I think the trick is to be positive and encouraging with people who are scared but considering it, like they would like to try it, but can't get past their fear. You can help them to overcome their hesitation and they will more often than not have a great time.
I agree. It all comes down to really knowing the person, and knowing why they're hesitating to ride. It's a fine line to walk but when you know someone well, you know how to toe it.
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~If the person gets motion sickness, just forget it. ...
ITA. I ride most rides at Disney, but the ones I avoid are for a good reason. I do not like inverting roller coasters or things that spin (like the teacups). I'm prone to motion sickness, so that's totally why I won't do the teacups, and a large part of why I won't do inversions. While inversions never made me throwing up sick (like a spinning ride would) they do give me awful headaches that won't go away. No amount of cajoling is going to get me on one of those rides because it's not fear that's holding me back...it's the physical discomfort that would come afterwards.
My dh was appalled at how I 'made' our dd ride stuff when she was younger. But....here's the thing. I know my dd. I know that she gets frightened of the unknown. But I also know what she likes...so forcing her to ride Star Tours when she was 6 was not child abuse...although the poor kid cried the entire time in line!
If you know the persons limitations, then you should be okay with 'encouraging' them to try a certain attraction.
I, too, have "forced" my kids onto rides at Disney, but it's because I know my kids, and sometimes they're just being difficult and saying no for no good reason, or because they built a ride up in their heads. Both of my kids (and my husband, who is NOT a thrill rider) were totally hesitant to ride Splash Mountain. My husband even tried to tap out at the last minute. But I "forced" everyone on and now it's a family-favorite must-do. For all of them, they were making that drop out to be more than it is, and were also not aware of how awesome of the rest of the ride is because in their minds, that ride was just the drop.
I am bummed that my DW refuses to ride ToT with me. She loves Twilight Zone as much as I do, and whenever there's a holiday weekend marathon happening, we tend to spend more time watching it on the couch than we do attending BBQs. I know she would love the actual ride itself based on other rides she adores. She just has some mental block in her head that makes her refuse to ever want to ride it. Is it better to try to Jedi mind trick her into riding it despite the fact she would be scared to a point of near panic, or respect her wishes and go ride it solo while she enjoys something else? Seems like a no brainer to me.
This was a ride that I had built up in my head as being more awful than it is. Looking at it in the park terrified me. Everyone else in my family felt the same way. On our trip in August, we all made a family decision to go on it together, since we were all scared. No one ended liking it (but me) but it really wasn't that bad and certainly not as awful as I had thought it was going to be. I wouldn't Jedi mind trick your wife, but I would encourage her to try to get over her fear and try it once. Since she's a Twilight Zone fan, it seems a shame to miss it.
We have an issue in our house with our kids saying they hate something before they'll even try it (mainly food, but other things, too, like certain activities or movies) so our ToT experiment was just an extension of what we're trying to teach them in other contexts...you can't refuse something until you've actually tried it. Because ToT was something my husband and I declared we hated before we tried it, I thought it was good to show them that we're not exempt from the "rule" of just trying something once.
So even *IF* someone agrees forcing a kid to ride rides isn't abusive (big *if* there), thinking it is ok to force your child "crying the entire time in line" on everyone else in line is NOT ok!!
In your opinion. But again, I know my kids, and I know when they're throwing a show vs. really scared. I've not forced them on rides when they were really, truly scared, but I have "forced" them when they're just being difficult to be difficult. To an outside observer I probably looked like a horrible mother because they wouldn't know what I know--that my kid wasn't really objecting to the ride, but rather just pushing buttons.
I have taken a crying/objecting child on a ride a couple of times before (Haunted Mansion, Splash, and Little Mermaid--which was the one he threw the biggest fit getting on!), and never once been stopped or even questioned by a CM. But again, this was more histrionic tantrum throwing not really related to the ride at all and not true fear.
My dad got sick on Mission Space Orange. He was 66 at the time and after relaxing on a park bench for a while, he was fine. 
Pickled Pig Anuses would make a great name for a rock band..
