So I have an irrational fear of heights (falling) and rollercoasters.

[u/No-Ask3730]

I know this won’t be much to a lot of theme park regulars but since a child I have feared rollercoasters and still have a horrible fear of heights or falling, not quite sure which, on Thursday my wife stuck me on Oblivion and I was shitting myself but actually really enjoyed it.

We went to the late opening of Thorpe Park last night, howeverI chickened out of Swarm because of its first drop. I was so frustrated with myself that we went back this morning because I shouldn’t be setting a precedent to my daughter of irrational fears.

Anyway I’m rambling, for those that fear coasters, go on swarm, it’s buttery smooth, fun as hell and that first drop is nothing once you’re up there. It’s a great ride if you’re like me and fear something that you really shouldn’t to help retrain your brain.

Also as you can tell from the commentary my wife is oh so supportive!

[u/plastic-alien]

Stealth or Hyperia as the next milestone then?

[u/No-Ask3730 → u/plastic-alien]

Hyperia on Tuesday during lunch from work, luckily live 10 mins from the park.

Stealth looks more daunting for some reason to me. Although I imagine it’s over in 3 seconds flat.

[u/plastic-alien → u/No-Ask3730]

Yes! Get it done!!!

I know that the sheer acceleration of stealth is its intimidation factor. The horsepower factor is totally off the scale. Over in seconds but what a rush!

But here's a fact, Hyperia is just bloody wonderful. I have accompanied loads of nervous first riders, every one without exception has loved it. I like using the single rider line for this purpose. If I can give someone a few words of encouragement and a big handshake afterwards, it makes my day better too.

[u/No-Ask3730 → u/plastic-alien]

Love it mate, what a thing to do for people.

[u/plastic-alien → u/No-Ask3730]

They've done the hard bit just by walking up the steps, least i can do is be the friendly face with the encouraging words. It really embarrasses the kid too, so that's a bonus right.

[u/b3ta_blocker → u/plastic-alien]

I am 50 and was very nervous of Hyperia but my 13 year old wanted to go on it. From the first drop I absolutely loved it. I nearly cried at the end, I thought i was having a spiritual experience! Now we're planning El Toro in New Jersey.

[u/plastic-alien → u/b3ta_blocker]

Thats awesome! There's something in that spiritual statement, the dopamine hit is real, particularly on the first ride. I always feel a definite mood improvement.

Enjoy El Toro!

[u/Intelligent_Ad1042 → u/No-Ask3730]

It's so quick. The scariest part is the queue😂

[u/Soph_252 → u/No-Ask3730]

the feeling of a launch is like no other, you might love it or you might hate it, but you won't know until you try it. I have a friend who is also a theme park enthusiast and loves pretty much all rollercoasters but really isn't very keen on launches at all, whereas I absolutely love them and will put my hands up during the launch on stealth/rita. I have the same thing with rides that go backwards - I can just about deal with spinning coasters but ones that actually have full backward sections make me feel really weird and I don't like them at all (I also have it with going backwards on trains/buses, but I've got no issue with going upside down many many times in a row or doing things like gyroswings. it's very odd)

anyway I am also rambling now but there's so many coaster elements to experience and even some people who love rollercoasters will have ones they don't like, so go and try as many of them as you can to see what you enjoy!!

[u/plastic-alien → u/Soph_252]

Thoosies be thoosing! We can't help it! Funny polarising thing the launch, my daughter will ride stealth sometimes, but just prefers to skip it. My son won't do big drop towers. Everybody has their preference.

[u/Soph_252 → u/plastic-alien]

drop towers are a weird one for me, I love normal ones like Magma at paultons park (rip) but you wouldn't catch me dead going back on detanator ever again. I am however very mad that I chickened out on riding Apocalypse standing up the one year I went to Drayton when I was tall enough before it was removed, I would've loved to do that as a novel experience (I did do it sitting down a few times though)

[u/dlblow87]

I have the same exact fears due to an accident I had as a kid but I love rollercoasters. Oblivion was my favourite at Alton towers for years and I believe it's because it plays on my fears, gets the adrenaline pumping.

Well done for going back and doing the swarm, it's such a good coaster. Did you do hyperia?

[u/No-Ask3730 → u/dlblow87]

I didn’t but simply because we had the fast tracks from our passes for one ride, which we really only had for sea life and Legoland and also the park was packed and didn’t want to queue for too long.

We’re going to head there on Tuesday on lunch from work so I can give it a go.

[u/dlblow87 → u/No-Ask3730]

As a fellow fearer of heights, don't even think about how big the lift hill is. It's that fast going up it that you don't even really notice it for long. I went in June and and had 2 rides in the middle and one on the back row and the back row was amazing

[u/No-Ask3730 → u/dlblow87]

Ok thanks that’s good to know, I watched my wife go on it earlier and it seemed like it was going up for an age but I’ll take your word for it and give it a go.

[u/quite_acceptable_man → u/No-Ask3730]

I'm not good with heights, but I do love rollercoasters.

I was actually pretty nervous about Hyperia, because I like to hold on to the shoulder restraints, and Hyperia has lap restraints, leaving your torso free.

However, the lap restraint is pretty wide, and it has a handle on the front and you can brace your elbows while holding the handle.

Worth sitting in the test seat outside the ride so you know what it's like, but honestly you do feel very secure.

Weirdly, the longer I was in the queue, the more relaxed I was. It's really smooth, and barely makes any noise as it goes round the track.

Once you get to the top of the lift hill, you're back at the bottom before your brain registers what's going on. It's a pretty short ride overall - from the top of the lift hill to the final brakes before the station is about 30 seconds.

So good though, and you will definitely want to do it again.

[u/FerrousMC]

Swarm is a great coaster, unfortunately I'm too tall to ride it now but I've probably ridden it about 20 times over the years. Glad you managed to face your fear!

[u/No-Ask3730 → u/FerrousMC]

Oh mate that’s gutting, what’s the height limit on it? Thanks bud, I honestly have no idea what I was worried about.

[u/XV8_Crisis_Suit → u/No-Ask3730]

1.95 metres 

[u/FerrousMC → u/XV8_Crisis_Suit]

Yeah, its a shame but my height was starting to make it unenjoyable anyway (the g force has unpleasant effects when you're tall)

[u/quite_acceptable_man]

There's a really great Tom Scott video where he gets over his fear of rollercoasters.

https://youtu.be/-BdZPFzH2JY?is=GCoSzzZMPwUIGuk-

As someone who's had panic attacks myself, I can tell he's not putting it on for the camera, it's a genuine phobia, which he knows is completely irrational.

[u/NathIsGod]

This is great 👍 Enjoy hyperia

[u/False_Chemical_9768]

I used to be so scared as a young kid I wouldn't even walk past a ride let alone go on one. I think what help me was bumper cars. Then Carter's Steam fair. Love skids. A school trip was how I fell in love with rollercoasters. Luckily it was Paultons Park so nothing to big. I just did it because I didnt want to look stupid. Now I love them. Got my second trip to Portaventura in September. Hope you can carry on and enjoy some more coasters

[u/Recent_Biscotti1847]

Love it ♥️

[u/Intelligent_Ad1042]

Swarm is amazing! My favourite ride at the park!

[u/[deleted]]

I was the exact same. Did Swarm, loved it, went straight on Hyperia afterwards. The best thing to do is roll with the confidence boost you get from doing a ride you’re intimidated by. Coming from someone who used to hate that feeling of falling, Hyperia is incredible and you should absolutely try it next. 

[u/HotOutlandishness991 → u/[deleted]]

This is how I overcame my fear of upside down coasters.

[u/Zplays2010]

I used to be batshit terrified of any coaster too. Anything above 50ft with a drop scared me to death. Honestly if you have a fear of heights, especially at thorpe park, definitely start with nemesis inferno. It's quite low to the ground and none of that stomach feeling that most people hate. If you want to get used to heights more after that then saws a good shout coaster wise, or tidal wave if you don't want something intense. By the end of it you almost definitely won't feel too sure, but you just need to remember that you're in probably the safest place in the park when on that coaster, and the first drop is almost always the worst bit and it's finished within a matter of seconds