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Tiki Junki
08-21-2003, 09:14 PM
I'm curious, what ride at Disneyland scared you as a child, why, and when did you get over it?

I'll share my own personal Disney Trauma

Picture it: Disneyland, Summer of 1977. It's my first visit to the park and everyone is in the grip of Space Mountain fever. I'm nine years old and beside myself to be at the park. However, earlier that year, I had had a harrowing experience on a roller-coaster in Santa Cruz CA, the Giant Dipper. I mistakenly assumed that riding the mini-coaster at the local county fair was equal to riding a true coaster, and discovered the error of my assumptions at the top of the first drop, but I digress.

We are with my Aunt and Uncle and cousin Kristi. Dland virgins all. It becomes clear to us, that the moms have no patience for lines or thrill rides and we find ourselves going to see shows. Lots of shows, where you sit and it's cool. Finally Kristi and I put our ked clad feet down and demand to go on Space Mountain. The Dads join in our rebellion so we all head for the line. And wait....

Immediately I regret my defiance, remembering the Dipper incident, but since I actually got my parents to do something other than another showing of the Golden Horseshoe Review, I'm keeping quiet. The line is as long and you would think for a first year ride. We weave along the outter deck, screams wafting out every so often. As we make what we think is a final approach into the first ramp of darkness, the screams come louder and every few seconds. In a silent communication that, to this day we don't understand, Kristi and I looked at each other turned 180 degrees in unison and bolted through the line, bobbing and weaving, leaving our parents trapped in the line. A man's voice ringing in our ears as we carve a path like Salmon upstream.."There goes two."

Kristi's mom was able to finally follow us at a distance but my parents were unable (Or unwilling, dignity being at stake) to follow. Kris and I clutching each other, waited at the exit, doom written on our faces. Particularly the reaction of my Irish immigrant mother who had no love of rollarcoasters.

The adults exited and my Mother simply said nothing. However, with the exception of Small World (sitting, air conditioned) we didn't ride another ride that day.

It was almost 10 years to the day that I got the courage to go on Space Mountain. I'd been to the park several times, but didn't conquer my fear of roller coasters until I was in college. The day I rode it, I bought a postcard of the ride and mailed it to Kristi, with the simple message, DID IT! I got a similar missive from her about a year later.

Ok, a bit long winded, but you get the idea.

Captain Josh
08-21-2003, 09:19 PM
I said this once before, I fear the Matterhorn.

I don't like heights, I don't mind speed, but I DON'T LIKE HEIGHTS. I've only been on the Matterhorn once, and it was a "tragic experience". I went on as part of a "field trip" for selling enough chocolate in Grade School. I was there with my brother, his friend, and one of my friends. All I can recall about the Matterhorn is that I sat in front of my friend, sharing a seatbelt. (do they still have the two people to one seat thing?) and feeling my seatbelt just NOT feel...restricting enough.

Long story short, I slipped out of my restraint and spent the entire ride looking at the ceiling, holding onto the sidebars, my head smashing into my poor friend's gut every 3 seconds.

I've never, EVER gone on it again. Even when I went with my (now ex)girlfriend.

silence
08-21-2003, 09:40 PM
alright, my mom used to take us out of school in september for our annual trip. my first trip i must have been 5. i still remember the nightmares........................of the story book land boat ride. not because of the boats, but because of the WHALE, i could swear it really swallowed you.

that and the adventure through innerspace. i mean, you really got SHRUNK right ? ;)

it was the little things that scared me to death.

sleepyjeff
08-21-2003, 09:55 PM
Sky Way.................my Dad liked to scare us by rocking the buckets.

Next year I am going to take him on the Sun Wheel to exact my revenge:)

blusilva
08-21-2003, 10:00 PM
I remember being white-knuckled with fear on the approach to Space Mountain my very first time. It was the first year it opened, and the ominous "space music" in the queue just ratcheted up the anxiety. I actually held my little brother's hand from the time we entered the room with the big DL-2000 whatchamacallit. But once we were off into space, I loved every second.

I was also terrified of going on The Haunted Mansion. I sat it out many times when I was little. I had a horrible experience at a kindergarten "haunted house" where hands came from out of the walls and grabbed me, and we had to crawl through a tight tunnel made out of gym mats where it was pitch black. So, naturally, I thought all "haunted" domiciles were the same.

The first time I got up the courage to ride HM, those things that jumped up from behind the gravestones scared me nearly to death. In those days, they used to SHRIEK as they popped up. Nowadays they start to scream before they pop, and it's much, much quieter. But, man, I remember a ride with my grandmother when I was in tears at the end of the ride. Those things scared me so much!

The Subs also frightened me. They got me every single time with that, "we're under the polar ice cap" bit. I thought "this time for sure, we'll never find our way back to Disneyland!"

Oddly enough, Adventure Through Inner Space never bugged me. I always thought I should be bothered about listening to this guy's thought waves echo through time and space as we shrunk tinier and tinier and atoms zoomed all around us...but I found it comforting and thrilling.

Ooohh. I just remembered. Big Al in the Country Bears used to scare me. It was the way he sang "Blood On The Saddle" all off-key. I thought he was going to kill us all.

Ghoulish Delight
08-21-2003, 11:04 PM
Believe it or not, Haunted Mansion! I refused to go on it for a long time (okay, I was younger than 6 when I finally went on it, but I have distinct memories of refusing to go when I was younger). And even when I did finally go, it took me another few years to be able to go through the graveyard without clamping my eyes shut and plugging my ears. I HATED being startled, and the pop-up guys scared the heck out of me.

And then there's Space Mountain. Didn't ride that unitl I was in jr. high. And I can tell you exactly why. When I was six, we went to Florida. At that time I was too short to ride Space Mountain anyway (I know, totally different ride at WDW than here, but that's not the point). But, in front of the WDW space mountain was a sign. I remember it as a full on statue/sculpture thing, but that could be an exageration of my memory. Anyway, it showed a Space Mountain rocket in a 90 degree dive. From that moment on, I was convinced that there was some crazy, terrifying drop on Space Mountain. So I never ever went. I was probably 12 when I finally went. And the day I finally rode it, I had already chickened out once, exiting the line through what used to be an exit and is now the Fastpass merge point. My sister finally had to force me to go.

disneyfreak168
08-21-2003, 11:47 PM
heh Haunted Mansion. I was about uh...3-6 years old and I always thought something was gonna come up to my doombuggy in the hallway, I hated the attic, I was freaking out every time I saw the bride and I keept thinking she's gonna come up to me... AAAAHHHHH:rolleyes:

I HATE THOSE THINGS POPPING OUT FROM BEHIND THE TOMBSTONES OMG...ONCE WHEN I WASN'T PAYING ATTENTION, ONE POPPED OUT AND I SCREAMED. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

YellowMan
08-22-2003, 12:03 AM
The Haunted Mansion scared me until I was about 9 or so. I've always been freaked out by anything having to do with ghosts (ghost stories, horror movies, ghost train rides, etc.) and the idea of this ride scared me more than the actual ride. I wouldn't go on it until my dad made me when I was about 7, and even though it was less scary than I had imagined it would be, and I tried to act like a cool little 7 year old and say that it was no big deal, it still did freak me out to go on it.

tonyrr1
08-22-2003, 04:10 AM
There's really never been a DL ride that I've ever been afraid of. I was hesitant the first time I went on Space Mountain as a child, but my mom was a coaster fanatic, and once I was on, that was it; I loved it!

Now, by contrast... I took my wife (who had spent her years living in Kentucky before we met) to DL for the first time in March 2001. She has a general dislike for all things "creepy" to include bugs, strange music, and Haunted Mansions (she also doesn't eat anything she defines as "squishy," but that's another story). Anyway, I was resolved to get her on HM. Well, she finally gave in, and I swear, I've never been on that ride with anyone who was genuinely frightened by it. I mean, it's done with a generally comic slant, no? 999 happy haunts..?

So, as the doom buggy made its way through the ride, she was looking wide eyed at things and generally being very wary of what was going on around her. When we got to the end, she stepped briskly out of the cart and walked DIRECTLY up the foot ramp and out. I kinda felt bad about it, but she was a good sport. I'll have revenge taken on me one of these days I'm sure. For good measure, I'll add that she was concerned about the snakes and spiders on the Indiana Jones ride, too. When that big snake lunged at her, she almost jumped out of her shorts! Lol..

Funny thing is, we went again this past April for Easter. We have a 7-year-old daughter who is fearless. So, of course I took her on HM (Mommy didn't go on this time). When we come out, Mommy asks her, "So, wasn't it scary..??"

Our daughter replied, "Mom, that wasn't even scary at all. Can we go on Splash Mountain?" Needless to say, my wife is concerned she's the only scaredy-cat in the house. Gotta love kids...

-Tony

millionairegirl
08-22-2003, 05:12 AM
I was terrified of the Haunted Mansion for the longest time, especially of the stretching room! I went through a faze in elementary school where I would not ride elevators because I was scared I would get stuck.

Well, you can't fool me, that stretching room is an elevator. My family would go through the HM several times in one day, but each time we went through the stretching room, my eyes were closed and I held my Dad's hand. By the time I figured out about the ghost in the ceiling, I was in Junior High!

For similar reasons, the polar ice caps part of the subs scared me. Hello, how did we get to Antartica! I guess I was too young to be scared of being shrunk in ATIS. All I remember from that are snowflakes....

SacTown Chronic
08-22-2003, 08:23 AM
When we took our first trip to DL, we were just kids (can't remember exact age) and my older sister went on and on about Space Mountain. She got me so scared of the ride before we got there that I refused to even consider going on it. Everytime I've been inside DL ever since, Space Mountain has been 101. I have been dying to go on it and I never can! Last spring we were making plans for our summer trip and I read that Space Mountain was down for 2 years I was CRUSHED.

I am now 32 and still waiting for my first ride. The timing of this post is funny because I just commented to my wife yesterday that I wonder if I'm ever going to get a chance to ride Space Mountain.

I miss a ride I've never been on. And I am jeaolus of all of you that have been on it.

tod
08-22-2003, 08:27 AM
The thing that used to terrfy me was the March Hare and Mad Hatter popping up in the Mad Tea Party room at Alice in Wonderland. Horrified me. I used to have nightmares about it.

Made me much more tolerant of my own kids' irrational fears, I'll tell ya that...

--T
Only afraid of Elyse now:fez:

Khiori
08-22-2003, 08:35 AM
Lol, this thread is bringing back fond memories. I think I must have been about six or seven years old at the time. My dad is a happy go lucky sort and always took us to D-land several times a year. Anyway, I was all worked up one time at the Shrinking Machine ride (as I called it). I must have been standing there freaking out watching the little cars shrunk going into the tube and thinking we were all going to shrink . . . I was scared getting into the car . . . and as we were riding into the "shrinking tube" he was squeezing my shoulders saying "Can you feel us shrinking Rachel? We're *shrinking*" lol. Ok, when he did that I knew it was a trick of some sort and that we weren't shrinking - but waiting in line and seeing all the little cars had me terrified :)

Not Afraid
08-22-2003, 08:40 AM
I generally am Not Afraid - even as a child, but I had this thing about Fire. I'm not quite sure what started it, but I believe is was the last part of Pirates - the burning village - that freaked me out. (Oh, and Bambi didn't help either.) I used to have fire nightmares as a kid. No reason for that, never been in a fire, no real-life reference - just a little brain gone wild. So, if I were to choose The Ride that scared me as a kid, it would have to be Pirates.

Bill Catherall
08-22-2003, 08:43 AM
It was Pirates for me. I was terrified of the "drops." I had, in my head, a false memory of the drops being completely vertical, 90 degree drops with sprinklers overhead to get us wet. Completely untrue obviously, but real enough to me. It wasn't until I was about 10 years old that I was convinced that it wasn't really like that and was coaxed to go on it again. Ever since then it's been one of my favorite rides.

Cadaverous Pallor
08-22-2003, 09:34 AM
I had an irrational fear of coasters. When I was 10 we visited Disneyland and my Dad and cousin (the only brave ones in the group) went on the Matterhorn. They came back and tried to talk me and my brother into going on it. My brother agreed first, and he was 6, so there was no way I was going to let him show me up.

Matterhorn was my first coaster, and that same day I rode Space Mountain and Big Thunder. I was hooked from the first moment on Matterhorn! :D Now I'll ride any coaster that anyone decides to put on this earth.

I had general fears about Pirates....those guys are so lifelike! But that never prevented me from riding it.

SacTown Chronic - I'm so sorry you've never been able to ride Space! I hope it's better than ever for the 50th and that you can make a trip out. :)

Ghoulish Delight
08-22-2003, 10:08 AM
I never let it stop me from going on, but when Splash first opened, I was terrified of the drop. I was not a big coaster person at the time. Matterhorn, Big Thunder, no problem. But anything with a drop, forget it. I had never been on Colossus or Revolution, or anything. So it took quite a bit of courage for me to get on Splash that first time.

DL*Guy
08-22-2003, 10:37 AM
When I was a kid I was so scared to get on Space Mtn. An older friend who loves Disneyland told me that there was a loop inside! I was so terrified of loops (still am). I was so convinced that I never rode it in till I was in Jr. High. When everybody in our party was going on. I told them that I was told there was a loop in the ride. They try to convince me that there was no loop, and they did. Let me tell you my first ride on Space was spent at the edge of my seat! I was expecting a loop at any time in the ride. After that ride though it became one of my favorite rides!

Rallymonkey23
08-22-2003, 10:47 AM
Pirates scared me to death at the fort battle scene as a kid!

But that was the only part. I remember looking at the pirates in the ship and then all of a sudden water flew up in the air next to our boat! Thats all I can remember. I think my mom had to change my pants after that ride. :D

Mukta
08-22-2003, 10:52 AM
I was scared of the attic scene in the Haunted mansion. The Graveyard scene too, but especially the attic. I didn't open my eyes for the attic scene until I was 14 years old. I didn't know about the bride until then. I had all kinds of horrible ideas to go with that heartbeat. That shrieking sound when the bodies popped up used to terrify me. I can still hear it now. The graveyard scene wasn't as bad because I loved the singing busts.

Kimi_Coconuts
08-22-2003, 10:56 AM
The fear I remember the most was the drop in Pirates, I was certain after the 'first' two drops there was another big one and my Mom was always lying about that. I hated it, I could never ever relax.

SacTown Chronic
08-22-2003, 11:27 AM
Thank You Cadaverous Pallor!

No doubt I will get to DL after they re-open Space Mountain. But I won't know if it is better or worse after the refurb. This might work in my favor. IF people on MousePad feel that the ride is worse, I won't have an opinion. While everyone else might be disappointed, I'll be ignorant and blissful - which my wife says is my normal state! If people feel it is improved, I'll just be happy I get to experience it.

stagedoorjonny
08-22-2003, 11:32 AM
I remember when I was eight we went to WDW in the summer of 72. Parents just divorced for 2 months. Mom takes three kids 8-13 alone on a two week camping trip. I didn't want to ride HM, I cried through the whole thing, I had never seen anything like it, it was scary even from the outside. I went back in 80 with the Band and had a great time on HM. It is know one of my fav rides and go at least once a trip.

dsnyredhead
08-22-2003, 11:37 AM
This will sound funny, but I was afraid of Innerspace. (no longer part of DL). For some reason the whole shrinking thing freaked me out.

Captain Josh
08-22-2003, 12:03 PM
I would like to add that, the Bride STILL creeps me out, every time. Whenever I'm on it, I pray that if anything, it doesn't stop IN the attic, anywhere else is fine, but the attic just makes me antsy.