Being a hometown East London gal who hasn’t been on a decent real rollercoaster, simulator rides at Hemingways were the perfect rides for me to try out. I was blown away by my first 3D and 4D rollercoaster simulator ride at Hemingways mall in East London at the end of March 2012, so much so, that I had to try some of the other 4D simulator rides too (in May 2012)

I’ve now been on (or done?) 5 of the ten 4D rides – or perhaps I should say 5 of the 6 rides, as the other 4 rides advertised on the outside of the simulator have not yet (May 2012) arrived in East London.

Now that Tony and I have been on 5 of the six 4D simulator rides at Hemingways, we have our favourites:

Mine:
Favourite: Cosmic Coaster;
2nd favourite: Snow Coaster;
3rd: Snow Ride;
4th: Pharaoh’s Tomb (or something like that)
5th: Haunted Forest

Tony’s:
Favourite: Cosmic Coaster;
2nd favourite: Pharaoh’s Tomb;
3rd: Snow Ride;
4th: Snow Coaster;
5th: Haunted Forest

After first going on the Snow Coaster 4D ride, we next went on the Pharaoh’s Tomb ride. After that it was Snow Ride, then Cosmic Coaster, then Haunted Forest we did most recently.

It was due to overhearing somebody in the queue say that the Cosmic Coaster 4D simulator ride was quite mild compared to the others that we first chose to go on some of the other rides. If we remember correctly we think the person had even said that parents mostly take their younger kids on it – and much the same was said about Snow Ride.

So we went on Pharaoh’s Tomb next. I thought the graphics and 3D effects were good, but was quite disappointed with the ride itself. I wanted a fast, dangerous and exciting ride. After the excitement and speed of Snow Coaster, I found Pharaoh’s Tomb to be a little boring.

Snow Ride was next: This was like a feel good movie and a feel good ride! Right from the start, the tone is set by the almost cheeky and lively music, and Tony and I giggled almost all the way through it. If we weren’t giggling we had a smile on our faces. Although the Snow Ride was an absolutely delightful ride (and quite speedy in places, so for those speed freaks out there, this 4D ride is not just for little kids!) I was a little concerned at how jolting the sudden stops felt on my neck and back, and wondered how good it was for little kids (since overhearing that parents enjoyed taking their kids on this one) but then I’m 40 something and not as supple as little kids are.

Then it was our favourite, Cosmic Coaster. Not sure what exactly it was that we had expected, but it was nothing like whatever it was that we had expected. The surprise element was a delight, and we felt surprised right from the start when our rollercoaster car slid into place on the tracks. I have realised now that I like to see tracks in these simulator rides, and this could be one of the main reasons I placed Snow Coaster in second position on my favourites list – otherwise it might have been Snow Ride that made it to second position, but because of the sudden stops or jolting landings I felt (and didn’t really like) during it (not to say that Snow Coaster doesn’t also have some sudden stops or jolting landings) Snow Ride stays in position 3.

If we were to again go on just one ride of the five we’ve already been on, it would be Cosmic Coaster.

The Haunted Forest: Again a surprise, but not a nice surprise this time. Everytime we’ve been in the queue, or have stood by while my kids are in the queue, just about everyone was going on the Haunted Forest. We thought that this meant it was popular and an excellent ride. Maybe we were trying to keep the best for last (we have no intention on going on the only one we haven’t yet been on, the King Python one) or maybe it was because we expected so much more from having watched others scream and jiggle about as they went on this particular 4D ride (you can see the people in the 4-seater rollercoaster car on the black and white screen seen from the queue outside the simulator ride rollercoaster car and movie screen room), but we were both disappointed, and couldn’t understand why very many people chose the Haunted Forest whenever we’d stood in the queue – of course, it could also have been their last choice after having tried all the others, just like it was for us – but how to explain 4 teenage girls screaming like crazy like the ride and 3D movie were really scary? Hm, guess I’m just getting old. This would probably have been the perfect ride to enjoy along with 3 girlfriends when I was a teenager.

Also, ladies, if you go on the Haunted Forest simulator ride, wear a really tight top, then another big baggy loose top over it, because this Haunted Forest ride jiggles you around like crazy, and you don’t want to be fiddling with your top when people are watching you on the screen outside (or not fiddling and having the people outside watching your jiggles jiggle), and you don’t want to miss what your 3 friends are screaming at while you’re looking down at your top and trying to stop the jiggling that’s going on there!

Whatever. If you haven’t yet, coast, scream, laugh, jiggle and jolt your way on over to Hemingways mall in East London and try one of these 5-minute 3D and 4D simulator rides – they’re an unreal speedy blast of fun!

© Copyright Teresa Schultz