So my family and I have been on vacation for over a week now, we go home on Sunday. I won’t lie, it’s been difficult. From my sister’s depression, my dad’s need to hurry all the time, and my mom’s constant contradictions, I’ve struggled to keep calm.
However, throughout the trip, I have had some major wins. It started the first five days, where we all had to share a room together. It was fine with me, but my dad and sister snore very loudly, and my mom tends to hog the bed so I was a little uncomfortable. But headphones and a pillow divider made it easier. It wasn’t until the fourth and fifth night that I struggled.
Another win happened that I didn’t know I was going to need to do. So yesterday, we had to move hotel rooms, and my mom asked me to grab a cart. I was fine with that, but then she asked if I would like to give the room key to the receptionist. I gallantly said yes, despite being extremely worried as I’ve never done it on my own before. But I managed and was very pleased with myself. Another small thing (which I’m not proud of as my mom nagged me to do it on my own when I already planned to), was that I went back by myself for a doctors appointment (as my ear was hurting bad and it turned out to be an ear infection). Normally I would be pleased with myself for this, but since I was nagged constantly and my mom seemed frustrated, so I wasn’t too thrilled about it.
And now for the big one, the one that I never thought I’d actually do. So we traveled to Minnesota and went to the Mall of America, and my sister wanted to go to Nickelodeon Universe, the indoor amusement park. I love rides but HATE big roller coasters with big drops and upside down parts. The last time we were there, my sister got really moody and frustrated because I was too scared to go on the big rides. I felt awful about it, and with how moody she’d been on our trip, it was my mission to make everybody happy (by being polite to my parents and riding big rides for my sister.
I went on the biggest ride in the whole park (an upside down roller coaster with loops and corkscrews, along with a vertical lift and big sideways drop at the beginning. I was so afraid. I nearly backed out, but then I saw a little kid get on in front of me, so I knew I had to do it. It really helped that the person next to me was as scared as I was. It ended up being ok (minus the big drop lol).
It has been one crazy trip, but sometimes the smallest things can be the biggest wins.
Great work, those are seriously stressful conditions and it sounds like you did admirably!
Roller coasters are ironically my favorite at a park because it’s a safe space to push yourself past a fear and you’re rewarded with spectacular sensations and sights. A big part that helped me was understanding the mechanics and how safe they really are. There are incredibly few roller coaster deaths in the world. Flat rides are actually way more dangerous if you’re going by statistics. But theme parks in general are very low risk to begin with.
I recommend watching some videos on how they’re constructed and operated and it might help you past your fear a bit more.
According to the CPSC:
– Between 1990 and 2004 there were a total of 52 fatalities associated with amusement park rides.
– Between 1986 and 2001 there was an average of 4.5 amusement park ride related fatalities per year.https://caraccidentsinorlando.com/theme-park-accident-statistics/
I’ve actually always felt safe on roller coasters lol, for me it’s more about the drops and stuff, I’ve always found them intense. I love the small and medium sized ones, but the larger ones have always freaked me out.
I remember going there frequently as a kid when it was called Camp Snoopy. The biggest rides back then were the Ripsaw roller coaster (now called Orange Streak) that went around most of the park and the Paul Bunyan Log Flume ride.