Thrill rides for cowards

[Lorien]

Here's a question for you thrill-seekers...

First - I confess I'm a complete coward when comes to roller-coasters especially anything the goes upside-down. But I adore my nephew and he wants to go on these things so ...
Ok, I've been on Splash Mt., the Barnstormer (dont' laugh), Star Tours, Primeval Whirl, Dinosaur and Test Track. I survived all of them although it was close on Primeval Whirl.
My question is - how would you rank the other thrill rides (Mission Space, Space Mt., R&Rollercoater, Tower of Terror etc.) in terms of speed, scariness and barf-factor compared to the ones I'm familiar with?

 

[angey77]

Welcome fellow Louisianian!
OK, what you have been on so far is what I would think are the weaker rides compared to what you are asking about. But each ride gives different experiences.
For instance, Splash Mountain with the final drop. I think if you can handle drops, you can tolerate Tower of Terror.
Space Mountain, there is one drop, but its not big, nowhere near the drop on Splash Mountain. Shoot, the drop could even fit in on Goofy's Barnstormer if you ask me. Its more of a jerky ride, (but not as jerky as Star Tours!) and it seems you are going fast, but only because you are in the dark. Sit in the front seat if you don't want to be jerked around so much and get a slower ride.
RnRC, well, if you can't handle going upside-down, you might want to skip it. There are a couple of loops and corkscrews.
Mission Space, this is the newest conflicting report thrill ride. I have never felt queasy from a ride (with the exception of riding the looper planes at a fair eight times in a row), but I had some butterflies making a nest in my stomach the first time I got off MS.
So here are my ratings:
Space Mountain: speed C; scariness A (I'm always scared I'll get my arms knocked off my an unseen beam if I put them up!); barf D (not bad at all).
ToT: speed B (its not the speed, but the force of being pulled up and down); scariness B (you never know what drop sequence you will get); barf D (but my boyfriend will disagree who can't handle the falling feeling at all)
RnRC: speed A (what is it? Zero to 50 or 60 in about four seconds?); scariness D (the music keeps you preoccupied, along with the cool props); barf - well, if you don't handle loops well, probably a D or F
Mission Space: speed B; scariness B; barf factor - D

Remember, you can wait with your nephew in line and decide before boarding if you want to ride with him or take the chicken exit and meet him at the end.

 

[Sinderella]

Now this is just my opinion...if you barf I'm sorry, but it's not my fault. I would be most worried from a barf standpoint of Tower of Terror. I would never have a problem and think it's great but it does flip your tummy. R&R is fast, but it's so smooth. It does go upsidedown but you don't really notice it. Close your eyes and scream the first time, then the second time open your eyes. I think R&R coaster is smoother and less scary than space mountain, which is not an upsidedownie. Space Mountain is jerky and dark and scarier, at least to me --but I still love it. I havn't had the pleasure of doing Mission:Spew yet, but am planning on it very soon. I think if you were ok on the other rides you'll be ok on the new ones you listed. Hope this helps. I have no problem on any ride except the teacups--go figure!

 

[The Duchess]

I flatly refuse to go on ToT.
I did RockNRoller Coaster after two drinks at Prime Time Cafe and didn't heave, so you should be okay. It's really a fantastic ride.
I usually do Space Mountain, even though every time I get off I swear I never will again.
Alien Encounter was pretty scary, I thought!
Splash Mountain is pretty tame.

 

[Manda1219]

I am a HUUUUGE coward and deathly afraid of heights...and somehow my boyfriend convinced me to go on Rock N Rollercoaster.
Let's just say, the second we got off I asked "can we get more fastpasses?"
The ride was soooo smooth-the only scary part was the "blast off" where you go from 0-60 in about 3 seconds, but it was more fun than scary (I screamed my head off). You really don't notice when you go upside down. I find the more you scream, the easier it is!
Another ride you might want to give a shot is Big Thunder Mountain RR...It's a little shaky but a LOT of fun...!
Good Luck!

 

[goofy4tink]

Okay....I 'do' Splash because, well, because. Do I like it? Nope. But our tradition is to do it every trip. This past Dec my picture has me with my arms almost all the way up!! So, for me, SM is not an easy ride. I don't like the falling feeling or heights. I LOVE RnRC tho. I'm trying to talk my dd, 10, into doing it with me. We do ToT but it isn't my favorite. I have to say that Primeval Whirl does me in every time. I just won't do it again!!! I just can't explain why, but it un-nerves me. But, I would say try RnRC. I did it out of peer pressure 2 yrs. ago. ToT is over pretty quickly and I do love the sights leading up to the dreaded drops. Space Mt. is not nearly as bad as I was led to believe. It's just very jerky. You really can't see where the heck you're going. My dd loves this one. And she's a bit of a wuss. As far as Mission Space goes...it's a favorite of ours. Dd and I love it to pieces. I don't have any of the spinning feeling. Take-off is cool....you get pushed way into your seat and your facial skin gets pulled back. Better than a face-lift. If you can do the Tea Cups then M:S shouldn't be a problem. Much more spinning feeling on those. But, some people do get sick on this attraction. What a great aunt you are to want to put aside your 'weaknesses' for your nephew.

 

[jennymouse]

I'm a major chicken too! The first time I went to MGM it was just myself and my six year old DGD and I didn't have to do the "big two." Then, when we went again, my DD was with us and I didn't have to do them that time either, but I wanted to.

What I did was go early in the morning and there wasn't any lines. We walked straight to R&R and walked right on it. My DD & DGD kept looking back at me expecting me to chicken out before we got on it. I came close when I got in the room where you can see the cars take off, but I didn't. I did close my eyes and scream though! But, it wasn't bad at all! I even sort of liked it. Enough to do it again several times since.

After RnR that day, we walked right onto ToT. I was feeling pretty brave at that point. I sort of started getting wigged out while on the ride because of anticipating the drops. Then they came before I knew it. I loved this ride and ride it all the time now!

Now, I'm still scared of Space Mountain because I did ride it when I was young and I (like someone else said) was afraid one of the bars were going to get me. Only I thought one was going to take my head off. I remember seeing them in the dark and the track sort of slants? and I was afraid if I didn't hold myself back I was going to fall out or get my head knocked off. But that was back when you had to sit in the cars different and maybe there wasn't the same seatbelt/bar, I don't know. I still avoid this ride. But, if I took DGD by myself again and she wanted to ride it I would ride it with her. That's just the kind of Nana I am!

I say go for it. If I can do it anybody can. I won't do water slides either, but that's for another thread.

 

[kalamazoo]

I would say you'd probably be pretty safe riding the rollercoaster ones. I don't find Space Mountain much worse than Barnstormer (which is pretty bumpy) though obviously it is bigger. While RnR does have a couple of corkscrews, you almost don't see them coming because the lights and music are so distracting. Plus it is a very short ride. I don't know how long it actually takes to ride but it seems like it is over in a minute. I would not spend a lot of time standing in line for this one just because it is over so quickly.

As for MS and ToT, I find that these might get you a little more worked up. Not necessarily because of the motion but more the atmosphere that is created by the ride.

On MS they have something like 4 or 5 seperate warnings about how you might become nauseous or lightheaded or get a headache - even right before they open then doors to get into the "spaceship". It almost feels like they don't want you to try the ride. Defintely enough to get a first-timer's heart pumping. The ride itself, I found, was rather tame. Fun enough, I guess, but my goodness, for all the warnings they give you you'd think they were going to shoot you out of a cannon.

On ToT it's the whole build-up they give at the beginning of the ride with the creepy story and you know what's coming but you don't know when. It's really quite well done. This is probably the one I would least recommend for someone who dislikes thrill rides. It is a lot of fun though.