I rode...

THE TOWER OF TERROR!!!

...Twice! You read that right, I, Jennifer Snow, the world's biggest roller coaster/thrill ride coward in the world rode the biggest beast at Disney World. And I loved it!

Chris and I went back and did another all day trip to Disney Saturday so that I could see the last two parks, Animal Kingdom and MGM (now Hollywood Studios). Animal Kingdom was fun, more on that later, but MGM was terrifying for me, much as it was ten years ago, and it was all because of the "Tower" looming in the distance. Unlike ten years ago, I entered the park yesterday determined to ride the tower of terror. I have spent 23 years waiting while everyone else had the time of their lives and I got tired of it. So on this my third trip to Disney, I put on my big girl panties and rode it. I figured I'd scream like a baby, piss my pants, and get off threatening to kill Chris. I was amazingly surprised. I went through the ride, turning Chris' hand purple from squeezing it, and then we dropped. That was it. The weird, unpleasant sensation of having your stomach in your throat wasn't really there but the view of Orlando from 170 feet in the air was stunning, and I was hanging by a cable waiting for the next drop. It came, I screamed, and after another two we were at the bottom with the doors opening and as I stood up to get off my only thought was, "Wow, that wasn't scary. It was actually a little disappointing." I ran back around with Chris to the entrance, grabbed a fast pass to ride it again and left for Rock N' Roller Coaster. Ten years of fear and anxiety taken care of in 3.04 seconds.

This is the Rock N' Roller Coaster track before they built the building that houses it. You launch the way fighter jets launch off aircraft carriers by a catapult propulsion system, and you go from zero to sixty in under two seconds. It shoots straight into an upside down loop, then through dozens of hair pin turns, through a cork screw or two, and finally back to the station all while not knowing what's around the corner because you're in complete darkness. Way cool, enough said. We rode this one twice, and I loved it since I haven't been upside down on a roller coaster since I was eight and I've never done a cork screw. Awesome!!

I'm working backwards on this post so the Tower of Terror was actually the last thing we rode, but the first thing we rode was the Expedition Everest ride at Animal Kingdom. Chris and I refer to it as the Yeti ride since that's what rips up the tracks and makes this even better than the Tower.

This is the Yeti ride. It doesn't look that scary but let me tell you something else. Most of the ride takes place inside the mountain. You go up the incline and where there should be one hell of a drop, you stop dead in your tracks, literally. After a few suspenseful seconds you fall backwards accelerating into darkness and hairpin turns and small drops that cause numerous G forces. Enough to make you feel like you have an elephant sitting on you while your eyeballs are getting sucked out of your head - I'm not exaggerating. You stop in the darkness where the yeti comes out and tears up the tracks. The entire train shakes and grumbles and after the track resets it shoots you past an animatronic yeti and snaps a picture of you as you shoot out of the hole in the side of the mountain and plummet down to what must be a most excruciating death. Chris and I rode it three times!

Okay well that's all from Disney World for this weekend. We also stayed for the fireworks at Epcot's World Showcase, one of my favorite things. Anyways, I just wanted to announce that the world is need of a new coward of the universe since this one is apparently a Tower of Terror, Rock N' Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest buff. And just a thought, the next time you see a thirteen year old girl watching the doors open on the Tower with her eyes getting bigger with every scream it emanates don't laugh at her. Instead, realize that she doesn't know what you know about it's deepest secret. Be understanding, listen to her concerns, and then drag her ass onto the damn thing and hope for an awesome drop sequence. She'll thank you in the end, and if she doesn't, then be sure to have some Xanax on you. I was that kid once and although I'm sorry to say that my dad and sister never could succeed in doing what I just told you to do, Chris did, and I'm very thankful for that and for my family's attempts. Where most people have found holographic ghosts and the Twilight Zone I found my courage and a love for the Tower of Terror. I can finally go to Disney without fear. Thank God for that! So if you're going anytime soon, swing by the Tower and as you drop through the Twilight Zone think of me, I'll be sitting beside you.