Coaster review from someone who hates the initial drop
TL;DR: tried 9 coasters, loved almost all of them, no real first drop feeling on anything except Siren’s Curse and Millie. Loved SteVe, Maverick and TT2 (all had almost 0 stomach churning drop feeling) despite questioning my life in line.
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Last weekend was my first trip ever to Cedar Point and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Prior to Cedar Point I have been on less than 5 rollercoasters, the largest of which is somewhat similar to Gatekeeper. I was especially nervous about the pit in the stomach feeling on the first drop - it induces genuine terror in me and not in a fun way. I almost psyched myself out of trying Steel Vengeance at all, but I am happy to report that I had an absolute blast and was pleasantly surprised by almost all of the coasters I tried (Raptor, Mille, SteVe, Maverick, Corkscrew, Valravn, Gatekeeper, Siren’s Curse, TT2).
So yeah, this is the post for you if you also hate the initial drop on a lot of coasters!
Before I get into how each of the coasters feel, here is (imo) how to predict if a coaster would give you that feeling:
- Is the drop long and “straight” (no twists in the tracks)? If so, it will almost definitely give you that feeling.
- Do you start the drop from a slow speed or straight up stationary? If so, it will more than likely produce that feeling.
- Are the restraints tight and over the shoulders, or is it a lap bar? This might be psychological but I found coasters with over the shoulders restraints to feel a lot better for this issue specially, but even a tight lap bar helps.
In other words, if a roller coaster features a pause/slow ascent before a long, straight drop, with a lap bar, you will probably get that feeling. This actually applies to a surprisingly few number of coasters at Cedar Point, at least amongst the ones I tried, so please don’t psych yourself out like I almost did!
Anyways, here is the list of the coasters I tried, grouped by the pit in stomach feeling. For reference, a drop feeling of 7/10 would have me questioning my life decisions on the ride and a 9/10 would probably have me in cold sweats and end my day.
Expected very little and got very little:
Raptor: a sideways “drop” that doesn’t really qualify as a conventional drop. That plus the over the shoulders restraints meant I hardly got any of that feeling. However, I would say this ride is not as fun as many others due to the forces it exerts. The sudden deceleration into the platform had me greying out and was probably slightly unnecessary. Drop: 0.5/10, Fun: 5/10
Gatekeeper: the first drop is a pretty majestic inversion curve that doesn’t induce the feeling at all. However, if I recall correctly, there is a second hill that does produce a little of that feeling. The rest of the ride is swooping and pretty fun, especially the keyhole elements. Drop: 1.5/10, Fun: 7/10
Corkscrew: nothing to say about this lol, other than it had no wait, it’s very short, and it was somewhat uncomfortable due to the seats. I would frankly not recommend this especially if you’re quite tall. Drop: 0/10, Fun: 3/10
Terrified before, delighted after:
Steel Vengeance: I heard a lot about the infamous airtime and given my lack of experience I had assumed that all airtime = the same drop feeling, but this was not the case at all. SteVe was just so so so fun. If the first drop produced that feeling, it was insignificant and forgotten immediately. Drop: 1/10, Fun: 9.9/10
Maverick: you shoot over the first hill at pretty considerable speed, and the first drop is quite short anyways, leading to hardly any drop feeling. The rest of the ride is focused on a super, super fun bucking bronco feeling. If this ride was as long as SteVe it would probably be my favorite. Drop: 0.5/10, Fun: 9/10
Top Thrill 2: this one looks like an absolute monster but actually feels very very good. The weightlessness at the top made me feel like I was suspended in both space and time. It’s awe inspiring and not at all terror inducing. There was significant airtime going down *but* 0 pit in stomach feeling, no idea how they did that. It’s my favorite ride for sure. Drop 0/10, Fun 10/10
Proceed with Caution:
Siren’s Curse: I was lucky enough to ride this one front row. Even though I was quite scared of the fact that it was a stationary start, I did note that the drop is not very long and quickly twists, plus the psychological safety of the restraint system. I was correct that this absolutely produced the pit in the stomach feeling, but it was short enough that the feeling was fun and fleeting. If the feeling lasted twice as long, it would be 7+/10 for sure. Overall it was an extremely fun ride and I loved the theming and music. If you are extremely sensitive to that feeling that maybe this is not for you, but I would say it’s pleasant personally. Drop: 3/10 (due to how short it is), Fun: 9/10
Valravn: I only put this here because I know it has basically every element that’s supposed to give you that feeling, but for some reason, it just didn’t for me. I’m also not very scared of heights so the dangling didn’t do much for me. Maybe it’s because I cranked the restraint down too hard, or maybe it’s because it’s one of the last coasters I did in the day. Drop: 1.5/10, Fun: 6.5/10
Millennium Force: I would say this is the only ride with a drop that made me question my life - not exactly a surprise. However, the rest of the ride was mind blowing for someone who has never been on anything even close to that magnitude. Also, something about the curve shape of the drop made the stomach drop less intense than I imagine it could be. Drop: 6.5/10, Fun: 8/10
Lastly, what personally worked for me to overcome the first drop terror was the following: crank down the restraints, scream on the drop (start screaming a split second before the drop even starts), and exposure therapy. Sometimes I tell myself a little backstory to why I’m soaring through the sky, basically theming the ride in my own head haha.
Hope this was helpful for anyone else terrified of that feeling!