How do I convince my daughter to go on large roller coasters?

Hi,

I understand completely.... Has she ridden Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce or
Thunderbot at SFNE. I am not a big fan or bribing, or coersion because if she
does not like the ride or has a bad experience, you will never get her on
another coaster.

Years ago, I had to ride Steel Force. My nephew had a bad coaster experience
due to his dad, and now will not ride anything and is a pain to bring to any
park. Of course his younger brother had a similar opinion without any actual
ride experience so we went to Dorney. We rode Thunderhawk many times so he
could get used to it, then went to Hercules. He chickened out 4 times, so it
was back to Thunderhawk after each time (a lot of walking for sure). FINALLY,
two kids half his age told him Hercules was nothing so he rode it once. He
hated it (in a good way) and then immediatly rode Steel Force for the rest of
the day (5 or 6 rides). He is now quite the enthusiast with a track record of
just over 100 (not bad for an 18 year old).

I believe in patience, pointing out riders of similar ages getting off the
ride, starting at small coasters (Thunderbolt and BD) and working your way up
in size, and yes, bringing her friends (pier pressure is ok).

Of course the problem is in New England, we dont exactly have a ton of great
variety. I would also explain in detail exactly what she will experience while
on the ride (so she isnt blind sided). RoS at SFNE is not a tame coaster by a
long shot.

Tom

emcgizmo wrote:

> How do I persuade her to go on the large coasters?

I would take her up to the boarding station to watch the riders getting
off and observe their reactions. Note how happy the riders are and how
they feel as if they really accomplished something by being brave enough
to ride. Also, I would point out to her how safe the ride is and how
nobody is injured. Then I would just show her the coaster and explain how
it operates and just have her watch it in action. After that, I would let
her decide when she is ready to ride. There's a whole lifetime of coaster
riding ahead of her, so I don't see the need to risk traumatizing her for
the rest of her life by starting her on a ride that she wasn't ready for.

But that's just my method. All I know is that I've done it with one
toddler in my family and it worked perfectly because he's a roller coaster
fan. I'm doing it with his little brother and he seems to be anxiously
awaiting the day when he's tall enough to ride with us. I'm also doing it
with my baby nephew.

All I can say is that based on that first toddler in my family, it all
worked out just fine.

I'd say 2 or 3 beers would do the trick


I'M KIDDING

emcgizmom (emcgizmo) wrote in message news:<30f35b72.0307270623.564825c3@ com>...
>
> How do I persuade her to go on the large coasters?


One way to try and reduce her fear is to get her used to what the ride
looks like by watching POV videos. A fear of the unknown can be
debilitating, and taking away some of that unknown should help.

Kitty

>One way to try and reduce her fear is to get her used to what the ride
>looks like by watching POV videos.

You can also tell her that if she rides, you'll let her shoot bootlegg POV
video. The sense of rebelling against the law should do the trick. :-)

I think the best way would be to have her bring a coaster-riding friend along.
That's definatly how I got started.

>and yes, bringing her friends (pier >pressure is ok).

Why do you have to bring the piers into this?
--Ryan "Aww George, not the livestock!"

Andrew Hostetler <ashostet@steel.ucs.indiana.edu> wrote in message news:<bg6nqv$kte$1@hood.uits.indiana.edu>...
> If she is scared silly of rollercoasters, don't expect for it to change.
> Additionally, don't try to push her on the coaster; that will just make
> her fear stronger.
>
> I know a 29 year old who is scared of rollercoasters because his mother
> forced him on some as a child. I guess a tramatic event can shape
> someone's fears for the rest of their life!

That is why it is the policy at Cedar Point that we NEVER force a kid
to ride a ride he/she doesn't want to ride. While working Demon Drop,
I saw a mother take her son kicking and screaming into the car, hold
him down, and just about throw the harness down on him. I asked him
"Do you want off?" (Of course knowing the answer). The mother just
said "He's fine. He doesn't want off." I looked at her and said "I'm
asking him, not you. If he wants off, we'll let him off. We NEVER
force a child to ride a ride they don't want to ride." (I know, that
first sentence sounds pretty rude) and we released the harness and let
him off.

Sometimes we'll get kids with their friends, and one of them will be
scared. We ask if they want off before we dispatch, and they say they
want to stay on, though they look scared. But they say that want to
ride, so we dispatch it. When they come back, they're crying from
fear. Its unfortunate that they get that scared so much to tears
AFTER they got on, but its odd that sometimes the ones that got scared
to tears are the ones that want to go again.

What's funny is when a girl who barely meets the height requirement
gets on, and then this huge muscular guy chickens out. I want to say
"Are you trying to tell me a little girl has more guts than you?" but
I'd probably get in trouble for saying that. We're not really
supposed to coerce a guest to ride a ride they're scared of.

-DJ

It's good to know that you are trained to ask the child and not the
parent. Some parents don't seem to understand how one single event can
create a phobia for the rest of their lives... It's quite sad, actually!

Drew

DJ Wiza <KillrbyteTRIMBRAKES@sohcahtoa.net> wrote:

> That is why it is the policy at Cedar Point that we NEVER force a kid
> to ride a ride he/she doesn't want to ride. While working Demon Drop,
> I saw a mother take her son kicking and screaming into the car, hold
> him down, and just about throw the harness down on him. I asked him
> "Do you want off?" (Of course knowing the answer). The mother just
> said "He's fine. He doesn't want off." I looked at her and said "I'm
> asking him, not you. If he wants off, we'll let him off. We NEVER
> force a child to ride a ride they don't want to ride." (I know, that
> first sentence sounds pretty rude) and we released the harness and let
> him off.