Jurassic Park Rollercoaster Coming To Universals Islands Of Adventure?

Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Universal has a really poor track record for flubbing attraction openings. I hope this time it's different, but I've heard some whispers about how it is not ready for soft opens and previews next weekend.
 
DISR

DISR

Well-Known Member
Rich Brownn said:
Parks are at capacity today and Hagrid's isn't even using a VQ. Its posted at 90 minutes. All depends on how much gets in the actual queue vrs running out into the lands. VC has plenty of overflow queue.
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Is not using the virtual queue for Hagrids a regular thing? I was there Wed-Sun and got used to looking for my reservation times on Wed-Fri and then they dissappeared from the app. I could not figure out what was going on. Their communication on processes is a bit lacking to say the least.
 
Rich Brownn

Rich Brownn

Well-Known Member
DISR said:
Is not using the virtual queue for Hagrids a regular thing? I was there Wed-Sun and got used to looking for my reservation times on Wed-Fri and then they dissappeared from the app. I could not figure out what was going on. Their communication on processes is a bit lacking to say the least.
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Hagrids goes to a VQ once the line goes past Sinbad to prevent it from spilling into Suess Landing. So it is dependent on 1) How many trains are running and 2) How big the crowd is and 3) How much of the queue they are using. Wait time got up to nearly 3 hours the other day and still didn't go VQ because enough people were in the actual queue.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Not to ratchet expectations up too high, but I've been reading [non-spoiler] reviews from several TMs on the Facebook group for Universal Passholders today, reporting on their preview experiences. Although this test group is arguably a little biased and the excitement of being one of the first to ride undoubtledly increased their enjoyment, suffice it to say, the reviews are stellar.

Example descriptors include, "UO outdid itself," "one of the most incredible coasters I've ever been on," "amazing," "incredibly intense," "insane hang time," and "really smooth ride." Someone claimed of his TM friend that, "he's been on every [coaster] here and a lot in Europe too. He says Velocicoaster stacks up with the best of them." Previewers seem to give high marks to both the "dark ride" portions and the faster outdoor stuff.

The 2-way lockers (you access them from one side while in the queue, and open them from the other when you exit) are also getting a surprising amount of attention and praise. Who knew a locker design could get people excited?

Also, for those concerned about the size of the seats, some Pooh-sized TMs (e.g., one young woman who shared that she's 215 lbs.) reported that there was adequate "tush and thigh" room for them, and that they found the seats much more forgiving than than those on Hagrid's. Obviously, YMMV.
 
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DCBaker

Premium Member
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sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
What a beautiful bowl of spaghetti. Can't wait to ride it myself someday.
That said, do they have any actual dinosaurs on their dinosaur ride? Are the raptors truly static and are they even noticeable? A Mosasaur snapping at you from the lagoon seems like a real missed opportunity. Can you imagine the helix circling some majestic Sauropod prey instead of a bridge? The color-changing lights budget looks to have been excessively generous and this ride should be amazing at night. The rockwork budget is also decent, but the dino budget seems to have been modest at best (the shaking raptors look great, but poorly positioned in what seems a quick pass-through area.)
Either way- looks like a great ride with theming, but perhaps not a great themed ride if that makes sense. To those lucky enough to have ridden, aside from being a great pure coaster, how does it rate as a storytelling one?
 
M

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
sedati said:
What a beautiful bowl of spaghetti. Can't wait to ride it myself someday.
That said, do they have any actual dinosaurs on their dinosaur ride? Are the raptors truly static and are they even noticeable? A Mosasaur snapping at you from the lagoon seems like a real missed opportunity. Can you imagine the helix circling some majestic Sauropod prey instead of a bridge? The color-changing lights budget looks to have been excessively generous and this ride should be amazing at night. The rockwork budget is also decent, but the dino budget seems to have been modest at best (the shaking raptors look great, but poorly positioned in what seems a quick pass-through area.)
Either way- looks like a great ride with theming, but perhaps not a great themed ride if that makes sense. To those lucky enough to have ridden, aside from being a great pure coaster, how does it rate as a storytelling one?
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None of what you've said/suggested would improve the ride experience in any meaningful way because you're flying by everything so fast for anything more than the absolute quickest of glances, and one doesn't generally "look around" on a coaster (especially moving at speed). You're pretty much focused straight ahead wherever your seat is pointing and peripheral vision is basically ignored automatically (also why some of the complaints about certain equipment on Hagrid's is pointless). The raptors in the first half are static, but you fly by them so quickly they would be pointlessly expensive animatronics if they moved. You're definitely aware of them, though, and they work perfectly. I didn't even see or notice the bridge area when we went through the stall and around the helix, to my point above about where one's vision is typically focused on a ride like this, and I spent a decent amount of time on/around the bridge admiring that part of the ride during construction so I knew it was there.

This is not a "storytelling" coaster like Gringotts, though it tells its "story" well enough as riding with "the pack," especially during the first half. You don't tell that kind of story at 60mph, the "story" is set/told beforehand in the queue. It's simple, it works, and it's a whole lot of fun, which is all it needs to be.

As for the ride experience...holy crap! I need a few more rides to really settle on where it ranks for me, but after my one ride today it sits right up there with the likes of Steel Vengeance, Fury325, Voyage, and Maverick. This is hands down the best coaster in Florida, and it's going to take something special to top it. I absolutely cannot wait to get a night ride on this prehistoric beast, I suspect it might be even better at night.
 
sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
maxairmike said:
None of what you've said/suggested would improve the ride experience in any meaningful way because you're flying by everything so fast for anything more than the absolute quickest of glances, and one doesn't generally "look around" on a coaster (especially moving at speed). You're pretty much focused straight ahead wherever your seat is pointing and peripheral vision is basically ignored automatically (also why some of the complaints about certain equipment on Hagrid's is pointless). The raptors in the first half are static, but you fly by them so quickly they would be pointlessly expensive animatronics if they moved. You're definitely aware of them, though, and they work perfectly. I didn't even see or notice the bridge area when we went through the stall and around the helix, to my point above about where one's vision is typically focused on a ride like this, and I spent a decent amount of time on/around the bridge admiring that part of the ride during construction so I knew it was there.

This is not a "storytelling" coaster like Gringotts, though it tells its "story" well enough as riding with "the pack," especially during the first half. You don't tell that kind of story at 60mph, the "story" is set/told beforehand in the queue. It's simple, it works, and it's a whole lot of fun, which is all it needs to be.

As for the ride experience...holy crap! I need a few more rides to really settle on where it ranks for me, but after my one ride today it sits right up there with the likes of Steel Vengeance, Fury325, Voyage, and Maverick. This is hands down the best coaster in Florida, and it's going to take something special to top it. I absolutely cannot wait to get a night ride on this prehistoric beast, I suspect it might be even better at night.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I will say that I'm one who looks all around while on a coaster, especially if I've been on it before. And there's also plenty I know who's eyes are shut the whole time. Anyway, I really need to get down there as I haven't even been on Hagrid's yet. This only further established IOA as one of the world's top parks.
 

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