Fear of roller coasters

Despite running roller coaster fan sites for a very long time, believe it or not, I was apprehensive about riding coasters until I was 13-ish. Even then, I think there was sort of a psychological barrier that I still don't understand. Like when Magnum opened at Cedar Point (I was 15), it really, really made me nervous. But in my mid-20's, when I started the sites and realized I was an adult who could buy season passes, there was excitement about new rides, but no hint of apprehension. When Millennium Force opened in 2000, I was 26, and watched the construction so closely that I had modeled the entire ride experience in my mind. It was so detailed that my first ride went exactly as I expected it to go. What a strange brain I have.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and now my 15-year-old is starting to ramp up. He's actually fairly obsessed with the rides and technology, playing with operations simulations online, and 3D representations in NoLimits. But it has been a struggle to get him on certain rides. When he was much smaller, he would enthusiastically get on Tower of Terror, but now he would rather not. He's never been on Rock-n-Rollercoaster right next to it, either. And for all of the times we've been to SeaWorld, I couldn't get him on Mako, which in my opinion is the second best coaster in town (behind Guardians, of course).

But yesterday, finally, while visiting SeaWorld with a friend, Simon did Mako. Twice. Obviously after the first time, he realized that it was something to enjoy, not fear, but I resisted telling him "I told you so." When I picked him up, he said that he doesn't think he could do Millennium Force because those lap bars don't seem adequate. I explained to him that after 25 years and millions and millions of rides, no one has fallen out yet... why does he think he would be the first? "That's fair," he said (he says that a lot lately).

We've talked about quite a few rides out in the world that he thinks look interesting, but didn't really want to go on. I've told him that I would be happy to take trips to see some in real life, but he's gotta commit to actually riding stuff. I'm not sure if we're there yet, but it's encouraging. On the flip side, it makes me think back to the trips I took in the oughts to a ton of parks, and I can't say that I'm excited about the idea. There are a lot of reasons, including flying (the process, not the act of aviation), lines, weather and such. Toward the close of that decade, I started to lose interest in all of the travel-for-coasters because really the experiences aren't different enough to merit the voyage. And I say that knowing that there are a few parks I could probably ask for comps and my friends would graciously provide them. Also, and Simon expressed the same frustration yesterday, we're so used to the operational level of Disney that anything less feels annoying.

Still, there are a few parks that I think I would really like him to see in real life. I'm realizing that this window is closing quickly as he races toward adulthood.