Overcoming Fear of Rollercoasters

[buzzrelly]

Every time I ride Space Mountain I get bruised somewhere, because being in the dark I can't prepare for drops and turns. After the third time, I said no more.

When I say most people don't get hurt, I mean that most people don't die on the ride! Ha! I've actually gotten banged up on Space Mountain too, but I haven't let that stop me from going on every time.

 

[Aerinha]

How "bad" is the post Hi Ho drop on 7DMT? Maelstrom never bothered me, but as a mostly solo rider they always put me in the front. If I leaned back on it, I was fine. Yet the drop on Pirates has been slightly unpleasant on recent trips. Could be anxiety as I remembered not liking it as a kid (I got water in my mouth) and it stuck as an adult, though the stomach jump has gotten worse for me. Would love to try 7DMT, but vacation is supposed to be fun, I am not fighting through a panic attack just to say I did s ride. Ironically, I can ride a horse over a jump and never bat an eye.

 

[Aerinha]

When I say most people don't get hurt, I mean that most people don't die on the ride! Ha! I've actually gotten banged up on Space Mountain too, but I haven't let that stop me from going on every time.

The one time they put in the back seat of Maelstrom, before the final drop, the boat hit the side so hard it popped me off the seat. I briefly thought I was going out of the boat into the water, thank god I didn't know there was a big open water fall behind I would have freaked, but came down hard and hit my hip on the side of the boat. Huge bruise.

 

[Art 1]

Hi everyone,
I have been on several family trips to Disney and a couple trips with my friends, and each time, I have been way too terrified to ride any of the "scary" rides- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is above my limit. On my last trip, I was even too scared to get on the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train! I was able to ride Splash Mountain my past three trips, but each time, I spend hours beforehand riddled with anxiety beforehand. Next week, I am moving into the Disney College Program (so excited) and will be spending months in Orlando! I really don't want to be crippled by these fears when so many of my friends will be riding together and making memories; I don't think I'll ever become a big coaster person, but right now I can't even get myself to ride Space Mountain once to experience it!

Does anyone have any tips, or any stories of how they overcome fear of rollercoasters? This fear is kind of debilitating to me as a lover of adventure travel. While I turned down ziplining last year, I did go an an extremely ricketedy cable car, parasail, and climb a high mountain; so kiddie coasters are in my potential domain if I can ever get over the fear. Any advice?

Time the ride, you'll see just how short the rides are. Then just think to your self that you can do almost anything for that short of time.

Or, just don't ride the rides. Don't let yourself worry or become anxious. You don't have to ride them to have fun. Just let it go, don't put that pressure on your self.

 

[buzzrelly]

The one time they put in the back seat of Maelstrom, before the final drop, the boat hit the side so hard it popped me off the seat. I briefly thought I was going out of the boat into the water, thank god I didn't know there was a big open water fall behind I would have freaked, but came down hard and hit my hip on the side of the boat. Huge bruise.

Are we trying to talk her into riding, or out of riding?!! Haha!

 

[whitney250]

I was always afraid of coasters and thrill rides until my 1st trip to WDW last October. I didn't know if I would ever be coming back, so I literally MADE myself ride every coaster (and everything else) I could while I was there. I was good with the smaller coasters in MK, but TERRIFIED of ToT and RnRC... but I did it and was so glad that I did. I really enjoyed all of the rides, you just kind of have to go for it and have the attitude that it will be fun and not scary

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

So update for everyone! I went to MK on Tuesday and my friends tricked me onto Space- they made it the first fastpass of the day and we walked right on. I nearly chickened out but ended up having so much fun! It's not really that scary haha. From there I also went on 7DMT and Big Thunder and had a lot of fun on those too and can't wait to go again. My friends were very proud of themselves. When I make it to DAK, I'm going to try to get on Everest (but going backwards sounds very scary to me). Thanks for the tips

 

[bsiev1977]

Off-topic but was stuck on IASW for over an hour once, and they wouldn't shut the music off. Can confirm, scariest possible experience in Disney.

I would have swum(swam?) out of there after about 10 minutes.

 

[BarbieGal457]

I would have swum(swam?) out of there after about 10 minutes.

I wish! I even had my bathing suit on that day under my clothes. We weren't allowed to move because of all the mechanical things that you can't see under the boats. The CMs who came to help had on rubber boot-overalls up to their chests! Eventually we were lead out through a part of the actual ride that was an emergency exit, through the scenery! But after all that time...I shudder to remember. We did get escorted into the brand new Lion King show that had a huge wait, and when the CMs explained why a huge group got to cut in front, everyone felt so sorry for us haha!

 

[savannie]

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but you might want to talk to your doctor about this anxiety. While a fear of thrill rides in general is pretty normal, it's a little odd that you handled parasailing but find kiddie coasters frightening. There may be some reason you're scared of roller coasters in particular. It's possible that a doctor could help you figure out why or even give you some anxiety medicine for these situations.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

What is your fear, specifically? Getting sick? Falling out of the ride?

If it's the latter, take a rational look at statistics.

This probably won't work for most people, but I try to think, "if I do fly out, wouldn't that be an amazing way to go?"

That is awesome! You really made me LOL! You sound like my Mom about flying, (on the plane just real matter of fact) she goes, well if it crashes there is nothing we can do about it. (and shrugs) And I said, Mom! I would hope not! But I hope it would be on the way back from WDW and not on the way there as that would really suck.

 

[nilla]

That is awesome! You really made me LOL! You sound like my Mom about flying, (on the plane just real matter of fact) she goes, well if it crashes there is nothing we can do about it. (and shrugs) And I said, Mom! I would hope not! But I hope it would be on the way back from WDW and not on the way there as that would really suck.

Well, I figure if that happens I will end up in eternal Disney World.

Whether it's lineless, sunny eternal Disney World or 9-crowd-level-day, stormy, refurb eternal Disney World remains to be seen

 

[preemiemama]

So update for everyone! I went to MK on Tuesday and my friends tricked me onto Space- they made it the first fastpass of the day and we walked right on. I nearly chickened out but ended up having so much fun! It's not really that scary haha. From there I also went on 7DMT and Big Thunder and had a lot of fun on those too and can't wait to go again. My friends were very proud of themselves. When I make it to DAK, I'm going to try to get on Everest (but going backwards sounds very scary to me). Thanks for the tips

Yay! Glad you had fun! I didn’t think I would like Everest, and watching that big drop scared me, but now it is actually one of my favorites. I have sat in the very front and the very back- not sure I have a preference. Maybe the middle… The scariest part for me is the climb up the big bill before you go backwards- because I don’t like heights. If I don’t look down and see how high up I am I do fine! For the backwards part, it goes by so fast and part of it is dark so it doesn’t seem like such a big deal to me.

If you can do that, you can definitely do RNR. I was skeptical, but it is so short, and you can pretty much see what is coming the whole time- that takes a lot of the fear out of it for me. (I have also gotten my nephew on Splash, TOT, and Everest by walking him through them for his first ride- “Ok, this is just a small drop…” or “We’re going up again, so be ready to drop soon”. He was petrified of coasters before the trip, but wanted to ride with DS, and by the time he got off RNR he wanted to go right back on!)

Good luck, and come back and tell us what else you decide to get on!

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

Hi guys! So just want to let you all know (sorry for dragging up this old thread) that after living in Orlando for nearly four months: I rode Space Mountain, BTMR, 7DMT, Splash Mountain & EE countless times. I never actually made it on to ToT or RNRC (but have a visit coming in November where I may be able to try them). For those of you who think you can never conquer ride fears- you totally can!

 

[jeepnjudy]

This reminds me of the post from the person who is afraid of Splash Mountain and my answer is still the same... get a good therapist!

 

[Bullseye]

Hi everyone,
I am moving into the Disney College Program (so excited) and will be spending months in Orlando! I really don't want to be crippled by these fears when so many of my friends will be riding together and making memories; I don't think I'll ever become a big coaster person, but right now I can't even get myself to ride Space Mountain once to experience it!

Does anyone have any tips, or any stories of how they overcome fear of rollercoasters? This fear is kind of debilitating to me as a lover of adventure travel. While I turned down ziplining last year, I did go an an extremely ricketedy cable car, parasail, and climb a high mountain; so kiddie coasters are in my potential domain if I can ever get over the fear. Any advice?

Hannah, first of all congrats on getting into the DCP. Two of my kids have done it and it was a really rewarding experience for them.

As far as the roller coaster thing goes, one thing you can always do is just close your eyes and hold on tight. Then as you ride subsequent times you open your eyes a little more often and eventually you overcome the fear and you're a coaster rider. It's natural even for seasoned coaster riders to have some fear. That's the point of the ride... to do something thrilling, a little scary even. Then when it's over you all laugh and brush it off like it was no problem.

 

[fluffycow333]

I'm terrified of rollercoasters too to the point that I have nightmares about them haha. I don't have any advice on how to get over them though, I just wanted to say that at least for me, forcing yourself to go on them just makes things worse. The anxiety of waiting in line and sitting waiting for the car to move isn't worth the ride If you don't mind it's more enjoyable to stay back and people watch, browse the giftshop etc

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Every time I ride Space Mountain I get bruised somewhere, because being in the dark I can't prepare for drops and turns. After the third time, I said no more.

It was easier before the ride got darker, but it is still not that hard to tell when the relatively small drops are coming. Truly, it doesn't have any big ones.

A few tips:
1. Consider ride length. Ask a CM before you board for ride details. They are happy to tell you duration, max drop, etc. I'm no fan of ride videos before you go, and for many they won't help anyhow.

2. It might help to consider the length of the most intense parts of each attraction. Truly, for BTMRR there aren't any really intense parts. The drop of Splash lasts about 4 seconds. One-two-three-four- you are done. All of RNRC is only 90 seconds. 7D is also rather tame, so of the ones you list, that might be a good place to start.

3. the front section of a coaster is the most tame. If the view from the very front row bothers you, then consider requesting the second row. Though on BTMRR try to front, since you can't see over the front. On Space Mtn, seeing out the front is a bit of an advantage.

If you've ever braved Pirates, the length of that drop isn't much different from Splash. I think the difference is only 10 feet. It is the angle that is a bit different.

4. Aside from advice we can offer here...a single consult with someone professionally trained to reduce anxiety could be beneficial. Something like a session of yoga to learn breathing techniques or a workshop on reducing stress could = learning some great techniques. There are many tried and true techniques out there, but live sessions are the best way to learn them (as opposed to trying to describe a technique here).

5. As others have said, sometimes talking to a (fearless) child helps.

 

[Tashak]

I was always able to do RNR, since it's inside and dark I couldn't see what I was getting myself into. lol

The first year I went after Everest was finished I knew there was no way I would get on that thing! We took our 8 year old, at the time, niece with us on that trip. I was so worried about her and making sure she was okay with everything that I didn't pay attention to the fact that I had just gotten on Everest. I was so nervous but it was so much fun! I rode it twice last time I was there and still had to give myself a pep talk beforehand, totally worth it because it's a favorite now.