Velocicoaster

 On Friday, May 26, I rode the Velocicoaster in Universal Florida. I almost didn't for a couple of reasons, but I am glad I did. I'm not quite as sure I would go on it again, but I did offer to do so with my niece once she heard that I went on it.

Tester seat

I am right on the upper edge of weight for being able to ride roller coasters like this. Universal has tester seats in front of most of its coasters. I fit fine into Hagrid, but did not fit into Hulk.

On Velocicoaster, the seat is the same shape as the real ride (of course) and has the same restraint as the real ride (of course) except that instead of locking, it has a red or green light. The first time I tried, I didn't get the green light. I was close, but not quite there. I walked away, kinda dissapointed, mostly in myself because I was used to fitting into things. I walked away, then realized I was wearing my fanny pack and that it might make the difference.

When I went back, there was a cast team member there. I took off my fanny pack, filled it up with the contents of my pockets, then sat back in the tester seat. The team member was able to push the restraint down enough to get the green light to come on, and he said that if I could handle about 5 minutes of that, I would be fine.

Armed with that knowledge, I went on the ride.

Single Rider

The ride has three queues -- normal, single rider, and express. I chose the single rider because I was single -- my nieces were elsewhere exploring Diagon Alley. The queue seemed to be similar length, but diverted after the first room where the friendly DNA molecule was explaining the lockers and metal detectors.

The Velocicoaster is very strict about nothing in pockets -- we shall see why in a bit. Guests are required to empty their pockets, put all bags etc into lockers, then pass through a metal detector. The only thing we are supposed to keep is our tickets. Since my ticket was on my phone, I was given a locker ticket. I was a bit confused, because I didn't see the barcode on the locker ticket at first. I tried to scan my phone ticket bar code, but that didn't work and the team member had to show me how to use the ticket. It was quick and he was trying to get people through as quickly as possible, but that was the closest any team member came to being rude.

Once my stuff was in the locker, I went through the metal detector where of course my belt set it off. I chose to keep my belt as I needed it to keep my pants up, but this belt is about the worst for metal detection -- it has both a metal buckle and metal eyes in all the holes all the way along. After being wanded and confirming that it was just the belt, I went on.

Story

I only ever read the first book and saw the first movie -- that story had a satisfying conclusion to the point where I didn't want the story to continue. So, I don't know the characters, as apparently they weren't even in the original story, only being introduced in Jurassic World. The characters in the story are Claire who works in the corporate suite, and Owen who works directly with the dinosaurs. Claire is there to give the people what they want, and apparently the people want "more teeth". Owen, on the other hand, doesn't think it's a good idea to run a rollercoaster through a dinosaur paddock.

Since I'm not there for the theme, just the coaster, and I'm not that involved in the further Jurassic Park world, the theming doesn't really matter for me and I would have been just as happy with a bare coaster.

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Since I was a single rider, people from my queue were just used to fill gaps. Whenever there is a party with an odd number of people in it, they are assigned enough rows, then a single rider is taken to fill the gap. The trains are two abreast, with at least 10 rows (I think I was in 9). Note that they didn't try to combine two odd-numbered parties -- if there are two consecutive parties of 3, that uses two single riders, not zero.

The team member was able to get the restraint closed enough that I could ride. It felt quite tight, but not uncomfortably so. I don't remember it this way, but everything I have seen says that the restraint isn't on the shoulders, but on the lap and thighs. The on-ride photo backs this up.

The ride

The one thing I don't like about roller coasters is negative-g, the feeling of being pulled out of the seat. I think it's mostly because I don't instinctively trust the restraint to not pop open when being pulled out. The Velocicoaster definitely has negative g, of at least two types. Going over some of the hills, the car is pulled down by the track faster than gravity. In another spot, the track is perfectly straight and level, but upside down, giving a -1.0g the whole time.

Obviously the restraints are safe, but it didn't feel like it while I was riding. I definitely felt pulled out of my seat, as if I wasn't in tight enough.

Final evaluation

After I got off, I sent a picture of the ride photo to the nieces. They replied that they wanted to go on it. It turned out that we didn't get a chance to do so, but I was ready to ride again if they chose to. If you like roller coasters, can handle negative g, and are a little bit smaller than me, you should ride this ride. In the game Roller Coaster Tycoon, they use the term "excitement" for the quality of a ride that makes it fun and makes people want to ride it and/or ride it again, and "intensity" for the quality that makes people scared/sick after riding it. Excitement has no upper bound -- the more exciting, the better. Intensity on the other hand has a limit, different for each person, such that intensity beyond that point makes the ride less fun. A good roller coaster has high excitement and at least medium intensity, and I would describe Cosmic Rewind as perfectly hitting those. Velocicoaster is definitely more intense that Cosmic Rewind, but I would call it less exciting. I would ride either again, but I would definitely prefer Cosmic Rewind.