US/IOA newbie - coaster questions

[CoreyGirl]

A friend and I are taking a girls' weekend in Orlando in about a month, and she'd like to spend a day at US/IOA. I know nothing about this theme park, having never been before. We'll be staying off-site so won't have express passes or early entry - and it will be just the two of us. We'll stand in line, no problem.
I'd love to check out the HP area, but am interested in getting some feedback on the coasters and attractions. I'm a bit of a roller coaster chicken - I like milder ones, but not the serious coasters.
What are some good attractions to plan on seeing? What are the more major coasters there?

 

[rowan555]

The best coaster for a "coaster chicken", by far, is the Mummy ride - it's a smallish coaster and it's indoors and in the dark, so it's more "special effects" than actual drops, etc. It's great fun, and my daughter and I rode it 15 or more times during our visit.

The bigger coasters are Rip Ride Rockit at US which is pretty darned scary due to the track going straight up at the beginning, but the rest of the track is not too crazy. At IoA you will find Dragon Challenge with two different tracks in the Harry Potter area (never a terribly long line there, it seems) and Hulk on the other side of the park. These coasters have multiple inversions and might be too scary for you. There are two kiddie coasters - one at US (Woody Woodpecker, I think?) and one in the Harry Potter area of IoA - I found both of them very "jerky" and they made my back and neck hurt - but they are supposed to be less scary and geared towards the whole family.

 

[Metro West]

You should check out YouTube for ride videos of the coasters. That should give you a pretty good indication of what to expect.