My ride at the aMuSement park.

 

“Enjoy your day at Cedar Point,” said the cheery ticket taker.

I planned to!  It had been over 20 years since my last visit, so today I was going to be a thrill seeker maniac!

 

 

Just past the opening gate was my first coaster challenge…the Raptor.  Sounds nice, I thought.  Named for a bird.  I like birds.

The Raptor is an inverted roller coaster, meaning you sit beneath the rail to ride.

 

 

Between the trees I could see only a small portion of this twisty ride.

My youngest son said he wasn’t going to ride.  Assuring, I tried to be the good Dad by saying “These coasters don’t go fast–It won’t be bad.”

I ditched my wheelchair & my cane and wall-walked my way to the rides loading zone.  I was already exhausted, so it would be nice to sit for a few minutes and enjoy the ride!

The collar came down over my head while the attendant had to snap my crotch restraint.  A buzzer sounded and off we went—-like a bat outta hell.

I was on the Raptor a whole three seconds and I knew this had been a big mistake!

 

Because the Raptor wasn’t like taking a ride in my grandma’s Dodge Dart.  It felt more like an F-18 on Red Bull. 

The coaster featured six inversions including a 100ft vertical loop, a zero-G roll, something called a cobra roll and two corkscrews.

 

Typically, I laugh hysterically on a coaster, but on the Raptor I could only muster a straining groan similar to when the wind gets knocked out of you.  I had no idea which way was what…up, down, right, left.  I needed a GPS to find my state of mind.  I would have pooped my pants but I had no idea which way gravity was working!

 

 

 

As usual in times of stress, my body stiffened like a mannequin at Old Navy.  So while others were riding seated with their legs dangling under them…Odd Sock was fixed in a rigor-mortis prone position with the nylon strap separating my boys downstairs like the Berlin Wall.

 

As we came too a stop, my wife asked me if I was OK.  But I couldn’t answer–my tongue was so far down my throat my uvula was getting lonely!

The attendant unhooked my crotch strap.  I tilted upright and with someone under each arm, I began a body-cast like shuffle to the employee elevator.  I was covered in a cold sweat.  My son said “Dad, you don’t look so good.”  I mumbled back “I don’t feel so good.”

 

 

 

Before my ride on the Raptor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After my ride on the Raptor.

 

 

 

I slumped into my wheelchair like a sack of potatoes and didn’t take another ride the rest of the day.  (Unless you count a stop on the American Standard porcelain bowl!)

I overheard my family medical expert saying things like “vestibular problems”…”equilibrium reactions are off”…and “neuroreceptors.”

 

Was it my MS that made me feel this bad?  Are my days as a roller coaster roach over?

Have you had a similar experience?  How has MS limited your “Fear Factor” activities?

Please tell me your story.  I’m the dopey looking one sitting on the park bench under a tree holding the giant stuffed animal.

“Hope you come back to see us at Cedar Point” said another cheery attendant as we were leaving.

Yeah right.