Top Ten Dinosaur Themed Roller Coasters in the World

*Author’s note: This Best Dinosaur Roller Coasters article was originally written in 2018 in honor of the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It was updated in June 2022 in honor of the release of the sixth (and final?) movie in the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World: Dominion.*

The Jurassic Park franchise has always been tied to the world of theme parks. Universal parks across the globe are home to entire areas themed to the beloved movies and books. The Jurassic World ride at Universal Studios Beijing is incredible looking! In addition to depicting a working theme park, Jurassic World was partially filmed in the parking lot of the shuttered Six Flags New Orleans amusement park. One of the movies, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, used part of a roller coaster to film a thrilling sequence in the new film.

In honor of Jurassic World: Dominion being released in theaters this week, we thought it would be fun to take a look at the best roller coasters themed to dinosaurs.

Honorable Mention: Primeval Whirl – Disney’s Animal Kingdom, USA

Primeval Whirl was a steel wild mouse roller coaster at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. The ride was a spinning roller coaster purchased from Reverchon Industries and resided in Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama, which is itself part of DinoLand U.S.A. The coaster closed in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened. It has since been removed from Animal Kingdom.

10. Dino Chase – Paulton’s Park, UK

A prehistoric junior roller coaster, perfect for young adventurers who love dinosaurs. One of three dinosaur themed roller coasters of the Lost Kingdom section of Paulton’s Park.

9. Dinosaur Coaster at Suntopia World, Japan

A very strange coaster themed to dinosaurs.

8. Velociraptor – IMG Worlds Dubai

Velociraptor is a MACK launched coaster at IMG Worlds in Dubai that’s based on the Blue Fire layout and themed to dinosaurs.

7. Coastersaurus – Legoland Florida, USA

Coastersaurus is a wooden roller coaster formerly known as Triple Hurricane, inherited from Cypress Gardens for LEGOLAND Florida, now with a new dinosaur theme.

6. Gao –  Mitsui Greenland, Japan

Gao is a steel roller coaster located at Greenland in Arao, Kumamoto, Japan. It was built by Meisho Amusement Machines and opened in 1998. The highlight is the massive steel support structure themed to look like a giant dinosaur.

5. Roar-o-saurus – Story Land, USA

This little dinosaur coaster might have a small footprint but it has a big bite! Can you believe that this Gravity Group coaster has a 35.5 feet drop and a top speed of 34 mph yet still has plenty of airtime and thrills? Story Land is located in Glen, New Hampshire.

4. The Flight of the Pterosaur – Paulton’s Park, UK

Paultons Park didn’t open just one new coaster in May 2016 – they opened two! Flight of the Pterosaur is a Suspended Roller Coaster built by Vekoma. It has a top speed of 24 mph (55 km/h), is 65 ft (20 mtr) tall and 1,296 ft (395 mtr) long.

3. Flying Dinosaur – Universal Studios Japan

Flying Dinosaur is a steel flying roller coaster at Universal Studios Japan. Designed by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard, Flying Dinosaur restrains riders in the prone position. This is what flying coasters were built for.

2. Dinoconda – China Dinosaurs Park

Only the third and most recent 4th Dimension roller coaster to be built.

1. Velocicoaster – Island’s of Adventure

Jurassic World VelociCoaster is themed to a roller coaster… in Jurassic World. In the queue you’ll find the raptor cages, with two fantastic lifelike raptor animatronics. Their eyes dart around the room, you can see them breathing, and they will occasionally shake their cage, startling nearby guests. These are some of the best animatronics I have seen, and you can get much closer to them than I would’ve thought. Other rooms in the queue include a wall of floor-length windows fitted with artificial reality technology, so that when the real-life train speeds by on the coaster’s second launch, the raptor pack chases after the vehicle, fogging up the window glass as they do. As for the coaster itself, it easily resides in most coaster enthusiasts top ten lists. VelociCoaster is the perfect addition to Islands of Adventure and is the most thrilling ride at Universal Orlando Resort.


Other coasters named after dinosaurs considered but just missed the list:

  • Dinosaur’s Spine
  • Dinosaur Canyon
  • Dinosaur Jungle
  • Dinosaur Mountain
  • Dinosaur Valley
  • Velociraptor (Paulton’s)
  • Rexo Coaster
  • Canopy Flyer
  • Jurassic Twister
  • Pteranodon Flyers
  • Whirling Dinosaur
  • Whirling Dinosaur Car (the Chinese knockoff version of Primeval Whirl)

And just for fun, here are some of my favorite dinosaur inspired roller coaster names (in no particular order):

  1. Daidarasaurus
  2. Funlandasaurus
  3. Twistosaurus
  4. Spin-o-saurus

Have you ridden any of these dinosaur themed roller coasters? Did we miss any that we should add to our list? Let us know in the comments below!

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