Consumer Review of the 4D Ride, Tower of the Americas, San Antonio

Our experiences while "enjoying" the 4D ride at the Tower of the Americas was far from pleasant. Please read this review of the popular San Antonio attraction. We have enjoyed other 4D rides and they were wonderful. This one gave me whip lash!

The 4D ride inside the Tower of the Americas is advertised as a remarkable journey through the history of Texas as well as the unique geographical features of the city. It stimulates all of the major senses, except for taste, to create a realistic experience. You will hear, see, smell, and feel "Texas."

Our admission ticket purchase gave us unlimited access to this attraction, as well as the observation deck at the Tower of the Americas , but I can honestly say that one trip to the 4D ride was more than enough. In fact, we wish that we had never ridden it at all.

Visitors must first lineup outside of the main door in a roped off area. In groups of no more than 30, people are taken through this main door into a room that is decorated like a sitting room from an estate or mansion in old-time Texas. The walls are decorated with numerous artifacts, antique heirlooms, historic old pictures, and much more.

While standing in this room, I commented to my husband that it seemed very smoky in the area. A large sign inside this room gave a warning about not riding if you have back or breathing problems. Now I have been in rides like these before, and I can honestly say they were not that bad. I had no reason to believe that this ride would be any different. On the other hand, I felt obligated to ride since we paid for the price to do so and there were no refunds.

After a few minutes, the ride operator opened another set of doors and ushered us inside. In the new room was found a number of rows of theater style seats. There was also an area for people who are in wheelchairs. The smoke was very thick in this room, even though the ride was supposedly over. I had difficulty breathing at this point. My husband asked if we should leave and I said no, surely it wouldn't be that bad. Little did I know that it would be!

4D rides, as a general rule, are very entertaining. It is like a 3-D ride except that it adds little spurts of water in cases where you're watching a water movie, air jets to simulate bugs flying by you, smells to match whatever is on the screen, and sometimes your seat might rumble. So I was looking forward to this ride, assuming it would be similar to the ones I have experienced before.

In this ride, the seats jerked around violently. In fact, the jerking was so abrupt that I had to sit completely forward on the edge of the seat. The jerking motions were unpredictable as well. In one scene of the video, we were supposedly on the back of a bucking bull in a rodeo, and the seats jerked right along with it. When the ride was over my back hurt terribly despite my efforts to avoid the jerking motion.

The smoke in the room was difficult to bear as well. It was trying to make the smells and shallow breathing of a dust filled field in Texas, or a rodeo grounds where the mud and dust has been stirred up. If you have ever been to one of these areas, then you know how difficult it is to breathe sometimes. And in this case, it wasn't just an issue of a smell, it was an issue of making the air thick and uncomfortable. In my opinion, that effect was not necessary. Even when I tried to breathe through my shirt in order to filter out the smoke, I found that I still could not breathe. What's so alarming about this is that I do not have ashthma, I do not smoke, and I have no health problems related to my lungs.

Thankfully, the ride only lasted about three minutes and we were able to leave. I was very thankful when this occurred!

I recall that while purchasing our tickets at the Tower of the Americas ticket counter there was no warning signs or indications that the 4D ride might be physically hazardous. I suppose that the staff covers their backsides by putting a sign inside the ride rather than outside. They know that they have you hooked once you buy your ticket since there is no refunds. But it would be nice for people to be forewarned before they buy the ticket, not afterwards.

I do not recommend this ride to anyone who has any type of back problems whatsoever, even a small one. And even for those people who have perfect backs, you could very easily get whiplash from this ride. So, if you visit theTower of the Americas , consider yourself forewarned about this attraction.

Unfortunately, you are required to buy a ticket whether you plan to ride it or not, and there are no warnings about what the ride can do to you when you buy these tickets either. You will see one warning before riding the ride, but like most people, we didn't think it would be THAT bad! Be forewarned: If you have any back trouble at ALL or if you don't like breathing thick smoke (which would include about 90 percent of the population), don't bother with the ride. Here's a couple pictures of it all the same.

Attraction at the Tower of the Americas, San Antonio Texas

http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/49812/4_d_ride_at_san_antonio_texas_inside.html