The spinner
Yesterday I attended the Western Fair, a tradition in my town over a 100 years old. What was originally a country fair featuring animals and pies winning prizes gradually evolved into a multi building festival, along with rides, games, and overpriced snacks including elephant ears and deep-fried mars bars.
Anyway, I went to the fair with my brother and sister in law to help out with their 2 and 4 year old. I must have gone on every kid ride in the fair, including the spinning strawberries, the Orient Express mini roller coaster(not bad, actually) and the Himalaya (magic carpet ride with Aladdin mural in the back, although what Aladdin has to do with an Asian mountain range is beyond me). While my 4 year old niece and I were on the Ferris Wheel, we happened to notice a ride we hadn't been on yet. So as soon as we got off (my niece stood up before the car reached the ground, scaring the crap out of me) we headed over to this ride, innocently called the spinner.
Have you ever ridden on the teacup ride on Disney World? The spinner was similar to this, only in the air. While the cars spin up and out into the air, the people in the cars spin the wheel to make the car turn around. I swear, it didn't look that scary.
There were several hints of what was to come. First, that my sister in law decided that it was too intense for my nephew and sat it out with him. Second, that the attendant strapped my niece down extra tight so she wouldn't "slide out".
Then the ride started. It was really only mildly nauseating at first. Then the car went out to the side. All of a sudden, I was going straight up and straight down sideways. When I dared to open my eyes, I saw a sideways metal fence before I had to shut them again. Because of this, I don't remember much more of the ride except having my niece's arm in a death grip, yelling "it's ok! it's ok!" in a desperate attempt to convince myself I wasn't about to die. I think I may have also yelled "oh please for the love of god stop turning the wheel!" but I'm not sure, I may have just thought it. The only other thing I remember is my niece asking me quite calmly to let go of her arm. I ended up letting go and grabbing the pole instead. Then, thankfully the ride stopped, with my lunch miraculously still in my stomach. While I was thanking all the angels that I had made it, my niece asked me if we could go on Himalaya next. Is it childish to fear for my life on a ride that completely unfazes my four year old niece?
(mariam67, Sun 20 Sep 2009, 23:06, 6 replies)

i can go on any rollercoaster
i particularly love The Big One in Blackpool and the Dragon Khan in Port Aventura. however, a simple kid's roundabout will reduce me to a vomiting mess in approximately 30 seconds.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Mon 21 Sep 2009, 1:16, closed)

That's true for me too, apparently
I went on Space Mountain and loved every second of it. Weird.
(mariam67, Mon 21 Sep 2009, 1:58, closed)

up up away
I went on that ride on top of the stratosphere in vegas that shoots you up in the air, my brothers exact words were "you screamed like a bitch" I was 23 at the time. Like you smash monkey - get me on the spinning things at pikey fairs "wurlitazer"? and i want to chuck!
( SoBadItsGood Its only a crime if you earn <£100000, Mon 21 Sep 2009, 9:26, closed)

"although what Aladdin has to do with an Asian mountain range is beyond me"
Do you know that Aladdin was originally Chinese? For some reason Disney decided to make him Arabian.

I wonder if that was because they already had Mulan in their sights, and didn't want to have two films set in feudal China.
( Bob Todd whee, Mon 21 Sep 2009, 9:38, closed)

True but...
I looked up Aladdin on wikipedia before I posted. He was originally Chinese, but I didn't see the himalayans mentioned, so I went with the comment anyway. In any case, the mural in the back featured a desert scene with badly rendered versions of the Disney characters including Aladdin, Jasmine and Jafar. I wonder if that's legal?
(mariam67, Mon 21 Sep 2009, 12:52, closed)

The Himalayas encompasses China.
It's probably not legal but you see it done fairly often.
( Bob Todd whee, Mon 21 Sep 2009, 16:59, closed)