Getting rid of the "dropping sensation" fear...

[BamaFan121s]

eta: Funny side note... I get that sinking feeling in my stomach if I DROP AN OBJECT from a high place, too! If I throw a towel downthe stairs to the basement my stomach drop. I'm a psycho, right?

Shockingly, no, I don't think you are a psycho...I do this too. I bet you hold your breath until it gets to the bottom too, don't you?

 

[julieannbabe]

i HATE THAT FEELING TOO.

the feeling when drop on TOT in your stomach - i have been on it twice before.

when i went to MGM last week - i tried to go on TOT - i done the line ride and enjoying walking through the TOT hotel but i couldn't go through with the ride.

Cause that drop - i had such a bad time on it with that feeling in my stomach that i was gonna die - i couldn't face doing it again.

 

[WindFlower]

I am the same exact way with the rides. Needless to say I have been on all of them. I think Splash is the tamest. That one I will do with no problem. I went on EE and RnR last September. EE feels like you are going upside down at one point (which I know you are actually not) and I did not like it one bit. RnR made me feel the sickest. The start of it is what killed me. I went on ToT a while ago and I will never go on it again. I was freaking out like crazy and my legs could not stop shaking. I think I am just made to do only the tamer rides!

 

[SnackyStacky]

Three words.

Just do it.

 

[snowman]

When you get to the top of ToT, focus on the view instead of your fear. It's a nice view of the park.

I think I automatically scream without even meaning to, though.

The view makes it worse for me....I know just how far I am going to plunge to my death.....yea, I know, that's the irrational part of my fear of heights. DNephew, DANephew and DSO have all said I have to do ToT with them this year....I told her there isn't enough Xanax in the world to get me on that ride . I'll be waiting for them in the store.

 

[tiff211]

I scream from start to finish on any thrill ride. I am not a thrill ride person but I always get coaxed into getting on them for the sake of entertainment for whoever I am riding with.

I do ride SM last time with DD6 who LOVES it. I always get nervous she's going to fal out so I hold her maybe a little too tightly because she screamed on the way down "Stop holding me, I can't breathe!"

TOT, I rode with my girlfriends last June. I wanted to cuss so bad but there were too many kids around!! That was intense! I do think screaming helps the dropsie feeling, because I am always so scared to feel it but don't remember actually feeling it!

 

[leahlovesdisney]

Three words.

Just do it.

Okay! I promise I'll do them!
Because it just feels so great after the ride!

Thanks everyone! I'm taking everyone's advice and making my own personal list on Word.

 

[jenelope]

Someday, I hope to conquer my fear of the big drop on Splash. It's all psychological with me. I know it's coming and I spend practically the entire ride anticipating it and inwardly freaking out. No matter how hard I try, it's hands clamped on the bar and eyes squeezed shut.

However, I finally got past my fear of ToT on my last trip. For one thing, I rode it (for the first time in six years) with friends who made it so incredibly fun by cracking jokes the entire time. For another, I started following their advice, which seemed counterintuitive at the time, but I swear it works. The advice is simple: don't hold on to anything. Put your bag strap through the seatbelt. Put your hands in the air. Whatever you have to do. The more tense you are, the worse the ride feels. If you just go with it, it's so much smoother. On my first ride last fall, I was a little tense and didn't enjoy it that much. The next three times, I didn't hang on at all and it was so much better.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Giving you my sympathy here, I have the exact same problem. Because of my phobia for falling (not heights, it's totally different) I was terrified of thrill rides all throughout my youth. When I was 16 I finally decided that I couldn't be a wimp anymore and just started riding all the rides with stomach turning drops on purpose. Now I've been on some of the largest drops in the world (living fairly close to Cedar Point helps), but I still hate them. TOT is my nightmare ride becase you can't even tell when you're going to drop, but I ride it every trip (several times) because it's my DH's favorite.

Anyways, here are my suggestions to make things a little better:

1. Scream. Or, at least, exhale just before the drop. It helps, but I'm not sure why.

2. If you can, sit in the very front. This won't help with TOT, but you could do it with Splash. It helps with your mental preparation to be able to see where you're falling. Plus, at least with roller coasters, the front car actually goes down several feet prior to beginning free fall, so you actually fall slightly less.

3. Go with friends. Make sure they're good friends who will keep you laughing throughout the ride and not thinking about the big finish. Also, make sure they know about your fear and are the type who, if necessary, will get tough on you. There are times when peer pressure can be a good thing.

4. Remember to enjoy the rest of the ride. Look at all the themeing. Have a reason, beyond the drop, to go on the ride again.

Oh, and this is just a note, but I think that the "bouncing" drops of TOT aren't that bad. The first drop, you get the full stomach treatment, but afterwards you go up and down randomly. However, the parabolic up and down motion makes for less of that 'ugh' feeling than a straight drop gives. It's a slow transition from going up at a certain rate of speed to free fall and I actually don't mind it too much.

*Edited because I forgot one thing: The larger a drop is, the easier it is. I know that sounds crazy, but after you reach a certain height (something like 300 feet) your stomach actually has time to catch up with you. Then you're just falling and not feeling anything. Very weird. Unfortunately, there's nothing that big at WDW, but something to keep in mind for the future.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

A doctor friend told me that if you scream, and actually make noise--not one of those silent, open mouth things, the sensation is lessened due to ... I just don't remember, something to do with the diaphram and pushing out air ... anyway, I do it because for me it actually works. Maybe its the power of suggestion, I don't know, but I always hated drops and now they are quite tolerable. TOT is now one of my favorite rides.

My approach is to start the scream right before the drop starts. I have also found that the more relaxed I am the less tense my body is and the less I feel that stomach thing. Worth a try I guess.

The TOT is our DS's favorite ride. He's got an odd form of CP, and has low muscle tone and is quite under-reactive ... practically, this means the rougher the ride the more he enjoys it; he's also a big fan of BTMR, EE, MS and TT.

He isn't afraid of the spooky stuff or the drop, but he doesn't like everyone screaming. We have an adorable picture from our first trip on TOT where it looks like most of the other kids in the elevator are screaming or looking scared and DS is grinning widely, but holding his hands over his ears!

 

[leahlovesdisney]

Hi, I'm practicing my exhaling because of our Wednesday (kids have off..so why not go??) trip to (probably) MK. If they all want to do it, we're bound for Splash Mountain!

Hopefully I won't need to be practicing my screaming!

 

[shakebear]

Originally posted by LeahLovesDisney:

I'm so happy to hear Splash is no worse then EE. I'll definitely have to try it next time.
And thanks for the tips on ToT. My DH also said to just relax right before the drop.
I've also heard people say screaming actually helps! I'm not much of a screamer-but if it works...

I know this was said a few days ago, but I just have to add that this definitly helps. I don't know why , but it always makes me feel better.

 

[PLibster]

Ok, so here is my problem. When I was younger I could get on any ride. Spinning, dropping, upside down, and fast. Now, I get so worked up inside I feel like I can't breathe. I have even gotten on Test Track and felt like I was having a panic attack. I had to get off the ride. I want to ride with my family, but all I can do is watch. I know it is in my head, but I can't convince myself that I will "survive." Why am I doing this? Is there anyone else who does this? What do you do?

 

[dizprincess717]

OP - You can definitely handle Splash, I promise you! After riding Everest, Splash will just be more fun than scary.

As far as ToT goes... That was the only ride I was scared to ride in WDW. I don't like free-falling sensations and that always kept me away. But, I made a deal with my sister that if she'd go on Space I'd go on ToT. Well, she actually made it on Space and so we left MK to MGM where I had to face my fears.

And! I discovered!!!

It's really not all that bad. Honestly. I don't feel like it's a free-fall at all. There's a ride at an amusment park that I live near, Dorney Park, that has a free-fall ride called the Dominator. For that you sit in an open-air seat, feat dangling, with your back to the 200' tower and it drops you. I do NOT like that ride, but I LOVE ToT!

 

[taheenee]

It's really not all that bad. Honestly. I don't feel like it's a free-fall at all. There's a ride at an amusment park that I live near, Dorney Park, that has a free-fall ride called the Dominator. For that you sit in an open-air seat, feat dangling, with your back to the 200' tower and it drops you. I do NOT like that ride, but I LOVE ToT!

Same here. i've been on a ride like that and i do not care for it. Sitting up there, waiting for that drop is a killer. I love ToT! I think what helps a lot is that most of the falling is in the pitch dark, so you don't have anything rushing by, the one that does give me a jump, i love it tho, is when the windows open at the top and you look out, then drop, but's it just working the mind. once i figured out how to relax and laugh, it almost reminded me of the feeling of swinging on the playground, as a kid. you know, when you get up really high and have that free-fall feel coming down. i almost find ToT...relaxing, maybe it's all that hysterical laughing.
as for drop rides and roller coasters, brace your feet! it makes a huge difference on Space Mountain. and on splash mountain, bracing your feet and ducking a bit, like a previous poster said, helps too. I'm now a hands over the head rider but started as ducked down one!

 

[Metro West]

Three words.

Just do it.

Yup...that's the only way to get over these fears.

 

[Ileana]

I laugh on all thrill rides

TOT is just way too much fun to not laugh!!

But then again I'm always trying find a reason to get out to Cedar Pointe and ride some of those crazy coasters

 

[Princess_Belle]

I rode ToT in 03' and vowed neverto get on it again. I have a fear of heights and a fear of elevators so this ride wasn't a good choice for me anyway. But I love RnR. Me and my fiance' will be at MGM on Wednesday, and I'm scared out of my mind that he will wanta ride it! I can't get on it bc i also have panic attacks! Can someone give me any ideas?

 

[alicenwonder99]

I'm one of the biggest chickens that ever lived and I LOVE SPLASH
It really isn't bad at all and like a previous poster I tend to scream a lot, lol. I was worried to death the first time I rode it, and yes the anticipation is worse than the drop. Once I rode Splash I had to do it again and again. I thought Everest was worse than Splash, but i love it too.

Try it you will love it. Now TOT I still have to overcome my fear on that one

No, sorry...I'm the biggest chicken that ever lived (or so my dh tells me).

To the OP: Splash really is nothing. From the outside, the drop looks huge. But when you are going down it, it's really a short drop.

I thought EE was kinda scary, but not so bad that I wouldn't do it again. It was a fun ride.

ToT I did years ago, and it was scary, but not as bad as I thought it was. The worst part of ToT for me was when you're at the top, the window opens up, and you look out at the whole park. You realize you're at the top and it's going to go down any second (aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!). But the ride isn't that bad.

I won't do RnR anymore because I just can't handle going upside down any longer (getting too old, I guess). I get the worst headaches from going upside down.

But the absolute WORST disney ride I've ever been on is California Screamin' at DL. Never, ever again!!!! I wouldn't recommend that ride to any chicken.

 

[yaddo121]

A few people already mentioned exhaling and that's what always helps me on Splash. Taking a big deep breath at the top of the hill and exhaling slowly on the way down (or doing more of a "Wooo-hooo! than a scream LOL).

Nothing helped me on ToT -- I've only ridden it once. I have a fear of elevators, heights, and the dark so that wasn't the ride for me

But if you liked EE you'll have no problem on Splash