Roller Coaster

Due to the temporary nature of alot of carnivals, the coasters usually suck and suck hard.

A lot of times its choosing the right carnival to go to. The better the carnival the better the coaster.

My favorite ride-- simple but exhilerating. My first memories of going on it come from the time as a kid when my father brought me and a friend to Palisades Park, before it was torn down. There was a "kiddie" version of the Roller Coaster-- I think it might have been called "The Mouse Trap" or something similar-- and I remember being thrilled by it, although my friend John was terrified, and kept calling out to my father, who was standing nearby, for help. As I was growing up, after Palisades Park had been demolished (another famous landmark destroyed in the interests of commerce), I would enjoy the roller coaster at boardwalks in Seaside Heights, and Wildwood, NJ. Sometimes during the summer, they'd set up in my town what was called a "Firemen's Fair" that had, if I remember right, a modified roller coaster (they also had an exhibit that displayed such things as 2-headed babies in glass jars and the like; creepy as hell, and I never forgot it). Once, as a young adult, I was visiting a... Read more

I have some mild vertigo issues, so I stay off coasters, but can appreciate them from the ground. There is an amusement park in Vancouver that has a wooden coaster built in the late fifties, which according to aficionados is one of the best of its kind on the continent, and easily one of the most popular rides there.

The focus of any good amusement park. If the Coaster sucks then it's probably a sign that you're spending your $ unwisely. And I don't trust a coaster without a long line. What does everyone else know that I don't?

The roller coasters at the traveling carnivals are ok, but nothing beats a good old fashioned wooden roller coaster.

I highly enjoy roller coasters but hate the ones that give you whiplash.

The most intense ride for your pleasure or terror (and usually both). Even a tame roller coaster beats a great Gravitron by a long shot. The sensation of that very first drop really gets you in touch with your emotions. What's better than watching grown men scream like little girls? It reminds of the time I went on Magic Mountain and I could faintly see my mother in the dark with a look so genuinely horrified, yet happy, that I've never quite been able to reconcile the two. The only problem is that if I ride too many times my inner ear gets disturbed and there goes my equilibrium. If you don't know what I'm talking about imagine having the "spins" from a heavy night of drinking, or the sensation of movement you get from being on a small boat in the open ocean for a while and then returning to land. Its not a pretty picture, the cotton candy might not stay down.

I used to go on the biggest and baddest of these,but the charm wore off somewhere around 18 or so years old.

I love roller coasters; the reason why this gets a "2" is because, well, quite frankly the ones at Carnival Rides, even the tamest ones, scare me. Sure, permanent rides at amusement parks fail, but these temporary "set-'em-up-and-go" rides just seem structurally less sound. I'll skip these.

the ones i rode as a kid are mild compared to some today. stand up ones or ones you hang from a chair. too scary for me