Universal Orlando is getting ready to premiere a new coaster this fall so scary that if you didn’t have to voluntarily buy tickets for it might be considered a crime under the Geneva conventions.
Passengers on the new VelociCoaster will be accelerated to 70 mph in 2.4 seconds, immediately slammed down a near vertical 155-foot tower, spun upside down with only a lap bar holding them in—four times—and chased by raptors.
Oh, by the way, the seats are so high that most passengers’ feet will not touch the floor. And one of the flips includes a ‘zero-gravity stall.’ In all, the ride is said to provide 12 seconds of ‘air time,’ time when passengers are literally out of their seats.
The experience will be woven into a story in which the guests are entering the Jurassic World theme park, just as in the movie, and the ride is the latest innovation to drum up business at the park by giving visitors the chance to go up close with the raptors safely…until it isn’t safely. “You’re going to be the prey,” says Thierry Coup, senior VP and chief creative officer at Universal Creative. “What better premise for a themed coaster?”
What better? Perhaps standing by and watching the victims…from the ground.
