I recently rode the "Jurassic World VelociCoaster" roller coaster at Universal Orlando's Island of Adventure, and it's a groundbreaking ride with multiple inversions that tops out at 70mph. It's the fastest roller coaster in any Universal or Disney park.
The pre-show story of the ride is that guests are preparing to ride a roller coaster in a Jurassic World park that will go through the velociraptors' enclosure. The queue winds around velociraptor exhibits, and past the faces of velociraptors that are penned in.
In the final queue room, characters from the movie appear on screens, with Bryce Dallas Howard playing the corporate spokeswoman cheerfully introducing the ride to guests, and Chris Pratt playing animal behavioral scientist Owen Grady, who angrily rebukes her and predicts disaster for the roller coaster, recklessly sharing space with these dangerous animals. He warns all guests in the queue not to get on the ride.
SPOILER ALERT: The ride actually runs without incident, with no interference from the velociraptor figures within it (which actually can barely be seen, given the breakneck speeds), so chalk this up as a rare victory for the suits in the Jurassiverse.
Various loops and inversions, an 80-degree angle drop, and a thrilling barrel roll over water at 53mph, are among the elements that make this coaster one of the best I've ever been on.
It's got competition in the same park, as the Harry Potter-themed "Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure" is another spectacular roller coaster: not as fast, but the ride experience is much more elaborately themed, has six launches, and features moving animatronics that the vehicle slows down at various times to allow you to appreciate, narration, and a surprise or two (no spoiler here).
Even though these two landmark rides opened just within the past six years (Hagrid in 2019 and VelociCoaster in 2021), Universal is set to open an entire new theme park this May: Epic Universe. Clearly Universal is making huge investments in the theme park sphere, and it's a bonanza for parkgoers.
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Universal Orlando's Epic Universe officially announced
Advance images of Universal's upcoming Epic Universe theme park are flowing in
