>> August 21: added important update. See below.
So glad I made this ride in Walibi [1] roller coaster ‘Goliath‘ but not sure if I will ever do it again. My eldest daughter, eldest granddaughter and eldest grandson had challenged me by asking how I would pose for the action photo that is taken of everyone at the end of each ride on this rather racy rollercoaster. I clearly failed that posing thingy!
They had assured me that you never really go completely upside down on this one and they were right about that. I had already noticed that this roller coaster was a high one indeed. Only after I saw this photo the next day however, I checked the features of this ‘mega coaster’ in a part of the Netherlands that used to be the Zuiderzee [2]. They turned out to be quite impressive. The average speed is a little over 60 km/hour but the top speed is well over 100 km/hour. And indeed, I did not go upside down but this monster does have a horizontal looping at one point and goes 121 degrees at another.
The really nice thing about this adventure was that my grandchildren thought it was ‘cool’ that I came along and that my daughter estimated that I could handle this. But it was on the edge. If you are over 55 and your health is not near perfect I would advise against going on this attraction.
I am blessed with excellent health.
ZEN
Such health includes a well-functioning adrenal gland. The most remarkable advantage of this is that you have more time to think, so to speak. That thinking doesn’t really calm down in a huge roller coaster, but I did realise: the chance that I will die in an accident is just a very tiny bit greater than zero, the chance that I could still get out now and survive is really exactly zero. Let it go. For more than a minute, however …
It was hilarious to read this article about overcoming a fear of roller coasters .. afterwards. Discovering that ‘Zen’ used in combination with rollercoasting has a completely different meaning from what I describe here was hilarious too: it stands for being the only person in a ride on such an attraction.
The text of that link above is not nonsensical by the way. The fear of those things may be above average because of what you’ve been through, long ago. In my case, that could have been an event from when I was 11 or 12 years old. The fair in my hometown was closed because of a fatal accident involving a ride that was a hundred times less thrilling than today’s roller coasters.
Update August 21
Although blessed with excellent health, two weeks after this ride I was reminded that my health isn’t perfect! I was experiencing severe positional vertigo. I had this problem before a year ago, but not as acutely. Specially specialized physiotherapists turned out to have a really great effective treatment. Now that I visited that therapist again for a consultation and treatment, I learned that rollercoasters are notorious for causing balance disorders!
So now I know for sure that I will never take a seat in such an attraction again.
Notes:
- Link to the English welcoming page of the Park’s website
- And a link to a rather special part of the Dutch grandiose water management efforts.