Unfortunately, Veronica suffers from motion sickness and vertigo. She has to sit facing forward on trains and buses. Luckily, most rides have little tricks to help with motion sickness, but in some cases – that isn’t enough.
We have another family member that is limited to a very select number of rides due to motion sickness. So we can give you some idea of what the rides are like, which ones to certainly avoid, and how to prep for them – but you need to know your personal limits.
Top Offenders
Sadly: A lot of the worst rides for motion sickness are among the best rides at Disney World. This list includes: all the Roller Coasters, all the simulators, and some of the movies.
Roller Coasters
Know your limits. If you can’t handle being the passenger in a car, you probably can’t handle a roller coaster. Slinky Dog Dash, the Barnstormer, and 7 Dwarfs Mine Train are all pretty easy and relaxed roller coasters that don’t go very fast, and have few twists and turns. Sit in the front for the slowest experience. Start off with the Barnstormer and see if you can handle that. If not – just grab a snack while your party rides.
Pay special attention to Space Mountain, which is low visibility and also has a section with a laser light effect, Expedition Everest (Which travels backwards and has low visibility at times), and Rockin’ Roller Coaster, which goes upside down.
Primeval Whirl deserves a special mention. It’s clearly a kids roller coaster, but you’re spinning and breaking your back. Definitely avoid this one.
Simulators
The simulators are some of our favorite rides at Disney. We’ve waited hours for Flight of Passage. Sadly for many, they wait in the long line just to get on and get sick. Luckily, the ride constantly blows cold air at you while you sit, and there truly isn’t much movement. The seats try and match the effects happening on the 7,000 square foot screen – so if you do feel sick, just close your eyes. The ride itself isn’t very long, and it’s a cool experience. Again, know your limitations and if you’re up for it, Sivako!
Soarin’ is extremely similar to Flight of Passage, except you sit on a chair instead of a motorcycle. The chair itself doesn’t move much. Close your eyes if you feel sick and you should be totally fine.
Star Tours is probably the most hit or miss. The seats blow cool air on the back of your legs, which is supposed to help with motion sickness, but it’s possible to get that sick feeling, even if you aren’t prone to motion sickness. The entire seating area moves quite a bit, and there’s a lot of jostling and shaking. Closing your eyes probably won’t help much, but Veronica has found that avoiding looking at the screen in the front helps when the vertigo starts getting to her.
Do not ride mission space. Just don’t. There’s a green side and an orange side. on the orange side, you’ll spin and experience around 2Gs. The green side is “Easier” and doesn’t spin, but still moves and rotates. It’s a small confined space, you’ll probably get sick, don’t chance it, we definitely won’t, and I’m not even prone to motion sickness!
Dinosaur isn’t quite a simulator, but more of a car ride. It can be a rough ride and it’s in the dark. The front is a little better as there isn’t as much side to side motion, but this will still probably make you sick, and closing your eyes is unlikely to help.
Movies
I always get sick during “It’s tough to Be a Bug”, which is literally just a movie – I think its the 3d glasses and effects that does it for me, so I always avoid that. There’s also theaters in Epcot with screens all around playing a 360 degree movie. These can certainly make you sick, despite you not actually moving. The movement of the camera and the multiple screens with the focus changing can certainly make you ill. Be careful with these.
Safe Bets
Now that you have a big list of things to avoid lets get you a list of easy rides you should be able to handle no matter what.
For a motion sickness sufferer, EPCOT is probably your best bet.
Living with the Land. It’s a slow going boat ride through a hydroponic farm. It moves at a crawl and is more of an informational ride.
Frozen Ever After. It’s a slow boat ride. It does briefly go backwards and downhill, but it’s pretty gentle.
Spaceship Earth. Glacier slow cart that just moves around a gentle track. This is an informational ride. But you do have to keep in mind, the AC isn’t the most powerful on this ride and although slow moving at the end you are riding backwards and there are a huge amount of light strands that can trigger a dizzy spell if you focus on them.
Test Track. MAYBE. If you get carsick, this probably isn’t worth going on. If not, it’s basically a short car ride in a convertible, it’s our favorite Epcot ride!
Los Tres Caballeros. Easy “Small World” style boat ride with a fun and catchy song.
The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Easy clamshell ride that ends in an aquarium. Be careful around the moving bubble section (It’s brief). Just close your eyes and hope that you don’t get stuck in that section like we have before!
Hollywood Studios is chock full of shows. Go see some of those.
Your only real hope for a ride is Toy Story Mania, which depending on how severe your motion sickness is could still make you sick. It’s a 3d game type ride, but has some rough turns and spins in between the different games. Slinky Dog Dash is very gentle for a roller coaster if you’re willing to try it, but definitely sit more towards the front if possible.
Animal Kingdom has a few things to see and do. Focus on the animals and shows and you’ll be fine!
Na’Vi River Journey is a slow boat ride. But in our own personal opinion it kinda sucks. It does have a very life like Na’vi character, which is pretty cool!
Kilmanjaro Safaris might make you sick if you get carsick. It’s a bouncy offroad ride that will be different every time. It’s worth it if you can handle it. If not, head to Gorilla falls exploration trail or
Rafikis planet watch. Be aware, you need to ride a train with sideways facing seats to get there.
Magic Kingdom has the most amount of attractions by far, but also the most to avoid. You might be able to handle Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion.
Ariels Mermaid ride is super gentle and a great kids singalong ride.
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin doesn’t actually spin unless you want it to. It’s a shooting arcade style ride that slowly goes forward. You control the carts movement.
The People Mover is also great. Sit facing forward and this slow gentle ride should let you people watch and take in the sights without issue and make sure to take a look at the progress being made on the Tron coaster going up! It’s pretty cool.
Peter Pan’s Flight + Winnie the Pooh: Use Caution. These might trigger your motion sickness. Pooh moves erratically – Peter Pan is smoother but you hover above the ground.
The Enchanted Tiki Room, Carousel of Progress. Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, and other shows are all great ways to get out of the heat, and won’t make you motion sick.
Avoid the teacups, astro orbiter, dumbo, alladin’s magic carpet, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain.
Consider Splash mountain. It’s actually a pretty gentle ride (excluding the large drop). Definitely the best way to cool off though!
We hope that this article is helpful, especially for and first time Disney goers out there.
And like I said, at the end of the day it’s about knowing your own limits and sometimes you really won’t know if something will