Tips to avoid motion sickness on theme park rides

If you look at all the rides at Disney, Universal, and other theme parks, you’ll quickly realize many of them have the potential to cause dizziness or queasiness, but is there a way to avoid motion sickness on theme park rides? Here are some tips.

The Simpsons Ride — _{Images courtesy of respective Universal and Disney theme parks}

We asked theme park goers which rides give them motion sickness, and the most common culprits seem to be roller coasters (especially if they go backward like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Expedition Everest), spinning rides (like Mad Tea Party), and motion simulators, including Star Tours – The Adventures Continue and The Simpsons Ride.

Expedition Everest broken track — *Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, just before the backward part of the ride.*

What is Motion Sickness?

According to webmd.com, motion sickness is caused by “conflicts among your senses.” For example, if a ride is spinning you around and upside down, your eyes see one thing, but your inner ears (which affect balance) sense something else — and it’s because “your brain can’t take in those mixed signals” that you feel dizzy or sick.

Jurassic World VelociCoaster mosasaurus roll — *Jurassic World VelociCoaster spins riders around and around, literally.*

How to Avoid Motion Sickness on Theme Park Rides

In addition to asking which theme park attractions made people feel dizzy or sick, we also asked for tips and tricks to sidestep those feelings (or at least minimize them).

Do any theme park rides make you “seasick”? What are some of the things you do to ease motion sickness on theme park attractions?
pic.twitter.com/s4Vr4RYJuI
— Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) January 26, 2024

The most obvious way to avoid motion sickness on theme park rides is to avoid riding, but for some diehard fans that’s not an option. The next most common solution is to take an over-the-counter medication like Dramamine (I prefer the less-drowsy version so I don’t have a sleepy/sluggish feeling). If you’re taking other medications, be sure to talk to your doctor before self-medicating for motion sickness to make sure there won’t be any drug interactions.

Our X followers also recommended using natural nausea remedies like ginger/ginger ale. Several people also suggested staying hydrated (which is good theme park advice even if you don’t suffer from motion sickness). One suggestion was eating a green apple, but we aren’t sure why it works for some people.

For other people, ride order comes into play, with some park goers suggesting that attractions likely to cause motion sickness should be ridden first thing in the morning, while others wait to the end of the day to ride anything that might make them feel dizzy or queasy.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter Butterbeer — *Having a full Butterbeer before riding Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is not suggested.*

Seasickness patches or bands may not be a common sight at theme parks, but they can help with motion sickness, especially at Universal parks, which have a high percentage of 3-D and motion simulation rides, including the aforementioned Simpsons Ride, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and Transformers: The Ride 3-D.

Attractions Magazine was sent a Reliefband to test. It’s an FDA-cleared device that is promoted as tapping into the brain-vagus nerve connection to ease the feelings of nausea and the urge to vomit that come with heightened anxiety levels. By sending mild electrical impulses along a nerve in the wrist, Reliefband is said to signal the brain to activate the vagus nerve, which runs to the stomach and intestines. This is said to calm the GI tract and offer quick and reliable relief.

We took two members of our staff to Universal Orlando and Epcot to test the band on three different rides: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. All three were known to our riders to cause them motion sickness.

*Wearing the Reliefband in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Islands of Adventure.*
_{Photo by Matt Roseboom}

Both said they thought the Reliefband helped ease their motion sickness to the extent they would want to wear it again while riding both rides at Universal Orlando. But Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind was a different story. Our motion-sickness-prone rider said the Reliefband didn’t help her enough on Cosmic Rewind. She still felt ill after riding.

As with all these potential remedies, different solutions work to varying degrees for different people. Our advice is to try them all and see what works for you. We were happy overall with the Reliefband we tested and will continue using it. But it isn’t cheap. They run from $99 to $299 and can be purchased at reliefband.com

*Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey*.

Where to Get Help for Motion Sickness

If you’re suffering from motion sickness, you can visit a First Aid location in any Disney and Universal theme park.

Universal Studios Hollywood – Production Plaza (Upper Lot) and Jurassic World (Lower Lot)
Universal Orlando Resort – San Francisco and New York (Universal Studios Florida); Port of Entry and Lost Continent (Islands of Adventure)
Disneyland Resort – Main Street U.S.A (Disneyland) and Buena Vista Street (California Adventure)
Walt Disney World Resort – Near Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom), Odyssey (Epcot), Crossroads of the World (Hollywood Studios), and Discovery Island (Animal Kingdom)

Which Rides May Cause Motion Sickness?

If you’re prone to motion sickness, you should definitely take precautions before riding anything that spins, drops, or requires 3-D glasses — but there’s also no shame in sitting it out if you know you’ll be feeling terrible afterward.

Below are some of the rides at Disney and Universal theme parks that may cause problems for people sensitive to motion.