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Our county fair started today and as I was driving by the Events Center, I couldn’t help but notice all the Midway rides. Brightly lit against the night sky, the rides called to me.
Which is odd since I’ve had a few “unfortunate” encounters on carnival rides. The first occurred when I was in grade school. I was on a ferris wheel and the bar across my lap came loose! I scrunched back in the seat, worried that if I sat too far forward I would tumble out.
My second encounter of the negative variety happened again on a ferris wheel. The ride broke down when I was at the top!! But I was a teenager and nothing worried me. Beside, my boyfriend was beside me and the way I looked at it back then, the more alone time with him…the better. 
The last time was on a….no, not a ferris wheel
I’d like to hear the story of YOUR close encounters with a carnival ride. And, if you haven’t had one yourself…tell me about a friend’s adventure.
I still have plenty of books to give away from the Romance Writers of America conference, so everyone who comments this weekend will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a free book! I’ll announce the winner Sunday night, so be sure and check back to see if you’re a winner!
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Aug 7th
2010
8:12 am
Karen H in NC Said:
Years ago, my son tricked me into riding the Space Mountain ride at Disney World. I hate roller coasters and he claimed it wasn’t a roller coaster….so dummy me, I agreed to take the ride. Well, it is a roller coaster in the dark! But since it wasn’t the huge climbs and drops, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Actually, I had fun! But it you tell him that, I’ll lie!
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Aug 7th
2010
8:33 am
Linda Henderson Said:
A long time ago when I was a teenager we were at Six Flags over Texas and everybody wanted to ride the Mexican Sombrero ride (I can’t remember if that is it’s exact name, but it looked like a sombrero). It looked pretty tame, so okay. Well they had a new operator and it seemed like that thing went around and up and down 90 miles an hour. I was sick as a dog. I haven’t been able to ride anything like that since.
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Aug 7th
2010
9:10 am
eap Said:
Carnival rides scare me.
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Aug 7th
2010
9:16 am
kris Said:
I learned early on to make sure I went on rides before eating anything. I don’t go on many now, but I still stick by that one rule.
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Aug 7th
2010
9:18 am
Shana Said:
The last ride I rode was It’s a Small World, so obviously I’m not a big roller coaster girl.
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Aug 7th
2010
9:59 am
Catherine Kean Said:
I’m terrified of heights, so ferris wheels and carnival rides are out for me. I’m even afraid of standing on the top step of a step ladder, which I have to do now and again to dust my living room blinds. Yeah, I’m a big chicken.
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Aug 7th
2010
10:15 am
donna ann Said:
I’ve always loved amusement rides. I’ve never had any issues with them (at least none that come to mind) but I did start young. I was barely old enough to get on the coaster with an adult when a begged and conjold my dad into taking me on one when at the boardwalk. He gave in figuring I’d get scared and would thereby save him from having to take me on anymore for a few years. I fooled him — I loved it, laughing the entire time and wanted to go right back on.
Once was enough for him though he took me on many many more rides after that till I was old enough to just ride with my big brother. (At least that’s the story I’ve always heard, I was too young to remember it myself 
). I think he loved it too though 
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Aug 7th
2010
10:19 am
Kirsten Said:
After this I went on the rollercoaster. Ignoring my mothers warnings about mixing food and fun. Before the apple I had some other goodies and when the ride was over I was hanging over the railing looking anything but pretty. Never been on a rollercoaster since!
I guess the thing is that I love all those forbidden foods a bit too much. And perhaps the apple & the rollercoaster were a sign I needed to watch my diet. (Or listen to mom some more.)
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Aug 7th
2010
10:45 am
cheryl c. Said:
I am scared to ride roller coasters, but years ago my husband talked me into riding Space Mountain. Since I couldn’t see it from outside, I really didn’t know what it was like. Well, I was terrified the whole time. Falling into the “dark unknown” is not an experience I want to have again.
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Aug 7th
2010
11:14 am
Laura Said:
I love carnival rides. The only thing that comes to mind for me wasn’t actually a carnival ride but it kind of felt like it at the time. It was on a plane on its way to Las Vegas. Bad storm caused us to tip back and forth and lose altitude at a rapid pace. We all thought we were going to die. But I remember thinking at the time that it would be awesome if it was a carnival ride but it was much less awesome since I thought it was going to be the cause of my death. lol
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Aug 7th
2010
11:23 am
catslady Said:
I love most rides and have had a few close calls. The first was when I was young – the ride was the Octopus and it broke down when I was at the top and upside down. We were there for what seemed like forever (maybe 20 min.) but I never liked rides that turned you upside down after that. I was so sure I was going to slide out backwards. I too had a ferris wheel incident. It started sliding backwards when letting people off (bad brakes!). I was at the top with one of my children (luckily not the one that scared easily). That one was for a good 45 minutes and it almost came to having to get down somehow – that would have scared me to death.
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Aug 7th
2010
11:32 am
runner10 Said:
I rode Space Mountain when I was a child. Terrified!! I went back to Disney World as an adult. I thought I could handle this ride. Boy, was I wrong. I was still terrified. Won’t do that again.
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Aug 7th
2010
1:34 pm
Barbara Elness Said:
When I was a kid, I went to The Pike in Long Beach with my older brother to ride the roller coaster. The lap bar was connected to one other seat, and the guy in front of us thought it was funny to loosen his (which loosened ours as well). The whole ride I was worried I was going to fall out, and my brother spent the whole time making sure I didn’t. It wasn’t very fun, but I love roller coasters even so, I just always make sure I’m strapped in, LOL.
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Aug 7th
2010
2:08 pm
Quilt Lady Said:
I am not much on carnival rides, and I guess the last time I road one was a tilt a whirl at the fair with my son. His day would n’t ride it with so I did, I had a broken wrist at the time but road it anyway. I was so sick afterwards and I haven’t been on a ride since. They are just not for me!
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Aug 7th
2010
2:36 pm
Susan Mason Said:
LOL. Everyone has a Space Mountain story. I got talked into that one, too. After about 40 minutes in line, my daughter was ready to back out because we had to sit in separate cars. I asked if she was sure, because we weren’t waiting in line again, and she decided to go ahead. Halfway through the ride in the dark, screaming with my eyes glued shut, I wished she had said NO!
Never again!
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Aug 7th
2010
3:06 pm
Laurie G Said:
I remember getting really bruised on the Tilt o Whirl ride. I also remember screaming on the Bullet.
I’m not a big fan of carnivals and roller coasters.
I did enjoy Disney World rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Thunder Mountain.
johnslake@usa.com
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Aug 7th
2010
3:24 pm
Gail Said:
I love all kinds of fast carnival rides. We just got back from Worlds of Fun in Kansas City and it was a slower, rainy day. We got to ride all the coasters twice with only a 10 minute wait instead of the usual 30-60 minutes.
But my most memorable experience with a carnival ride was watching my niece and her grandma ride the Scrambler. It does indeed scramble in and out, in and out. Grandma threw up and the in and out action, unfortunately causes all of Grandma’s stomach contents to land on my niece. Very gross, but very true. Clean up on aisle 5. My niece and her grandma will never ride that one again.
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Aug 7th
2010
4:49 pm
Maureen Said:
When my daughter was young I went on one of those old wooden roller coasters with her and it rattled so much and we were tossed around so much that I felt like we were going to fly out of the seat.
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Aug 7th
2010
7:05 pm
Mary M Said:
When my brother and I were kids, my Dad drove us through a town with a small amusement park that was closed for the off season. I don’t know how my Dad talked the caretaker/manager into opening a couple rides just for us. I rode the merry go round (at that age I thought it was fun)and since my Dad and the manager were standing next to the merry go round, he turned it off after what seemed like the usual ride time. Meanwhile, my brother was on the ferris wheel (a few rides away) and my Dad and the manager kept talking, and the manager let the ferris wheel keep turning for what seemed like an hour! My brother loved it!
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Aug 7th
2010
11:21 pm
Jane Said:
I went to a carnival last year. I didn’t go on any of the rides, but my niece rode on a lot the kiddie rides and really enjoyed the bumper cars. I sampled some great elephant ears, cotton candy and popcorn.
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Aug 8th
2010
3:59 am
kh Said:
have nt ogone in awahile but i sacred of rides lol
any winner form july 24th
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Aug 8th
2010
2:24 pm
chey Said:
I remember getting stuck at the top of the ferris wheel for a while when my sister and I were small and Mom still came on the ride with us. It seemed to take a long time for the ride to start going again.
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Aug 8th
2010
9:24 pm
Cindy Kirk Said:
Space Mountain is the winner. Seriously….I have to say that reading all these encounters made me smile…only because I could soooo identify with them.
I’ve decided to pick THREE winners this week: Karen H, Barbara E and Susan Mason.
Email me through my website http://www.cindykirk.com and let me know what you like to read (contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal, historical etc) and I’ll let you know what books I have for you to choose from!
Thanks to everyone for posting!! You’re the best.
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Aug 9th
2010
9:58 am
Karen H in NC Said:
Hi Cindy,
Thanks for drawing my name out of the cyber hat. I’ve sent you email as directed with my reading preferences.
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