#634 The moment on a roller coaster after you get to the top of the first big hill and before you go down it

Neil Pasricha

Get your hands up in the airYou drive to the park, you walk to the gate, you get your hand stamped, you run to the line, you move up, you grab a hot-dog, you move up, you check your watch, you get to the front, you jump in the ride, and then the big moment finally arrives: the screechy cars start moving, there’s some rumbly bumping, and you’re cranking up the big first hill while all you hear is tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick.

Then there’s a short, quiet pause as you teeter on the top and float for a brief second as the cars tip down, your stomach twists around, and your arms wave high in the air as you get ready to scream.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

51 thoughts to “#634 The moment on a roller coaster after you get to the top of the first big hill and before you go down it”

  1. The Scream Machine at Six Flags Over Georgia was my first coaster when I was about 12 years old. And you’re right. Reaching the top of the first hill is incredible.

    2. Oh man me too!!! Scream Machine and Six Flags over Georgia. Followed by The Ninja, which was so old and rattly but flipped over so your head just kept hitting the harnesses…. Ouch!

  3. You hit my sweet spot, Neil. I love this very much.

    5 great hilltops: El Toro (Great Adventure), Nitro (same), Millennium Force (Cedar Point), Magnum XL-200 (also Cedar Point) and Alpengeist (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)

    1. I remember Alpengeist! That was back when I was still scared of roller coasters, but my persuasive younger brother forced me to go on it with him. Definitely an epic top-of-the-hill moment.

  4. I dunno, I still like the roller coasters where the goal is not the first hill, but the speed at which you are launched in order to climb over said hill. The ones where compressed air is used to launch you at 200 miles an hour and such.

  5. At the top of the biggest hill on the Minebuster at Canada’s Wonderland, you get a brief glimpse of Toronto – the CN Tower – such a great moment before the plunge.

  6. Not awesome, not awesome, not awesome, AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! so not awesome! The only awesome thing about roller coasters for me is when they stop.

    1. Have to agree. This is the very moment when I want the ride to stop so that I can get off because I’ve changed my mind. Nope don’t want to do this. Uh uh.

      1. I know what you mean. In fact I use this fear to enhance the ride. This is the moment that I contemplate how I could possibly get out of the coaster. It makes the terror of the first drop even more intense.

  10. I really think Canada’s Wonderland’s Bohemoth has maximized this feeling. The ridiculously steep drop helps, I like not being able to see the track below you. I think rollercoasters are the #1 awesome thing for me.

    1. The air time on Behemoth is amazing. Absolutely loved it.
      My favourite coaster was the Maverick at Cedar Point. Was seated right at the front, you can’t even see the track in front of you as you go down the first hill.
      Awesome!

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  14. I couldn’t help but post at this awesome thing.
    It’s incredible when you are on the top of the hill, on the front seat(Best place ever), Ready to start screaming(Just for fun) as you go down.

    AWESOME!

    1. I’m more of a back row rider, myself. You’re the LAST person to go over the hill and most of the time, you don’t see where you’re going! Sure, the view is better in the front, but the eyes strain on the taller and faster ones.

  15. I have to say…I am such a wuss that I don’t really like roller coasters. I think ever since my parents made me go on Splash Mountain as a young’n I have been scarred for life.

    Awesome blog though!

  17. found your blog through postsecret. this is definitely one of the blogs i will read to make me smile.

    ooooh yeah i love that feeling! you feel suspended for just a moment and then whoosh! down you go :)

    leethroughthelens.blogspot.com

  18. I wouldn’t call this “awesome” in the enjoyable sense of the word, but it is certainly an uncomparable feeling. The feeling for me is usually one of dread and regret. But I do love roller coasters!

  19. A couple years ago, as a coaster was going “clickety, clickety, clickety” and almost to the top, I turned to my buddy, Rick, and said, “In a second I will tell you what my favorite spot on the planet Earth is.” Then at that spot, “Right here!” Then we were hurdled downward.

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  24. Yes! I love this feeling! I definitely felt this way on the Behemoth, Canada’s highest and fastest roller-coaster :)

  25. aww, no fair. ive never been on a rollercoaster :( although i am only 14 and dont go to big shows where they have the best rides. The closest ive been was a mini like 20m kiddy one :P

  26. The Beast – Kings Island in Ohio. It’s the longest wooden roller coaster in the world.

    You get to that point at the top, and you see all the wood, which could really use a paint job, as well as the emergency escape stairs, which you know you would never ever use (they’d have to sedate me and find a helicopter.) And you’re scared out of your mind, because you just got off the Vortex – a gorgeous array of steel and recent engineering. And all you can think is, “I hope this stupid wooden piece of crap doesn’t fall to pieces.”

    And then it starts to go, and you scream.

    At the end of the first LONG drop is a tunnel. And because you’re going so fast, you’re pretty sure that the top of the tunnel is too low and your head is going to get cut off. But you make it, and it’s completely dark…

    And you scream some more.

    Amazing…

  27. We were in the “family-coaster” line; we were seated with bars down before we even realized we’d accidentally got in the wrong line and were on the ghost rider at Knott’s Berry Farm. My daughter’s and I, we were not big enough and were nearly flipping out. I prayed harder than in my entire life. At the end 2 of us fell into juddles of pello and it took 3 months for the internal organs to find their way back into their proper places! The smallest one who had been air born wanted to ride the air drop right after. Her brain was shook up. I had to say no to save my life!
    However, I love the sound and rush of the Vancouver roller-coaster and always will!

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  34. The first time I rode a roller coaster was on my honeymoon. It was enjoyable and terrifying all at the same time. 2008… I haven’t been on one since.

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