My husband and I both have serious motion sickness issues. There were many rides at Universal and Disney that we simply could not ride until we found out about a wonderful drug called Transderm Scop (long oits pronounced Scope). It is a prescription medication, but it is absolutely amazing. Its a patch, like a stop smoking thing. You put it on behind your ear at least 3 (I would say 4) hours before you ride a questionable ride and it works for 3 days. Seriously.
The first time I rode Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios, I felt awful for at least an hour, and my husband was worse. I was so disappointed because I love dark rides and had been eagerly waiting to ride it. Discovering that I would only be able to ride it maybe once per trip, if that, really upset me. Bob, one of our traveling companions, had the patch and told us about it. Next trip we got some (they come 4 to a package) and the difference was incredible. I rode The Mummy the first time with apprehension. When I stepped off the ride, within 3 or 4 seconds, I felt fine. I got back on and rode again. I can ride 7 or 8 times in a row (with no wait, in the single rider line), probably more if they didnt drag me away. Thats amazing, considering that I could not have ridden it twice without throwing up on the first trip.
We now take it with us on every trip, and it makes all the difference. Last year we rode Harry Potters Forbidden Journey, and I absolutely could not have ridden it without getting sick, if I didnt have the patch. The first part with the green swirly thing really got me, because I had had the patch on for less than 3 hours. Subsequent rides were fine, but I never could have ridden a second time without it.
Incidentally, I had a bout of food poisoning recently and had to call my husband to come home from work. I couldnt open my eyes or move without chucking. I was really miserable because I cant stand being dizzy. Its worse than being in pain. I didnt know if Transderm Scop would work for that or not, but I was ready to jump out the window, so I figured it wouldnt hurt. I put one on and within 30 minutes, the dizziness became bearable. I dont know if it would work for video games.
Incidentally, if youre interested in a home remedy, ginger works for motion sicknessjust pure dried ginger. You can get it in capsules at a health food store. Some college (I forget which one, but it was a big one) did a study a few years ago. They put people who were prone to motion sickness in swivel chairs and spun them around. The ones who had no drug in them had to get off immediately, but the ones who had been given ginger lasted twice as long as the ones who had been given Dramamine. (The newer drugs hadnt been invented yet, so they werent part of the test.)
These are my recommendations for the rides at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure:
SPIDER-MAN: This is a track ride with several tight spins and some 3D special effects. The good thing about the ride is that most of the things that seem to be happening are just visual effects, such as the long falling drop towards the end, so if anything bothers you, just close your eyes. Apart from the spins, there is very little actual physical intensity. Here is a strong recommendation though: Ride in the front or middle seats. The ride loaders will let you do that if you ask them (as long as youre not in the single rider line). You definitely get jostled around a lot more in the back seat, so anyone with motion issues should definitely avoid the back seat. If you are not sure you can ride Spider-Man without being ill, the answer is simple. Ride CAT IN THE HAT. The amount of physical trauma is about the same. If you can stand the CAT, youll be fine on SPIDER-MAN. Another thing to consider is that SPIDER-MAN, unlike some rides, is worth riding even if it makes you a little queasy. Its that good.
CAT IN THE HAT: CAT has a lot of spins and sudden stops. If you are prone to motion sickness and have no coping drugs, you might want to avoid it. Its a fun ride, but not a Must Not Miss ride like SPIDER-MAN. Heres a weird thing. A long time ago, I read that if you ask the ride loader for a non-spinning car, they will let you ride one. I tried it. I asked for a non-spinner and the loader got on a phone and called someone in the ride control room and they put us in the next car that came up and that car DID NOT SPIN. On a later trip, we tried the same thing, and were told there were no non-spinning cars, which was clearly untrue. Maybe the person just didnt know what to do, because any of the cars can have the spinning turned off. I dont know if you can get a non-spinner now or not (Ill try when were in the park next week), but we definitely rode at least once without spinning.
SEUSS TROLLEY: Goes slow. No issues. Great for taking photographs.
CARO-SEUSS-EL: Again, goes slow enough that you should be able to ride without drugs at least once, even if you have trouble with tight circles (which we do).
ONE FISH TWO FISH: Same as CARO. Slow circles. You should be able to ride, but its not a Must Not Miss.
DRAGON CHALLENGE (formerly DUELING DRAGONS): We havent ridden this. Its supposed to be very smooth, and Ice is marginally less intense than Fire, but it does have inversions, so Im sure thats a problem.
FLIGHT OF THE HIPPOGRIFF: This is a kiddie rollercoaster, but it has very tight curves, so for us, its worse than a big coaster. Avoid it if you have motion issues. Its definitely not worth getting sick for.
FORBIDDEN JOURNEY: This is a very intense ride. According to our bellboy at the Royal Pacific, they actually have made it more intense than it was when it first opened. I dont know why. I absolutely could not ride this without the Transderm patch. My husband rode it twice and wouldnt ride it again, even with the patch. It is a Must Not Miss ride, however, so go for it. You do have the option of closing your eyes for some of the worst parts, like the swirly bit at the beginning. Incidentally, our first Harry Potter trip was last November. The line to ride was less than 15 minutes for the entire trip, and there was never more than one person ahead of us in the single rider line. I enjoyed the ride much more than I thought I would because I thought the whole ride was going to be the 3D visuals on the concave screens. Thats actually about half the ride. The other half is practical effectsanimatronic dementors, a cool dragon, giant spiders, a whomping willow that tries to whomp you. Definitely worth riding once, even if it makes you sick.
JURASSIC PARK RIVER ADVENTURE: No problems. Its a forward moving boat ride. The least wet part of the boat is the back seat. The most wet is the front seat.
PTERANODON FLYERS: A lot of people dont like this ride, but we love it. Its a lot of fun, but very short. No loops, no tight curves, just some swinging around. Weve never had a motion problem. You cant ride without a child, because the ride is so badly designedonly 3 vehicles operate at one time, and each seats 2 people. The policy used to be that adults could ride first thing in the morning, but the last time we were there, they wouldnt even let us ride then. I dont know what the deal is with that, but its very upsetting, because the ride is a lot of fun, as long as you havent waited an hour and a half to ride it. Were going to the park next week. Well see if they let us ride.
DUDLEY DO-RIGHT: DUDLEY is a log flume, so theres no motion issues, just wetness. You will get wet. Always ride Dudley before Popeye, because the Dudley queue tends to be cold, and youll be soaking wet and freezing if you ride Popeye first.
POPEYE AND BLUTOS BILGE-RAT BARGES: This is a rapids ride, so how wet you get and how much your boat spins is entirely up to chance. Sometimes you get lucky and everyone in the boat gets soaked but you. Sometimes theres much more spinning than other times, but there will always be some, plus a lot of sloshing around. If you have motion issues, dont even think about riding it without motion sickness drugs.
DOCTOR DOOM TOWERS: The towers have never been a problem for us. Its very short duration and just three up and down bits.
INCREDIBLE HULK: We havent ridden this yet, but Bob has, with the patch, and he has no problem with it. I will try to ride it next week, but you couldnt get me on it with a gun, if I didnt have motion sickness meds. I could do the front part, but there are tight circles in the back, and a sudden stop.
TRANSFORMERS: This ride is very similar to SPIDER-MAN, but more intense. If you can ride SPIDER-MAN, give it a try, but ride S-M first. Again, you can close your eyes if you need to, because physically youre not doing a lot, except for making tight turns. But if S-M bothers you, definitely dont go on TRANSFORMERS. I would say S-M is a Must Not Miss, but TRANSFORMERS isnt, unless youre a real fan of the franchise.
DESPICABLE ME: Great motion simulator, lots of fun. The pre-ride elements are cool, too. I disagree with one of the previous posters about the seats though. Someone recommended sitting in the stationery seats if youre prone to motion sickness. I think this is a mistake. I tried that with the old Hanna-Barbera ride and it was so much worse than if I had been in the moving seats. I had to close my eyes the entire time. When youre in the ride seats, youre moving along with the motion picture. When youre stationery, the things on the screen are jumping around making it visually much more nauseating. DESPICABLE is a definite for riding.
E.T. E.T. is a gentle ride with no motion issues. I used to ride it over and over when the nephews and nieces wanted to ride Back to the Future. My niece, who never gets dizzy, had problems with Back to the Future. She wouldnt even let me get on it.
SIMPSONS The SIMPSONS motion simulator replaced Back to the Future. We rode it the year it opened without problems (but with the patch). Last year, it was much rougher than it had been on previous visits. I dont know what thats about. I would not recommend riding it if you have motion sickness issues, unless you have meds of some kind.
KANG & KODOS TWIRL N HURL This goes fairly slowly, so its probably not a problem. If you can ride ONE FISH, you can ride this.
MEN IN BLACK MIB is a track ride with some spinning, but usually not too much. You ride around and shoot at aliens. Supposedly, if you fire your
gun at a light on the top of someone elses vehicle, it causes it to spin. Fortunately, few people know about that so its not usually a problem. We did a lot of spinning the first time we rode, and my husband would never ride it again. However, on subsequent trips, when riding alone, I never had so much spinning. If spinning is too much of a problem, avoid this ride.
SHRECK and TERMINATOR These two rides are sit-down 3D movie experiences. Ive never had a problem with either, except I dont like the smell of fake motorcycle exhaust in TERMINATOR. Its worth doing at least once, as is SHRECK.
DISASTER The ride part of DISASTER is just a tram ride that goes amok. Most of the time, youre sitting still watching the special effects around you. No motion issues, unless riding backwards back into the station is a problem for you.
TWISTER This is a show. You stand on a platform and watch the special effects. There is a slight bump at the end, but no motion issues.
REVENGE OF THE MUMMY This is a combination dark ride and rollercoaster. The first part is just moving around from scene to scene. The one thing you need to know about the front part is that when you come into the blue room, where the bugs seem to come out at you, you need to lean back and press your head into the head rest. Otherwise, the jolt backwards will make you hit your head. After that, you do a magnetic launch and take several fast tight turns in the dark, with various things flashing at you. Then theres a respite, sort of, then some more tight curves in the dark. If the tight curves werent bad enough, the vehicle comes to a very abrupt stop in a room where the ceiling flames up. The combination of the heat and the sudden stop are as bad or worse than the tight curves. I absolutely would not ride this without motion sickness meds. Its a great ride with them, though.
RIP RIDE ROCKIT Havent ridden yet.
WOODYS NUTHOUSE COASTER The trouble with kiddie coasters is that parks usually put them in very small spaces, so they have to have tight curves. I dont remember whether the curves were an issue, because its been so long since I rode. I didnt have a motion sickness problem, though. And neither did my husband, who is even more sensitive.
GRINGOTTS COASTER I havent ridden this yet, but Im told its less intense than FORBIDDEN JOURNEY. Im sure its worth it, though. Ill find out next week and post an update, if anyone cares.
I hope this helps. I dont mean it to read as an advertisement for Transderm Scop, but really, the difference between how much fun we have in the park with the patch, and how much we would have without it, is phenomenal. There are so many ridesand some of them are the premiere ridesthat I wouldnt be able to ride at all, without it. If you have any other questions, Im glad to help. I certainly understand why someone would want answers to the motion sickness questions, and Ive never seen an article about it. Thanks for reading. C.
