VelociCoaster or Flying Dinosaur; which Jurassic Park thrill coaster do you prefer?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. In recent years, Universal has installed two Jurassic Park-themed thrill coasters in its theme parks; Flying Dinosaur at Universal Studios Japan and VelociCoaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure. The two rides are quite different from one another despite sharing an IP; Flying Dinosaur is a B&M Flying Coaster, whereas VelociCoaster is an Intamin LSM Launch Coaster. I also remember there being some bemusement when VelociCoaster was initially rumoured, with people questioning why Universal Orlando went for another launch coaster instead of a flying coaster like Universal Studios Japan did. With this in mind, I'd be keen to know; which Jurassic Park thrill coaster do you prefer? Do you prefer VelociCoaster, or is Flying Dinosaur more your style?

Personally, I've only done VelociCoaster, so it would be unfair for me to offer a conclusive view of whether I prefer it to Flying Dinosaur. With that being said, I was absolutely blown away by VelociCoaster and definitely rank it as one of my all-time favourite coasters (it currently sits at #2, but the thought of "could VelociCoaster be my favourite coaster?" honestly crossed my mind a lot, and still does to some degree!); the airtime, the speed, the launches, the inversions, and everything about it is just truly phenomenal and so fun and rerideable, in my view! Whereas, the two B&M flyers I've already done aren't my favourites, with the intensity and riding position of Manta in particular not being my thing, so based on my current preferences, I'd be pretty surprised if I ended up preferring Flying Dinosaur to VelociCoaster. I reserve judgement, however, and I have heard very good things about Flying Dinosaur...

But which ride do you prefer? Are you a VelociCoaster fan, or is Flying Dinosaur more your thing? I'd be really interested to know!

 

[Hyde]

It’s quite hard to see Flying Dinosaur being better than VC, as very few roller coasters are better than VC.

 

[Inverting_Thrills]

Similarly, I haven't ridden Flying Dinosaur but I see no world where Flying Dinosaur is better. I even think Velocicoaster is quite overrated but the two are just on different plains.

 

[gavin]

I'll ride Velocicoaster next February, so will be able to answer properly then, but I can't see how it won't be that.

Flying Dinosaur is my favourite flyer, but flyers are among my least favourite coaster type.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

I hated Flying Dinosaur and would probably even say Pteradon Flyers is a better themed dino coaster than that, despite having never been on it. In fact, I'd rather sit on a bench.

I was meant to ride Velocicoaster this summer but those plans got scrapped, so I literally went to Florida this year, thought I'd be back and didn't bother going to Universal, and ended up not going back, so I'm a bit bitter but it's clear based on my taste that I'll enjoy Velocicoaster more, whenever the time comes for me to ride it.

 

[LightningColossus46]

Haven't ridden FD but going to assume velocicoaster is better. Fliers are great, but they can only do so much. Also Velocicoaster has much better themeing and presence in the park.