Help getting over ride phobia

[cantwaitvaca09]

I am going in Sept, with DH, DD's 8 & 5. I have always been to chicken to go on most of the rides like RnR, TOT, Sorin. I have done Splash twice but get butterflies when it drops.

I was there with friends in Feb and I could not join them on the rides. I want to, but I am just to afraid.

I want to get over this so I can join in with my family and then my friends again.

Any suggestions?

 

[lsenquiz]

I think realizing the fear is part of the fun while still knowing that pretty much everyone who gets on any of those rides walks off just fine(I know you hear of the very rare case of someone getting hurt but chances of it happening are ridiculously rare).

I could give my other suggestions, which is what I use to get over my fear of flying everytime I have to get on a plane(a beverage of the alcholic variety) but I don't want to start the flames.

As a side note: the 50s prime time cafe bar makes an excellent Bloody Mary.

As for Soarin - have you ever been on it? I really do not put it in the same catagory with ToT and RnR. I find that ride to be one of the calmest rides in Disney. It is my happy place that I like to ride several times a trip.

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

I was in line with my friends for Sorin and could not do it,
I was worried I would get motion sick.
in 2011 I went on Big Thunder and closed my eyes and got very motion sick.
We were sitting in the very back and I was adraid. I am a grown woman and I need to get over this

 

[ZehnJahren]

I would suggest that you join your friends in line through the entire queue and then leave at the end, until you're comfortable in line (could take two times, could take three, could take more!). Then, it will only take a few moments of courage at the end of the line to make the decision to get on the ride when you decide to do it, not a lot of time standing in the queue losing your courage! If you're walking through the line hanging out with your friends, and you get to the end knowing that you are free to and planning to leave at any time, you might be able to stomach that one or two minute lag between the end of the line and getting on the ride itself - and that is what is stopping you in the first place.

Even on a ride like Soarin', you can walk through and wait in line at the individual concourses, then go in and sit, but then lose your courage and get up and walk out. You aren't forced to ride anything, so focus on hanging out with your friends and having fun.

Besides that, millions upon millions ride Disney rides every year and are fine. I was in line for ToT with a dad behind me who was holding a 4 or 5 year old girl. She made it onto the ride (and off of it!) and she was ok. If you keep yourself busy in line, it will go fast and you won't be able to build on the anxiety that is keeping you off these rides!

 

[kelleigh1]

I have also never been on ToT or RnR. I'm hoping to convince myself to try Big Thunder Mountain on our next trip. I'm still not sure I'll ever talk myself into ToT, but maybe RnR. My husband rides them all. Part of my problem though is that the heat will bother me too and it can make me queasy.

Now Soarin...I have no problem with that and couldn't wait to ride it when I first heard it was coming to Epcot. It is a favorite! I also don't consider it in the same category as the others.

 

[t_catt11]

I am a 36 year old man, father of five. Big rides terrify me, they always have.

When I was younger, I would simply refuse to ride most big rides. At one point, though, I decided to look at this logically.

Nobody was hurt on the rides. Safety is built into them. People were having fun that I was not having.

So, I decided to try them. I am glad that I did.

There isn't a single ride in WDW that I don't love. I get nervious on most of the big rides, and downright terrified on a few - Rock n Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Everest. I get butterflies in my stomach, my mouth gets dry, I may get the shakes a bit.

But that fear is part of the fun, seriously. I scream, I giggle like an insane person... that somehow mankes it less scary. When the ride is done, I can't wait to ride again!

And the fear gets less. Now, by the time the next trip rolls around, I am terrified again... but that's okay.


Bottom line: give the rides a try. If you don't like them, don't ride again (I will probably never ride Superman at Six Flags again, but I'm glad that I tried it). Still you deserve to at least know what you are missing. Life is too darned short to miss out on something because of a negative emotion - you WILL be perfectly safe.

 

[Carina]

Now Soarin...I have no problem with that and couldn't wait to ride it when I first heard it was coming to Epcot. It is a favorite! I also don't consider it in the same category as the others.

Ditto... I am a DL girl... so some rides above are different, I wont touch a coaster with a 10 foot pole, but I LOVE Soaring (over California)

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

. People were having fun that I was not having.

So
Still you deserve to at least know what you are missing. Life is too darned short to miss out on something because of a negative emotion - you WILL be perfectly safe.

I will think of what you said. Thank You.

On Sorin, where to you sit so that you are closest to the ground?
Is this ride ok for those who get car sick?
DD5 get car sick to the point we can't take the ME bus and have to rent a car, but she can ride the tea cups just fine.

 

[kelleigh1]

On Sorin, where to you sit so that you are closest to the ground?
Is this ride ok for those who get car sick?
DD5 get car sick to the point we can't take the ME bus and have to rent a car, but she can ride the tea cups just fine.

The back row is the closest to the ground, but I've actually heard others say that they were the least comfortable in that row because seeing the feet of the people in front of them actually made them more queasy than when they sat in the front.

As for your daughter, I'm not really sure. I can't quite answer that. There are different levels of car sick. I have trouble being the passenger in a car and can't sit in the back seat or I tend to get sick. I could never read or sleep in a car either. But I have no trouble with Soarin.

 

[cadale]

I am also terrified of rides but have finally tried a few and realized they weren't so bad.

BTMRR is actually a lot of fun and is probably a good coaster to start with. Yes you get moved around a lot in the seat but at least there are no major drops to worry about. I did the entire ride with my eyes closed the first time! The second time around I realized what I was missing.

Soarin is probably my favorite ride. I don't believe it causes that much motion to worry about. You can always take Bonine or use the Sea-bands if your worried about it.

The original Star Tours wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either - I haven't tried the new one yet. Mission Space ( the easier version I don't remember what color that one is) was probably the one that made me the most nervous but it ended up not being that bad.

I agree that if you have someone to keep you company in line than it goes faster and you don't have time to get too nervous. My goal for our next trip is Space Mountain.

I guess what I'm saying is give yourself time to get use to the line ups and you'll eventually make it. Take what precautions you can(Bonine or sea bands) and you will do fine. Start small and work your up.

 

[Brook1099]

I have a lots of phobias about rides,( one of them rides stopping while I am on it, claustrophobia playing my major fear, so I get very anxious on most rides. I have no desire to do TOT, Everest, Dinosaur.EVER!!

Now Big Thunder Mountain, I would not do for the fact its a ride with drops, well I finally felt so guilty for telling my DD every year, " this year" , that I finally sucked it up and went on it. It was SO....much fun!! I kind of wanted to kick myself for missing all the fun the past 8 years.
I also went on Kali Rapids for the first time, it was also a great ride, with a pretty big drop, in my opinion, but I did it and looking forward to it again this year.
I think the best part was my kids excitement because scaried cat mom finally did it!

My next ride I am going to try is Test Track!! I think...lol

 

[t_catt11]

Now Big Thunder Mountain, I would not do for the fact its a ride with drops, well I finally felt so guilty for telling my DD every year, " this year" , that I finally sucked it up and went on it. It was SO....much fun!! I kind of wanted to kick myself for missing all the fun the past 8 years.

This. BTMRR is a GREAT starter "big" ride... and the drops are minimal.
I also went on Kali Rapids for the first time, it was also a great ride, with a pretty big drop, in my opinion, but I did it and looking forward to it again this year.

My next ride I am going to try is Test Track!! I think...lol

Nothing to it. It gets a little fast, but that's all. My four year old loved it as his first big ride.

 

[ironpig70]

I was taken on rides at any early age so I have zero fear which is good and bad.

Now that I have kids and they are at that stage where they are riding on bigger things its up to me to take them.

I have watched videos of rides on Youtube, I let them see the ride in action, I assure them its safe, and its okay to be scared.

But you have to try it once. You can scream all day long on the ride or close your eyes or what have you but we are doing it once.

On our last trip to DL my DD and DS both 6 at the time where scared of Space Mountain and TOT. We did Space on an early entry day and after the first ride they wanted to do it again and again and again.

Then we did TOT and my wife, oldest daughter, youngest daughter, my 2 nephews and brother said "yeah that was fun but not for me".

I spent the next 3 hours telling my son that we would do it again at closing which we did. Now everytime he sees a picture or commercial with the TOT he talks about it and wants to ride it again.


I say just go for it. Go with friends or family and ride it atleast once. The first one will be hard but after that it will be easier and you will see how much fun they are.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

Another ride chicken reporting for duty (you can hear the clucking from here!!). My problem is a combo of lack of depth perception, severe motion sickness and a fear of large drops. The long lasting Gravol takes care of the motion sickness, but the lack of depth perception is a right royal pain when it comes to rides like Star Tours. I guess I'm going to have to take the advice I give my kids...try it once, and if you like it try it again. But how will you know if you will like it if you don't try it. This has advice has gotten the kids on rides that they normally wouldn't try. Time to listen to my own advice, but it doesn't make it easier.

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

thank you all for posting it is good to know that I am not alone.

My friends had me do Dinosaur, glad I did it, but I would not do it again.

I will do the rapid one, I like that. When I was yonger, I did all the costers at Six Flags. But now I have butterflies just thinking of standing in line for ToT or RnR.

Thats why I posted for all of your advice, I can't show this fear to my girls.

 

[ttintagel]

I have a mild aversion the heights, and Soarin' doesn't trigger it at all. You're strapped in, and even if you look down, all you'll see it the row of people directly beneath you, who would totally break your fall if you weren't strapped in. The sense of motion is really quite gentle.

The drops on Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain aren't as stressful as on other coasters, because they tend to go around curnves instead of straight down.

 

[Ginny Favers]

I've always had zero fear of any ride, but honestly I kind of feel like there are people in the world who like thrill rides, people who don't.... and that's okay.

The only time I ever felt a little wonky was when I went on Mission Space. At that point, I looked at my husband and thought, "This is vacation. On vacations, I should strive to do things that are fun. This isn't one of them."

It's your vacation. Do what will make you happy. Avoid the rest if it makes you nervous. Life is too short to feel bad about missing a silly little ride, and I can't see anyone sitting at their deathbed going, "I wish I'd rode Expedition Everest."

I tell you this because I think just the anticipation of missing those rides is getting you down and overinflating the fear-factor in them. If you take the attitude that it's just a ride, just for FUN, and no big deal, it's easier to conquer. Good luck.

 

[DisneyAbsolutely]

I had major anxiety about riding Rock'N'Rollercoaster last year. I wasn't planning to go on this ride at all but I suddenly got this surge of motivation. The line was really long... and my nerves were going crazy. We watched the limo launch and it scared me half to death.

TRUST ME: the anticipation is worse than the ride! Once the ride started, I was too excited to be nervous. It was quick, painless and insanely fun! I went on this ride at least 5 times! Mind you, this was a ride that I avoided on my previous trip. Everything about it was great!

I agree about Mission Space. Don't go on that one. I also agree with the above poster about people being different. Some people can't do rides. I don't want to encourage anyone to go on thrill rides if it's going to scare them or make them sick. If you are nervous about safety then that's an easy thing to reassure you about. Ride malfunctions are very rare and Disney has great maintenence.

 

[kristennn]

I think you just need to put your mind to it and not even let yourself think about it while in line.

When i was in my early 20's or so I went to 6 flags with some friends - I had myself psyched up that I was going to go on *everything* and not even let myself be afraid. So we got there and got in line for Raging Bull. I didn;t even look at the ride nor did I think about it at all while in line. I didn't think about it at all until we started going up the first incline - when i thought "oh crap - this was a bad idea'
I hate drops ... I can;t stand the physical sensation of it - i find it painful. The whole ride I was practically whimpering - and when I got off I had tears in my eyes. If someone had paid me $5000 I would not have went back on. I didn't go on any other coasters that day.
What it comes down to for me - is that I really just don't *like* roller coasters. It's not so much the fear ... I do have a little fear but i can push past it - it's that there's no up side for me to make it worth pushing past the fear.
I do like Soarin - it's one of my favorite rides and if test track wasn't being rehabbed i would try it this trip.
I went on Everest last trip - because my friend and husband convinced me there were no big drops - which is a lie - I did not like it. I went on Splash last time too because i was dying to see the inside theming - but that big drop and the build up to it was more than i care for. On that ride anticipating the big drop DID drive me crazy!

Anyhow my point is - think about whether you even really *want* to go on the rides. If you have a good time once you do than make yourself do it.

 

[ygracey]

If you are going to try BTM for the first time, may I suggest asking for the FIRST row. It seems counter intuitive, but when you crest the top of the lift you will actually be traveling at a slower speed than the rest of the train will be when their particular row crests. It's because the train has not gained speed from the increased amount of weight that has already passed the top of the lift. Now if it would freak you out to have a slight delay and more time as you crest the lift, you might want to sit mid train. It is almost a completely different ride if you compare the front row, to the back row. Of course, when asking for a seat or row it's always nice to ask politely and not demand.