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Universal Orlando (Studios/IOA/Epic Universe) : General Discussion

Has there been any announcement on the area changing over to Jurassic World or will it be stuck in limbo between the two eras?
 
There are currently no immediate plans to change the area. Might happen in the future but rumours from insiders apparently currently point to no plans. Although spending had been paused on future projects for the existing parks as far as I aware it wasn’t planned to change even before Covid happened. I can see it possibly happening maybe in a few years if they want a relatively cheap new attraction to market with Jurassic park ride changed like the Hollywood version.
 
I could possibly see it changing if the Jurassic World revamp seen in California ever makes its way to Florida.

Is this rumoured to be in the pipeline any time soon?
 
I imagine they must have plans to change the area over in the not so distant future or else they wouldn’t have branded the new coaster as JW.

With Covid, I imagine their plans were delayed but I can see them changing the whole land over in the next 5 years or so whilst the Jurassic World marketing machine is still going.

As we’ve seen with Hollywood, aside from the changes to River Adventure, it really would just be a case of the odd signage change and lick of paint to change the area over which isn’t too much effort
 
Initial reviews are incredibly positive; people are even saying that it somehow exceeds the hype!
 
In The Loop now has a review for us, and it would appear that The Legend was just as enamoured with it as everyone else who rode it today:



Praise indeed; a top 10 ride for someone who’s ridden 694 roller coasters is no small statement!
 


Good quality POV in the video above.

It looks absolutely outstanding - the pace it carries throughout the full ride course, slamming into the end brake run is brilliant. I was worried it might end up being a bit slower on the launches and losing some speed but no wories now. Really need a trip over to Florida to try this one out!
 
I’ve got to say, I’m extremely impressed with what I’ve seen so far!

Even the first half looks blisteringly fast from on-ride, much more so than I was expecting; I was honestly expecting the first half to be a bit slow, but it looks brilliant, and then the second half looks just obscene, particularly the top hat and inversion over the water! Honestly, I cannot pick a single bit of this ride that I would improve based on that POV; I know that seems like a bold statement, but all of it just looks absolutely sublime!

Dare I say it, but I think VelociCoaster possibly looks like one of the closest coasters in the world to a genuine “jack of all trades” roller coaster. It genuinely looks to have a bit of everything; there looks to be quite a bit of airtime, but also some nice inversions and sections of positive g-force. It looks to have plenty of rapid transitions and more aggressive sections, but also quite a bit of nice, floaty hangtime. Even though it’s a thrill coaster, I also think it makes an excellent stab at the thematic side of things; the pre-show, queue and futuristic station look brilliant, while the first half looks phenomenal with all of the near misses, rockwork and raptors! I reckon that regardless of what you like in a roller coaster, everyone will find something to like in VelociCoaster, and I think that’s a genuinely remarkable feat, personally.

There’s a fair chance I could be able to go to Florida and experience VelociCoaster for myself in 2022, so all I have to hope now is that COVID behaves and I’m able to go out to Florida next summer. I’m trying not to hype it up too much, but it’s very hard, with all these superlative reviews; I haven’t heard a single review yet that doesn’t absolutely rave about it! Based on what I’ve heard and seen, I honestly think it could give Icon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach a fair run for its money for the title of my favourite multi-launch coaster, possibly even Mako for my favourite coaster overall! But if it’s even half as good as Icon, I’ll be thrilled!
 
The ride looks excellent but, as is the case with nearly every major new coaster that opens, initial reviews always declare it "the best thing ever". This may well be that, of course, but generally I try to avoid the hype of those filled with emotion just because they are the first riders.

Still not convinced by the right hand cornering in the second half - seems to go on a bit - but other than that, the first half looks superb and some of the transitions, whilst not Maverick paced, look excellent. As does the theming. A win-win for the park.

Can't wait to ride in 2022, I hope.
 
Looks great, and nice to see a relatively 'extreme' ride ending up in a more general park, accompanied by such superb theming and concept. Busch Gardens aside, there was once a time when one wouldn't visit Florida with coaster quality in mind, but various factors have changed this.

For all the advanced tech here, there's something really entertaining about the static raptor figures that simply emit a loud noise as you pass them. Is that what Icon is missing? They could have at least repurposed some of the plastic animals around the Pleasure Beach Express.
 
@AstroDan When you say about the right hand cornering in the second half, are you referring to that big rose bowl section, where it goes into a wave turn, and then crosses back over itself with an off-axis airtime hill before going into another wave turn?

Personally, I think that VelociCoaster doesn’t look too repetitive in general. It looks less repetitive than something like Taron or Icon, for example, and I don’t even think that repetitive is necessarily a bad thing; I actually really love the aggressive, rapid transitions in Icon’s second half, as well as the strong ejector air pops those provide, so if VelociCoaster rides similarly, then it should be absolutely delightful!
 
Matt N said:
@AstroDan When you say about the right hand cornering in the second half, are you referring to that big rose bowl section, where it goes into a wave turn, and then crosses back over itself with an off-axis airtime hill before going into another wave turn?
Click to expand...

Yes. I am only picking a little fault, here. The off-axis airtime breaks it up, but I still think that section could do a little more in terms of direction changing. Maverick's absolute triumph at the end of the ride, which I have to say I have never yet seen matched in Intamin's newer coasters, is the absolutely sensational triple-whammy of elements at the end of the ride (see this POV from 1:01 to the end of the ride) - but I guess Velocicoaster does have elements somewhat akin to this, just with more spacing in between. Probably better for a park like this, and Intamin do seem to have longevity in mind. Good old Mavis is probably ripping herself apart. But my god that ride.

:cool:
 
Wow; I’ll admit I never realised that Maverick was quite that intense! You can see the raw snap in those turns from the POV! I don’t think the 24-rider VelociCoaster trains would cope with turns that snappy, though; doesn’t Maverick only have 12-rider trains?

I’ll admit I’m at a slight loss as to how Maverick even gets and maintains so much speed, as the first launched lift hill actually looks quite slow, and even the second doesn’t look mind-blowingly fast.
 
Matt N said:
Wow; I’ll admit I never realised that Maverick was quite that intense! You can see the raw snap in those turns from the POV! I don’t think the 24-rider VelociCoaster trains would cope with turns that snappy, though; doesn’t Maverick only have 12-rider trains?

I’ll admit I’m at a slight loss as to how Maverick even gets and maintains so much speed, as the first launched lift hill actually looks quite slow, and even the second doesn’t look mind-blowingly fast.
Click to expand...

Maverick is relentless. It does only have 12 per train, yes - but it does dual load. So capacity is pretty good. Still not as high as what Universal will need, though.

Of course - whilst Mavis' trains have been improved over the years with cushioned OTSR (imagine Rita's and Stealth's restraints but cushioned) - the trains on the rides that Intamin are putting out now are far superior. That said, unsure if Maverick would be safe to ride with just a lap bar...!

Maverick really set the ball rolling for the out-of-this-world elements we see on rides from the likes of RMC and Intamin today.

:)
 
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