Rip Roarin' New Coaster Coming to Universal Studios Florida

Preview of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Coaster at Universal Orlando

Universal takes ride interactivity to new heights with Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. The thrill machine will give passengers the ability to control the attraction's soundtrack, and will allow them to "rip" a take-home memento of their wild coaster experience.

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Stats

• Type of coaster: Vertical lift, looping, out and back
• Height: 167 feet
• Top speed: 65 mph
• Height requirement: 51 inches

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Videos

• Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Preview POV Video.
• See some of the coaster's unique features in an animated Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Maneuvers Preview.

  Rockit, Man

  Located near the front entrance of Universal Studios Florida, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will become one of the park's iconic touchstones. In fact, its track will extend outside the park and snake above CityWalk's promenade, drawing attention and creating excitement. And the coaster should be quite the attention magnet. Pulsing with a rocking soundtrack and tricked out with video screens, klieg lights, and colorful, onboard LEDs, Rockit will turn heads, even amid Universal Orlando's in-your-face cacophony.

  The fun will begin before the ride starts. Passengers will choose, iPod-style, the tune that will serenade them from a pre-selected collection of songs that span classic rock, rap, country, pop, and disco. (Can't you just see yourself screaming in falsetto as the Bee Gees croon "Stayin' Alive?")

  While Universal hasn't provided all of the details, it does confirm that the coaster will include a "record-breaking" loop. I don't know what record will be broken (tallest in the world? tallest in the U.S.? tallest in a park that begins with the letter "U?"), but at the ride's reported height of 167 feet, it's sure to rip-roarin' tall. And get this: Guests will experience the loop and the coaster's other inversions without any over-the-shoulder or leg restraints.

  Featuring the unique X-Car design from German coaster manufacturer Maurer Sohne, riders will use a single ratcheting waist belt to keep them tethered to the car. That will leave their arms and entire upper body to rock out to Rockit and experience the G-forces and coaster elements with plenty of freedom. The curved waist restraints will also include volume buttons so that passengers will be able to control the sound on their seats' speakers.

  Smile! You're on Coaster Camera.

  Getting up Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit's 167-foot hill should be an adventure. Based on Universal's scant info, it appears that the lift hill will be 90 degrees straight up. I don't believe that the ride will use a launch system; instead, it's likely that a lift chain or cable will make a relatively slow ascent. And while a preview rendering of the first drop, which should be a doozy at around 167 feet, doesn't look to be 90 degrees straight down, it does look to be precariously steep.

  Using an out-and-back layout, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will start near the Jimmy Neutron attraction and make a giant loop amid Universal's soundstages, the park's New York section, the Blue Man Group Theater, and the CityWalk area. Universal promises six "near-miss moments," which I think refer to points during the ride in which the train will race through small openings, such as a hole in the park's New York City skyline backdrop.

  Since every seat of Universal's Rip Ride Rockit will be outfitted with a video camera, guests will be able to purchase a personalized video of their coaster experience. And because guests will get to choose the song that will play in their car, it will be as if they are producing their own music video. Universal says that riders will be able to customize the video footage and share it with their friends.

  At 167 feet and 65 mph, and with a 90-degree lift hill, a near-90-degree first drop, a "record-breaking" loop, and other inversions, Universal is definitely bypassing the family coaster crowd and pouring on the thrills. Will you be ripped enough to ride Rockit?