Junior Adventure: Conquering Fear at Mountain Creek

Date: June 19, 2013
Location: Mountain Creek Waterpark, Vernon, NJ

First, watch the video above.

Now ask yourself: What would you say when faced with the opportunity to go on this ride? Chances are, you'd probably say something like Aliya said to me: "Daddy, there is no WAY I'm going on that ride!"

"That's OK," I said. "That ride even makes Daddy a bit nervous, and you're only six. Someday, when you're bigger, I'm sure you'll want to try it. And when you do, that's when I'll know you're ready for skydiving!"

But one hour later, something amazing happened. Mild-mannered Aliya transformed into Adventure Girl! And she insisted she wanted to go on the ride. I figured she would most likely chicken out at the top. We counted the steps, getting all the way to 99 by the time we reached the top! It was a frightful height, and there were several people up there having second thoughts, unable to work up the courage to take the plunge.

Not so Adventure Girl. Without hesitation, she assumed the proper position and showed them all up, rocketing to the bottom and then raising her arms in triumph! ... And then, for good measure, she did it again!

Later, walking hand-in-hand to our next ride, I looked down at Aliya and asked: "Who's braver than you?" She looked up at me, confused. I smiled and answered: "No one!"

That day we went on all the extreme rides, including:

H2-Oh-No! As recounted above and officially described as a "speed water slide with a 99-foot (30 m) vertical drop."

Colorado River Ride. This one simulates Class 3 rapids and now requires helmets (something about concussions). Online, the experience is described as such: "Since the river is on a steady pace down the hill, the rafts gained speed very quickly. At one point the rafts would come to a fork where they could either head into a tunnel. The tunnel had many turns and was dark. At the exit rafts commonly slammed into a curved wall. The raft then floated into a small rock pool and stayed there until it found its way out. The final stretch of the river consists of a large downhill portion complete with bumps, and a foot-high (30 cm) jump where the rafts would momentarily catch air and then slam back onto the surface." We rode it twice.

High Anxiety. Online description: A "high-speed, extreme tubing ProSlide Tornado that creates the highest-thrill, zero gravity experience available. It's a two, three and four-passenger tube ride that begins with a four-story vertical plummet through a tunnel. Riders drop into a huge funnel shaped enclosure and are gravity propelled to dizzying heights back and forth along the walls. Finally at the base of the funnel, riders are thrust through another 90-foot (27 m) long tunnel into a catch pool." Also rode twice.

Cannonball Falls. An "enclosed dark waterslide with a 10-foot (3.0 m) freefall into a spring-fed pool." Sounds like the tamest one of all, right? Only the pool is 11-feet deep and (just) slightly warmer than ice water this time of year! When I made it back up to the surface, I panicked that Adventure Girl would end up on the bottom of the pool. But no, she fell the 10 feet, disappeared for a (long!) second and then bobbed right back up to demonstrate her excellent swimming skills. This was actually the scariest ride for me as her father!