Jurassic World Velocicoaster - Islands of Adventure

The email came in quick... passholder previews for Velocicoaster first week of May. I had to act fast; there was no way these spots would last longer than a couple of minutes.

I couldn't get a hold of the SO as she was very busy at work. Do I dare book without her and hope for the best? Uhhh yes. I booked for May 2nd at 7pm. I texted my buddy Adam... he was stuck on the website. Of course. All that traffic coming in, the website was bound to crash. After multiple tries, he was in with his wife. I had gotten a hold of SO eventually... luckily they had opened a few spots the same time we all had confirmed.

May 2nd 7pm came. We got into the park a little early to hop on Hagrid; we hadn't seemed Jurassic Park this slammed in years (which is a welcome change, as really Hogsmeade is the only area generated high amounts of traffic). After a quick pass scan, we were on our way into the queue.

The extended queue wasn't needed that night with the select few going in... too bad as we learned a few days later that the extended heads down along the lagoon where the heartline is. Heartline literally runs parallel to the lagoon retaining wall that houses the queue. Very photogenic. Nevertheless, we went into the raptor-flanked warehouse-looking queue. Inside, you'll see four raptor statues and get a video from Mr. DNA (paging the marketing and T-shirt department). We go through a narrow hallway with windows looking out to the second launch. The train explodes by... and followed by some interesting use of augmented reality! Raptors chasing the train down the track. Very clever. Around the bend we come across some very real-looking animatronic raptor heads muzzled to the wall. They violently shake, make sound effects and blink their eyes while looking around. Effective! We finally make our way into the locker station... wait no lockers at the beginning? What a great idea! The double-sided lockers alleviate unnecessary congestion (see Hagrid's) as we head upstairs. There is a final set of back-and-forths with a giant video screen showing Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt talking about the experience... Pratt is doubtful ("What can go wrong?"). We get our squirts of sanitizer and we load. "Can we please get the back row?" Wish granted.

Adam and I take the back row while the ladies are in second-to-last. Lapbars only. Not too crazy... think the crazy part is a lack of ankle support. Lapbar is quite comfortable. We exit the station and heads towards the launch. Raptors are freaking out on screens on either side... and they bolt. And then so do we. Smooth first launch, not overly aggressive. Head into a quick turnaround under some head-chopping rockwork and into an Immelman. And we shoot out of the seat. Quick turnaround, and we shoot out again. We immediately think how nuts the rest of this ride is going to be. There are stationary raptors throughout; no doubt you will miss them on the first ride. A steep bank to the right that you'll recognize if you've been following construction of the ride as you head into a tunnel. A very short-lived tunnel. You're shot out at 70mph up into the top hat over the lagoon. If you're in the back row, there's a good chance you won't come back down. The train aggressively goes into a stalled inversion; kind of wish that was slower, but that's ok. The double helix around the lagoon as you make your way towards the heartline... and then you get thrown like you've never been thrown before on anything. It's alleged some woman had her wig explode off her head. The final turn is not easy as you brake into the station. I turn to Adam. "Wow."

A couple of rides later and can honestly say this ride is in my Top 10. The only two issues I foresee: 1.) Is Universal going to keep the restraints the same for a ride that may be too terrifying for the general public ("How can you go upside down without shoulder harnesses?") and 2.) The durability. We already see and feel some jagged parts on Hagrid's. I can't imagine how this is going to feel in 5 or 10 years. Will the re-ridability be there? Not sure... but who cares? It's shiny and new now so let's live in the present and have a good time.

Kudos should go out to Universal. In all honesty, they operated the best during the pandemic and it wasn't even close. Tron and Guardians are not even close to finishing at Disney despite starting construction beforehand and having a copy/paste job with Tron... SeaWorld has two finished and tested coasters that are SBNO and lied to their investors saying Spring 2021 opening date. Universal has stayed true to its timeline and has opened the coaster of the past couple years.