For myself, at least, I havenāt found that to be the case. I get sick on rides now that I never have before, so no mental aspect at all.
But, I can say that there CAN be a mental aspect in that some of the techniques people try to use to avoid motion sickness can actually make it worse. Already mentioned: riding on an empty stomachā¦people think that will help, but will make it worse actually. Another is people close their eyes. This can make motion sickness worse. So, I think the āmentalā aspect is really about the things you might be consciously doing to try NOT to get sick, which is only making it worse.
One of the worst experiences I had recently was the last time I rode Despicable Me. I had been on it before without issues. But the last time, I thought for sure I was going to throw up. So, I stopped looking at the screen, and just starting looking at my surroundings. This allowed the feelings to subside. So now I knowā¦I can no longer tolerate Despicable Me as I once did (at least, not without Meclizine in my system!).
Mission Space Orange is the only ride Iāve ever actually left and ran to the bathroom to puke. It was awful. Mission Space green is fine for me.
GotG is no problem for me. I think singing with the music & feeling the cold air helps. RnRC I have to scream during the launch and inversions. Same on Velocicoaster .
Backwards is bad for me. Hagrids Iām off for an hour. Popcorn after helps. Everest is a once and done each trip.
Forbidden Journey is the worst for me. I feel sick for hours. Transformers Spiderman are the same. Men in Black - if people on the next car keep spinning us, I feel horrible. I wish they could limit that or stop it!
I use a reliefband now. I have the sport model. It sends minor electrical pulses to my wrist. It helps a lot. Works in the car too.
Drug wise, I have been prescription zofran (ondansetron). It works quickly and doesnāt make me sleepy.
An empty stomach is the absolute worst! Iām best about 30 min after a decent lunch or dinner.
I use the Scopolamine patch. I still can only ride Forbidden Journey once a trip. I have to go sit down for a bit for my motion sickness pass. I donāt have any issues with any other rides including Mission Space Orange.
Mission Space is the only ride that has legit ruined my day at Epcot and I have not been on it since. I was queasy the rest of the day after going on it - and that was with motion sickness meds.
Even now that I donāt seem to get motion sick - I refuse to go on it.
My go to when I did get motion sickness was Bonine. I took one per day like clockwork when at theme parks, flying or cruising.
For whatever reason I donāt get motion sick anymoreā¦(and I hope it stays that way)
Not an attraction, but I get sick on the Skyliner which sucks because that eliminates a bunch of resorts for me. I tried both the wrapped and unwrapped versions. I think the culprit is the curved āglassā which distorts the view.
I finally figured out what works on GoTG for me: I alway turn my head and look at the ride track in the direction we are heading. Donāt know why but it works !
The main cause of motion sickness isnāt really the motion itself, but the disconnect between what your body is feeling, motion-wise, and what your eyes are visually seeing. This is why, for example, some people get car sick if they arenāt actually looking out the window and instead try to read or do something on their phone, etc.
On rides, the same is true. The visuals you see donāt align perfectly with what your body is experiencing, and this triggers the motion sickness. But, when you look ahead to the track (where you are headed), your visual input matches what you are experiencing, reducing the likelihood that you will experience motion sickness. This is also why closing your eyes can make motion sickness worseā¦you are experiencing motion with no visual reference whatsoever now!
For me I find that positive g forces can be rough for me.
Mission space is obviously out, and RNRC I havenāt done in years because of the g forces. I can handle the backwards of EE but right when it turns I definitely feel a little gross. But itās fairly quick so I can usually recover fast.
GoTG is a little rough because of the sideways movement combined with the screens but Iāve learned to focus on the track and not look and now itās pretty manageable.
Iām wondering how Iāll handle hagrids and velocicoaster at universal next week.
Iāve read something that velocicoaster has a lot more negative g forces than positive so itās more a feeling like your floating rather than pressure on your body ( like the tower of terror drop feeling vs being in a centrifuge). Can someone concur?
I imagine hagrids will feel much like EE with the backward element?
I know a lot will probably be out for me at universal. But DD really wants to see the Harry Potter sections. And I really want to do those two coasters.
The main problem with EE in the backwards element isnāt the backwards aspect, but the fact that you are going backwards IN THE DARK, so you lose visual context.
Hagridās doesnāt really have this issueā¦at least, not exactly. The longer a backwards element is, you can still get that disconnect because you canāt see where you are goingā¦BUT, you can still visually see enough that it shouldnāt cause too much of an issue.
Most of the G forces on Hagridās are from the launchesā¦but they align, visually. Of course, every personās tolerance is different. I wouldnāt expect too many issues with Hagridās, though. The backwards part of Hagridās isnāt in complete darkness, nor as intense as EE.
Iād say this is pretty accurate. Not entirely, though. VC is a tricky one to compare, because it has some elements that arenāt really found on many other coasters. Any time you have inversions, it makes it hard if you get motion sickness, because it can be harder to gain visual lock. So I think between Hagridās and VC, you are more likely to experience issues with VC. (Having said that, I donāt experience motion sickness on eitherā¦just a tiny bit of dizziness on VC from the inversions. Which happens to me on ANY ride with inversions.)
Iām willing to at least try VC. As far as inversions go (since Iāve got older) I only have RNRC as a baseline, which has more full inversion than corkscrews like VC?
Iāve watch the pov a few times and know the time of the ride so at least I can set my watch and know if Iām feeling bad I only have to make it though one minute or so of my life.
My mom always told me if I felt sick to look at my feet
Worth trying!
In addition to the darkness that Ryan mentioned, I also find the banked turn to be particularly fierce on the backwards section of EE, which causes a lot of Gs. Hagridās does not have that level of intensity. It is still a thrilling coaster, but much less impactful from a G force perspective.
I never had a motion sickness issue until I got a little older. On my last trip to WDW I tried 2 remedies at the same time.
Sea-Band Anti-Nausea Acupressure Wristband and Basic Vigor Vertigo Ease Roll-On. Both on Amazon.
I donāt know if it was one or the other, but I rode Expedition Everest and Rock 'n Rollercoaster with less discomfort.
I just updated the UOR post (first comment below the OP above). If anyone wants to give it a proofread, Iād appreciate it.
Edit: Note that there are mild spoilers relating specifically to the types of motion and certain triggering ride elements, so if you donāt want to know anything about the ride system, you may want to avoid reading.
