Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit soft opening tomorrow?

Is the Rockit finally set to open? Image © 2009 Theme Park Tourist. All Rights Reserved

Reports on the web are claiming that Universal Studios Orlando will begin a soft opening of its Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit rollercoaster tomorrow at 2pm.

The ride was opened to Universal employees tonight (August 14), and there are claims on forums such as IOACentral that it will open to the public on random days over the next 4 weeks - starting at 2pm on Saturday August 15.

TPT editors Nick and Natalie are currently on vacation in Orlando and will be visiting the park regularly to keep readers updated.

Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit stretches out beyond the walls of the Universal Studios park towards the opening gate of the Universal Orlando Resort. It features a 167-foot lift hill and reaches top speeds of 65mph. Its most unique feature is the "double take" - a vertical loop in which the track twists so that the train is "right-side-up" at the top of the loop. Riders can select their own soundtrack for the ride from a selection of five genres.

The ride has been delayed on numerous occasions after it was originally due to open in the Spring. However, Universal now looks on course to launch the Rockit prior to its hugely popular Halloween Horror Nights.

Exclusive photos of employees riding the Rockit can be found in our gallery and our own videos of the ride in action are embedded below.