Agh!!

A friend of mine came into town for a night so we wandered the strip like most tourists like to do. He insisted that we not only go to the stratosphere. . . but that we walk there! From where we parked (way south LV) it ended up being quite the hike. . . especially since the WHOLE time I was insisting that I would NOT be going on any of the rides there. He assured me that it was fine, he just wanted to go to the top to see them. Well. . . when we finally reached the casino and got in line to buy tickets to go to the top, and he sporadically bought two ride tickets as well. I have never seen pictures of these rides, but I have heard about them, and I was definitely NOT a happy camper. We waited in line for quite some time to take the elevator up to the 108 floor, which gave me plenty of shaking/nervous. Then, upon arrival, I had a little more "thinking time" while we waited for another elevator the take us up to the remaining floor. We got tickets for the X scream ride which the only thing I really knew about it was what I saw on the small diagram hanging behind the ticket box. I thought I would have time to take a look at the ride before committing to actually go on it. But as we exited the building to go take a gander, there was not ONE person in line(where did all those people GO?) and before I knew it I was strapped in to the front row of a scary ride at the top of a 109 story building having NO idea what was even going to happen!
Well-- I survived! Basically the whole track lifted up, then sent you forward a bit, then tilted way down before they sent you flying off the edge of the building! It was quite freakish. They stopped you there, kind of dangling, then kind of dropped you up and down a wee bit, before sending you backwards to repeat the whole process once again. After all is said and done, it really wasn't super scary. It wasn't a steep or fast enough drop to give you that terrible drop in your stomach, it was more scary in the sense that you were hanging over the edge of a building with thoughts running through your mind of the potential derailment factor. I was definitely shaking when I got off, and though it wasn't the most terrible thing in the world, I highly HIGHLY doubt I will ever go back. I am a WIMP for those kinds of things!

The picture is after we got off, so I am able to smile once again. Behind us is a picture of the coaster before it tilted off the building.