VelociCoaster

VelociCoaster (marketed as Jurassic World Velocicoaster) is an upcoming launched roller coaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. Manufactured by Intamin, the coaster will be themed to the "Jurassic World" film franchise and is scheduled to open on June 10, 2021. It is also Universal's third collaboration with Intamin, following the installations of Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (2014) and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (2019).
VelociCoaster will be located in the Islands of Adventure's Jurassic Park area, occupying the site of the former "Triceratops Encounter" attraction. It will feature two high-speed launches powered by linear synchronous motors, a signature top hat, several inversions, and a maximum speed of .
History.
Construction.
Around the same time that Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure was under construction in 2018, early reports indicated that the Universal Orlando Resort had filed permits earlier in the year (under the name "Project 791") calling for the demolition and site clearing of the area that formerly housed the "Triceratops Encounter" attraction. The attraction had been closed and abandoned for nearly a decade, signaling that a new attraction was being planned as a replacement. Construction walls were erected in January 2019, and project documents were leaked online shortly after showing an overhead layout of a proposed roller coaster project.
Construction continued in full swing throughout 2019, with crews completely clearing out the former "Triceratops Encounter" attraction in addition to unused land in and around the park's existing "Discovery Centre" building. A bridge connecting the "Jurassic Park" area to "The Lost Continent" was also razed. In June 2019, the first pieces of track for the unannounced coaster were delivered and stored offsite. In July 2019, Universal Parks & Resorts filed a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the name "Velocicoaster", which fans quickly deduced to be the name of the new unannounced coaster.
In early 2020, after months of concrete groundwork and further preparation, the project went vertical, as pieces of the now-massive stash of coaster track and supports were delivered to the construction site and installed. During the initial COVID-19 lockdown, construction would temporarily pause and then later resume at a rapid pace when cleared to do so. Much of the coaster had been constructed by the time that the Universal Orlando Resort was cleared to reopen to guests in June 2020, attracting the unreserved attention of park guests and local media alike. The tallest point of the ride, the tall top hat, was topped off and the element completed in early July.
Announcement and further preparation.
Amid high degrees of media attention and coverage of the project, Universal themselves had not once acknowledged the increasingly evident construction project and coaster, instead silently maintaining that such a project did not exist while making no attempts to cover it up or reduce its visibility. Following a website leak on September 25, the Universal Orlando Resort formally announced the Jurassic World VelociCoaster on September 28, 2020, billing it as a "new species of roller coaster" and as the tallest and fastest launch coaster in Florida. The ride was confirmed to feature 12 airtime moments, a long zero-g stall, and a barrel roll over the lagoon.
Since then, Universal has continued to release all of the new information on VelociCoaster as well as make progress towards the slated Summer 2021 opening. On December 4, 2020, new official closeups of the ride's sleek set of trains were revealed, and it would begin making consistent tests in front of the public eye. On January 25, 2021, reports indicated that the ride had begun testing with riders after nearly two months of running with test dummies. Two days later, the park released further details of the new coaster. VelociCoaster will have a drop at an 80-degree angle. The trains would have a lap bar instead of an over-the-shoulder restraint. The first launch would accelerate guests from 0 to in 3 seconds and the second one would be to in 2.4 seconds. Construction walls were taken down around the ride area in late February 2021, enabling park visitors to further views of the attraction. On April 6, 2021, the official opening date for VelociCoaster was announced for June 10, 2021.
Ride experience.
Queue.
The Queue begins just outside the bottom floor of the Discovery Center. Guest enter the paddock where neon lights glow and the coaster races outside the building. As the guest moves through the queue, they can see a statue of the four velociraptors, (Blue, Echo, Delta, Charlie) near the end, as a TV monitor above the guest heads plays a video where Mr. DNA briefly talks about Velociraptors. As guest past some more television screens providing info on the ride, they come across two of the raptors contained in their chambers. They occasionally shake, blink, and move but are very restricted in their movements. Next guest move into a dark room where 4 windows allow the guest to see the second launch in the ride. As a coaster races past, the raptors can be seen chasing after the coaster. Guest then enter the lockers area. This area is unique as the lockers are two way lockers. Guests put their belongings in one side, and as guests exit they remove their items from the other side. As guest go through a metal detector, they are ushered up a set of stairs, to a preshow room where Claire Dearing talking about the experience from a business standpoint. Raptor trainer Owen Grady is called, who rebuffs the idea of taking a ride in the raptor enclosure and tries to discourage the riders from going on. Riders reach the boarding area and are assigned two people to a row.