While the ride will not officially open until June 10th, Annual Passholders were able to sign up for a limited preview of Universal’s Islands of Adventure’s VelociCoaster! Here’s a full review of our experience!
Please Note: Spoilers Ahead!
VelociCoaster Queue
If you’re hoping for another Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure type attraction, you’re going to be disappointed. VelociCoaster is much more focused on traditional coaster thrills than theming and story. But what the ride lacks, the queue delivers! VelociCoaster has one of the most breathtaking queues in the resort, and honestly, I can’t wait to stand in line at this attraction again.
Save $60 on Universal 3-Park 3-Day Park to Park! Visit Universal’s Volcano Bay Water Theme Park.When you first enter the queue, you’ll find yourself in a metallic, futuristic-looking corridor. As you wind your way through the down and backs, you’ll be coming closer and closer to a beautiful statue of the raptors surrounded by digital monitors. The monitors show a combination of the attraction logo and a story video starring…Bingo!… MR. DNA!
After tearing yourself away from the statue, you’ll find a set of windows to the outside world. A set of translucent screens superimpose velociraptor images over the real life scene of the launching coaster! This was really tough to capture on my camera, but here’s my best shot!
Jonathan, my co-host on the Hung Up On Theme Parks podcast, captured this short video!
After leaving this tunnel, you’ll enter a room of Easter eggs! Look closely in each of the “cubby” displays for references to the original movies!
And then for perhaps one of the coolest things I’ve seen in any queue…ever! As you round the corner, you see multiple raptor animatronics. They’re stuck in their stalls, struggling to get out. They blink, breath, and even rattle their cages as they try to escape! I could have stayed in this room for literally hours watching these things!
I wasn’t able to get much video as I couldn’t hold up the queue line, but here’s a few seconds of what to expect!
After the raptors, we were ushered into a special locker section of the line. Since the coaster is so intense, guests are directed to put ALL loose articles into a locker, except for a park ticket. Locker sections are noted with a dinosaur character to make it easy for guests to remember their specific return area.
Interesting Locker Note: These units are two-sided, meaning that guests are able to retrieve their items from the opposite side of the locker (in a totally different room!) and keep the primary area free for incoming guests!
Of course, I had to put my camera into a locker, so there won’t be any further pictures. After stowing our belongings in the Triceratops section, we traveled through one more main room. While a preshow video was playing, we were not given much opportunity to enjoy it as guests were expected to continue moving towards the load area. What we were able to catch was Claire Dearing explaining that Jurassic World guests were looking for “more teeth” and that VelociCoaster is just one piece of a massive Carnivore Expansion.
On the load platform, there is a separate queue for the front row. While it was full during our visit, it’s awesome that this option exists for guests.
Of course, at this point we boarded the ride and were ready for our adventure in the raptor paddock!
VelociCoaster The Ride
After boarding, the coaster heads immediately into a miniature show scene with raptor stalls on either side of the vehicle (screens). We can hear Owen Grady’s voice saying something like, “I warned you,” before we take off through the rest of the raptor area. While this scene sounds impressive in theory, in practice only certain coaster seats had clear views of the dinosaurs. Depending on your position, it could be very difficult to see the raptors clearly.
This is the only “show scene” on the ride. The rest of the coaster zips through a beautiful jungle, soars over the Islands of Adventure lagoon, and evades raptors (statues) throughout the paddock. Billed as the tallest and fastest launch coaster in Florida, the track features a 140 foot drop at an 80 degree angle, four inversions, and two launches.
My Experience
While I enjoyed VelociCoaster more than some of Universal’s other roller coaster attractions, I wasn’t ultimately impressed with the overall experience. This coaster hurt my head and neck – to the point where it was difficult to enjoy the attraction. No matter how I attempted to hold my head firmly against the headrest, it was jostled around in a pretty painful manner.
On a separate note, I can understand why Universal opted for raptor statues in lieu of animatronics. You are moving by so quickly that it’s difficult to focus on the dinosaur figures. Instead of an intimate encounter with a raptor, it’s more like a flash of teeth and audible roar.
I had really been hoping for an impressive (or at least memorable) finale scene. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Once the ride was over, we exited the paddock gates and returned to the load platform. As someone who appreciates theming and storytelling over almost all other aspects of an attraction – this was a big disappointment.
Freaky Thoughts
While I was disappointed in the ride experience, this queue is AMAZING! I seriously can’t wait to walk the queue again and enjoy another view of the raptors. I hope I can figure out a way to ride the coaster without pain, but the discomfort I experienced won’t stop me from riding the coaster again.
