Screaming and roller coasters go together like peanut butter and jelly. Whether it’s because you’re genuinely scared of the precipitous drop or you just enjoy letting off steam, it’s hard to imagine getting on a coaster like Space Mountain at Disneyland and quietly enjoying the ride. But it Japan, that’s what one theme park is asking guests to do. They want guests to sit quietly with their masks on and keep all of those emotions inside.
YouTube / Fuji-Q Highland Official
Via Kotaku (and The Wall Street Journal), we’ve learned that Japanese theme parks have instituted new guidelines as they’ve started reopening. That’s not surprising. Anywhere the public gathers has to consider how they can protect people from the coronavirus threat. Guests and employees alike. The virus isn’t going away anytime soon. And one of their new rules is to ask park guests to please not scream on roller coasters.
In fact, a new video message asks park visitors to “Please scream inside your hearts.” But really, haven’t we all been doing that the past four months?
One of Japan’s most popular theme parks, Fuji-Q Highland, released a video in June that shows a pair of stoic riders get on the park’s Fujiyama roller coaster with masks on. They do not scream at all. And mind you, this ride has one of the steepest drops of any coaster in the world. So for keeping their shit together during the entire ride, I applaud both brave gentlemen. I would have failed the “scream inside my heart” test on this one.
If anything, this video shows why maybe it’s not such a good idea to open theme parks in the middle of an ongoing global pandemic. Yes, you can ride a giant roller coaster without screaming and while trying to keep your mask in place. But is that anywhere near as fun? This video makes a strong case for why theme parks should stay closed, at least until we can properly enjoy them. I think it’s okay to sacrifice some things we love for the greater good. It means we’ll enjoy them even more later when we can finally return to normal.
Featured Image: YouTube / Fuji-Q Highland Official
