The highly anticipated Jurassic World VelociCoaster opened at Universal Orlando Resort’s Islands of Adventure theme park on Thursday, and while it’s officially billed as the tallest and fastest coaster in all of Florida, I can confirm courtesy of the video at the top of this article that it’s also the scariest. I got the chance to check out the highly themed new attraction ahead of its grand opening, and walked away absolutely shaken to my core… and ready to ride it again. The VelociCoaster is one of the best attractions Universal Orlando has ever opened, combining the resort’s penchant for thrills with a highly themed twist on the Jurassic Park/World franchise – think Rip-Ride Rocket meets Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. It’s one of the scariest, most surprising coasters I’ve ever ridden, but it’s also executed with a tremendous attention to detail that embraces the park’s “ride the movies” moniker on which the foundation of Universal Orlando was built. It’s terrifying and surprising and thrilling all at once.
The conceit of the VelociCoaster is essentially that you’re racing velociraptors inside their paddock in an operational Jurassic World. The immersive queue makes it feel like you’re walking through a part of the Jurassic World park that was introduced in the 2015 film, and cast members Chris Pratt (Owen Grady), Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing), and BD Wong (Dr. Henry Wu) reprise their roles in videos throughout the queue offering words of wisdom (and warning) to guests. There’s even a fun cameo from Mr. DNA, and the ride takes place prior to the events of the first Jurassic World movie.
The queue is designed to build anticipation for the ride, so when you enter the raptor stables, you come face-to-face with Delta and Echo who are (supposedly) safe and restrained in their enclosures but are clearly itching to break free. The ride itself feels like a hunt – just as the coaster gets ready to take off, these familiar raptors flank the vehicles and take off, with you blasting off hot on their trail. What results is not just an intense roller coaster, but various twists and turns where you can spot said raptors here and there as practical figures scattered throughout the area. Again, that stellar blend of design and thrills that makes Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure such a blast is very prevalent here.
As for the coaster itself? Hold on to your butts. Across 4,700 feet of track you reach 70 mph in just 2.4 seconds, which propels you 155 feet in the air only to then immediately plummet into an 80-degree drop during which you feel like a full-on astronaut floating in space. Weightlessness is so prevalent throughout the ride you may very seriously fear for your life on various occasions, wondering how in the world you’re not flying out of your seat.
Indeed, the VelociCoaster is not just impressive as a theme park ride, but also as a feat of engineering. You know you’re safe, but the way in which the ride vehicle secures you while twisting and turning and flipping is subtle. Unlike the Rip-Ride Rocket (until now, Universal Orlando’s most intense ride), the way in which you’re secured into the vehicle feels less conspicuous.
And on that engineering note, another reason the VelociCoaster is so successful is because it’s a constantly surprising ride experience. Especially for those who are fans of coasters, this one feels delightfully unique. When you think you’re gonna go left, you go right. When you think the vehicle’s about to slow down, it speeds up. And when you think you can’t possibly twist and turn at the same time, the VelociCoaster literally throws you for a loop. Proof positive is me screaming at the top of my lungs in the video at the top of this article.
One of the things I really love about Universal Orlando Resort is the attention to detail in immersing guests into different worlds. When you step into the Diagon Alley at Wizarding World of Harry Potter, you literally feel like you’ve left Florida altogether. Nothing exists but the fantastical world in front of you, tangible at last. Even within the contained Wizarding World, the aforementioned Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure feels like a detour into the Forbidden Forest while the thrilling Escape from Gringotts transports you to the famous wizarding bank – two very different places existing within the same universe. And even some of the park’s older rides embrace this notion well – the forest smells in E.T. Adventure are instantly transportive.
The VelociCoaster could have easily been a basic roller coaster with the Jurassic World name slapped onto it. The Jurassic franchise is one of the most popular of all time, and the films are showing no signs of slowing down. But the VelociCoaster goes the extra mile to immerse guests into yet another new world, and it makes all the difference. This coaster joins the ranks of other excellent attractions like Hagrid’s, Gringotts, and Revenge of the Mummy and is destined to be a must-ride event for decades to come.
Just, uh, maybe wait and eat after the ride.