What to love about local roller coasters
Jurassic World VelociCoaster is open officially and running at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park, so it’s a good time to take stock of the roller coaster lineup in Orlando theme parks.
Rather than try to rank them, dividing them by pros and cons, I’ve listed the rides along with two things to love about each of them. This started off with just one thing, but that became a roundup of drops, twists, launches and weightlessness. Listing two items gives us room to breathe and scream. The items aren’t necessarily the top two features of each coaster, and they aren’t listed in order. I could invert them all tomorrow, depending on the mood.
The roundup skips junior coasters because, well, I usually skip junior coasters in real life. I like the view of Hogsmeade from IOA’s Flight of the Hippogriff, though — I like the legroom more.
I’ve clumped the coasters by park, and we’ll start with IOA since it has something shiny, new and, as you may have heard, relentless.
Islands of Adventure
Jurassic World VelociCoaster: Not to give away too much, but the approach to the top hat is unforgettable (the view’s not bad up there either). Among the inversions, I like one soon after the big drop, where you see Upside Down Hogsmeade. Don’t blink.
Incredible Hulk: There’s no tension going up the Hulk lift hill … for a while. Who doesn’t like surprises? Then, coming out of the prominent cobra design and down into the water, under the walkway and sometimes through the mist is the kind of maneuver that makes you wonder what you got yourself into. (That roar is also a warning.)
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure: That first long stretch out of the station is faster than it looks, and it feels unique. Turns out that motorcycling is fun. The dead-end/ reverse movement, though not a shocker in Orlando, is effectively well hidden.
Universal Studios
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit: Literally right out of the gate, we go straight up, looking skyward. People on the ground are freaked out about it, but I like it. Later, after the loop and the brake, we go down and into the backside of a facade, which is fun and different. (See also the billboard bustthrough on — junior coaster alert — Barnstormer at Magic Kingdom.)
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts: Let’s lump the pitch-black stretches at the beginning and end into one thing we love. The standout move is when the cars disconnect from one another and security trolls fling us along our way.
Revenge of the Mummy: Although the internet loves to talk about the Brendan Fraser coffee demands, “Death is only
Twice, she earned a bestof-the-year Orlando Sentinel Critic’s Pick award: 2019’s best leading actress in a musical for “Children of Eden” and 2020’s best featured actress in a musical for “Matilda.”
“Performing really feeds my soul,” she says.
And Thomas is as passionate about inclusion as she is about the environment. She’s used to being the only woman of color in a room — whether in her engineering classes or at a theater’s callbacks.
“We’re in a time where theaters are casting with more diversity,” she says. “We’re learning about how to give people what they need.”
She values the ensuing conversations — even the awkward ones. She remembers playing a ghost in one show, where the creative team nervously asked her about applying white and gray makeup.
“We were all ghosts; we were all wearing the makeup, it was fine,” she says. “But I appreciated them asking. If you have a question, you can ask me. The more and more we have these conversations, the more comfortable they are.”
In another show, she spoke up when the designers hadn’t considered Black women’s hair in designing wigs for the cast.
“I was nervous, but I knew the people there were kind at heart,” she says. “I wanted to protect
the youth. I want people to remember that you do have a voice.”
The problem was promptly fixed, she says, and measures were put in place to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.
Steve MacKinnon, who has directed Thomas in multiple shows, calls her “a breath of fresh air, both on and off the stage. … It’s no wonder she is one of the most sought-after performers in Central Florida.”
Thomas plans to expand her horizons, hoping to pursue membership in the Actors’ Equity Association union and audition in New York.
MacKinnon has no doubt more theatrical success is in her future.
“I look forward to cheering her on as she soars,” he says, praising her “vulnerability, passion and brave spirit.”
“Lillie has that special ability of walking into a room and warming up the atmosphere with pure love,” he adds. “She then carries that magic on stage with her.”
In her next local appearance — “Head Over Heels” — she plays a “fierce” woman with “amazing songs.” Adapted from a 16th-century romance, the musical follows the royal family of Arcadia through entanglements and adventures, using such Go-Go’s hits as “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat.”
“I love the storyline,” says Thomas, explaining that although she’s more drawn to dramatic characters, it’s the show itself that attracts
her to a role.
“If I really love the show, I would stand there and hold a tree just to be part of it,” she says.
But how does she find the time to perform
onstage, practice her multiple instruments, play with the dog and cat — and don’t forget the hedgehog — and engineer a more environmentally friendly Central
Florida?
“It’s a lot of time management,” she says — plus “so much support” from her husband of six years and her employer; her boss
brought his whole family to see “Little Shop of Horrors” at Lake Eola.
“I get up early and practice lines before work,” Thomas says. “I’m grateful for the energy I’ve been blessed with so I can keep up with everything.”