The Making of Jurassic World VelociCoaster

universal orlando resort one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world here you'll find rides and attractions based on one of the biggest global box office phenomena of all time the jurassic world franchise and it's where a spectacular new ride has been in development for years jurassic world velocicoaster much like the dinosaurs in the films this remarkable creation is a marvel of ingenuity technology and imagination we're about to take a look at the dna of this incredible new roller coaster and see just how universal hatched this velociraptor themed attraction i'm mario lopez universal orlando is letting me take you behind the scenes of this spectacular new ride so are you ready let's go brave the hunt [Music] coming up with breathtaking attractions is nothing new for universal orlando resort visitors from the world over are drawn to its three theme parks dining and entertainment complex and eight resort hotels but in the theme park industry it's always about the next new attraction the next big thing so a few years back universal orlando decided it was time to add another thrill ride putting it here in the jurassic park theme section of universal's islands of adventure theme park the task fell to the people who've dreamed up some of the most groundbreaking attractions in the business universal creative universal creative is an incredible talented team of geniuses that have put together for many many years now some amazing blockbuster attractions for our guests it's writers directors architects engineers designers of all kinds that that are charged with developing all the product that means all the theme parks all the attractions within the theme parks the shopping the dining experiences the city walks as well as the hotels for universal parks and resorts worldwide universal creatives already developed jurassic park and jurassic world theme attractions in universal parks around the globe now they have the opportunity to take the franchise to another level here at universal orlando resort it all starts with the blue sky process where anything goes it is every day it is morning meetings evening meetings and dinner meetings to really develop this idea as quickly as possible because the window of blue sky does close really quickly and you don't want to leave anything on the table no idea is too outlandish too crazy ideas go down on paper up on the walls on computer screens throughout universal creative ultimately the decision is made to create a jurassic world themed roller coaster but when universal designs and attraction it's never just a roller coaster to make it a truly special unique experience the creative team is given a mandate for this attraction take the thrills and excitement of jurassic world and translate that to a world-class roller coaster the foundation of our franchise is thrills and the foundation of a theme park is thrills so we have provided universal with dinosaurs that run extremely fast and are very scary and they've created a ride that is extremely fast and very scary we know the jurassic world franchise is action-packed full of excitement and thrills and we wanted the roller coaster experience to be the same we wanted it to be state of the art we wanted it to be exciting we wanted it to be the best there could be so the goal was to create the same excitement with the jurassic world velocicoaster that we created with the movies [Music] the team gets to work weeks of research and design drawings doodles sketches animations i like brainstorming sessions because like you said there's all different kinds of media we all like to work in there are reference photos that we can tack up on the board there's word association like what does this do all of the different colorful sticky notes everywhere it's like first word that comes to mind write it down and write it down yeah brainstorming for me it's it's personally when i start thinking of an attraction i try to get right to what the emotion of the attraction is inspiring is it thrilling is it is it funny whatever that emotion is what i use to get my my juices flowing is music so i think musically what does this ride sound like first which sounds kind of weird and but that gets me into more of the raw emotion that we're trying to get with the attraction what i love about the design process is that there's all these limitations that we kind of have to work around and i think that's an interesting part of it all wait a minute you love that yes it's a challenge it's a challenge until the final concept emerges an immersive roller coaster experience centered around the fiercest and most popular dinosaurs in the franchise the velociraptors for the first time ever guests will be able to enter the velociraptor paddock and feel the rush of the hunt alongside these apex predators the attraction will immerse guests in the jurassic world experience every step of the way from the moment they enter the queue and throughout the ride itself it's storytelling on a level one doesn't normally experience on a high-speed roller coaster from the outside cue to the end of your experience you'll see 22 raptors and different versions there's raptors that are hand sculpted there's raptors that are animated there's there's animatronics and just seeing all these different forms and seeing these new creations and effects through the raptors you you definitely are going to have a lot of teeth in your face but coming up with the story for the ride is just the first step of the process putting together a roller coaster is much like a strand of dna millions of parts and details have to be put together in just the right sequence for everything to work teams must be assembled schedules put together outside vendors selected and of course the layout of the track has to be designed with daunting challenges to be faced including weaving a roller coaster through an existing theme park surrounded by neighboring attractions that can't be moved and a body of water bordering the site on one side the team sets about creating one of the world's most intense roller coaster experiences the first launch on velocicoaster starts from a standstill we launch from zero to 55 miles an hour in just a few seconds and we enter the raptor paddock so that first launch is going to blow people away you'll go twisting and turning through the intricate rock work of the paddock referred to as the spaghetti bowl by the creative team passing within inches of several velociraptors who are up then you'll begin the next phase of this incredible ride a second launch accelerates you to 70 miles per hour screaming up to the top of a 155 foot arch or top hat as it's called in roller coaster terminology it is high speed it is it is high thrill it is a roller coaster enthusiast dream i can't wait to experience the negative g the air time on this coaster rioters will experience four inversions including a zero gravity inverted stall for some real weightless air time and for a finale a 360 degree barrel roll over the water so it'll be pretty terrifying cruising around 50 55 miles an hour right along the water surface and rotating upside down i think it's going to be an epic moment both visually off-board and experientially on board what's truly unique about this coaster is that the maneuvers actually get bigger and more intense as the ride goes on but that's not the only thing unique about this attraction universal creatives designers wanted to give riders the feel that they're along for the hunt joining the raptors as they race through the paddock we're like all right this is this is amazing um we're so excited but is that enough like can we can we do anything to make it more and we just thought it was crazy if we made the actual raptors chase the coaster and once we said that we couldn't get that out of mind so they came up with the idea of using high definition oled video screens alongside the coaster there was companies that had built some prototypes but they hadn't actually started building a full production set so we got in touch with with the with the company and we've got the first set that we're gonna be able to put into this attraction so this is brand new stuff that people get to see it really places you again right into the movie and you feel like you're living the experience with the raptors right in front of you months of design work has gotten the project to this point but taking the design of a roller coaster from paper to reality is easier said than done after concept design we put in preliminary design that's when we start detailing out steel that's when we start doing our engineering and our calculations to make sure everything will hold up together and hold up properly and then after that we're doing on to detailed design a little more than two years out from grand opening and site demolition and land clearing begins tons of dirt must be moved infrastructure work gets underway there's about 12 000 linear feet of utilities from all kinds of things water um gas sewer storm everything it takes an amazing amount of coordination with so many different vendors and contractors on the actual construction site we average about three to four hundred people a day between the day shift and the night shift and each one of those contractors has you know different types of project managers and superintendents so right now you're seeing very very active construction we're having piles driven right now into the lagoon and the very beginning of the support for our coaster so just behind me you'll see our piers so our coaster supports are going to go right on top of those piers uh really what you're seeing right now is a lot of site preparation so there's a lot of work we have to do to get this ready for the coaster track to be installed while the initial site work is underway at universal factories in europe begin fabricating over 5000 feet of coaster track in the towering steel supports and let's not forget one of the most important elements of a roller coaster the ride vehicle these were designed by universal creative but they too were constructed and assembled in europe before shipping to orlando they say the three most important factors in real estate are location location location but for jurassic world velocicoaster location has turned out to be one of the biggest challenges it's not just a matter of threading and weaving almost a mile of roller coaster track above around and between existing attraction in public areas trying to build a massive roller coaster right in the middle of the working theme park is no easy task especially with no direct access to back of house areas we knew that site logistics were going to be a difficult task just because of how tight everything is around one another but i don't think anybody really realized the the level of difficulty that it was going to be while much of the work was done behind construction walls and under the lights the true nature of the project remained a mystery to the general public rumors were swirling in fact there was a running joke online that universal orlando was building the world's largest trudeau stand but once the project began to go vertical as they say there was no keeping a secret what universal orlando is up to when universal creates a movie-based attraction they're all about authenticity so naturally if you're making a ride based on jurassic world you gotta have some familiar faces two thousand miles away in hollywood chris pratt and bryce dallas howard reprised the roles from the jurassic world films to appear in the attractions queue and pre-show videos one of the great things about having our actors involved in this project is that it brings authenticity to it we have uh the original cast coming into this original story it wouldn't be a universal attraction unless you have these huge characters in the ride but those aren't the only stars you'll encounter it just wouldn't be true to jurassic world without blue one of the most recognizable dinosaurs of the entire jurassic film franchise and in this attraction blue has a starring role alongside the rest of her pack charlie delta and echo coaster riders will pass by them at high speed as they race through the paddock area in the queue guests will encounter these amazingly lifelike raptors as they make their way towards the ride vehicles we have in one of our queues we have raptor head animated figures so they're just going nuts literally the entire raptor is alive and moving we have you know eye movements they snarl they they breathe on you they're capable of a lot of low end a lot of screaming i think it's going to be a really special moment and i think our guests are really going to love the opportunity to have that up close and personal experience with our raptors in fact these velociraptors are so lifelike that universal creative actually had to come up with a smell for them we had to ask ourselves this question what does a raptor smell like we we sat down we worked with a uh a scent company we looked at you know hot breath and um blood because you know that's their diet they finally settled on what you'll smell throughout the queue so what does a velociraptor smell like well that you'll have to come and find out for yourself for the universal creative designers thrills alone aren't what makes a great attraction environment is crucial to make you realize you're not just riding a roller coaster you're stepping into a chapter of the jurassic world story the leader of the team responsible for the environment of the velociraptor paddock actually has a background in designing zoo habitats in my my past in working geological design one of the many things that i've picked up is you need to design for for the animal right so in this case we're providing as much natural habitat as we can as possible in order to allow the animal to mimic its natural behaviors that includes the ideal vegetation to create a lush jungle atmosphere right in the middle of an orlando theme park the intricate rock work that riders will twist and turn through in the paddock was constructed to create its own unique thrills these jagged rock formations and tunnels were each designed sculpted by hand and then painted to look completely natural and utterly menacing now the environment is just as threatening and just as menacing as the raptors so every corner every twist that we would go through the rock work in particular had to threaten the guests as much as the raptors but environment means more than just rocks and plants here the building signage and other details all look like they came right out of the jurassic world films immersing you in the story the interior of the building had to be designed to withstand the forces of a roller coaster roaring through its walls dozens of times an hour 365 days a year there's all kinds of challenges there's again there's so much coordination the amount of things going on spaces overlapping each other in and out there's different levels of the actual space and different people different systems that have to interact with each other all the time that's really what makes it challenging but it makes it exciting at the same time while the building exterior as well as the foliage landscaping of the track itself had to be ready for the extremes in heat humidity and rain that comes with this florida locale but one of the biggest challenges in the creation of jurassic world velocicoaster had nothing to do with weather location budget or time early in 2020 the covet 19 pandemic hit and like everywhere else the project was significantly impacted it was quite a challenge with you know that was we were in the middle of putting in our concrete foundations for the project when that happened and trying to figure out how to you know keep construction going while protecting all the workers we facilitated things like virtual reviews to ensure that we were still able to get our 360 degree look of every little aspect of the vehicle as it was finishing its design and able to be bought off creatively before it was shipped over here [Music] but through it all there was one silver lining during the weeks the theme parks were closed to the public the construction team was able to work around the clock without having to worry about blocking walkways or inconveniencing guests the project remained on schedule and as construction continued hit milestone after milestone the top hat is raised the final piece of track is installed the futuristic-looking ride vehicles arrive from the factory in europe the ride show network which has been running for months offsite is unplugged and reinstalled in the ride and show building the velociraptors arrive from the workshop across town and one of the biggest milestones of all in the wee hours of the morning the velossa coaster team gets to witness the coaster vehicle's first launch it's been three years four years in the making we're all pretty stoked so it's exciting to see the train actually start to get up to speed and launch up that thing it's kind of like seeing your baby come to life in a way it's one step closer to ultimately seeing the ride running at full speed a few weeks later the first riders get to take their initial ride on the coaster universal creative executives and key members of the design team get the honor we've been testing this thing for months and on end and now we finally get to ride it nothing like the front seat of one of the first rides of a new coaster super fast around every turn is a is another explosion it's just a while i was good i was nervous but now i just want to ride it over and over again the choreography of the ride is just like a it's like a heavy metal ballet but there's still much work to be done as opening day approaches each aspect of the ride has to be absolutely perfect that means testing testing and more testing the team applies the finishing touches throughout making sure the building is show ready both inside and out until finally the day everyone has been waiting for a rise jurassic world velocicoaster opens to the public gotta ride the velocity so you have to do it it was unbelievable all right best roller coaster i've ever been on my entire life my eyes were watering the ride was so fast my favorite part was where it goes upside down you feel like you can almost touch the water it's really cool i'm wanting to do it again just like immediately get back in line no matter the length of the weight it's just like it's worth it it's freaking shoots you up twice and you just don't stop i want to go back on amazing university thank you in just over three and a half years the project has gone from initial brainstorming to the first guest screens it was a question of you know how can we deliver the next level of thrills we already have some of the greatest coasters on earth we think the velocicoaster will take that to a whole new level what's groundbreaking about this attraction is the fact that there is a level of storytelling and a level of immersion on a 70 mile per hour coaster who does that and that's something that only universal could do everything about about this ride is is really going to break the grounds and i know guests are going to be thrilled i want people to feel exhilarated when they get off of this ride and that's what we try to do when we make our films and i know that's what everyone on the team has done to create what i think is one of the best roller coasters in the world i'm so proud to be a part of it the most rewarding part is just knowing the fact that we created something that's going to generate smiles for years and years to come and i can't wait to see their face i think the fact that coasters are so aspirational and it's really about facing a fear and accomplishing something you didn't think you could do i'm really really looking forward to that moment when another guest will get that experience of realizing what they can do for the team at universal creative it's time to celebrate and then right back to the drawing board on their next amazing attraction for you well hey you gotta come to universal orlando resort and get ready to join the raptor pack i'm mario lopez and the hunt is on [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Universal Orlando Resort

Views: 581,028

Keywords: Universal, Orlando, Resort, Universal Orlando, Universal Orlando Resort, Family Travel, Family Vacation, What to do in Orlando, Florida, Minions, Wizarding World, Harry Potter, Universal Studios Orlando, Walt Disney World, What to do in Florida, Harry Potter Land, Harry Potter Theme Park, Theme park, Amusement Park, Marvel, Rides, Attractions, jurassic park, jurassic world, velocicoaster, jurassic world velocicoaster

Id: vVxUrkaoV9k

Length: 21min 46sec (1306 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 08 2022