Jurassic World VelociCoaster Celebrates Its Grand Opening
Jurassic World VelociCoaster has been through technical rehearsals as well as annual passholder and team member previews for over a month now, but today is the official grand opening! The new ride truly changes the landscape at Universal’s Islands of Adventure for the better.
VelociCoaster takes place just before the events in the first Jurassic World movie. Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and the Jurassic World team had the brilliant idea to put an attraction in the raptor paddock despite concerns from Owen Grady (Chris Pratt). We’re glad that they went ahead and put in Jurassic World VelociCoaster, because it’s just downright amazing. The coaster is basically two experiences in one, because it starts off twisting and winding before shooting off over the lagoon in longer sweeping movements.
The best part of the ride has to be the top hat section. You launch from 40 to 70 mph in 2.4 seconds going 155 feet up. Once you’re at the top you get a bit of airtime before plunging 80 degrees back down. If you can keep your eyes open, you’ll have a truly remarkable view of the rest of the park. A close second to the top hat has to be the Mosasaurus Roll, which twists you upside down over the lagoon. There’s plenty of clearance, but it does feel ridiculously close to the water in the moment.
If there is one downside to Jurassic World VelociCoaster, once you leave the paddock enclosure area the ride really lacks theming besides the view of Jurassic Park. There’s no getting around it considering the roller coaster is outdoors and covers a lot of ground and it’s honestly okay, because the ride is that good.
Luckily, the story is conveyed perfectly through the queue. Throughout the line, there are plenty of references for Jurassic Park fans from Mr. DNA to the cup of water with ripples frozen in time and books from Ian Malcolm, Alan Grant, and Ellie Sattler. It’s a lot more hidden, but the queue also showcases the training process of the velociraptors from the time they were young. If you love the Jurassic World movies then you’ll also love the cameos from Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and BD Wong.
If you haven’t had the chance yet to experience Florida’s fastest launch coaster, start planning your Universal Orlando vacation now. If you want to support us, please consider using Dreams Unlimited Travel for your next vacation. If you can’t travel for a bit longer, take a ride with us on Jurassic World VelociCoaster by watching the video below!
