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THIS is something that has struck a chord with me for a long time – that basically theme parks are fundamentally extremely safe places.
They have to be because they would not be able to get insurance cover. If there was any real danger of life being lost then insurance companies wouldn’t touch these Theme Parks with a barge pole.
Now like everything else, there is the exception rather than the rule where an accident might happen. To be honest, if one was to look at the percentages, then I’m pretty sure that walking on the road to get to these theme parks is far more dangerous than the Theme Park itself.
The whole idea of these parks is to conjure up fear within its clientele. It’s absolutely true to say that the greater the fear the more the admiration that there is for the theme park. They (the clientele) want rides that would frighten the life out of you. If there is no fear generated I’m pretty sure that it’s going to be a pretty quiet theme park.
On a personal level, I can still distinctly remember the excitement of going to Bird’s Amusements as a child. Because of the excitement generated, it opened up my senses so I have a clear and vivid recollection of the bright lights, the smells of the fast food and candyfloss and of course the fear and excitement generated by the various rides.
Of course my parents had me on a definite budget as I would gladly have cleaned them out. It is all a part of parenthood/childhood memories and I’m sure that every reader here has had similar experiences.
Ok, let’s examine what’s going on here in a little more detail. There are basically two types of fear.
Real fear where someone is in imminent danger –being attacked by a madman, a wild animal or being run over by a car etc. – or psychological fear where you think you are going to die.
The body reacts to both of these fears in exactly the same way as it cannot tell the difference – the hormones get activated. The danger is perceived – the sympathetic nervous system kicks into action, the heartbeat increases thus resulting in the production of adrenaline which in turn gets you into what is known as ‘fight or flight mode’. We are ready to fight the danger or flee from the danger.
Theme parks operate totally in the area of psychological fear – you think you are in danger but there is no actual real danger (by the way, this is also called – ‘fun’).
With experience and some awareness and perhaps some training, one can control (especially using breathing techniques) the effect that the psychological fear has on us. This controls the amount of adrenaline being released, which can allow one to still enjoy the ride while having a limited amount of fear.
When this fear is controlled it generates a certain amount of excitement and it is in the realisation of this fact that Walt Disney and all his other cohorts in the theme park business have generated their millions of dollars over the years.
Of course there are people reading this you are unable to control this psychological fear, which unfortunately can result in severe discomfort, panic attacks and perhaps worse.
They might even know that the fear isn’t real but there is no point in them knowing that it isn’t real if their body doesn’t have the same viewpoint.
Thus the preferred option here is not to go on the rollercoaster. These people usually know this for themselves and would rather enjoy their popcorn and candyfloss – which is all part and parcel of the experience.
Next week, I am going to write about – ‘My personal psychological challenge’.
