Mack Rides’ Jurassic World: Cretaceous Coaster Coming to Universal Kids Resort

Written by Joshua Posted May 5th, 2025

Not much was revealed in my last visit to Universal Kids Resort a few weeks ago. Crews had rewrapped SpongeBob barrels and aerial flyers uncovered by high winds last month. But I did discover new Jurassic World rollercoaster tracks. And contrary to what many believe, those tracks aren’t from Vekoma. As @aahs-n-oohs explains, they’re for a Mack Rides coaster.

“Many have speculated that the proposed Jurassic World rollercoaster will be a clone of Islands of Adventure’s Flight of the Hippogriff – a Vekoma Junior Coaster 335m. It’s a good guess. Universal operates several of them around the world. But after inspecting Josh’s photos of the coaster supports and aerial shots of its footers, I’ve determined Frisco is getting a clone of a different Flight of the Hippogriff, the one from Universal Studios Beijing. That ride is a Mack Rides YoungSTAR Coaster.”

Jurassic World coaster tracks at Universal Kids Resort

Aahs relied on drone footage from ThemeParkHD and Google Earth satellite images to match Frisco’s supports with what’s on-site in Beijing, respectively. He said, “I placed yellow dots over every footer in the Universal Kids screenshot before superimposing the yellow dots onto the satellite imagery from Beijing’s Flight of the Hippogriff. I discovered the footers are an exact match in regards to location. The only difference is the shape of those footers. UKR’s are round while Beijing’s are square.”

Footers visible during the construction of Universal Kids Resort's Jurassic World rollercoaster — Coaster footers (highlighted with yellow dots) at Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, TX. Screenshot taken from ThemeParkHD’s aerial footage.

Footers visible during the construction of Universal Beijing's Flight of the Hippogriff — Coaster footers (highlighted with yellow dots) for Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal Studios Beijing. Satellite imagery from Google Earth.

Aahs created the following video to show how the two coasters’ footers are a perfect match.

Footers aren’t the only items tying the two coasters together. Track supports seen in Frisco are identical to those used on Beijing’s attraction. First, let’s look at the ride in action:

Universal Beijing's Flight of the Hippogriff track supports — Lift hill supports (highlighted in brown) on Beijing’s Flight of the Hippogriff. Screenshot taken from Attraction Source’s ride video.

Those highlighted beams are clearly visible in Frisco.

Mack Rides YoungSTAR Coaster supports — Staged coaster supports (highlighted in blue) in Frisco. Screenshot taken from ThemeParkHD’s aerial footage.

Jurassic World roller coaster parts at Universal Kids Resort

I think Aahs would have had an easier time if I had been able to snap some Mack ride vehicle photos, but they haven’t shown up yet (at least that I can see). ZIERER coaster cars were revealed earlier this spring, causing several people to switch from the Vekoma camp to that manufacturer. You can’t blame them. The cars do have a Jurassic World vibe.

But Aahs was unconvinced. He and I had many conversations about the photo below. While I didn’t think it looked like Trolls, he was focused on more than aesthetics (as you can tell by his footings research). And guess what? It is Trolls. I shouldn’t question the man.

Rhonda from Trolls Band Together — Rhonda from *Trolls Band Together*

So we’re confident Universal Kids Resort is getting a Mack coaster. But what about the name? Universal has a pending trademark for Jurassic World: Cretaceous Coaster.

Pending trademark notice for Jurassic World: Cretaceous Coaster

Ride model: Mack Rides YoungSTAR Coaster (confirmed)
Ride name: Jurassic World: Cretaceous Coaster (speculated)

While Cretaceous Coaster will be Jurassic World’s featured attraction, the land will have plenty to offer younger guests. We’ll focus on those rides in a future article. Aahs has already done the research.