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Best Introductory Coasters

Sandman

Sandman

Giga Poster
I expect I'm not alone on this. Occasionally I'll find myself persuading non-goon friends to come and visit some new parks with me. There's something really great about getting your friends on rides you love just so you can gauge their reactions. This got me thinking about which coasters I would pick to 'introduce' non-goons into the hobby.

Years ago, I managed to get my friend on Corkscrew at Alton Towers which set him off on his journey to semi-goonism. This was a guy who was afraid of the Gold Mine at BPB. Since then, he's come to various foreign trips and will pretty much ride anything. I'm hoping to reel him into more goonism by taking him to Europa and Liseberg. At the moment though, I've got him hooked on videos of Taron, which will keep him sweet for a while.

I think I could get some of my friends and family members "into" the fun of woodies with rides like Joris & Heidi. Most of them only really understand wooden rollercoasters in terms of the oldies at BPB. Maybe something like Helix would be a good introduction to the thrill selection, since it isn't particularly high speed or notably intense.

What coasters do you think would draw otherwise non-riders into the hobby? Perhaps you have some similar experiences with family or friends?
 
I think the answer to that in many cases is the classic wood coaster. One of the things that intimidates novice riders most is "going upside down." Most of the popular steel hyper coasters today have out-and-back layouts very similar to the classic woodies. Airtime over intensity. Ultimately, the gateway drug to roller coasters is airtime.
 
My mum has always been terrified of rides - she has gone on a few with the rest of the family including Flying Fish, Vampire and even Stealth (she was told it was over too quickly to be overly intense.) On a trip to Alton Towers though, I managed to get her on 13 despite the intimidating entrance above a much faster ride. Going into the indoor section she was feeling rather smug in that it wasn't bad at all - cue tons of screaming mere seconds later! That said, she did enjoy it and I managed to get her on Nemesis later that day - she didn't even find it that bad (although it was running noticeably slow that day, it was November!) She didn't like Air though - it was back to screaming there..

Point being - 13 is a great starting coaster as it looks really intimidating but is pretty simple yet still has that extra surprise at the end to make it seem more exciting. We all rag on Wickerman but thinking about it, that will probably have the same appeal once all the hype dies down.
 
Another vote for Thirteen. We took a friend to the towers who insisted they hated coasters but managed to drag her on it and she was on Nemesis by the end of the day!
 
I threw one of my friends onto Helix as their first ride. After being terrified for an hour they managed to warm up to the idea of riding anything ever again. Took him another day to get addicted to rollercoasters. So I assume if you need to convince your friends, bring out the big guns straight away!
 
My mates were scared of inversions and refused to ride both Colossus and Inferno at Thorpe for years. Took them to Gardaland as part of a bigger holiday and the combo of warm sunshine and a really chilled day (long opening hours gave plenty of snack breaks) finally won them over. They loved Blue Tornado for some reason. Now they'll go on pretty much anything.
 
I had a friend who visited who wouldn't even ride anything at Disneyland. Disneyland. Managed to get him on Mystic Manor and Iron Man and that was it. Fuming.

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I had a friend who I took to Silver Dollar City. She had never been on a roller coaster, and we decided to do Outlaw Run as her first coaster. Would not recommend that; she was convinced she may die. Luckily, once she realized it was safe, she rode it 5+ times with me.

Honestly, if they’re willing, put them on something like Outlaw Run or Skyrush cause, well, coasters can be pretty fun when someone’s terrified beyond belief (well, maybe not for them, but you’ll have a good laugh ;))
 
Mystic Timbers would be a good one. It's not too tall, but it has the thrill of a full sized coaster (over 150 feet)
 
I'd say that Infusion is a fantastic introductory coaster... introduction into the suffering of mankind.

In honesty, I'd say Thirteen is a great 'big' coaster to introduce kids too.
 
I would recommend a Mack Mega Coaster personally, especially Blue Fire. Not too forceful, comfy lapbars and silky smooth. The heartline roll might be too much for some though.

Thirteen (or Darkmare at Cinecitta world) is a good bridge between Mine Trains and something more extreme.

Swarm / Raptor could also work, both are silky smooth but the wingover drop (Swarm) and lack of a floor could be barriers.
 
ATI said:
I've never ridden Skyrush, but it sounds like the coaster version of a marijuana high.
Click to expand...
Based on that assessment, I'm guessing you've never smoked marijuana either? :D

Anyway, back on topic and based on personal experience, I think Vampire at Chessington is a good example of a coaster that offers a gateway to bigger thrills for nervous/inexperienced riders. My wife was pretty much a coaster-phobe a few years back - the Roller Coaster at Wicksteed Park and the mine trains at Alton and Chessie were about as intense as it got for her. Then she rode Vampire in 2015 and loved it, and the following year we went to Alton and she tried Rita, Thirteen, Galactica and Nemesis (which was too much for her tbf!) and also rides such as Furius Baco and Taron (though again, that was too intense and made her cry!). Then last year we went to the US and she finally found a thrill coaster with inversions that she loved - Wild Eagle at Dollywood. So now she will try most rides unless they have loads of inversions or are approaching 200ft tall.

So in the space of 3 years she went from being terrified of any kind of thrill coaster to being happy to ride (and enjoy) most of them, and I have no doubt that Vampire was the turning point. :)
 
I'd say Galactica is a good introductory coaster, as it's not massively intense compared to Alton's others. It was definitely the first ride I rode when I turned 1.4m tall.
 
Air/Galactica! Almost all my non-goon friends prefer it to Nemesis, and those who are apprehensive are more likely to ride it due to its elegance and floatyness. The unusual seating position often intrigues people and may even spark some coaster enthusiasm!
 
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