stemikger said:
IMHO I think coaster and thrill ride designers have pushed the limits on what our bodies can handle. I know I sound like an old fart, but I long for the day of a nice old fashioned 30 mph wooden coaster.
Stem, are you sure you
really long for those "old days?"
Given you live in NYC, I wonder if have you ever gone to Coney Island and ridden the vintage Cyclone rollercoaster. That "old fashioned wooden coaster" was designed and built 79 years ago, but the first drop (below) makes the WDW rock and rollercoaster feel like a walk in the park. In other words, "high G forces," deep drops and fast changes in speed on rollercoasters are nothing new at all.
In fact, as scary as the Coney Cyclone is, it gives the rider only a small taste of just how horrific the old 1920s (the "Golden Age" of woodies) coasters could be. The most infamous of those -- and to this day viewed by hard core coaster fans as
the most terrifying rollercoaster ever built -- was the Crystal Beach Cyclone at Crystal Beach Park in Ontario, Canada.
Built and opened in 1927,
the ride was so intense that there was a full time nurse on duty at all times to revive riders who had passed out. The Cyclone began with what has been called "the best first drop ever," a steep fall (picture below) which made it appear to riders that the cars were going straight into Lake Erie. It then twisted sharply to the right in a great swooping curve. Next, it plunged into a straight drop alongside its lift hill. After that, the Cyclone dove into a spiraling helix angled at 70 degrees. Then, without
letting up for an instant, riders were dropped into a high speed figure-eight section. Next, after a dive inside the first drop, the trains entered a series of abrupt drops. Next came the famous trick-track, where the track banked rapidly from side to side. Finally, after a couple more turns, came the brake run. The total trip from the top of the first drop to the station brakes was only forty seconds, but that was more than enough for most riders.
The view from the top of the lift hill. See
any straight, flat track ahead? Nope....
So, trust me, while the WDW RNR may seem like a big, tough, abusive ride to some, trust me, it's
nothing compared to what you could experience almost
eight decades ago. Engineers with doctorates from MIT using state of the art CAD (computer assisted design) power today are just beginning to catch up with what a few mechanics with slide rules cooked up in the 1920s....
I'm old. 
!!! After we rode it the first time, I told my husband that if they had a refrigerator and a bathroom in the limo-cars, I would never get off the ride. 
