VelociCoaster to Awaken June 10th, 2021 at Universal’s Islands of Adventure

On April 6th, 2021, Universal Orlando Resort has finally confirmed June 10th, 2021 as the opening date for the “Apex Predator of Roller Coasters.” Having been under construction for two years, Jurassic World VelociCoaster is a brand new coaster for Islands of Adventure that launches guests not once, but twice, to speeds up to 70 mph (110 km/h) and a height of 155 ft (47 m).

Location

Obviously, VelociCoaster is located in the Jurassic Park section of Islands of Adventure, but will use the Jurassic World theme. The location of the ride’s station is between Jurassic Park Discovery Center and the Camp Jurassic/Pteranodon Flyers section, where the old Triceratops Encounter used to be. The layout of the coaster stretches from that area to in front of the Discovery Center and into Islands of Adventure’s main lagoon between Jurassic Park and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade.

Layout

In total, Jurassic World VelociCoaster has a height of 155 ft, a length of 4700 ft, and a maximum speed of 70 mph, as well as a total of 4 inversions (points where guests flip upside-down) and 12 opportunities for air time (where riders experience weightlessness and are lifted slightly from their seats).

VelociCoaster starts off with a “dark ride”/show section before guests are sent through the first launch. That launch sends thrill-seekers into an Immelmann loop element (where the train goes up half a loop like normal before twisting on top, going the opposite direction) followed right after by a dive loop (where the train goes upward into a twist before “diving” to the ground in a half loop). After various hills and dives through a themed landscape, which provide great opportunities to experience air time, the train dives down into a pit where a second launch awaits guests, sending them into a 155 ft tall top hat element (where riders go up a steep, usually vertical, ascent up a tall hill and back down similarly).

After the top hat drops guests from a height of 155 ft, guests go into a small ravine in front of the Jurassic Park Discovery Center and into a 100 ft long Zero-G Stall (where the train rotates riders a full 180 degrees, upside-down, before leveling out and sending guests the other way). From there, the coaster has twists and hills over the main lagoon of the park in front of Jurassic Park and Hogsmeade (as well as over the bridge connecting the Lost Continent to Jurassic Park), which gives guests more opportunities for air time. After a small bunny hop hill element (a small hill that gives air time) over the lagoon, guests enter a barrel roll (simply a full 360 degree roll) followed by a last group of swooping turns. The ride then enters the final brakes, where more show elements are present.

Oh, and there are also raptors EVERYWHERE.

Manufacturer and Design

Jurassic World VelociCoaster is manufactured by Intamin, who also created two coasters at Universal: Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (2019) and Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts (2014). In addition, Intamin created Cheetah Hunt (2011) at Busch Gardens Tampa and other record breaking coasters throughout the world: Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure (the tallest coaster built at 456 ft), as well as notable Cedar Point coasters like Top Thrill Dragster (the second tallest at 420 ft), Millennium Force (the first coaster to break 300 ft), and Maverick (a coaster with a 95 degree drop and two launches) are examples.

Looking at the image above released by Universal, the train seats two people per row and has a lap bar that guests pull down instead of an over-the-shoulder restraint. The ride vehicle is also designed to seat 24 people total, using 12 rows (for comparison, that’s 8 more seats and 4 more rows than Cheetah Hunt, and double that of Maverick’s). In addition, VelociCoaster uses Linear Synchronous Motors (LSMs) for the launches, and the model is a “Blitz Coaster” (the same one as Cheetah Hunt and Maverick).