"They're not going to spend all this money going to these theme parks," Doug chimed in. "And our parents said, 'Well, if you're not going to ride the big rides, we can just go to museums for the rest of the trip.' " "We're looking at these big rollercoasters, and we're thinking, 'We don't want to go on, and we're too scared to go on.' Do you remember?" Derek said, turning to Doug, who immediately agreed. They were at Six Flags Great Adventure, the first stop of theme park road trip, which also included Hershey Park, Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The brothers vividly recall their first "big rides" at around age 10. "But my passion was theme parks." Turning point "Then I remember I was talking to my mom one day about EPCOT and the different countries that have (pavilions), and she was like, 'If you focused this much on your school work, you'd be getting straight A's,' " he added. "I remember one time being a kid, there was an amusement park book, and our mom would read us pages from it like as a bedtime story," Derek said with a smile. 'A really exciting time': 12 of the most anticipated new roller coasters opening in 2023Īre theme park rides safe? What you should know if you're worried about accidents Early memories "People think, 'What's wrong with you?' But it makes me so happy." And they aren't alone. "I know, it's an obsession," Derek laughed. Last year, they rode every new coaster that opened across the U.S. "He would hang out in the theme parks, and he had fun still."Īs adults, the twins have taken that love to the next level, riding more than 1,100 different roller coasters around the world, often together. "(Our dad) didn't love them as much as the three of us did, but he was always a good sport about it," Doug added. "On our summer vacations, we would hop in the van, and we would go driving around to different theme parks." "Our mom really loves roller coasters," Derek recalled. Derek and Doug Perry got bit by the roller coaster bug early.
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