Fear, Thy Name Be StormRunner . . .

What am I doing? I've pulled the "restraint" over my head, locked it into place and THEN buckled the seat belt over it. I look over at my children and tell them goodbye and that I love them. The Hubby mouths "Good Luck", gives a little wink and then gets a wicked smile on his face because he's glad it's me in the chair and not him. Holy Cow my hands are sweaty! So sweaty they're sliding on the grip bars. I can't hold on tight enough to feel safe.

What am I doing? My heart is beating really fast. They strange guy next to me says in a twangy accent, "You ever been on this before?" No, I say in a voice that sounds really weird, like someone else. "Haw, haw, you're gunna love it!" he laughs. But it's kind of a creepy laugh.

What am I doing? Suddenly we're rolling slowly out of the safe little station structure that housed the line of people waiting to torture themselves in like fashion. I'm pressing my arms so hard against the restraint they hurt. I'm waiting for the "chink, chink, chink" sound that always comes at the beginning of the ascent, but I'm freaked out because in the pit of my stomach, I know that isn't how this one is going to start. This is different . . . this is just sick and wrong! WHAT AM I DOING????

All of the sudden, it happens. A disconcertingly deep voice says mockingly, "Riders, get ready to go." Wait, is my heart really beating that loud? No. It came after the voice, out of the speakers, I think. But before I can really process it, I'm shot - no, sorry, hydraulically launched - forward from zero to 72 mph in under two seconds. Seriously. Zero. To. Seventy-two. I am screaming. I am screaming very loudly. Twangy stranger next to me keeps saying, "Yeah!"

I want to get off now, but it's not time yet. Instead it's time for the "Top Hat" - that THING I've seen above all else in the park for the entire day now (see picture at right)and thought to myself, "Only a crazy sicko would invent a ride like that - and it would take someone even crazier to ride it." At some point on this 85 degree angle, 180 feet to the ground section, I feel like the car has definitely left the track. There is some definite hang time there where we are weightless and I believe I am either going to die or lose my lunch - and neither would be pretty.

The rest pretty much passed by in a blur . . . I can remember a few things - my screaming, which was hoarse and constant, twangy guy's "Yeahs!", another insanely unnatural droppy, loopy thing (second picture), an inverted barrel roll that seemed impossibly easy compared to the beginning yet still made me think I might wet myself, and seeing the monorail track coming towards me very fast and thinking we were definitely going to hit it.

Then it was over. Me and my bruised arms pulled back into the station, my heart pumping louder than that speaker at the beginning. My hair was so windblown that the Hubby and kids started laughing when they saw me. But I could see the fear in the Hubby's eyes, because now it was his turn to experience what I just had:

THE SCARIEST 30 SECOND ROLLER COASTER RIDE I'VE EVER BEEN ON.

(Thanks to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA for the pictures of StormRunner and the amazing ride . . . I'm definitely doing it again . . . maybe next year.)