Monday, November 27, 2023 - 00:01
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Universal Studios Hollywood

These are exciting times at Universal Studios Hollywood as we see check in on the progress being made on the new Fast and Furious roller coaster.

There has been a new construction update posted to twitter by Coaster Empire showing the hillside where the new Fast and Furious roller coaster will be located at Universal Studios Hollywood. As you can see in the short video, the clearing of the hillside is now complete.

Also last week there was a video update posted to YouTube by Theme Park Obsession. If you look at the time stamp 4:32 you get to see the hillside with construction crews beginning work at the top of the hill. We can see cement trucks heading up the hill and work has now begun on digging the footers. These footers could be for the roller coaster structure itself or the station or the queue line.

Universal has so far not announced an official timeline for this new Fast and Furious roller coaster but it is expected to open either late 2024 or early 2025. Some are speculating that with footings only now beginning, an end of 2024 opening seems very unlikely but as with the other Fast and Furious roller coasters, we aren't expecting huge theming surrounding the actual roller coaster itself with majority of the theming being expected up in the queue line which should cut the construction time.

Fast and Furious, Coaster Empire
Image: Coaster Empire

We are expecting to see further progress on the ground work over the coming weeks. We will continue to update you on construction progress 

We recently heard the news that the ride vehicles for this new Fast and Furious roller coaster will have the ability for"360-degree rotation" and at the IAAPA Expo Intamin has just released a video which potentially shows these ride vehicles in action.

In the video embedded below which was posted to YouTube by Sally Dark Rides, it shows that Intamin and Sally Dark Rides have partnered to create a number of new DARK COASTER options for the theme park and attractions industry. The interesting part of the video for Universal Studios Hollywood fans is at time stamp 2:34 when it shows the new motorized spinning 12-seater car called the “MDC 12 Seater” in an outside setting.

We assume that this layout is very similar to the new Fast and Furious roller coaster coming to Universal Studios Hollywood and it is very exciting to see how the 360-degree rotating ride vehicle traverses the track.  We will update you with further details on the ride vehicle when they are announced.

Back in October, details were announced and new concept art released regarding the upcoming Fast and Furious roller coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood. 

The new Fast and Furious roller coaster will be manufactured by Intamin and is set to be a multi-dimensional roller coaster. Although it had previously been rumored, it has now been confirmed that the ride vehicles will have the ability for "360-degree rotation". Now this will certainly please roller coaster fans but this feature is not just for thrill seekers, the primary focus of the new information focused on the ways that Universal are ensuring the sound from this new roller coaster will not disturb the community.

Fast and Furious, https://communityline.nbcuni.com/
Image: https://communityline.nbcuni.com/

The ride vehicles will be programmed so they are facing away from the community at "key scream moments". Universal has also stated three other features of Hollywood Drift to reduce the noise and ensure it remains below the property's sound ordinance including:

  • Low rumble track with entire track being filled with pea gravel.
  • A sound wall comprised of Acoustiblok, the size of two football pitches will be built.
  • Two half pipe shields will be positioned on the roller coaster to encase the sound and lower it by -15dBA.

Some of you may be asking, why is Universal Studios Hollywood focusing all its attention on reducing the sound? Well, as the park is a working studios the property's sound ordinance is less than other Universal theme parks and therefore has to be seriously considered when adding a roller coaster such as this.

To see a POV of this new Fast and Furious roller coaster including all elements, check out the video posted to YouTube by Amusement Insider below. This has been created based on the released plans.

The more details we discover about this new Fast and Furious roller coaster coming to Universal Studios Hollywood the more the hype builds. With the location of this roller coaster being positioned on the hill side between the upper and lower lots and the whole host of elements it will include as well as the new confirmation that the ride vehicles will rotate 360-degress, we believe that it could fight VelociCoaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure and take the crown as the best roller coaster at a Universal theme park when it hopefully opens in 2025.

Let us know your thoughts about this new information by leaving us a comment below or on our Facebook page.

In the recent photo update posted to Twitter by Coaster Empire on October 13, we see that the whole hillside from the Starway over to the parking structure has been cleared and is being worked on in preparation for the construction of the upcoming Fast and Furious multi-launch coaster, Hollywood Drift. 

It was rumored back in July that Hollywood Drift will be an "Intamin spinning model, with some thinking halfway through the vehicle will begin to "drift" featuring sideways, backward, and forward motion to fit the racing/ Fast & Furious theme." There has now been confirmation that the ride vehicles will have the ability to rotate 360-degrees. Enjoy looking at the photos embedded below.

In the previous update, it looks like according to new photos posted to Twitter by Coaster Empire that massive tree clearing has happened on the hillside at Universal Studios Hollywood in preparation for the construction of the new Fast and Furious multi-launch coaster.

You can see the progress that has been made when comparing it with the photos below which were posted on August 11.

Universal officially announced that work on the Fast And Furious roller coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood will commence soon. Here is the full statement which was released on July 12.

"Universal City, California, July 12, 2023 – Buckle up…Universal Studios Hollywood announces construction will soon begin on its new roller coaster, themed to Universal Pictures’ blockbuster saga, Fast & Furious as the world-class entertainment destination continues to elevate the guest experience.

Renowned for creating groundbreaking and imaginative rides and attractions inspired by today’s most compelling movie, television and digital game experiences, Universal Studios Hollywood will bring innovative and technological achievements never previously employed to this all-new thrill ride.

Equipped with a state-of-the-art ride system uniquely created to engulf guests within the dynamic Fast & Furious universe, this all-new roller coaster will benefit from Universal Destinations & Experiences’ decades-long expertise in revolutionizing the development of the contemporary roller coaster across its global theme park destinations.

The Fast & Furious saga is a phenomenon. For more than twenty years, the franchise has stoked passion in an ever-expanding audience and has earned more than $7 billion at the worldwide box office, Universal Pictures’ record-smashing, homegrown Fast & Furious films have become the studio’s most-profitable and longest-running franchise. Across social media platforms, the fan following for the movies and cast has grown into the biggest of any active franchise."

There was big news at the end of June regarding the upcoming rumored Fast And Furious roller coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood when ParkFans.net, revealed full layout plans for this multi-launch coaster.  The precreation video to is embedded above.

This new roller coaster, codenamed Project409 is set to be a thrilling addition to Universal Studios Hollywood and is likely to include; four launches, banked turns, a steep rise, a dive drop, a banked rise, inverted stall, airtime hills, corkscrews and a jr. dive loop. The leaked layout plans can be seen in the tweet embedded below.

According to a video posted to YouTube by Theme Park Predictions in response to these leaked plans, it looks like we could see the roller coaster being 4000-5000ft long which is hugely impressive considering many predicted a big roller coaster would not be possible for Universal Studios Hollywood.

The truly ambitious element is that this roller coaster will traverse the upper and lower lots of the park with the trains supposedly going over the top of the escalators and then down underneath them.

From the plans it appears that the roller coaster will have a dual station like Revenge of the Mummy, and begins with a launch followed by a banked turn and then airtime hill before the first drop. The ground hugging banked turns will lead to the first corkscrew inversion then a ground hugging banked turn. After the brake run it is speculated that there will be a Stengel dive or Wall Stall before a drop. Following this, a second launch into a Steep Rise and then a Dive Drop. 

You can then see on the layout map that there is a long straight stretch which is predicted to have a third launch to a speed hill where we could see the fastest part of the roller coaster and more airtime. The inverted stall as seen on VelociCoaster and Pantheon is predicted to be a highlight of the ride. The final launch will head into what is being labelled as a Jr. Dive Loop followed by another corkscrew. A banked turn leads you into the final brake run.

This roller coaster's layout is dictated considerably by the terrain it will be following. You may ask, where is the reverse twisted spike which appeared on initial concept art? Well, the short answer is that it isn't included on this leaked layout.  

Although this project appears to have Intamin written all over it, apparently from the leaked plans there has been no actual confirmation as of yet that this is the case. We will have to wait for official word regarding the ride manufacturer and will update you on further developments from this exciting new roller coaster when they are announced.

Continue reading for previous updates...

 
Natalie SimView Profile

Co-founder of the site alongside her amazing Husband Nick who had the vision and inspiration to create Theme Park Tourist from scratch. Natalie has always been amazed by theme parks and thinks nothing beats walking around a Disney Park soaking up the sights, sounds and magical atmosphere hand in hand with the ones she loves.

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