Photo Update: Jurassic Park ‘Velocicoaster’ adds new track maneuvers

It’s only been two weeks since our last “Velocicoaster” construction update at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Despite that, there is already more to explore. Since Universal Orlando Resort reopened, numerous new track pieces have been added. We went and got a look at the new inversions that have been added to the coaster.

The image above is one of the most exciting views we have seen since the beginning of the rumored coaster’s construction. This heartline roll over the water should certainly be one of the most thrilling parts of the attraction. This portion of the ride will be near the very end.

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This secondary angle gives a great idea as to how close riders will be to the water. It also shows the two sweeping over-water turns that guests will endure before the heartline roll.

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Looking closer to the over-water turns, we can see how their structure will block the view of certain portions of Hogsmeade. Some fans online have expressed outrage on how this relatively un-themed coaster will be so close to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Do you feel this coaster will intrude on Hogsmeade? Do you care if it does? Let us know in the comments.

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The two over-water turns will sweep by Three Broomsticks’ outdoor seating areas. These turns will take guests on a high-flying set of maneuvers over numerous guest areas, like the queue entrance and this bridge.

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Guests will come from the large top-hat maneuver, where the crane in the background is currently erected, and corkscrew to the turn on the right of the image. Guests will whip around the first turn, flying over the guest bridge, coming back around to the second turn, which is lower and closer to the water. From here, guests will head to the heartline roll.

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This image, as awesome as it looks, could be misleading. The two curved tracks do not actually align to each other. Instead, the track piece with the yellow circle will be connected to the second yellow circle. The red circle track piece will be connected to a different piece outside of the left side of the image.

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This angle gives another view to explain. Guests will be launched up to the top-hat element, which can be seen at the tall structural piece in the background with the red circle. Guests will then drop down, heading towards the second red circle in the center of the image. From there, guests will go into a corkscrew twisting towards the red circle on the first over-water turn. After the first over-water turn, guests will fly around from yellow circle on the left to yellow circle on the right.

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After those two over-water turns, guests will arrive at the heartline roll. The Jurassic Park Discovery Center has been an icon across the lake from the park’s entrance for years. It appears Universal is attempting to keep it a focal point by having the track pieces that pass by here stick close to the ground.

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The over-water turns are a big part of the Velocicoaster, but the majority of the ride will be on the other side of the Jurassic Park Discovery Center. Here, we can see less track work and more concrete. We can also see the incredible height of the top-hat maneuver. This steel structure towers over all other buildings near it.

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This image showcases a lot of important elements of the ride. The track pieces at the bottom of the image are coming out of the heartline roll maneuver. The large steel structure on the left is the tower that will hold up the top-hat maneuver. The large rectangular building in the center of the image is expected to be the load/unload building and should also house the maintenance area for the ride. The huge white structure in the background is the final drop for the Jurassic Park River Adventure ride.

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This image, taken from inside the Jurassic Park land, showcases the other side of the rectangular load/unload structure on the left side. It also showcases some of the steel supports that are installed to help the initial launched turn. The first turn after the Velocicoaster’s launch will take guests on a large sweeping maneuver. This maneuver’s supports can be seen on the right side of the image. The first pieces of the track to turn have been installed. You can see from the other supports that this will be a significant turn and should give riders an excellent view of the first half of the attraction.

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Here we have a slightly different angle of the initial launched turn on the right side of the image. Universal certainly still has a ways to go for adding track to this portion of the ride, but they have been moving very quickly these past two weeks. Every day a new piece seems to be added.

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Currently, we are not sure if the Velocicoaster will be themed to Jurassic World or Jurassic Park. While almost everything in the land is themed to Jurassic Park, a new Raptor Encounter location has been built that is themed to the newer movies:

The new Raptor Encounter lets guests meet Blue the Raptor. This specific experience is themed directly to the “Jurassic World” film franchise. This change in theming for this experience makes us believe the new coaster will be themed to the new films as well. The theming hasn’t been confirmed by the Universal Orlando Resort, but they have yet to acknowledge the so-called Velocicoaster that’s being built, either.

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We hope that this new Velocicoaster opens in early 2021, and we’re certainly excited for this upcoming offering at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.