I have always been a speed and adrenaline junkie, ever since I was a little kid, but I had never ridden a roller coaster until I was about 8 years old. I knew what roller coasters were, and in fact, I was already fascinated by them, just from seeing them in picture books and magazines. A kids magazine that I had a subscription to back then had run an article called "Scream Machines" about six months or a year before my trip, and it featured at least 10 pages of photos and facts about some of the biggest roller coasters and thrill rides in the country. I remember Superman the Escape, Chang, Texas Giant, Steel Phantom, Magnum XL-200, and Alpengeist (brand new at the time) were featured prominently.
One Friday night, kind of spur of the moment, my dad and mom decided to take our family to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (as it was called then) for the weekend. So we left early the next morning and got there at about 10:00. I was amazed by everything! This was my first amusement park visit and I couldn't wait to ride the rides and see everything.
So as we approached the park, I suddenly got my first glimpse of a real-life roller coaster as Alpengeist poked its head out from among the trees. And of course, having studied the pertinent literature, I recognized it for exactly what it was, screaming excitedly, "Oh wow look there it is, that's Alpengeist! It's the tallest, fastest, most twisted inverted roller coaster in the world, " reciting the clame to fame given in the magazine article.
I could hardly curb my enthusiasm at the prospect of finally getting to ride a real roller coaster, and a big one at that, as we bought our tickets and started to make our way through the park. And then, not more than a few hundred feet from the entrance... there it was. Right in front of me. Not Alpengeist, as anyone who has visited Busch Gardens knows, but the famous Loch Ness Monster. I stopped for a moment to watch in awe as one train ascended the lift hill, clacking away like all Arrow loopers do. I had to ride it now. The day was long and I would have plenty of time to ride Alpengeist, and besides, Loch Ness was so close! Oh, the joy I felt when I was measured at the entrance of the line and deemed tall enough to ride. Fortunately, there was almost no line since the park had not been open long, so I sprinted through the queing area with my dad and my 6-year old brother. We were on the ride and locked in place in minutes. I was so stoked.. I was on a real roller coaster!
We rolled out of the station and started up the lift hill... and that's where I started getting a little bit freaked out. This train had to weigh tons... and there was just this one chain pulling it up the hill. It didn't look like a very thick chain...what if it broke?! We'd roll back down the hill and crash into the station for sure, and a lot of people would get hurt or maybe even killed!
And then we got to the top of the climb and I didn't have to worry about that anymore, but then I looked down and realized that, wow, we were really freaking high! I mean, Loch Ness only drops 114 feet, but I didn't know that and at the time, it felt like 500 to me! :--D
I won't go into too many details about the rest of that ride, but I will say that I was scared when I got off. I thought the chain would break, even though my dad later explained to me that they have ratchets so that even if that did happen, the cars wouldn't roll back. And, I didn't like that "wierd feeling in my stomach", as my brother and I called it, when we dropped. Needless to say, I didn't ride Alpengeist that day.
I didn't get really big into roller coasters until about two years later when I rode Apollo's Chariot. That cured me once and for all of any lingering fear and qualms that I had at the time.