Universal's Islands of Adventure · Jurassic Park
Jurassic World VelociCoaster
The best roller coaster in Florida: two launches, a 155-foot top hat, four inversions and a stretch of track that runs inches above the lagoon.
Ride facts
- Type
- Roller coaster
- Height
- 51in (130cm)
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Motion sickness
- Moderate motion risk
- Getting wet
- Stay dry
- Indoor / outdoor
- Outdoor
- Air conditioned
- No
- Single rider
- Available
- Rider Switch
- Available
- Inversions
- Yes
Last verified July 2026
What it is
Jurassic World VelociCoaster opened in June 2021 along the lagoon edge of Jurassic Park and immediately became the best ride at Universal Orlando. It is a launch coaster with two separate launches, a top speed around 70 mph, a 155-foot top hat with an over-banked drop, four inversions and about 4,700 feet of track, and it is paced better than any coaster in the state.
What makes it exceptional is not any single element but the way it is assembled. The first launch happens early and only takes you to about 50 mph, running you through a low, twisting paddock section at ground level with raptor animatronics either side. Then the second launch fires you out of that at full power straight into the top hat, and the ride becomes a completely different machine. Very few coasters have two distinct personalities in one layout.
The finale is the part people talk about: a stretch of inverted, banked track that runs out over the water and back, low enough that the lagoon fills your peripheral vision, and a final zero-gravity stall. The lap-bar restraint, rather than an over-the-shoulder harness, is what makes it work - it leaves you feeling genuinely unheld, which is uncomfortable for some riders and is the whole reason the airtime registers.
What riding it is actually like
The queue is one of the better ones at Universal, running through the Jurassic World raptor research facility with a genuinely funny Chris Pratt video and an enclosed raptor paddock viewing area. It is mostly covered and mostly air-conditioned, which is not nothing in July.
The first launch is deceptively mild - a fast pull into a low, fast, twisting run through the paddock, close to the ground, with animatronic raptors lunging on either side. It is fun rather than frightening, and it is designed to relax you.
Then the second launch. You come out of a bend into a straight, the train accelerates hard to around 70 mph, and it goes almost vertically into the 155-foot top hat, cresting with a long slow moment of hang time before an 80-degree drop. From there it is inversions, an over-water section that skims the lagoon, and a final zero-g stall that holds you upside down for longer than feels reasonable. Sit in the back row for the strongest airtime and the front row for the view over the water.
Is Jurassic World VelociCoaster scary?
Fast, high and relentless, with two launches, four inversions and a top hat that gives a long moment of airtime at 155 feet. The restraint is a lap bar rather than an over-the-shoulder harness, which leaves you feeling far more exposed and is the main reason confident coaster riders describe this one as frightening. Nothing about it is designed to startle you; it simply does not let up.
Scores are editorial, on a 1–5 scale, judged against what frightens a typical four- to seven-year-old rather than an adult.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair
- Must transfer to the ride vehicle
- Audio description
- Not offered
- Handheld captioning
- Not offered
- Assistive listening
- Not offered
- Sign language
- Not offered
- Service animals
- Must use a kennel or wait with a companion
Full transfer to a fixed seat with a lap-bar restraint and a seatbelt. There is a test seat outside the entrance with identical hardware. All loose articles must go in the free lockers and there is a metal detector before the platform.
Tips that actually help
- Use the single rider line for everything after your first ride. It is the most valuable single rider queue at Universal Orlando and it is well signposted at the entrance.
- Ride once in the front row for the lagoon view and once in the back row for the airtime. They are genuinely different rides.
- Everything goes in a locker, phones included, and there is a metal detector at the platform. Come with empty pockets.
- Use the test seat if there is any question about fit. The lap bar has to reach a fixed click point and there is no negotiating at the platform.
- Repeat-visitor note: ride it at dusk. The over-water section with the lights coming up on the lagoon is the best two seconds in the park.
Timing
- Best time to ride
- Rope drop for the shortest standby, or dusk for the best ride. Single rider works at any hour.
- Typical wait
- Usually 45-90 minutes through the middle of the day, under 30 at open and close. Single rider frequently 15-25.
- Express Pass
- Universal Express Pass
Jurassic World VelociCoaster: common questions
How tall do you have to be for VelociCoaster?
51 inches. That sits between Jurassic Park River Adventure at 42 inches and Doctor Doom's Fearfall at 52, and it locks out a lot of children who can ride most of what Magic Kingdom offers.
Is VelociCoaster scarier than the Hulk?
For most riders, yes, despite being lower and only marginally faster. The lap-bar restraint leaves you feeling unheld, the top hat is 155 feet, and the over-water section at speed is genuinely exposed. The Hulk's over-the-shoulder harness is psychologically reassuring in a way this ride deliberately is not.
Does VelociCoaster have a single rider line?
Yes, and it is the best one at Universal Orlando. It routinely cuts a 75-minute posted standby to 20 minutes or less. The trade is that you skip most of the raptor paddock queue, which is worth walking once.
How many inversions does VelociCoaster have?
Four, including a zero-gravity stall near the end that holds riders inverted for an unusually long moment. There are also two launches and a 155-foot top hat, and the whole circuit runs about two and a half minutes.