Closed for an extended ~11-month refurbishment (reopening targeted for November 19, 2026), the longest closure in the ride's history; March 2026 aerial photos confirmed the original ride track was being replaced.
Everything that changed here
across the land, newest first- 2026
20212 changes
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Jurassic World VelociCoaster formally opened on the cleared site, having been commissioned to replace the Triceratops attraction that had sat closed for nearly a decade.
Wikipedia's VelociCoaster article states Universal built the ride in place of the inactive Triceratops Encounter, 'which had been closed for nearly a decade', with a soft opening on May 7, 2021 and the formal opening on June 10, 2021. -
Jurassic World VelociCoaster opened to the public at Universal's Islands of Adventure, an Intamin launched coaster with two LSM launches, a 155-foot top hat, four inversions, and a 70 mph top speed.
20191 change
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Demolition of the defunct Triceratops attraction was underway by this date, with pile driving reported in the old Triceratops area as the site was cleared for a new Jurassic Park roller coaster.
Orlando ParkStop, April 26, 2019: 'they have finally started demolition of this now defunct attraction', with pile driving reported 'more recently in the old Triceratops Encounter area.' That dates the report rather than the first day of work: Wikipedia corroborates that permits filed in 2018 called for 'the demolition and site clearing of Triceratops Encounter' and that the removal came in spring 2019.
20151 change
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The Raptor Encounter meet-and-greet was built into part of the closed attraction's entrance queue and opened on the site that year without any demolition, with the Triceratops photo rock left in place.
Orlando ParkStop, March 27, 2015, describes 'a big hole in the queue near the entrance of the now defunct Triceratops Encounter'; its May 1, 2015 follow-up describes 'a semi-circle of supports, done in a Jurassic Park style' behind the rock and reports that 'the classic Triceratops rock is not being removed. It's very popular for pictures.' Orlando Informer states 'Raptor Encounter, which opened over in Jurassic Park in 2015, replaced the long-closed Triceratops Encounter without involving any bulldozers.' Wikipedia adds that a small part of the attraction was used for the Raptor Encounter, which later moved by the Jurassic Park River Adventure. Neither construction article gives an opening date, so only the year is claimed.
20141 change
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The Triceratops animatronic remained inside the shuttered attraction and was not completely removed until early 2014.
Orlando ParkStop, March 27, 2015: 'the actual Triceratops animatronic wasn't completely removed until early 2014.' Kept year-only because the source says 'early 2014' without a month.
20121 change
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The Triceratops walk-through closed permanently after its brief revival runs and never operated again.
YEAR IN DISPUTE, and we would rather say so than pick quietly. Wikipedia's former-attractions entry says 'it was not long before the attraction permanently closed in 2012', but that sentence carries no inline citation in the article's wikitext. Orlando ParkStop, writing March 27, 2015, instead says the attraction 'closed permanently back in 2010', and the last operation any contemporaneous article documents is the December 2010 trial week. We publish 2012 because a retrospective aside five years later is a common way an on-and-off run gets compressed to its first year, while the extra 2011 reopening is too specific to be an artifact; a reader who finds the 2010 figure has not caught us out. Neither source gives a day or month, and the permanence itself is not in doubt, as the site was later demolished.
20111 change
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After closing again soon after the December 2010 trial week, the walk-through operated once more under its original Triceratops Encounter name.
Supported by a single sentence in Wikipedia's former-attractions entry: 'It opened at Universal Orlando once again in 2011 under its original name.' Reading the article's wikitext confirms no reference is attached to that sentence - the section's citations are the December 2010 Attractions Magazine reopening piece and 2019/2020 pieces about the site - and no contemporaneous report of a 2011 run has surfaced, including in Attractions Magazine's own archive, which covered the 2010 return but shows nothing for 2011 or 2012. No month is given.
20101 change
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The walk-through reopened as a soft opening under the new name Triceratops Discovery Trail, running 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a trial week in which guests passed through electrified paddock fences to meet one of three animatronic Triceratops.
renamed Triceratops Encounter→Triceratops Discovery TrailAttractions Magazine, published December 14, 2010, reports the attraction 'reopened yesterday', that 'team members were calling this week a soft opening', that it was 'expected to stay open for good now, but the team members said that will be decided after this week', and that guests could meet a baby triceratops held by a Jurassic Park staff member while waiting to enter. Wikipedia's former-attractions entry names the three animatronics Topper, Cera and Chris across three buildings and notes guests were allowed to pet the dinosaur; the park article dates the limited return to December 13. The physical description is filed on this date because the 2010 run is the configuration the sources actually describe.
20081 change
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A temporary bridge built across the lagoon between The Lost Continent and Jurassic Park during Wizarding World of Harry Potter construction blocked water access to the disused Jurassic Park dock.
DISboards (July 27, 2011), re-verified at review time: 'In 2008, construction for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter forced the park to build a temporary bridge from the Lost Continent to Jurassic Park, making the loop even shorter and blocking off the Jurassic Park boat dock.' The same post notes 'the docks and queue are still there' as of 2011. Storybook Amusement corroborates that a bypass bridge blocked water access to the dock but does not date it, so the 2008 year is a fan recollection rather than a documented date and confidence is held low. Filed as an environment beat because it records why the route could not simply resume, six years after service ended.
20031 change
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The Triceratops walk-through, in which guests were led past life-sized animatronic Triceratops and allowed to pet one, stopped operating for the first time.
Wikipedia's former-attractions entry states 'It originally closed at Universal Orlando in 2003'; that sentence carries no inline citation in the article's wikitext, and the park article's 'After five years' phrasing ahead of the December 13, 2010 return would instead imply roughly 2005, so year-only precision is all the sources support. The same entry notes the three animatronics 'would regularly break down' but does not itself assert that the breakdowns caused the closure. Recorded as a change rather than the closure because the attraction operated again afterward.
20021 change
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The boats returned for a seasonal run during the 2002 spring break period, the last confirmed time the attraction operated.
Storybook Amusement: 'It reopened seasonally in 2002 for spring break, but that would be the final confirmed time the attraction was in operation.' That page returned HTTP 403 at review time and could not be re-read, so the specific spring-break framing rests on a single enthusiast account. A 2011 DISboards post independently places the end in 2002 ('Island Skipper Tours closed in 2002 due to low ridership and high upkeep costs'), which supports operation into that year but does not mention a seasonal run. Confidence is low and the beat is retained because it is what makes the 2002 endpoint coherent.
20013 changes
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Island Skipper Tours ceased regular operation and was closed indefinitely, its final scheduled run having departed the day before, on July 14, 2001, at approximately 2:45pm.
Notice, re-verified verbatim at review time: 'Effective Sunday, July 15th, Island Skipper Tours (at IOA) will be closed indefinitely. It's last run will be Saturday, July 14th at approximately 2:45pm (prior to the pyro being loaded into the lagoon).' Wikipedia's former-attractions list states the ride 'was removed in 2001 due to upkeep cost,' which reads as a summary of this same event. Filed as 'changed' rather than the final closure because service is reported to have resumed briefly in 2002; the word used at the time was 'indefinitely,' not permanently. -
Island Skipper Tours ended service permanently after its 2002 seasonal run and was never listed as an operating attraction again.
Sources disagree on the endpoint, but not in the way it first appears: Wikipedia's former-attractions list ('removed in 2001') and the July 2001 notice both describe the indefinite suspension and say nothing about 2002. Every source that addresses the end of service places it later: DISboards (July 27, 2011) 'Island Skipper Tours closed in 2002 due to low ridership and high upkeep costs'; Storybook Amusement gives spring 2002 as the last confirmed operation; Orlando Informer says it was 'completely phased out by 2003, just four short years after Islands's grand opening, due to its fuel and maintenance costs.' Wikipedia's Universal Orlando article confirms permanence: the park 'opened to mediocre attendance, and as a result, several attractions were closed soon after, including Island Skipper Tours.' Year precision 2002 is the finest the combined evidence supports. -
Universal circulated notice that the attraction would close indefinitely, citing very low guest flow against the cost of maintaining and running the vessels, with the space returned to Universal Creative to explore other possibilities.
Contemporaneous July 8, 2001 forum post quoting the operational notice verbatim: 'This decision is focused on the very low guest flow to the attraction vs. the cost of maintaining and running the vessels.' Re-verified at review time. Confidence held at medium because this is a fan-forum reposting of an internal notice rather than a company publication. Filed as minor impact: the announcement itself changed nothing for guests, the closure a week later did.
19992 changes
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Island Skipper Tours opened with Universal's Islands of Adventure as a skipper-hosted boat service that carried guests across the park's central lagoon, the Great Inland Sea, between docks in Port of Entry and Jurassic Park.
Wikipedia: 'Island Skipper Tours opened with the park in 1999. Boats hosted by employee "skippers" traveled across the central lagoon of the park and were accessible from both the Port of Entry and Jurassic Park areas.' Orlando Informer: guests 'board a ship at the Port of Entry dock and travel all the way across the Great Inland Sea (the fancy name for the park's central lagoon) to Jurassic Park.' The May 28, 1999 day precision is the park's opening date. Storybook Amusement additionally describes a three-boat fleet (The Boatney, Tropic Trader, Sam Plane); that detail is attributed rather than stated in the sentence above because the site could not be re-fetched at review time. No source examined states the service was free, so no fare claim is made here. -
Opened as a debut attraction with Universal's Islands of Adventure — a Vekoma-built river-boat tour of Isla Nublar that veers off-course into the raptor paddock and climaxes with a T. rex encounter and an 85-foot drop finale.
That's every change on the record in Jurassic Park since 1999.
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