I fall squarely into the latter camp. That camp is planted very firmly on the ground and I fully intend to stay there, preferably while sipping cocktails and watching cable television.

My friend Joe, however, is in the former camp and I got him to ride X-Scream for a view from the other side – one you’ll never get from me.

First, let’s discuss exactly what the ride is. It’s essentially a giant teeter-totter, perched (in my view) precariously on the side of the outdoor observation deck, 866-feet above the ground. You climb up onto a platform aimed toward the sky and get into one of the seats. A hydraulic restraining device pins you in around your waist - but there are no harnesses or other safety equipment around you to ruin the affect. The bottom and the sides of the platform fall away and you’re basically sitting in an open chair as the car is propelled at 30 miles-per-hour up the ramp.

As you speed up it, the teeter-totter action comes into play and the ramp tilts off the side of the building and you are now headed down toward open space, giving you the sensation that your next, rather unpleasant stop will be the big empty lot across from The Sahara.

Of course it stops before that, leaving you dangling out in thin air, watching the traffic helicopters (if there happens to be any around) whirring around beneath you. There’s a “surprise” that I won’t ruin for those of you who might want to ride the thing and then the ramp resets and you do it again.

So my view from the camp remains that I would never, ever, under any circumstances even consider riding this thing unless, perhaps, someone was chasing me with an axe and the only escape was somehow found on X-Scream. Our host took me onto the ride before it started to show me how everything works but I can’t really tell you what he said because just being out there on it filled my head with this loud buzzing noise that drown everything else out.

However the view from the “yeah, that would be fun” camp was different and somewhat surprising. Joe came off the ride a bit disappointed, feeling that there wasn’t enough thrill in the thrill ride. He said that it didn’t go fast enough or extend far enough off the side of the tower to get the desired effect.

Interestingly, I’ve checked around for some other opinions and found that human dividing line has created an interesting quandary for X-Scream. The unrepentant thrill junkies that want to ride something like this don’t think it’s thrilling enough and the big “scaredy-cats” like myself who may find it thrilling enough won’t get on it in the first place.

I have found several “testimonials” from folks who say the ride is a heart-stopper, with one online “blogger” saying she couldn’t speak or walk for ten minutes after the experience. So reactions may vary, to say the least.

If you’re in the camp of people who think something like this would be cool, I say go ahead and do it. At only $8 (plus admission to the Stratosphere Tower itself) it seems like a worthwhile gamble to find out for yourself if the X-Scream can make you scream.

Insanity: The Ride
Those of you who have been reading my column for awhile know that when it comes to thrill rides I’m a big wuss. You want to go on the New York New York Roller Coaster or ride the X-Scream on top of the Stratosphere? That’s fine, you go have fun. I’ll be in the bar. I think you’d have to be crazy to want to ride one of those contraptions.

But it takes a special kind of crazy to want to ride the newest thrill ride now open atop the Stratosphere Tower. In fact, the ride is so crazy they called it Insanity: The Ride.

Vegas4Visitors staffers got an up close and personal look at the new monster at its grand opening last week. Lucky for many in the crowd, high winds kept the ride from actually operating that night so there was apparently lots of looks of “wow, dodged a bullet with that one” going around.

You need to see it to believe it. You remember the Octopus rides at your local carnival? Arms extend with cabs at the end that go up and down as it twirls. This is the same basic concept only with open seats instead of enclosed cabs and you’re 900 feet in the air while you’re spinning around at forty mph.

You can watch a video of the ride in action on the website for KVBC Television in Las Vegas.

I, and other right-minded folk like myself, will be watching from our comfy little camp on the ground. Where’s my cocktail?