A Love Letter to VelociCoaster

Dear Jurassic World VelociCoaster,

I’ve been watching your every move since 2019 when your future home in the Jurassic Park area of Universal’s Islands of Adventure was cleared to make way for your arrival.

At the time, few knew what exactly was in the works. A roller coaster? A churro stand? Something else? Only time would tell.

Rumors swirled and your site plans were leaked. However, concrete details were nowhere to be found.

You were mysterious. And that fueled my interest.

Throughout 2020, much of which was spent socially distanced at home, I followed your construction closely, thanks in part to Twitter legend bioreconstruct’s aerial photography:

Aerial overview of the unannounced Jurassic Park roller coaster. pic.twitter.com/CJfL23nc3a

— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) August 15, 2020

Every week I checked in to see which section of track had been installed, where trees had been planted and any other details I could find.

As your steel track rose into the sky, you began to stand taller and taller over the Islands of Adventure lagoon, taunting guests as they made their way toward Jurassic Park.

Fast forward to my visit in 2022, and I was starstruck when I finally saw you in person.

© Universal Studios

Your top hat stood 15 stories above the entrance, which is fittingly adorned with flames and velociraptors. I can clearly make out the facial expressions of the riders — I see a mix of joy, laughter, and terror with a heaping of shock and awe. Your positioning is impeccable.

The air-conditioned queue building provides a chilly reprieve from the Florida sun.

The simple-but-modern design of the queue building matches perfectly the aesthetic of the first Jurassic World film. Also, I would pay an exorbitant amount of money to own the raptor trio statue with your iconic top hat between them.

Your queue, depending on the length, takes future riders outside into an extended outdoor queue that stretches between the top hat and the Mosasaurus Roll.

Only those in line can access this area, so it is a privilege to see your track this close.

I think you’re the only coaster I’ve ever ridden where I hope the extended queue is open.

VelociCoaster is one of the few extended queues I don’t mind waiting in — with these views, how could you?! pic.twitter.com/O1yNKoiFdj

— Coaster101.com (@Coaster101) September 10, 2022

The views of the Mosasaurus Roll are unparalleled. I’m stuck between two of your most striking elements, unsure of which to look at it.

Looking toward the lagoon shows me just how close I’ll come to the water. I take a deep breath in preparation.

Whoever thought to put windows in the queue next to the VelociCoaster launch is a genius. pic.twitter.com/5TwJ7xOXR2

— Coaster101.com (@Coaster101) September 12, 2022

The windows in the queue provide a very brief glimpse of your trains as they fly by at 70 mph toward the top hat — followed by a pack of velociraptors. It’s one of the coolest in-queue moments I’ve ever experienced. (And shoutout to Universal Creative creative director Gregory Hall for responding to the above tweet!)

Back inside the main queue building, it’s time to surrender my loose articles and pass through metal detectors. No physical or emotional baggage allowed.

Your innovative locker system allows me to hold my phone (and camera!) through most of the line.

VelociCoaster has double sided lockers in the queue so you can put your items in on one side and retrieve them on the opposite side after getting off the ride. pic.twitter.com/svRrAeCt1C

— Universal Parks News Today (@UniNewsToday) April 29, 2021

Because what else would I do? Talk to people? Never — my eyes are on you.

Those who are too scared to ride and think they can circumvent your wrath by exploring other areas of Jurassic Park are in for a surprise when they come face-to-face with the raptor compound with rockwork and landscaping that your track twists and turns around with what seems like mere inches between fingers and rocks.

The immaculate rockwork in the compound surrounding your first half is breathtakingly beautiful. No part of your “home” was glossed over. Each rock, each plant, each of your velociraptor pals — everything is placed so that I have plenty of near-miss encounters.

In fact, on my first few rides, I found myself ducking out of fear that I may clip one of the raptor’s razor-sharp teeth.

Your first launch is fun — exhilarating — but not the most intense, and it’s only a tease of what’s to come.

Regardless of how many rides I collected, I still couldn’t get an idea of the first half of your layout. The twists and turns, the drops, the dive loop, the Immelmann — every element was thrown at me in such rapid succession that I didn’t have time to memorize the course.

Some coasters might end there. That would be okay — your first half is no doubt amazing. But oh no, you are only warming up.

As I dive into your second launch, the train picks up speed — reaching 70 mph in a matter of seconds. The roar of the train is unforgettable.

You are a force to be reckoned with.

The train’s emergence from the launch tunnel into the top hat — reaching a pinnacle height of 155 feet — was one of my favorite elements.

Your train crests the top hat. After an unexpected pop of air, trim brakes slow the train slightly. I wish we could have stayed longer to admire the view of Islands of Adventure. But it also gives front-row riders (the undoubtedly best row) a brief moment to see what lies ahead — a 150-foot-plunge toward the lagoon.

At this point, after exiting the 14-story drop, you reach a blazing speed that will carry me until we meet the brake run.

By this point, I’ve fallen head-over-heels for you — quite literally. The 100-foot-long inverted stall over the path seems to last for far longer than it actually does, perhaps because I have nothing but a lap bar holding me in my seat.

VelociCoaster was EVERYTHING.@UniversalORL pic.twitter.com/PDGjoDlZpr

— Coaster101.com (@Coaster101) September 10, 2022

You encircle (twice!) the bridge that connects the Jurassic Park and Lost Continent areas. You make nonriders stop in their tracks. They can’t look away.

Each second of this section is perfection. How a turn like this could pack so much airtime is beyond me. It’s laugh-inducing (laughing with you, of course).

The uncontrolled laughter and screams continue with your outward-banked turn and wave turn. This is your world — I’m just living in it.

Your speed is relentless throughout the ride. But at this point, it’s blistering. My surroundings are a blur.

The pop of air before your Mosasaurus Roll is quite simply a gift and a distraction from the mindboggling inversion that follows.

Your Mosausaurus Roll has become one of my favorite inversions on a coaster to date. It’s perfect. Flawless. A little terrifying. I grip the restraint.

While from afar you can see that the trains don’t come that close to the water, while riding, I feel as though my hands could skim the lagoon if I stretched hard enough.

We hit the brake run. Even after so many rides, I still found myself speechless. You are a work of roller coaster art. Though I would find myself realizing that I needed to give some attention to the other rides at the park, I found myself getting right back in your queue. You’re that amazing.

Our first picture together — and surely not our last.

Of course, I couldn’t leave without one last night ride (or many). They’re even better than rides during the day. Your illuminated trains streak across the sky like shooting stars.