Tag: Attraction

Islands of Adventure’s River Adventure to Close for Extended Refurbishment in 2026

Posted on by J. Malone

Universal Destinations and Experiences has announced that the Jurassic Park River Adventure attraction at the Universal’s Islands of Adventure park in Orlando, FL will be closed for an extended period for refurbishment.

The news officially broke on Tuesday September 16th, when the Universal Orlando website updated their list of upcoming closures to include River Adventure.

The Universal Orlando Resort website lists River Adventure to be closed from January 5, 2026 to November 19, 2026 –a total of ten months and twelve days. That’s ultimately just a few days longer than the transformation from Jurassic Park The Ride to Jurassic World The Ride between 2018 and 2019 at Universal Studios Hollywood, and several months shorter than the refurbishment that just happened at for Jurassic Park The Ride at Universal Studios Japan.

There has been no word from Universal on what the Orlando park has planned for the attraction during this extended refurbishment, or what changes we may expect to see once it reopens, but we can assume that the lengthy downtime means that the attraction will be receiving some much-needed love and attention after it’s (by then) twenty-eight years of operation. In recent years there has been multiple missing dinosaurs for periods of time, dinosaurs with odd breaks and bends, and inconsistent effects and sound system.  Hopefully, after the ten months, fans will be welcome back to Jurassic Park in all its roaring glory!


VelociCoaster Awarded “Best Rollercoaster” for Fourth Year in a Row

Posted on by J. Malone

Theme Park Insider released their lists of top attractions across the world for the past year, and for the fourth consecutive year Universal’s VelociCoaster remains the apex of coasters.

Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure puts you right in the middle of a training session with Owen’s IBRIS Raptors. You’ll come face to face with Echo, Charlie, Delta, and Blue as you are launched at 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) into a paddock. After you careen around tight corners, barely missing sharp rocks and snapping teeth as you roll through multiple inversions, you’ll be launched a final time at 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour) and up a 155 foot hill (47.2 meters) to just narrowly avoid becoming dino-chow!

The thrilling ride is accompanied by an breathtakingly immersive queue, where you will see and encounter the raptors several times before even boarding the ride train (as well as other neat Jurassic Park and World easter eggs!)

Have you survived VelociCoaster? What other types of Jurassic rides or offerings would you like to see come to Universal Destinations and Resorts around the world? Lets us know in the comments below!

RUMOUR: Orlando to Break Ground on New Jurassic Park Ride?

Posted on by Alex Evans

You might be forgiven if you forgot that Universal has a theme park in Orlando, especially with the announcement of a re-theme in their Hollywood Park, a parade debut in Japan and rumours of a Jurassic World section in Beijing. But the largest and most complete Jurassic Park ride has resided at Universal’s Islands of Adventure since 1999 and if rumours are to be believed, it’s finally getting a much needed upgrade!

With the spotlight elsewhere, Universal discretely filed a demolition permit for a 9,100 Square Foot area in the park earlier this month. This could easily be mistaken for the new ‘Harry Potter’ ride, but demolition and construction are already well underway at the site of the former ‘Dragon Challenge’ attraction, which was listed as Project 942. The new permit is listed as Project 741, a distinctly older number. Sources inside the park have hinted that area to be cleared is the former Triceratops Encounter/Discovery Trail, which closed in 2005, but was temporarily reopened in 2011 and 12 as an overflow attraction during the debut of ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’. The size of the area certainly matches to that reported in the permit.

This is not the first time that Universal has filed for permits to modify the Jurassic Park area, though disappointingly those turned out to only be small changes; Carnival style booths in part of the River Adventure’s extended queue, and the Raptor Encounter in the exit to the Triceratops Encounter. Given the scale of the area, is certainly looks as though Universal is finally pushing forward with a new attraction, especially given that the former attraction has previously sat dormant for over 15 years.

At this time we can only speculate what the new attraction will be. Whispers from insiders are hinting at a coaster, perhaps in the style of Japan’s ‘Flying Dinosaur’ though at this early stage all bets are off. Prior to the park’s opening, attractions known as ‘Jeep safari’ and ‘Helicoptours’ were planned for the Jurassic Park area though were eventually written off due to budget constraints. The patches of land reserved for these attractions have since been filled by other IPs but perhaps one of them could have a resurgence on this new plot.

Demolition is set to begin on June 1st with a reported cost of $300,000. Keep your eyes peeled for more info then!