Space Shuttle over Edge Coaster

I do not shy away from roller coasters. It is supposed to be the best ride in any theme park. The suspension in mid-air and the racing adrenalin make me want to scream and laugh at the same time. The feeling is euphoric especially if you need to let go of something emotional. After every ride, I would feel refreshed while all the unused nerves effectively tinkered.

But we're lacking it in this country. Whenever I think of Space Shuttle in Enchanted Kingdom, I want to to cry out of pity. Don't they ever change it, even the angles? It's been like that forever. I remember in grade school I rode that. In our soiree in first year high school I rode that. In my third year bonding with friends, I rode that. Even in college when I found myself there, I would ride it five times straight forcing myself to get excited. Pathetic.

That's why when I heard about the edgecoaster ride in Cebu that was recently put up, I immediately found a reason to go home. Good enough, my cousins were also excited. Apparently, no one encouraged them to try to it. When we got there and paid a hefty sum for only one round in the edge coaster, I felt the ride was predictable.




Unlike any normal roller coasters, this is not fast moving one. It's a snail coaster that aims for everyone to appreciate the view of downtown Cebu literally at the edge of the building. There is a lever for the passenger to control if they want to torture themselves and tilt the car enough to view the drop in 90 degrees angle. Sounds fairly easy, right?

The car is for two and initially I was paired with the most daredevil one. I rode with my equally daredevil cousin Den and I let her control the lever. At the back of my mind, one of my concerns was that the ride would bore me. By the time we reached the first corner, the car automatically tilted giving us a mild angle. After passing the first corner, the lever was ours to control. Apparently, my cousin put the car in an extreme angle and it was then that I knew it was not the ride for me.

Give me rollercoasters anytime, edgecoaster is a different monster. There is something freaky about being tilted in an extreme angle while your whole body is being sucked up by gravity enduring the entire vision of the possibility of a drop. In rollercoasters, fear is not "nursed" because of the refreshing adrenalin caused by fast movement. It would devoid mind of thoughts as the senses are given more importance. In the Edgecoaster ride it is quite the opposite. It gives passengers more time to think as mind is not preoccupied by movements. In fact, the mind is preoccupied with visions that are healthy ingredients for imagination that might lead to paranoia that will lead to fear. In short, I got scared.

Probably this is the first time I ever got scared in an extreme ride. It was also not a happy one for me. Edgecoaster wasn't relaxing and refreshing at all especially if you are with someone who wanted to tilt the car. I could appreciate the ride if the car was steady and not tilted. The views were majestic, but if it is slowly tilted and is to remain like that, it gives my mind more time to nurse fear and unnecessary imagination. That is something that I do not need.




It was an experience. But I'm not thinking of doing it again. I'd rather ride Space Shuttle than this.