February 6, 2024, 6:47 PM ·
Theme Park Insider readers’ favorite roller coaster is having a tough week. Jurassic World VelociCoaster once again did not open to Universal Orlando guests today.
Sarcastically fitting its theme, VelociCoaster has been a people eater since it opened in 2021: All Hail VelociCoaster, the New Queen of Thrill Rides. The Intamin coaster has enjoyed superb uptime (weather permitting, of course), becoming a reliable favorite for millions of Islands of Adventure visitors.The coaster has placed number one on our roller coaster rankings since it opened, and remains our readers’ top-rated attraction at Islands of Adventure. But fans started reporting minor issues with the coaster last week, and the ride has failed to open for the past couple of days.Universal has been referring fans to its website and app for updates, and team members on site have been citing “technical issues” for the closure. To be fair, that’s a catch-all term that theme park employees are often instructed to give to cover a wide variety of reasons for attraction closures.
Obviously, it’s best when parks can plan and publicize major attraction closures in advance, so fans are not caught by surprise. But it’s also better for parks to close rides as soon as even minor issues arise, so that they do not become major ones that force long, unplanned downtimes. Of course, we don’t yet have a definitive answer as to what’s gone wrong on VelociCoaster, so it’s “wait to see” time until then. (And team members in the know, hit that Contact link below. Anonymity guaranteed.)* * *
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