Hi folks
I'm a newcomer to these forums, so please be gentle with me!
I'm planning to visit Disney and Universal in Florida in March, but am getting myself in a bit of a twist about what I can and can't go on. I've read all the ride descriptions I can find, but they all contradict one another, and I'm starting to get worried. It doesn't help that I'm blind, so can't watch the ride walk through videos and decide for myself.
My problem is that I get sensory overload. In every day life this isn't triggered easily, but theme parks are a completely different proposition. There are certain things which will trigger me into either complete fight or flight, or complete shut down, and experience has taught me there's no coming back from either of those that day for more rides. While I can stay at the theme park, I won't be able to get on anything else that day.
This leads me to my problem. Many of my triggers are movement specific. I'm hoping that if I list them below, those of you who have already been could tell me what rides are safe for me to go on and which should be avoided.
Extreme backward tipping: This is something I absolutely cannot handle. If it's a very, very slow tip with nothing else happening, i.e, no following movement other than to sit you up again, then it *might* be doable if I can anticipate it and talk myself through it, but if it's a tip, say, on a rolercoaster preparatory to going upside down, then I absolutely can't handle it. I know that some rides travel backwards down a slope and that is doable as the tip isn't extreme, and you still feel as though you're sitting upright, if reclined a little, but if it was an extreme slope, I absolutely couldn't do it. I've done Haunted in Paris and could cope with that as an example, but it's quite a smoothe, slow decline, so it works for me. Basically, if you feel like you're lying flat, or even close to it, it's out for me.
Hanging forward: I'm the same about this as going backward. I can handle slopes and non-steep hills, no matter the length, but as soon as you feel as though you need to engage your muscles to push back into the car, or you start to hang in your harness, that will trigger a complete melt down for me. Again, hills are Ok as long as the gradiant doesn't leave you hanging. if the tip is measured and slow, and I know that all that is going to happen is for me to sit up again, or go down a gentle slope, then I *might* be able to talk myself through it.
Drops: Something that I can't talk myself through. If your bum leaves the seat, mine needs to have never been in it in the first place. I can do hill descents, or swooping drops on rides like the runaway mine train at Alton Towers where you can still clearly feel the track underneath the car, but these are very much "your bum is still firmly in the seat, and your lap bar is only really there for health and safety's sake rather than actually being the only thing that is currently holding you to your seat" kind of drops. If it is a tiny, tiny drop then it might be doable, but I'm not sure. If there are any rides like this, I could try them at the end of the day to find out, but it would need to be quite small.
Swinging: Forget pirate ships for me. I think this is to do with being tipped backwards and forwards with the motion of the swing, but unless it's incredibly slow and gentle, I can't talk myself out of my melt down. Again thinking of Alton Towers, I've been able to do the Hex ride, the one with the cursed tree, because the pendular motion is very slow, very gentle, and rhythmic, so I can brace and expect the movement. Remember here that I'm blind, so don't get the feeling that the whole room is going upside down.
Going upside down: Just a huge no no, no matter how it happens. There is literally no coming back from this one for hours. I will shut down completely and be like a walking zombie for ages if this happens.
Things that are Ok: Going up, no matter how fast, as long as the coming down is nice and gentle! Spinning (waltzers are no problem (I can cope with that amount of tipping), going fast, left and right turns, a bit of side tipping, going backwards (as long as I know it's on the level and don't have to worry about drop offs, or it's slow, i.e not a backwards rolercoaster), bumps/jerking/rough rides/anything not included in the no nos.
Sorry, I know it's a bit of a prescriptive list, but I also know there are some thrill rides at the parks that I might be able to do. If I don't have feedback I'll end up being a frequent visitor to "It's a small world"! And believe me, that's not something I want!
We will be travelling with 6 other thrill seekers, so if worst comes to worst, I could use rider switch to get them to experience it first and report back, but this is massively time consuming and boring for them, so I don't want to go down this route unless I need to. Any feedback from you guys would be awesome, baring in mind that I'm blind, so this is all movement focused rather than looking at things like how simulators trick you into thinking something's happening. Thinking back to Hex again, many people won't go on it as they don't want to go upside down, but for me, all I experience is a very gentle swing.
Thanks for absolutely any feedback you can give!
I'm a newcomer to these forums, so please be gentle with me!
I'm planning to visit Disney and Universal in Florida in March, but am getting myself in a bit of a twist about what I can and can't go on. I've read all the ride descriptions I can find, but they all contradict one another, and I'm starting to get worried. It doesn't help that I'm blind, so can't watch the ride walk through videos and decide for myself.
My problem is that I get sensory overload. In every day life this isn't triggered easily, but theme parks are a completely different proposition. There are certain things which will trigger me into either complete fight or flight, or complete shut down, and experience has taught me there's no coming back from either of those that day for more rides. While I can stay at the theme park, I won't be able to get on anything else that day.
This leads me to my problem. Many of my triggers are movement specific. I'm hoping that if I list them below, those of you who have already been could tell me what rides are safe for me to go on and which should be avoided.
Extreme backward tipping: This is something I absolutely cannot handle. If it's a very, very slow tip with nothing else happening, i.e, no following movement other than to sit you up again, then it *might* be doable if I can anticipate it and talk myself through it, but if it's a tip, say, on a rolercoaster preparatory to going upside down, then I absolutely can't handle it. I know that some rides travel backwards down a slope and that is doable as the tip isn't extreme, and you still feel as though you're sitting upright, if reclined a little, but if it was an extreme slope, I absolutely couldn't do it. I've done Haunted in Paris and could cope with that as an example, but it's quite a smoothe, slow decline, so it works for me. Basically, if you feel like you're lying flat, or even close to it, it's out for me.
Hanging forward: I'm the same about this as going backward. I can handle slopes and non-steep hills, no matter the length, but as soon as you feel as though you need to engage your muscles to push back into the car, or you start to hang in your harness, that will trigger a complete melt down for me. Again, hills are Ok as long as the gradiant doesn't leave you hanging. if the tip is measured and slow, and I know that all that is going to happen is for me to sit up again, or go down a gentle slope, then I *might* be able to talk myself through it.
Drops: Something that I can't talk myself through. If your bum leaves the seat, mine needs to have never been in it in the first place. I can do hill descents, or swooping drops on rides like the runaway mine train at Alton Towers where you can still clearly feel the track underneath the car, but these are very much "your bum is still firmly in the seat, and your lap bar is only really there for health and safety's sake rather than actually being the only thing that is currently holding you to your seat" kind of drops. If it is a tiny, tiny drop then it might be doable, but I'm not sure. If there are any rides like this, I could try them at the end of the day to find out, but it would need to be quite small.
Swinging: Forget pirate ships for me. I think this is to do with being tipped backwards and forwards with the motion of the swing, but unless it's incredibly slow and gentle, I can't talk myself out of my melt down. Again thinking of Alton Towers, I've been able to do the Hex ride, the one with the cursed tree, because the pendular motion is very slow, very gentle, and rhythmic, so I can brace and expect the movement. Remember here that I'm blind, so don't get the feeling that the whole room is going upside down.
Going upside down: Just a huge no no, no matter how it happens. There is literally no coming back from this one for hours. I will shut down completely and be like a walking zombie for ages if this happens.
Things that are Ok: Going up, no matter how fast, as long as the coming down is nice and gentle! Spinning (waltzers are no problem (I can cope with that amount of tipping), going fast, left and right turns, a bit of side tipping, going backwards (as long as I know it's on the level and don't have to worry about drop offs, or it's slow, i.e not a backwards rolercoaster), bumps/jerking/rough rides/anything not included in the no nos.
Sorry, I know it's a bit of a prescriptive list, but I also know there are some thrill rides at the parks that I might be able to do. If I don't have feedback I'll end up being a frequent visitor to "It's a small world"! And believe me, that's not something I want!
We will be travelling with 6 other thrill seekers, so if worst comes to worst, I could use rider switch to get them to experience it first and report back, but this is massively time consuming and boring for them, so I don't want to go down this route unless I need to. Any feedback from you guys would be awesome, baring in mind that I'm blind, so this is all movement focused rather than looking at things like how simulators trick you into thinking something's happening. Thinking back to Hex again, many people won't go on it as they don't want to go upside down, but for me, all I experience is a very gentle swing.
Thanks for absolutely any feedback you can give!
