I live in Northern Kentucky, which is about an hour from an amusement park called Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you don't know anything about Kings Island, it is a very large amusement park with some very large roller coasters. A lot of these roller coasters turn you upside down. It isn't unusual for my family to buy season passes at Christmas for the next year. I would much rather have an annual pass to Disney but we can't make it to Disney as much as we would like. My 15 year old son Andrew is afraid of heights and never really went on a roller coaster until he was about 11 years old because of this fear. My youngest, Abby had never been to Kings Island yet and had only seen the roller coasters when we were passing by.
Before we ever started thinking about buying season passes to Kings Island we wanted to introduce them to something a little more mild and not so terrifying. My husband and I decided to take them to Disney World. My oldest daughter Jenny was an old hand at roller coasters because she had been going with her friends from school to Kings Island.
We had a lot of firsts on that trip with our kids. It was the first time they had ever flown anywhere. It was the first time my husband and kids had ever been to Disney World. I had planned and saved for over a year for this trip.
The first time we went was right before Toy Story Land opened in Hollywood Studios so we didn't ride any roller coasters there. They did have Rock N Roller Coaster but Jenny and I would have been the only ones riding it out of our family. The next day we were at Animal Kingdom. Abby and Andrew chickened out of riding Dinosaur and Expedition Everest, so my husband stayed with them while Jenny and I rode.
The third day we were at Magic Kingdom and I had FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain and The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Again, Andrew and Abby chickened out of Big Thunder so just Jenny and I rode it. We finally were able to convince them to ride Mine Train that way my husband could at least ride something. Abby rode with my husband, Andrew rode with Jenny, and I rode with this guy that was 6 feet tall if not more (I am barely 5 foot). I was so nervous for Andrew and Abby that I couldn't really enjoy the ride. I guess its the Mom in me. When we get off the ride I expected Abby to be crying because she was so scared. She looks at me and says, "Mom, can we ride it again"? She absolutely loved it. Andrew was a little green but said that he liked it too.
The next day we were at Epcot and my husband really wanted to ride Test Track. He works for Cadillac which is part of the Chevy family so we were able to go to the private Chevrolet GM VIP Lounge. While there we were able to watch the first hill climb and the brake testing section. After we got cooled off we decided to go down and ride it. Test Track officially became Andrew's favorite ride.
Our next trip back to Disney World, Andrew made a promise to try and ride more roller coasters. He rode one more roller coaster than he did before and that was Slinky Dog Dash. After Abby rode Mine Train so many years ago she will ride any roller coaster you put her on. She is a daredevil. To this day, Andrew will ride any roller coaster at Disney World before he would ride any at Kings Island. He said the only way he would ride a big roller coaster at Kings Island would be if a cute girl asked him to ride with her. Typical teenage boy response.
If you are looking to break the first roller coaster ice with your child I highly recommend Disney roller coasters. Here is a list from less terrifying to could be terrifying and the height requirements to help make a determination on what to ride first.
· The Barnstormer
· Magic Kingdom
· 35”
· Primeval Whirl
· Animal Kingdom
· 35”
· Slinky Dog Dash
· Hollywood Studios
· 35”
· Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
· Magic Kingdom
· 38”
· Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
· Magic Kingdom
· 40”
· Expedition Everest
· Animal Kingdom
· 40”
· Space Mountain
· Magic Kingdom
· 44”
· Test Track
· Epcot
· 40”
· Rock ‘N’ Roller coaster
· Hollywood Studios
· 48”
One thing I think is good about Disney roller coasters is that the hills do not seem as bad or high compared to other amusement parks. I think Disney is a great place to start introducing roller coasters to your children. You never know, you might end up with a dare devil on your hands like I did with Abby.
Until next time, see ya all real soon.
Jeana Kruetzkamp