Yesterday I wrote about my life-long love of roller coasters, so it’s sometimes hard for me to remember that not everyone feels the same way. Such is my Mom, who really, really dislikes them.

When she would fly out for visits when I lived in Orlando, she enjoyed our trips to the various theme parks — but to see the sites, enjoy the many shows, interact with the costumed characters, and to ride the calmer rides such as park-wide trains or shuttles that take guests through fun scenarios.

In my defense, I thought that was what the Revenge of the Mummy ride at Universal Studios Orlando was going to be — a quick ride through various scene re-enactments from the movie, some mummies jumping out at us, and maybe a few clips of star Brendan Fraser sprinkled throughout. I was wrong.

If not a roller coaster in the strictest sense, it’s very close with fast curves and several big dips. Oh, and it shoots backwards downhill at one point. (Fun! Well, for me.)

My mom and I chatted happily and waited in the long line and didn’t get suspicious about what lay ahead until we were almost at the loading dock. There, a sign warned that pregnant women or people with bad hearts should not ride. My mom said, with a horrified look on her face, “This is a roller coaster? What are you getting me into??”

I told her we could just jump out of line and do something else but she decided to try it, reasoning it wouldn’t be too bad. We were wrong about that too.

Here’s the photo from our adventures. I’m in the blue hat and NOT reacting to what I’m seeing and feeling but to the fact that I KNEW my Mom was going to kill me when we got off. And her face tells exactly what she was thinking. (She’s in the white shirt next to me.)

Someone’s not happy

And here’s a closeup just to make sure you can see our faces. Yep, that’s the look of someone who isn’t happy! When we got off, my Mom tried to act brave and said she didn’t like it but she didn’t have too many problems. But then we heard loud laughter coming from people crowded around the photo display area. Yep, they were laughing at our picture!

I’m in trouble…

Of course we had to buy it. Sorry Mom!