Yesterday I went to Six Flags in Massachusetts. I went with my youngest daughter and our church. It was a very interesting experience. Most of the people were young people but there were a few young adults (and some even older adults, like myself).
The morning was pretty normal. Just walked around with some others and went on the teacup ride. That wasn't so bad, but did serve as a reminder to me that I hadn't been in an amusement park for a LONG time.
Actually, I figure the last time I'd been in an amusement park was either 1995 or 1996. There is (or maybe was) a small amusement park near where we lived. It was called Conneaut Lake Park for anyone familiar with the northwest Pennsylvania area. They did have a small roller coaster there called the Blue Streak. It was fun, but pretty tame compared to the ones at Cedar Point.
When I was in high school, I had went with my friend Annie and her family to Cedar Point. Annie and I had a blast as I recall. Ok, it was a long time ago, probably 1978, so my memories are a little fuzzy. What I remember the most was riding 6 roller coasters. Also we rode on that cable car thing. And I walked right into a pole. I'm still not sure how that happened.
One of the roller coasters we went on at Cedar Point was also called the Blue Streak. (For the record, I also rode the Blue Streak at Waldameer Park in Erie, PA) The only other one I remember was called the Gemini, two roller coasters, side by side.
Ok, so I've wandered from my original topic a little... After lunch, one of the ladies (Karen)said she was going to go on the superman. She didn't have anyone to wait with her, so I said I would. I knew it would probably be a couple of hours. When we got in there, we were a little farther back than the 2 hour sign.
We chatted, and the time was passing fairly quickly. Then Karen said the trains had stopped, and they were working on the track. We couldn't seem much from our vantage point. But the line kept moving. I guess a lot of people didn't want to wait. It was about this time (I think) that we met Dan and his friend (whose name I've forgotten.... sorry) This young kid was a real character. He said something about being scared and followed that with, "And I'm in the Army". Turned out he is in the national guard. Meanwhile, Dan's friend was real quiet, mostly just stood, smiled and listened.
Then Dan tells us about when he went skydiving. How as soon as they jumped out of the plane he fainted. Dan continued to entertain us, and the line kept moving. After a while, someone said that there would be a 45 minute downtime. We didn't know whether to stay or go. But the line kept moving as people kept leaving. So we stayed, and Dan continued to entertain us with his stories of the people who had died on the Superman. I don't really know if anyone has died, or not. He seemed to think that he was going to be the third victim.
He kept asking me how come I was so calm. I had no idea, why, but I wasn't scared. YET! One of his friends tried at great length to talk him out of going on the ride. His friend said that it was broken and shut down, and so on. The ride had been closed down for a few weeks prior to our visit. It had just opened. My daughter had gone on it that morning and all had been fine.
Finally, they sent a test car up and it went through successfully. Karen was real happy. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad.
She was surprised when I had said that I was going to go on it. I figured if I was going to wait 2 hours to go on a ride, I was going to ride it. Even though I'm not real fond of roller coasters. My daughter loves them, go figure. So, the line moved pretty quickly when the people were lined up the stairs again. Before I knew it, we were just a few people away from actually riding this monster. My stomach started fluttering.
Then the unthinkable happen. The cars were loaded, and finally the all clear was given and they started the ascent. We heard the clicking sound the chain made as it towed the cars to the top of the first portion. The clicking stopped and we waited to see the cars go speeding down the first drop. It is over 200 feet tall. The cars never went down. As we suspected, the cars were stuck at the top, just before it goes over and down.
Now what were we going to do. Karen saw me smiling and asked me if I was ok. I said, Yes. I had just heard Dan say that he was about to pee his pants. I really wondered if there was anything he wouldn't say. He had been telling us for at least 30 minutes how scared he was, but that if he got out of the line, he'd never get in it again.
The lady in front of us left. If I understood her correctly, some kids she had brought were stuck up there. For the one it was his first time on the Superman. We kept staying there. Finally a lady with an orange vest, clipped a hook to something on the stairs and started up. I couldn't even imagine what those people must have felt up there. I think I would have had my eyes tightly shut and I'd have been praying the whole time. But thankfully it wasn't me up there. The lady hadn't gotten too far up before they got it working again. And then about two minutes later, the train was back and the people who had been stuck atop the crest of the first section returned. They sent two trials before they let any more people actually go.
It wasn't long before it was our turn. Dan was so disappointed that he wasn't in the same one as us. Karen said we would wait to see them go.
I got in the car and couldn't get the seat belt open. I felt very silly and I know Dan was laughing at me. Finally Karen got it open and I think she's the one who got it closed again. We were finally given the all clear and started. We went up and up and up.... Karen suggested I keep my eyes closed. Apparently I looked scared. The person behind us said "No keep them open, or you will regret it. I closed them. I did open them and take a quick peek at the river before we started going down. What I disliked the most was feeling like I was leaving my seat. I held onto that bar for dear life. People were screaming, and the wind was rushing past my face. I think it was because I was too tense, I could really feel it in my neck. I heard Karen say a few times a few more and we'll be in the homestretch. I kept thinking we must be almost done but we kept going up and down and twisting and such. But it did end finally. When we got out I felt like I had no equilibrium.
We did stay to watch Dan and his friend. He was hilarious. His friend said that Dan was scared and cried like a baby. Dan said that he did scream and even raised his hands. He said he was glad he waited.
It was an interesting afternoon.
Later that afternoon, we went to see Thousand Foot Krutch and Third Day. I really like Third Day. I had seen them before in 2001. Steven Curtis Chapman was with them. That was a really good concert. This was a good concert too. I enjoyed it, especially the Third Day part.
Labels: fallquest, New England, Six Flags, Superman, Superman Roller Coaster, Third Day, Thousand Foot Crutch
