 
This ride is called 'Shockwave'. The park brochure describes it this way:"Blast 70 feet into the air aboard Shockwave while rotating and looping 360 degrees through a series of vertical and horizontal loops. Its twisted force and spinning power will leave serious thrill seekers begging for more!" Yeah, right! I was begging, all right! What I don't understand is why people who want to get sick and disoriented don't just go order a broccoli pizza with double anchovies and get it over with, instead of waiting in line for two hours in order to have this done to you for about 60 seconds! Seriously, this is one nasty ride, and its main function is to so disable your sense of balance that you have no idea which direction is up ... or sideways. It's sort of like being strapped to a turning helicopter blade that's also rotating along its own axis. 
Your sense of balance is controlled by your inner ear. Simple motions, like bending over, turning your head, or falling down, are easily recognized by the tiny hairs inside this organ, which bend as the fluid contained in the inner ear sloshes back and forth. These bending hairs are connected to nerves, which send signals to the brain ... which interprets the signals and tells you "Whoops, we're bent way over now!"
Unfortunately, the inner ear on humans was never meant to interpret violent motions. It can't keep up. Quick twists and turns of your body, or even spinning around and around, will overwhelm the sloshing liquid, and your brain will have no idea which direction is up. You will become disoriented and dizzy. Some people find this feeling exciting. It is possible to counteract the disorientation partially. A figure skater or dancer who must perform spins will keep his or her head as still as possible, waiting until the end of each turn to spin it around. A fighter pilot, whose very life may depend on not becoming disoriented, will learn, through repeated practice, how to focus on the instruments and ignore the confusing signals coming from his brain as his plane twists and turns in the sky. |