I was curious about the coasters at Universal, too. I've always been afraid of roller coasters, but my husband, sister, and sister-in-law finally convinced me to go on the Raptor at Cedar Point and I liked it! It was a big fear-conquering moment for me. I even bought the rip-off photo to prove to my parents that I rode it, since the last time I tried to ride it was on a family trip years ago, and I chickened out at the top of the line in tears.
Before that, I had only been on the baby coasters at Cedar Point (Iron Dragon, Disaster Transport) and Expedition Everest at Disney. After riding the Raptor, I'm still not a fan of steep drops (I don't like that stomach-drop feeling), but I was very surprised to learn that I like inversions!
I've done a bit of research about the coasters at Universal, and I feel like since I liked the Raptor, I will probably enjoy Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge.The Dragons seem very similar to the Raptor, but I couldn't really get a good idea of the relative intensity from other threads.
EDIT: sorry, didn't realize this thread was so old!! I think since I am going to Universal in June, I thought it was June NOW and missed the 2010 bit...