Monday, August 22, 2011

Scary Carnival Rides

It's nearing the end of summer. Time to reflect back on some of the thrilling, scary rides I've taken with my family this year.

I'm a big roller coaster fan. This year my daughter went on El Toro for the first time ever. It's the  largest wooden roller coaster in the world, and let me tell you - it is amazing. From the first drop to the final twists, that is one thrilling ride.

El Toro


Of course, we live right down the street from Kingda Ka, the tallest ride in the world at a drop of 418 feet. We can see it from our house. Yeah, it's that huge. My kid isn't big enough to ride it yet, but she's making big plans. She and her friends  have high-heel flip-flops picked out so they can make that cutoff and ride it, as well as Superman, Batman, Bizarro, and Green Lantern.

Kingda Ka


There are other amazing rides in the world. Here are a few:

The Eejanaika roller coaster, which means “ain’t it great?” in Japanese. During the ride your seat is rotating either forward or backward in a full 360-degree controlled spin.


Eejanaika - One day I WILL ride this!

The Oblivion in Staffordshire, England: The first drop is at an angle of 88.8 degrees - just enough to actually keep the wheels on the track.  Oblivion reaches a top speed of 68 miles and drops passengers into that dark hole in the ground from 180 feet. 

There's the drop into that hole in the ground. Whee!

But I know that none of these are the most dangerous ride in the world. That honor is reserved for It's a Small World, After All, where I fell on my butt in a puddle of water racing to get into the boat with my family.  It was raining, and I was wearing flip-flops.


We did the ride, and then we decided to do it again, because we loved it so much. As we  raced  back, I yelled, "Hey! Watch  out for a puddle of water right around here - Woah!" Yes, I fell on my ass - FOR THE SECOND TIME. IN A ROW. 

Oblivion? Kingda Ka? El Toro? Pshaw - all  thrill wannabes. The most dangerous ride in the world is the one with those singing puppets.


3 comments:

Johanna said...

I love roller coasters too. The one in Japan looks amazing...good fodder for a bucket list.

T. Denise Robinson said...

I love roller coasters - We have The Beast here in Ohio at Kings Island. It is the longest wooden roller coaster in the U.S. We also have Son Of Beast and it is classified as the fastest and tallest wooden roller coaster in the world with a 214 foot drop. If you're ever in Ohio again, you have to check those babies out.

Lisa Zhang Wharton said...

Good photos. I can't do rollercoaster.