Subscriber Exclusive: Roller coaster construction in Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Orlando Resort are both working on a new roller coaster. SeaWorld was supposed to have theirs finished already, but the temporary closures greatly affected progress. Universal hasn’t announced a new coaster just yet, but mass construction states otherwise. Either way, we are very excited for more thrill attractions coming to Orlando. This Attractions Magazine Subscriber Exclusive article looks closely at these two upcoming rides.
On the left is the rumored Velocicoaster that is being built in the Jurassic Park area of Universal’s Islands of Adventure. On the right is the Ice Breaker roller coaster currently under construction at SeaWorld Orlando.
Seen here, the Velocicoaster is no joke. This ride is expected to be one of the fastest roller coasters at Universal Orlando. It will also feature at least three inversions, possibly more. The coaster will soar over water, take dives near guest areas, and have multiple launches.
This coaster will also take up significant space on the water. It will stretch from Hogsmeade and the Lost Continent to Toon Lagoon. In this image, the roller coaster is seen taking two high-flying turns over a guest bridge. The bridge is currently closed for the construction, but upon reopening, will offer fantastic views of riders flying by.
One of the most talked-about sections of the construction is this heartline roll over the water. Guests can also experience a heartline roll at Busch Gardens Tampa on their new Tigris roller coaster. This specific one pictured above is wild, though, because of the apparent speed guests will be traveling and the fact that it is over water. Guests will go through this maneuver and continue to the left side of the image where we see the curve right toward more construction. Unlike on Tigris, where guests do the heartline roll slow, guests will have to be moving quickly to make the turn.
While it hasn’t been confirmed, we are fairly sure this coaster is being made by Intamin. We believe the coaster experience to be fairly close to another famous Intamin ride, Taron, which is located at Phantasialand park in Germany. Both coasters share the same style of track, the same multi-launch points, and the need to have a lot of track in a smaller area.
Intamin also helped build another recent coaster at Universal, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. This partnership appears to have continued with the rumored Velocicoaster. If it is anywhere near the thrill of Taron, prepare for a truly exhilarating experience.
This angle gives another idea of the intensity we expect while on this ride. The turns have drastic angles and swift changes in elevation.
If you are a big-time adrenaline junkie, take a moment to appreciate this view. Universal is not building a kiddy coaster. These sharp curves in the track also make us believe that the coaster train will not be very long. We don’t expect a coaster vehicle like the Incredible Hulk. Instead, we think that the trains will be closer to the style of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.
In case you are unfamiliar with Universal’s Islands of Adventure, this picture is taken from the center of the Jurassic Park land. The Burger Digs on the left is inside the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, and the crazy turn in the image is supposed to be near the beginning of the ride.
This is the iconic side of the Jurassic Park Discovery Center. The circled track in the top left is the same piece seen in the image above. The track above the water is the heartline roll we mentioned earlier. The track heading upwards on the right side of the image is going towards the two over-water turns.
Seen here, numerous pieces of track are all built very close to each other. This image helps show why we think that this coaster is being modeled after the Taron coaster by Intamin. This image also contains raptor graphics on the bottom right, which leads us to strongly believe in the raptor theming for the coaster. The rumored name, Velocicoaster, was revealed in legal documents. While this certainly could change, it goes to show where the original idea of the attraction was.
Down the street, SeaWorld Orlando is also building a multi-launch coaster. Ice Breaker was originally supposed to open this spring, but the temporary closures stopped this plan—and it appears that SeaWorld isn’t ready to open it just yet. This may be a smart idea as limited crowds could dampen the opening day excitement and it would be hard to regulate crowds’ social distancing when most would be going for a single attraction.
This will also be a high-speed attraction with its own set of thrills. Riders will be sent into a reverse launch with the steepest beyond-vertical drop in Florida—a 93-foot tall spike with a 100-degree angle.
Unlike the rumored Velocicoaster, we already know what the ride vehicle will look like for Ice Breaker. We also know that the ride will have four airtime-filled launches and a top-hat maneuver.
This coaster will be located next to the Wild Arctic exhibit. Its construction currently takes over some of the Mango Joe’s outdoor seating.
SeaWorld has also released a full track image. Keep this layout in your mind for the next set of images.
The beyond-vertical drop is certainly a highlight of the attraction. This vertical spike is located right next to Shamu Stadium and stands at 93 feet tall.
The top-hat maneuver, seen from the bridge walkway in the center of the park, is the second-tallest part of the attraction. Much like we saw with the Velocicoaster, this area is filled with track going in all directions.
Currently, there have been no reports of this testing, but it does appear that the roller coaster could be ready for testing very soon. According to the Orlando Sentinel, SeaWorld has fallen behind on payments for numerous attractions. This, along with a diminished desire to draw large crowds, is why we believe work on Ice Breaker has halted.
Even with these setbacks, SeaWorld still has a posted 2020 opening for Ice Breaker. We are hopeful that we will see this coaster taking guests for rides later this fall, or perhaps even sooner.
Two big parks, two big coasters. Both will feature a top-hat maneuver and numerous launches. The Velocicoaster will feature inversions, but Ice Breaker will go both forward and backward. We expect to be able to ride both attractions by this time next year.
