noticing how badly I was shaking and the guy in front of us just laughed at me lol. However, I was in the car thing, holding tightly to that bar for dear life and there was no going back now. The ride started and knew this was it, I had no choice but experience something I was petrified of. As the ride moved up the extremely high coaster, I kept my eyes closed and refused to open. My dad told me to enjoy the view. I thought to myself...yeah...right! LOL. As the ride continued I found I loved it! It was an awesome roller coaster and I am VERY happy to have experienced it!! I thank my dad for that! (he also forced me onto the Batman ride which I also refused to go on as I looked at the loops and whatnot *as I still didn't trust their roller coasters too much lol*. I loved all the roller coasters there.

From that, I would say if nothing else works, force yourself! lol. It is what I am going to do this summer for Tower Of Terror!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Maybe you shouldn't decide to conquer every fear at once. Decide which scares you the least and start with those. Or decide which rides look the neatest to you and start with those.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask because as far as amusement park rides, there is little that I won't do. Or maybe I am the right person to ask.

There is nothing at WDW and Universal that I won't do at least once. The only thing that I don't like is AstroOrbitor and when someone else is with us, I ask them to bring my son. If that someone is my DH, I would be the one bringing him, however. I'm not big into the height rides if spinning is involved. However, I can do it.

The thing that I can't do are the amusement park rides that strap a person in and tumble them all over (not in a roller coaster fashion, but in a scrambler type, etc). I will feel sick on that. I used to like it, however.

My philosophy is that I will do (most) anything once. If I'm on Amazing Race, I will do anything once except for skydiving (that I'd need to be drunk for, and I really don't get drunk, so I suppose that's out. And if I did get drunk, I wouldn't want to barf on national tv ).

I don't know if I like something until I try it at least once. Sometimes I need to do it twice since the first time I'm too busy anticipating the ride. Some rides scared the heck out of me the first several times and I still kept on doing them (Dueling Dragons at Islands of Adventure) since it was so darned much fun and such an adrenaline high.

And you are right. Life is way to short to sit back and watch and not experience things. I've always loved rides and I've noticed that the older I get, the harder it is for me to handle the real intense rides, so one of my goals in the next several years is to go on those rides now while I still have the good health to do them.

 

[Virgo10]

I really wanted to go on the ToT but I was really scared. It took me 4 years before I got up the courage to do it. Then another 2 before I went on again. My first ride was when it was just straight up and straight down. Not pleasant! By the time I went on my next trip to WDW I heard that they changed it and now the ToT is my favorite ride there.

Listen, here's what has made me go on every scary ride at Disney (except M:S. I'm not that brave.) When I was a kid we had this great amusement park near where I lived called Paragon Park. It had an old wooden roller coaster that I was always too afraid to ride. Now I think that I should have gone on it because what if it was more fun than it was scary? I think that I would have missed out on the ToT if I hadn't made my feet move me onto that ride even though my brain was saying, "This is going to be so frightening."

If that doesn't work, try the "Labor Theory". If you haven't had kids yet, any long term pain will do. If you can go thru Labor and any long term pain for X amount of hours, then you certainly can do a 3 minute (or in many times, much less) ride at WDW. Works for me!

 

[spacemountain]

When I went on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Tower of Terror, etc. for the first time, one thing that helped was to look at all the little kids going on and tell myself that if they could do it then I definitely could. Half of my family aren't big ride people and get scared pretty easily but they both love Splash and Big Thunder if that says anything.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I love to ride "fun" rides and not things that scare the bejeebers out of me. I love things like splash mountain and space mountain and even RnR. The only thing I haven't rode is Mission Space and I won't due to throwing up reasons, lol I have rode ToT exactly 2x and won't ever again to be honest. I rode it my very first trip to the World and with my husband on his trip. I hated every minute both times but thats because Im a control freak lol and the whole thing about freefalling doesn't do my control freak heart good

To do things that I know I'm scared of, I think about things I have overcame from another fear like going to the dentist(would almost rather ride ToT) or even the flight to FL,another control freak thing,lol. I would start with the least assuming rides that don't go upside down or have extreme whatever in their reputation and work my way up. Have a great trip

 

[Tiggeroo]

When I was a kid my dad forced me to go on rides I was afraid of. He'd get po'd at me and tease me for not doing it. I think this is what caused this stupid fear. The main rides I want to experience are those with theming. I want to go on TOT not for the ride but because I'm a big Twilight Zone fan. Of all the rides this is probably the one I'd have the least problem with. It's the going up the big hill and dropping that scares me about coasters. I told dh I'll do TOT first, then space mountain since it's not supposed to be really big drops. Then on to Splash. If I survive I"m hoping I"ll have worked up the nerve to try the big ones. I really want to do Everest and The Mummy.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

You can also think about my 12yo. He wouldn't do any upside down coaster or any coaster with a big drop. Finally, when he was almost 11yo we went to Hershey Park. He went on Superdooperlooper, a very simple looping coaster. He only went on in because his 4yo brother was going on it and he didn't want to be shown up. He liked it and when he was 11yo I brought him to WDW and he did RnR.

He loved RnR and we ended up doing it 17 times that trip. After that, Zach would do almost any ride and now will try anything. He wants to try the biggest and fastest coasters around the world and knows where they are. This is the child that less than 2 years ago was the biggest roller coaster weenie. Trust me, if he can do it, anyone can. He is truly a daredevil now! My DH's mouth literally dropped open the other day when Zach was discussing all the coasters he wants to go on. It's hard to believe that he's the same kid.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I told dh I'll do TOT first, then space mountain since it's not supposed to be really big drops. Then on to Splash. If I survive I"m hoping I"ll have worked up the nerve to try the big ones. I really want to do Everest and The Mummy.

No, no!!! Bad plan. Go do RNR 1st!!!! Then Splash, then Space.
TOT should be last on your list. I love thrill rides, but did not enjoy that one!!!
TOT is something for the "heartattack crowd" imo.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

When I was a kid my dad forced me to go on rides I was afraid of. He'd get po'd at me and tease me for not doing it. I think this is what caused this stupid fear. The main rides I want to experience are those with theming. I want to go on TOT not for the ride but because I'm a big Twilight Zone fan. Of all the rides this is probably the one I'd have the least problem with. It's the going up the big hill and dropping that scares me about coasters. I told dh I'll do TOT first, then space mountain since it's not supposed to be really big drops. Then on to Splash. If I survive I"m hoping I"ll have worked up the nerve to try the big ones. I really want to do Everest and The Mummy.

I'll never force a child of mine to go on a ride. I've strongly encouraged them and I've reasoned with them (you won't know if you like it if you don't try it, etc). A couple of weeks ago we were at Kings Dominion in VA and my 6yo was tall enough for an upside down coaster. He was hesitant and I told him that I thought he would like it and that he wouldn't know if he didn't try it. I know him and know that he's a total daredevil. He did go on it and loved it as I was almost positive would be the case.

With my 12yo, when he was younger and fearful, there were many times that I previewed rides and then gave him my honest opinion about whether I thought he would want to go on the ride. I encouraged him to branch out, but I never lied to him about what what on the ride (ok, a little lying here and there, but only to tell him that every other Spaceship Earth car went upside down , etc--not lying to get him on too scary of a ride).

I love the theming of ToT. And it's my favorite ride at any theme park, anywhere. Last trip I did it 23 times, I think. Or maybe it was more. I'm totally obsessed with that ride.

I don't like Space Mt a lot, but know when I go this time with my 6yo I'll be riding that my share of times, but won't be riding ToT as many times as I would like.

You should walk through RnR even if you don't end up riding it since it's a well themed preshow. The ride itself is only about 1 1/2 minutes long, so you might be able to do that just because it's so short. I'd rather do that than Space, I think. But I don't mind the upside down.

Splash is great and the drop isn't a big deal when you're on it. The ride itself is so cute. Big Thunder is just a fun time.

Everest is fun and I can't wait to do it without a 2 1/2 hour wait (my DD and I were lucky enough to go to the CM preview). Mummy is great, too. My mother, who was 81yo did that twice, so it must not be too bad (or her memory is so bad she forgot what it was like... ).

 

[Tigger&Belle]

No, no!!! Bad plan. Go do RNR 1st!!!! Then Splash, then Space.
TOT should be last on your list. I love thrill rides, but did not enjoy that one!!!
TOT is something for the "heartattack crowd" imo.

NO, ToT is wonderful!!!! You can't talk about my favorite ride that way! I hope the tag fairy finds you and gives you an embarrassing tag!

 

[wdwgirl03]

I am also pretty wimpy when it comes to thrill rides. I swore I would never EVER go on Rock 'N Roller coaster or Tower of Terror. Yet I keep finding myself getting in the line with my dad and sisters. Both of them are starting to grow on me, especially Tower of Terror. I remember the first time I went on and just held onto the bars for dear life and didn't even scream, but the last time I actually found myself laughing.

Space, Thunder, and Splash Mountain are relatively tame in my opinion. I agree about Splash Mountain, the story is great, and the drop isn't that bad at all. My youngest sister went on Thunder Mountain for the first time when she was about 5, and came off crying...not because she was scared, but because she wanted to go back on! And then if you can handle Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain is pretty similar, only in the dark.

I hope you give the rides a try!!

 

[FreshTressa]

As an official ride wuss....

BTMR is not scary at all

I would not ride splash for the longest time, finally did and it was anticlimactic...very tame

TOT I would not ride again...I did not enjoy it and it lasted too long and was scary, though the theming was worth going on it once for.

I still won't ride RnR

The mummy and Jurrassic park were not tame, but you never really go high in the mummy and jurrassic park is just the one drop that is over in 3 seconds. I'd ride both those over and over.

When I get freaked out on a ride, I count....I tell myself "this drop will be over in 10 seconds...I can handle 10 seconds, right?" then when I start counting, it seldom lasts more than 3 seconds!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

NO, ToT is wonderful!!!! You can't talk about my favorite ride that way! I hope the tag fairy finds you and gives you an embarrassing tag!

Yea I can...I am a chicken at 41. Give me a coaster anyday. Scary elevators... The theming is very good, I will say.

As far as you FreshTressa...go on RNR. As a coaster person, that is the most fun you will ever have on a coaster.

 

[MinnieM3]

Yes that helps alot. You were afraid and you found a way to get on the ride. I don't want to leave and think again I should have done it.
I've waisted alot of time in my life being boxed in by fears and I want to get over it. What better place then Disney.

I know how you feel! I always look at it like, well, people walk off these rides every few minutes none the worse for wear! NOTHING bad is going to happen other than a few seconds of sheer terror....and then it's over!

I'm a BIG roller coaster baby and I have conquered many of my fears. We made repeated trips to WDW in the past few years and I hated wondering what the big rides were like!

Now, I've been on TOT (My fav ride in WDW), Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, and Rock N Roller Coaster. The only one I won't do (but I did do twice) is Rock N Roller Coaster. I hate going upside down and the take off really got to me. I don't know HOW I do TOT because I'm deathly afraid of heights.

My final tip, I SCREAM bloody murder and laugh hysterically on all of those rides and release all that pent up stuff! It's great!

I'm debating whether or not to do Everest! I probably will...... will you go first and tell me?