This story about a hundred people being trapped for six hours on the world’s largest ferris wheel doesn’t exactly whet my appetite for one of my least favorite things in life, amusement parks.
I’ve never liked rides of that sort, although I’ve been known to get on a carousel or two, especially when my son was very young. That’s about my speed and height limit for rides, though—very slow, and very low.
My feelings were solidified when, at the age of seven, I failed to successfully negotiate one of those rolling barrel thingees (at Coney Island, to the best of my memory), and had to be rescued by the handsome young guy who tended the ride. He walked in and scooped me up when he heard my muted whimpers of trapped distress.
For those of you happily untroubled by rolling barrel PTSD, here’s a photo of a similar fun-filled amusement. I don’t know the gentleman in the picture; I took the image from this site. But according to the caption (“moments before he fell over”) I see that he didn’t fare much better than I did:
Not that I haven’t paid my amusement park—and theme park—dues. I’ve spent plenty of my money and my time at Disneyland. And Disney World. And Epcot. But I’ve never been shy about the fact that I don’t like any of them.
And don’t get me started on the earworm caused by the Disney ride that features that terrible, terrible Disney song…..no, on second thought, I won’t even name that tune, lest you catch the bug.
Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
December 24th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
The bug is eternal for me, I fear. When I went to Disneyworld with my daughter long ago, that ride was her favorite. I was assigned to go with her on it… all eight times.
December 24th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Me too. So it is a small world after all.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Oh, my dad hated it: for years he would wake me up in the morning to go to school singing in a nasaly falsetto: “It’s a small world after all! It’s a small world afterrrr alllll!”
But he liked DisneyLand and World….. So do I….
December 24th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
As for clearing earworms: I find that the third movement of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony (the Rondo-Burlesque) usually does the trick. Of course, it give me an image some someone holding a drinking party on his way to the gallows … but the earworm is gone.
December 25th, 2008 at 1:55 am
A spoon full of sugar also works but then there’s that after effect.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:27 am
rolling barrel PTSD
Very funny use of wording, Neo.
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I just listened to the recovered piano rolls recorded by Mahler himself. Strange to listen to the tempi, the fortes knowing that it was the master himself who gave his impression of his music.