That was as close as I dared to get

For the next 20 years I would remain afraid of most roller coasters, and deathly afraid of any that went upside down. There were a couple of times when I managed to gather up my courage and ride one, like the time my cousin and I rode the Rebel Yell. It looked very imposing and scary, but at least I could see where I was going and it did not have any loops. And I was a little older then. The other time was when my mom took me to Ocean City (guess that would have been my first coaster riding and bridge crossing vacation) when I was around 11 or 12. She gave me some money so I could ride some rides on the boardwalk down by First Street. I enjoyed the spinning type rides as I had no reason to fear them, and in those days very few went upside down. But there were also some small coasters, one of which was a wild mouse and the other just a run of the mill small boardwalk coaster. I rode the wild mouse first. This was an ancient style where the rider sat in a car that somewhat resembled an old claw foot bathtub, with a seat in the middle and grab bars on the front and sides. No lap bars, no seat belts, no real restraints of any kind. You just got in and held on. And held on I did, though it was not so bad as Space Mountain, as again I could see where I was going. Having conquered the mouse, I walked around a bit, again summoning my courage to ride the boardwalk coaster. It consisted of dips, drops and hills, and it was tiny compared to most of the coasters found in amusement parks these days. I remember standing nearby and watching it run, looking on as people boarded, rode and got off. Finally I made my way to get in line, having made the decision to just go ahead and do it. And I rode it, and I survived that one too.

Then, when I was in my early teens (this was after the infamous Rebel Yell ride with my snarky cousin) I again had the opportunity to go back to Disneyworld. But there was no way I was going to ride Space Mountain. The people I went to the park with rode it, and I waited for them. It was still just too scary, and brought back too many bad memories. I felt kind of stupid being afraid of a ride in an amusement park that is totally geared to young children. I think I said something to my riding companions about getting sick on certain rides as an excuse to pass. I do remember riding the People Mover, which does pass thru part of Space Mountain, and that was about as close as I dared to get.

I was becoming the kind of person who might work up the courage to ride a coaster here and there, on rare occasion, and only certain ones. This stasis continued on for many years, and I did my best to avoid amusement parks. Which wasn’t at all hard to do, especially since I could barely watch the commercials advertising the newest, scariest coasters at regional parks.